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I'm not sure what countries you've been in, but British culture is definitely not like that. B2B transactions do have more emphasis on following the rules of t
by scott_w 12y ago
I'm not sure what countries you've been in, but British culture is definitely not like that.
B2B transactions do have more emphasis on following the rules of the contract, as two businesses are seen as being on a more "even playing field".
B2C transactions, however, rely heavily on consumer protection legislations (Sale of Goods Act, Supply of Goods and Services Act, Unfair Contract Terms Act), which recognise that most consumers do not read contract terms at all. In addition, there are a number of regulators and public bodies whose sole purpose is to provide free legal advice, and to fight cases on behalf of the consumer. Hell, there's a ton of morning television dedicated to hunting down dodgy builders and shaming them publicly.
My point is that contracts aren't as integral to everyday life as you assume, and most people will freely sign them in the knowledge that any bad terms are mostly unenforceable.
- tehwalrus 12y agoIndeed. Also, under British law, a contract is not enforcible if the person who accepted a signature knows that the contract's preconditions weren't met - for example, if you sign a safety waiver which says "I declare I have not been drinking" and you clearly have, the waiver is void and the fairground are up for damages if you hurt yourself on their ride.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- justincormack 12y agoI recommend you leave HN until you grow up.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- reduce 12y agoJoining in name calling and hostility under your real name? Not a smart move, guy.
- jackmaney 12y agoNot-so-subtly threatening others is definitely not a smart move.
- reduce 12y agoThen you're saying maybe all three of us aren't so smart? No argument here :) I'm not claiming to be smart, but I'm not going to hesitate for a second to call out people who start putting others down, no matter what.
- reduce 12y agoI'll just put this here, since I can't edit my previous comment: Thanks for all the downvotes for sharing a differing life experience, you who downvoted. You shouldn't downvote just because you disagree. Hacker news is so hostile. By the way, I wasn't talking about Briton, Germany, France or any of Western Europe.
- jackmaney 12y agoI didn't downvote your earlier comment (because I'm not able to downvote, yet), but I certainly flagged this comment. What, exactly, do you think you're adding to the discussion at hand by vomiting out such tripe?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- reduce 12y agoThanks. I flagged yours too. I want the mods to pay attention and find a way to reduce the hostility of Hacker News. Several people I know in real life have told me that they perceive Hacker News comments as very hostile, so I know it's not just me. Nothing significant has been done to try to correct it.
- dang 12y agoWe care about this a lot, pay close attention, and have been working hard on it. > Nothing significant has been done to try to correct it. That's a misperception, presumably because perceptions lag even after changes occur. But one needn't look far to see some: two inappropriate comments upthread have been killed by user flags and clearly marked as such.