3 ms·

What annoys me about situations like this is the sheer dogma involved. Doing what the person in this story did, offering to pay the entirety of the contract up

• tedunangst 17y ago
  Since the people at the store probably don't have direct SQL access to the database, they have to use the front end to create your account. And the people who wrote the front end were probably just following the spec. And the person who wrote the spec probably wasn't paid to consider every possible scenario with which to bloat the spec and push the project over time and over budget.
  • bestes 17y ago
    Just doing my job. Didn't the world conclude that was not a valid excuse somewhere around 1945? Also, I think the success of pre-paid accounts show how much many people despise all the dirty tricks with contracts (like the $5000 bill when you had the wrong data plan, SMS fees, etc.) It also proves the infrastructure exists to prevent these kinds of abuses. By that, I mean limits on how much of a bill you are willing to pay rather than the open-ended, oops you should have read the fine print, unlimited credit line.
    • potatolicious 17y ago
      Are you seriously comparing someone asking you for your SSN for a cell phone contract... with the Holocaust?
      • _pius 17y ago
        Godwin's Law in action.
        • bestes 17y ago
          Sorry, I should know better. I do hate when companies take their monopoly power(over the air waves, in this case) to do things that are bad for people. I can't find a link or think of a reference of an appropriate level right now.
  • _pius 17y ago
    That completely misses the point. This isn't about software at all; this is about good business and good management. Sometimes you suck it up and call something in if you have to so you don't lose a customer.
    • tedunangst 17y ago
      And then you discover that the billing system automatically refunds (or refuses to charge) people whenever their account credit goes over $500. Or that somebody added one of those fancy assertion thingies to the code that simply does not allow Pre accounts to be created without a credit check. And then somebody from accounting gets wind of it and shits a brick because the rules are different for money received for a service not yet rendered vs one that is. Or maybe it's just a good business call. By not giving this guy his Pre, they incurred one hit of nerd rage. But they've ducked out on his followups about how unlimited isn't really unlimited, how megabytes aren't the same as megabits, how 3G speed isn't 2.99G speed, and so on and so forth.
      • _pius 17y ago
        Or maybe it's just a good business call. By not giving this guy his Pre, they incurred one hit of nerd rage. But they've ducked out on his followups about how unlimited isn't really unlimited, how megabytes aren't the same as megabits, how 3G speed isn't 2.99G speed, and so on and so forth. Good point. :P
      • LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
        somebody from accounting gets wind of it and shits a brick because the rules are different for money received for a service not yet rendered vs one that is. This is absolutely a real-world scenario. The difference between money received in a lump sum vs. money contracted to be paid in installments over time is a big one as well.