4 ms·

Well there was no court case. Considering the cost of sending a lawyer attend the hearing and the potential risk of creating a precedent, it may simpler and ch

Well there was no court case. Considering the cost of sending a lawyer attend the hearing and the potential risk of creating a precedent, it may simpler and cheaper to send an engineer when someone complains too loudly...

promiseofbeans 2y ago
There is already a precedent - the law. These go to court all the time, and the consumer almost always wins, hence why the companies want to avoid the lawyer fees, since they know they'll lose.
- mytailorisrich 2y ago
  The law is not a precedent. The law is generic and courts deal with specifics.
  - sitharus 2y ago
    These cases do not go to court, they go to a tribunal. They are not heard by a judge (or at least a judge in their capacity as a court justice) and the results are not entered as judicial cases and do not set precedent. It’s designed so a lay person can represent themselves without having to understand the justice system. I know in New South Wales companies have to apply for special leave to have a lawyer represent them, and they need to supply a reason why. In New Zealand lawyers are not allowed in the tribunal, a company must be represented by a manager.
    - mytailorisrich 2y ago
      That's details on this specific process but does not change the boarder point...
baq 2y ago
That's the point. If customers don't complain strongly enough, the manufacturer is incentivized to develop products prone to malfunction. If the cost of malfunction is raised, the incentives change. If they got invited to a hundred cases at the same time, they'd send a lawyer and perhaps even would tweak the design to include some extra $1 parts which actually work.
- mytailorisrich 2y ago
  It's a trade-off. People don't want appliances that break down after a few years but they also want cheap appliances... In this case it seems to boil down to: "In the end he replaced the light bulb (which hadn't worked for years, we hadn't bothered replacing it) and the message had gone away anyway."... i.e. the guy could have replaced the light bulb when it broke and perhaps nothing would have happened in the first place. So this article comes across as complaining too much, frankly.
  - baq 2y ago
    and the next day the error came back and ultimately something else had to be replaced. a failed bulb could result in a 'please change the bulb before the rest of me breaks' on the display, too.

promiseofbeans 2y ago

There is already a precedent - the law. These go to court all the time, and the consumer almost always wins, hence why the companies want to avoid the lawyer fees, since they know they'll lose.

mytailorisrich 2y ago
The law is not a precedent. The law is generic and courts deal with specifics.
- sitharus 2y ago
  These cases do not go to court, they go to a tribunal. They are not heard by a judge (or at least a judge in their capacity as a court justice) and the results are not entered as judicial cases and do not set precedent. It’s designed so a lay person can represent themselves without having to understand the justice system. I know in New South Wales companies have to apply for special leave to have a lawyer represent them, and they need to supply a reason why. In New Zealand lawyers are not allowed in the tribunal, a company must be represented by a manager.
  - mytailorisrich 2y ago
    That's details on this specific process but does not change the boarder point...

baq 2y ago

That's the point. If customers don't complain strongly enough, the manufacturer is incentivized to develop products prone to malfunction. If the cost of malfunction is raised, the incentives change. If they got invited to a hundred cases at the same time, they'd send a lawyer and perhaps even would tweak the design to include some extra $1 parts which actually work.

mytailorisrich 2y ago
It's a trade-off. People don't want appliances that break down after a few years but they also want cheap appliances... In this case it seems to boil down to: "In the end he replaced the light bulb (which hadn't worked for years, we hadn't bothered replacing it) and the message had gone away anyway."... i.e. the guy could have replaced the light bulb when it broke and perhaps nothing would have happened in the first place. So this article comes across as complaining too much, frankly.
- baq 2y ago
  and the next day the error came back and ultimately something else had to be replaced. a failed bulb could result in a 'please change the bulb before the rest of me breaks' on the display, too.