On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 8:46 AM, Nathan Eisenberg <nat...@atlasnetworks.us> wrote: >> In fact, it's not. If you miss your renewal payment for, frex, Safari >> books, they actually slip your cycle date to when you renew -- since you >> don't >> [...] >> But, effectively, he's a new client, and should probably be treated >> that way. >> Assuming the paid service is actually *the update service*. > > I've always strongly felt that this was a rather foul business practice, > wherever I've seen it. The justification for it is the utterly misguided > belief that, if allowed to, customers will pay for a month then
Spin it the other direction. The company will sell you the current version of their system for $X. For a period of Y years they will at any time sell you the then-current version of the system at the discount rate (%{Y} since last payment)*$X. Y years after your last payment, they will sell you the then-current version of their system at any time for $X. Where's the ethical problem here? The same company offers you a subscription so that you're considered paid up on the cost of the then-current system at all times during the duration of the subscription. Did this raise a new ethical problem? On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 1:11 AM, Jimmy Hess <mysi...@gmail.com> wrote: > If you let the agreement lapse, usually no warranty. Most extended > warranties can't be renewed 6 months after they lapsed, because you found > the product just broke and you would like to renew a warranty, so you can > RMA it for a repair/replacement. My out-of-warranty refrigerator from Sears broke a couple years ago. When I called to schedule a repair, the nice lady on the phone pitched me on buying a 1 year extended warranty. Easy sale. The repairman came out, fixed the fridge, and billed the warranty company for about 1.5 times the cost of the warranty I bought. Every so often I receive a mailer from Sears offering to sell me another 1 year extended warranty at a fixed price. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William D. Herrin ................ her...@dirtside.com b...@herrin.us 3005 Crane Dr. ...................... Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/> Falls Church, VA 22042-3004