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Sorry for my pessimistic views, but I think big companies always have had the power to screw over anyone they want. This is especially the case in the US, where

Sorry for my pessimistic views, but I think big companies always have had the power to screw over anyone they want. This is especially the case in the US, where it seems to be quite accepted for companies to screw you over. Almost all countries lack an easy option for non-billionaires to take action against big companies. If you go to court, they will deliberately make the costs too high to pay for normal people, and even when the company is wrong, they will usually win the case. In the best case scenario, they will settle, and you become rich by being screwed over.

protomyth 10y ago
Well, considering Apple wants me to pay to fix a manufacturing defect in the iPhone 6, I have to agree. I will say HP was cool with fixing a lot of netbooks when we had 100 out of 120 failures. Basically, American consumers yell on social media or popular boards, wait for the class action suit to force a fix, or go without.
riprowan 10y ago
> Almost all countries lack an easy option for non-billionaires to take action against big companies. Fix this, fix the world.
cookiecaper 10y ago
I absolutely support reform of the legal and court system so that it's affordable for normal people. Large companies routinely bully small innovators with legal threats and dubious suits, which the smaller groups can't fight because they don't have the money; they would go bankrupt first (and do when they try to fight anyway). It's not even legal for the founder of a company to try to represent himself in court (companies cannot be pro se litigants). That badly needs to be repaired. However, let's not forget that there are many consumers looking to screw over companies too. There are many consumers who would drop/damage their device and then try to pass the damage off as a manufacturer defect. Laws that require companies to accept a return and furnish a full refund and/or new replacement based solely on the consumer's belief that there's an issue, like the one quoted above, incur large losses in fraudulent claims. In the US, the issue is voluntary; it's possible for companies to sell things without warranty, and it's possible for the consumer to make the choice to buy from such a vendor, and IMO that's how it should be. There may not be a lot of sympathy for a big conglomerate like Google getting hit with false defect claims, but it doesn't just affect them. Most small businesses deal with many obstinate customers daily, and the policies that have been formulated to allow consumers to ding large companies out of spite are much more damaging to a new company starting out. This is the case with credit card chargebacks, for example, which are a massive source of fraud against businesses (which cost more than a full refund, because they also incur a chargeback fee from the card processor).
shakna 10y ago
See my comment [0], it isn't that way everywhere. I've issued complaints through the ACCC three times this year, and had 48 hour turnarounds to fix my problem. Example: I purchased a $200 specialised bean bag for my 2 month old daughter who has appalling reflux. It broke in assembly. I reached out to the company, who refused to deal with me. I complained, and the next day received a shipping notification for a replacement. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13145568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13145568
robk 10y ago
Fwiw though little guys are just as happy to screw you over. I've had both the best service and worst service from mom and pop stores. Big guys can afford to provide service - sometimes the little guys are petty or vindictive or just can't afford to make things right. There's no solution.

protomyth 10y ago

Well, considering Apple wants me to pay to fix a manufacturing defect in the iPhone 6, I have to agree. I will say HP was cool with fixing a lot of netbooks when we had 100 out of 120 failures. Basically, American consumers yell on social media or popular boards, wait for the class action suit to force a fix, or go without.

riprowan 10y ago

> Almost all countries lack an easy option for non-billionaires to take action against big companies. Fix this, fix the world.

cookiecaper 10y ago

I absolutely support reform of the legal and court system so that it's affordable for normal people. Large companies routinely bully small innovators with legal threats and dubious suits, which the smaller groups can't fight because they don't have the money; they would go bankrupt first (and do when they try to fight anyway). It's not even legal for the founder of a company to try to represent himself in court (companies cannot be pro se litigants). That badly needs to be repaired. However, let's not forget that there are many consumers looking to screw over companies too. There are many consumers who would drop/damage their device and then try to pass the damage off as a manufacturer defect. Laws that require companies to accept a return and furnish a full refund and/or new replacement based solely on the consumer's belief that there's an issue, like the one quoted above, incur large losses in fraudulent claims. In the US, the issue is voluntary; it's possible for companies to sell things without warranty, and it's possible for the consumer to make the choice to buy from such a vendor, and IMO that's how it should be. There may not be a lot of sympathy for a big conglomerate like Google getting hit with false defect claims, but it doesn't just affect them. Most small businesses deal with many obstinate customers daily, and the policies that have been formulated to allow consumers to ding large companies out of spite are much more damaging to a new company starting out. This is the case with credit card chargebacks, for example, which are a massive source of fraud against businesses (which cost more than a full refund, because they also incur a chargeback fee from the card processor).

shakna 10y ago

See my comment [0], it isn't that way everywhere. I've issued complaints through the ACCC three times this year, and had 48 hour turnarounds to fix my problem. Example: I purchased a $200 specialised bean bag for my 2 month old daughter who has appalling reflux. It broke in assembly. I reached out to the company, who refused to deal with me. I complained, and the next day received a shipping notification for a replacement. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13145568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13145568

robk 10y ago

Fwiw though little guys are just as happy to screw you over. I've had both the best service and worst service from mom and pop stores. Big guys can afford to provide service - sometimes the little guys are petty or vindictive or just can't afford to make things right. There's no solution.