5 ms·

My driver plays obscene songs as his caller tune and I pay the bill..

26 points by rodinhood 16y ago

Psyonic 16y ago
You were considering doing the same thing in China? That makes me wonder what you actually wonder about this scheme? Anger? Jealousy?
- redorb 16y ago
  He said he was approached to do it, I consider most things I'm approached with.
rodinhood 16y ago
Never did - never will. Incidentally, after such scam offers cam our way, China Mobile and China Unicom cracked down hard on 'sms spammers'. Folks whose services were suspended (for days to months)included some of the biggest portals in the PRC.
andreyf 16y ago
$720M of yearly revenue is nothing to sneeze at. Just because we don't stand for this by American standards hardly makes it a "mafia". Many Europeans would never stand for how we handle our energy or health sectors, that hardly makes them akin to a mafiosi.
- sorbus 16y ago
  Adding services without the knowledge or consent of users, and making the process to remove them needlessly complex or impossible? It's generally considered to be criminal to charge someone for something they don't want (and haven't asked for).
  - kujhygtfghj 16y ago
    They did ask for it, they texted to a number or clicked a pop-up. Scott Adams wrote an article about this, in America it's a lot more profitable. To the Indian poster it's not worth cancelling a 60cents/month service, to Scott Adams or a middle class American iPhone/Blackberry user it wouldn't be worth spending an hour each month arguing with customer service minions to cancel a service that might cost $20-30
    - andreyf 16y ago
      The truly scary thing? There's a lot of money to be made in determining who the "customers who will call in and cancel it" and "the customers who won't notice or care". My cable company has now twice added a "premium bonus" $15/month for a little more bandwidth, without having been asked.
mcritz 16y ago
This story reminds me of the time I paid my butler to travel with me to the Four Seasons in Milan. What was I thinking? </sarcasm>
- troutwine 16y ago
  Poor fellow, one should never take the help along on trips or, indeed, have them anywhere near the living quarters for terribly long. I well recall the termination of my last scullery maid: she took a nasty head cold and would most stop sneezing at all hours. Being most inconvenienced by the--I couldn't sleep!--we had to let the maid go. Though the head butler carried out this nasty bit of work, the poor wench's sobs did ruin a perfectly good tea time.
- pkaler 16y ago
  I think you should attempt to understand the culture before being sarcastic. Most people don't own cars and don't drive in India. Getting a driver in India is more like getting a ZipCar for the afternoon here in North America.
  - jey 16y ago
    Well, kind of. The difference being that a much larger fraction of the American population can afford to rent a ZipCar than the fraction of Indians who can afford a driver. Edit: I just realized that your statement makes more sense if one counts taxi services as "hiring a driver".
    - rodinhood 16y ago
      I dont think you have ever been to India. My driver has been with me for 10 years and his job has allowed him to fund his daughter to attend high school (in her village) - something that is unheard of in rural India. Also my driver sends a nice stipend to his family every month. India has 1 billion people - if they all became drivers, we would be 10 times richer than any nation in the world.
      - 16y ago
hristov 16y ago
This is the reason class action lawsuits in America exist and should exist. That kind of behaviour would be quickly punished by class action lawyers in the States.
jeremymims 16y ago
To an American, the tone of this article is beyond bizarre. "Yadav aka ‘Maharaj’ is a rather decent bloke. He is demure, soft spoken and usually never has an opinion. All he loves to do is drive and polish the car." So the definition of a decent person is one who doesn't have an opinion or get in the way? "Yet, when I call him on his mobile phone (provided by me) for logistical coordination and other errands, the caller tune he forces me to hear makes me go insane. He has chosen the choicest of bawdy, vulgar and obscene bollywood songs available as his caller ring back tunes." The truly infuriating thing about this driver is that he dares to have thoughts and a personality of his own (which the author only says he can get behind if he's drunk)! I get the distinct impression that the author would quickly fail Tony Hsieh's airport test.

26 points by rodinhood 16y ago

You were considering doing the same thing in China? That makes me wonder what you actually wonder about this scheme? Anger? Jealousy?

redorb 16y ago
He said he was approached to do it, I consider most things I'm approached with.

rodinhood 16y ago

Never did - never will. Incidentally, after such scam offers cam our way, China Mobile and China Unicom cracked down hard on 'sms spammers'. Folks whose services were suspended (for days to months)included some of the biggest portals in the PRC.

andreyf 16y ago

$720M of yearly revenue is nothing to sneeze at. Just because we don't stand for this by American standards hardly makes it a "mafia". Many Europeans would never stand for how we handle our energy or health sectors, that hardly makes them akin to a mafiosi.

sorbus 16y ago
Adding services without the knowledge or consent of users, and making the process to remove them needlessly complex or impossible? It's generally considered to be criminal to charge someone for something they don't want (and haven't asked for).
- kujhygtfghj 16y ago
  They did ask for it, they texted to a number or clicked a pop-up. Scott Adams wrote an article about this, in America it's a lot more profitable. To the Indian poster it's not worth cancelling a 60cents/month service, to Scott Adams or a middle class American iPhone/Blackberry user it wouldn't be worth spending an hour each month arguing with customer service minions to cancel a service that might cost $20-30
  - andreyf 16y ago
    The truly scary thing? There's a lot of money to be made in determining who the "customers who will call in and cancel it" and "the customers who won't notice or care". My cable company has now twice added a "premium bonus" $15/month for a little more bandwidth, without having been asked.

mcritz 16y ago

This story reminds me of the time I paid my butler to travel with me to the Four Seasons in Milan. What was I thinking? </sarcasm>

troutwine 16y ago
Poor fellow, one should never take the help along on trips or, indeed, have them anywhere near the living quarters for terribly long. I well recall the termination of my last scullery maid: she took a nasty head cold and would most stop sneezing at all hours. Being most inconvenienced by the--I couldn't sleep!--we had to let the maid go. Though the head butler carried out this nasty bit of work, the poor wench's sobs did ruin a perfectly good tea time.
pkaler 16y ago
I think you should attempt to understand the culture before being sarcastic. Most people don't own cars and don't drive in India. Getting a driver in India is more like getting a ZipCar for the afternoon here in North America.
- jey 16y ago
  Well, kind of. The difference being that a much larger fraction of the American population can afford to rent a ZipCar than the fraction of Indians who can afford a driver. Edit: I just realized that your statement makes more sense if one counts taxi services as "hiring a driver".
  - rodinhood 16y ago
    I dont think you have ever been to India. My driver has been with me for 10 years and his job has allowed him to fund his daughter to attend high school (in her village) - something that is unheard of in rural India. Also my driver sends a nice stipend to his family every month. India has 1 billion people - if they all became drivers, we would be 10 times richer than any nation in the world.
    - 16y ago

hristov 16y ago

This is the reason class action lawsuits in America exist and should exist. That kind of behaviour would be quickly punished by class action lawyers in the States.

jeremymims 16y ago

To an American, the tone of this article is beyond bizarre. "Yadav aka ‘Maharaj’ is a rather decent bloke. He is demure, soft spoken and usually never has an opinion. All he loves to do is drive and polish the car." So the definition of a decent person is one who doesn't have an opinion or get in the way? "Yet, when I call him on his mobile phone (provided by me) for logistical coordination and other errands, the caller tune he forces me to hear makes me go insane. He has chosen the choicest of bawdy, vulgar and obscene bollywood songs available as his caller ring back tunes." The truly infuriating thing about this driver is that he dares to have thoughts and a personality of his own (which the author only says he can get behind if he's drunk)! I get the distinct impression that the author would quickly fail Tony Hsieh's airport test.