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From: news@accuvax.nwu.edu (USENET News System)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: On Who You Owe When Slammed
Message-ID: <15508@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 20 Dec 90 00:06:19 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 890, Message 3 of 11


stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) writes:
 
>   So, some wiseguy lives down the street from you, and hears you call
>Sears on your cordless phone. He calls Sears back and cancels your
>order with them, and then calls K-Mart and orders a cheap replacement
>refrigerator to be sent to you. The wiseguy is the, often third party,
telemarketer who told your telco to switch service.

>   Who do you owe, and how much?  [...]

>   4) You owe nobody anything. This is the "owe nobody anything" argument .

>   The service was provided. 

	The "service" [i.e. the fridge] was *offered*, and you
rejected it (as you were entitled to do because it wasn't what you
asked for).  Suppose, however, that you had *accepted* the fridge, and
used it for its entire useful life (without noticing that it was
K-mart).  Or suppose, in a restaurant, the waitress delivers the wrong
meal, which you consume without complaint.  You can no longer reject
something as not being what you wanted *after* you've consumed it.

>   You owe K-Mart the chance to come pick its refridgerator up. [...]
>You owe the unchosen carrier the chance to
>retrieve its service.

	You owe the restaurant the opportunity to pump your stomach?
You asked for something, you got what appeared to be what you wanted,
you consumed it without complaint, and now you won't pay anything for
it?  You won't even pay what you would have paid if they had served
what you ordered?

	If you were unable to detect that the service wasn't AT&T when
you consumed it, what reason do you have to complain now?  If you had
inadvertedly been served Folger's Crystals when you thought you were
getting fresh-brew, how were you injured?  A classic case of "pearls
before swine."
 
>   So, which payment option is correct? Only number 4.