Saw this phrase used and I couldn't resist posting a topic about it because it reflects perfectly what is going on today in this greedy, deceptive country of ours. Sure....a sucker is born every minute....blah blah blah....but in today's complex world of technology and plastic credit there are one helluva lot more "suckers" being born every day: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/default.aspx?feat=1754687>1=33009
I don't know what to say about cases like this, they aren't very common and usually the consumer is at fault for not understanding what they are getting into when they don't bother to renew their contract. I actually got caught myself not paying attention, not for that amount of money. But my internet service through AT&T was on a 2 year contract and I didn't pay attention and maybe even threw away (unopened) correspondence from AT&T. Now when my contract was up my bill didn't even change I was paying the same amount as always but one day I was checking online to see if I could get "faster" dsl and noted that the same service I was currently paying 50$/month for was available for 29$/month. So I called they were very nice and said that I would have to agree to a new 2yr contract to get that rate, which of course I did. I didn't bother to get all lathered up about it because I felt like it was my fault, heck maybe some of that AT&T stuff I threw away unopened even explained to me that if I would do a new contract I would get a lower monthly fee. But dsl home service isn't based on the amount of data downloaded so I was never going to be faced with a huge bill, just didn't get the new lower pricing. But the cell phone companies are a different brand of rat. Texting and Internet can really kill you, before internet services were available over the cellphone network people could get nailed by their teenager going nuts with text messages. Now days I think everybody is clued into they need "unlimited" texting if they use it a lot and/or have teenagers/college kids. It does seem to me that the cell phone companies could do a better job of making people aware of the risks they take by not having contracts for things like unlimited texting, or unlimited internet (data) plans. I could think of a number of ways they could make you aware of the risks you take by not having a contract for the various services. People like the ones referenced no doubt thought by not renewing their contract they would still have the same rate structure but not be tethered to the cellphone company and could change companies easier.
Terry, A simple fix but one that I am sure they just won't be able to come up with is to call/alert the consumer just days into a pattern of suspicious/abnormal use or expense....much like the credit card companies will do if they see abnormal use of your credit card. Naw....too simple.
Well an even simpler way would be to include in one of your last bills before the contract expires a sample bill of what those same charges would be for somebody with out a contract. That way it wouldn't get tossed as junk mail, and might be quite an eye opener when people see their bills increase significantly just by not renewing their contract. No doubt it's all about locking customers into your system. Insurance companies do the same thing when they won't pay a doctor out of network the same fee as they do a doctor in network. Or airlines do when a person makes their reservations in advance and get a good rate, while the last minute guy gets royally screwed with double or triple the fare. But in those cases people are well aware of the consequences of going out of network or being late in making your reservations. Here I think people are not as well informed about those consequences.
Therein lies the rub. The principle of "Gotcha" Capitalism is based on that very premise. Yes.....people are supposed to be aware.....supposed to read....understand the fine print.....and the gobbledey gook that is purposely complex and sometimes destined for a failure to keep expenses in line even among the very astute and watchful. Here's an analogy: 1) Three girls go hiking on Iran-Iraq border of all places.....get captured as spies by the crazy Iranians and now they are jailed and their safety and well being jeopardized. Tragic....and hopefully they can be freed unharmed absolutely. But....what a place to decide to go hiking. 2) A young girl goes with her boyfriend to the Andaman Islands near Malaysia/India at a resort. She goes snorkeling just offshore and is eaten alive by a 20 freakin foot Crocodile. There were no warnings by the hotel or travel agent about a go*damned salt water Crocodile reserve 10 miles away and there were 23 attacks with several fatalies near this resort area she was at in 24 years!!! Tragic results in both cases but in scenario two you could say she was living on the edge but certainly didn't think she was taking such a life threatening risk. Maybe she shouldn't have trusted people with her well being. People will sell out trust in order to make a buck any way they can. And....after all......trust is what makes "Gotcha" Capitalism succeed.