5 ms·

>The saying "caveat emptor" is thousands of years old. Yes, and the implication of "caveat emptor" is to take a very dim view of the ethics of folks who pitch

>The saying "caveat emptor" is thousands of years old. Yes, and the implication of "caveat emptor" is to take a very dim view of the ethics of folks who pitch in this way.

throwaway5752 8y ago
The implication of caveat emptor is to not to take the word of someone selling you something, period.
- magduf 8y ago
  Sure, but there's a big difference between simply distrusting people who try to sell you stuff, and seeing actual proof that a particular company has truly horrible and evil ethics.
- someguydave 8y ago
  Some folks manage to act and speak in the customer's interest and still sell things.
  - analog31 8y ago
    Sure, I just don't take their word. If they point out something that I was genuinely unaware of, and I can verify it, then of course it's in my interest to consider it. But as a general rule, I hope that I don't have to ask the salesman for any information.
    - someguydave 8y ago
      Have you ever purchased something custom for business use?
      - analog31 8y ago
        Yes, definitely. The products that I help develop for my day job contain numerous custom components ranging from machined parts to high-level assemblies. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes not. Sometimes it's our fault, sometimes the vendor's. I'm often not the only person involved in the purchasing process, and there are a number of different interests from engineering, operations, and so forth. Likewise on the vendor's side, we may be talking to salespeople, engineers, and so forth. I'm often the one who has to bear the bad news: "Hey, this thing doesn't work at all." We do a great job of tracking service and warranty replacements, and the top-ten list is entirely populated by buy-in subsystems. Certainly "don't trust any salesman" is an over-simplification that may hold pretty well for consumer products, but not so well when a product is complex and technical. But verifying that the vendor is actually capable of what they claim to do, is still considered to be vital. The vendor isn't always being dishonest. They may believe that we are over-spec'ing something, and that their product really will fit our needs once we are able to lay our hands on it and use it.

>The saying "caveat emptor" is thousands of years old. Yes, and the implication of "caveat emptor" is to take a very dim view of the ethics of folks who pitch in this way.

throwaway5752 8y ago

The implication of caveat emptor is to not to take the word of someone selling you something, period.

magduf 8y ago
Sure, but there's a big difference between simply distrusting people who try to sell you stuff, and seeing actual proof that a particular company has truly horrible and evil ethics.
someguydave 8y ago
Some folks manage to act and speak in the customer's interest and still sell things.
- analog31 8y ago
  Sure, I just don't take their word. If they point out something that I was genuinely unaware of, and I can verify it, then of course it's in my interest to consider it. But as a general rule, I hope that I don't have to ask the salesman for any information.
  - someguydave 8y ago
    Have you ever purchased something custom for business use?
    - analog31 8y ago
      Yes, definitely. The products that I help develop for my day job contain numerous custom components ranging from machined parts to high-level assemblies. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes not. Sometimes it's our fault, sometimes the vendor's. I'm often not the only person involved in the purchasing process, and there are a number of different interests from engineering, operations, and so forth. Likewise on the vendor's side, we may be talking to salespeople, engineers, and so forth. I'm often the one who has to bear the bad news: "Hey, this thing doesn't work at all." We do a great job of tracking service and warranty replacements, and the top-ten list is entirely populated by buy-in subsystems. Certainly "don't trust any salesman" is an over-simplification that may hold pretty well for consumer products, but not so well when a product is complex and technical. But verifying that the vendor is actually capable of what they claim to do, is still considered to be vital. The vendor isn't always being dishonest. They may believe that we are over-spec'ing something, and that their product really will fit our needs once we are able to lay our hands on it and use it.