We’ve got a real computer squeeze here in Saipan, with U.S. style dependence on computers without access to the major lines of supply that our stateside counterparts enjoy. We’ve got several computer stores here, thank goodness, and some have gotten quite serious about bringing prices down to reasonable levels.<\/p>\n
Despite the improvement in the local supply situation, however, a lot of us have wound up dealing with “direct merchants” in the states. The result is often boiling-mad frustration. I’ve ordered stuff that broke and the merchant wouldn’t take it back (vendor: Microwarehouse). I’ve also ordered stuff that’s never arrived (vendor: PC Connection), only to find out the incompetent jokers there who can’t find any record of shipping the item are also crooks who won’t give a full refund. Way out here in Saipan, we often find we’ve got no recourse against these scoundrels.<\/p>\n
Ah, but the Federal Trade Commission sure does. Imagine my glee at reading that the feds are scrutinizing, and punishing, errant vendors.<\/p>\n
YIPPEE! Get \u2018em, feds. Book \u2018em Danno, ripoff in the first degree.<\/p>\n
Rip their lungs out, eat their ears straight off of their heads, boil them alive…sadly, the feds haven’t done that yet, but I’ll volunteer to help if they decide to resort to using corporal punishment for scumbag direct merchants.<\/p>\n
For now, sadly, revenge is limited to thinning down the fat wallets of the likes of Dell Computers and Gateway. Both firms, according to a column in January’s Computer Shopper magazine (“Feds Eye Computer Mail Order,” penned by Tami D. Peterson), have been tagged for engaging in allegedly sleezy behavior.<\/p>\n
Gateway was preliminarily nailed for a cool $290,000 penalty, but the feds haven’t completed the whole process yet, so I don’t know if the company forked over the cash or not.<\/p>\n
Dell, however, has forked over a tidy $800,000 to Uncle Sam, fined for breaking the laws regarding customer service in mail order.<\/p>\n
Iomega Corporation a few weeks ago agreed to pay $900,000 in penalties, for violations including messing with rebates promised to customers. This information comes courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission’s web site.<\/p>\n
Ain’t life grand? I won’t see any of this money, of course, but I just feel better knowing that the feds are starting to throw their weight around in this realm.<\/p>\n
This is, after all, one of the ways in which government muscle can actually help the free market become more efficient. If a vendor is a liar, a scoundrel, or a crook, the consumer is often times completely helpless. Trade is more efficient when the terms of the trade are known to all parties (a realm known as “information cost” in economic parlance).<\/p>\n
Good for the FTC, that’s what I say. Improved market efficiency is a step in the right direction. Whether or not the industry will really shape-up is anyone’s guess, but at least we can bask in the glow of vicarious revenge while the FTC knocks some heads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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