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This is a little bit of click-bait, and the incredulity and pitchforks are over-reacting. The title & article were designed to stoke fears. It's a payment plan,
by dahart 6y ago
This is a little bit of click-bait, and the incredulity and pitchforks are over-reacting. The title & article were designed to stoke fears. It's a payment plan, just like anything else we finance, houses, cars, motorcycles. Failure to pay normally means you lose the thing outright, at least in this case you keep the vest and have the option to resume the payment plan.
They explain clearly that you won't accidentally die, because it will be obvious when you put it on and try to turn on the power.
Notice that the advantages of their financing plan actually address a bunch of things that people complain about wrt software subscriptions:
- Spread out the spending
- Make the initial price cheaper
- Stop payments when not in use (!)
- Upgrades over time
- Buyout option after three years
In terms of rent-seeking subscription models, this one is way better than most of the stuff on the internet, I hope more subscriptions take note of this kind of pricing. And it's making a motorcycle airbag more accessible to riders, that's a good thing too.
- bhupy 6y agoI don't necessarily disagree with your perspective here, it makes sense. That being said, with payment plans, there's typically some notion of an interest rate. If you miss a payment, you "just" owe the compounding interest (eventually). Typically, rates are regulated, and even when it's not regulated, usury is highly frowned upon. Taking your analogy to its conclusion, the "interest rate" for nonpayment here could potentially be outright death when the thing in question stops working. It's hard to put a dollar value on a human life, but that's a hell of an interest rate!
- dahart 6y agoIt doesn't stop working while you're riding, that's just hyperbole stirred up by this headline. This is not a safety issue, nor is this unreasonable "usury". Just like any financing plan in existence, the interest rate here is that the total cost of ownership is higher on the payment plan than on the alternative pay-up-front plan they offer. The benefit of the payment plan is you can start for less money. The unusual feature of this payment plan compared to your house, car, or credit cards is you get to pause and/or cancel it with no penalties.
- bhupy 6y agoYeah that's fair.