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Attention conservation notice: Ranting after a bad experience with an online service
Nowadays, almost everything is converting to online services. But that also means there is no direct person to contact with if something happens. To make matters worse, the service providers are now focusing on apps, dropping the website format that one can use on a computer.
Now, you just need to download the app on your phone and start using it. Voila!! So easy. The whole world is in your pocket. But there is one catch here, did you just tick the 'I agree' terms and conditions box?
Most likely, the answer would be 'Yes' because without that tick, you can not use that service, or you assume it to be harmless as the government and lawyers are taking care of it. But if you are daring enough, you will still find it hard to read it because of the screen size of your phone. Legal documents are painfully long and very technical, and to read them, one must sit with focus and go through them line by line. This can be done easily on a laptop--big screen and easy to focus--but how can someone expect us to read the terms on the phone?
You can say that may be I am being paranoid but when I need to take responsibility and face consequence of their (service) wrongdoing, it makes me angry. Regarding their failure If you contact them, they can easily play the wild card--you have accepted the terms and conditions so we can not help you. That evil 'I Agree' tick mark made you the sole responsible for whatever happen.
In the normal circumstances, we do not need to be worry about, and usually everything works. We recieve allegedly 'best service' and sometime even compensation for minor troubles. But what about the worst case scenario?
Let us assume you went for a peaceful vacation in a remote place in Italy, and you need to catch a plane from a nearby city. For that you booked an inter-city Uber like online service. But Just before an hour of planned departure, Uber sent you message of canceling it with a 'sincere' apology. So now can you answer, who is responsible for this? Obviously you as you agreed to their terms and conditions.
In another example--this happened to me, actually--you ordered a grocery in the evening and the next day was a public holiday. After waiting an hour--as delievery time was an hour--you got a message of cancellation of your order. Good luck staying hungry during the holidays.
I know I am exaggerating, but in these online services, what pisses me off is that you can not hold accountable to anyone. In most of the scenarios, it's the customer's fault. The government does try to regulate these companies, but they are far from reach, hiding behind their terms and conditions. So there is no escape.
In conclusion, with each stressful situation on internet, I am slowly slowly becoming offline guy who likes to do business with real people not via or with online service providers. I can not deny the usefulness of online services, and I will use them but only when there is no alternative.
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Posted at: Tue, 28 Jan 2025 21:00 GMT
category: /weblog/posts