Piracy is necessary and doesn't hurt revenues

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

It is the hypocrisy that tends to get on peoples nerves. Harry goes on & on about pirates ripping off authors, and entitlement etc. and paying for everything. But he somehow doesn't equate it to applying to him when Amazon gives him money that he never gave them in the first place just for asking a question.

That's utter crap. I didn't ask Amazon to give me money. I did not claim that I was having any problem. I simply asked Amazon CS a factual question. There's no "hypocrisy" there.

[andyh2000]

I buy something in a shop costing £5 and give them a £10 note. The shopkeeper gives me £15 change as they mistakenly think I gave them £20. Should I just walk off with it, as after all I didn't ask for the extra money?

Andrew

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

I buy something in a shop costing £5 and give them a £10 note. The shopkeeper gives me £15 change as they mistakenly think I gave them £20. Should I just walk off with it, as after all I didn't ask for the extra money?

Andrew

Yes, of course you should, because the shopkeeper has made an honest mistake, and it would be dishonest for you to keep it.

Do you think that Amazon has made a "mistake" in crediting my account?

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, of course you should, because the shopkeeper has made an honest mistake, and it would be dishonest for you to keep it.

Do you think that Amazon has made a "mistake" in crediting my account?

Yes.

Andrew

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Yes.

Andrew

You're wrong.

[Josieb1]

Even if Harry contacted Amazon about the credit they would be very unlikely to take it back. CS can't grasp the fact that if they credit people incorrectly they might want the credit reversed. I had a discount applied twice by Talk Talk, but do you think I can get them to accept they've done it, not on your life.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Even if Harry contacted Amazon about the credit they would be very unlikely to take it back. CS can't grasp the fact that if they credit people incorrectly they might want the credit reversed. I had a discount applied twice by Talk Talk, but do you think I can get them to accept they've done it, not on your life.

Amazon appear to give account credits completely on a whim when you contact CS. I've had innumerable such credits over the years. Perhaps it's because I'm a regular customer (I probably make at least 30 Amazon orders in a typical month) or perhaps they do it for everyone. I don't know, but I don't think it can be described as a "mistake" - it's just something they do.

[The Old Man]

Sorry the intrusion but all this morality, or lack thereof, reminded me of a story.

Three fellows go to a hotel room and the clerk charges them $30 for the night. (Many a year ago, right?)

However, the clerk checking his ledger discovers that room is really only $25 so he gives the bellboy five $1 bills to return to the men.

On his way to the room the bellboy says to himself, “These guys won’t know the difference.” So he pockets $2 for himself and returns $3 to the men.

So, the men paid $27 for the room (30-3). The bellboy kept $2.

$27 + $2 = $29. What happened to the extra dollar?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Sorry the intrusion but all this morality, or lack thereof, reminded me of a story.

Three fellows go to a hotel room and the clerk charges them $30 for the night. (Many a year ago, right?)

However, the clerk checking his ledger discovers that room is really only $25 so he gives the bellboy five $1 bills to return to the men.

On his way to the room the bellboy says to himself, “These guys won’t know the difference.” So he pockets $2 for himself and returns $3 to the men.

So, the men paid $27 for the room (30-3). The bellboy kept $2.

$27 + $2 = $29. What happened to the extra dollar?

No, your calculations are wrong.

$30 has been paid: $25 to the clerk, $3 (as a refund) to the men, and $2 to the bellboy.

Or, if you prefer:

$30 was initially paid, and $5 of it was then repaid. $3 of the repayment went to the men, and $2 to the bellboy.

Or, to put it a third way:

The men paid $27. $25 to the clerk, and $2 to the bellboy.

There is no reason to attempt to add the $27 and the $2.

[Barcey]

$27 - $2 = $25. The logic error works better when you're drunk in a bar.

[Katsunami]

Off-topic

Spoiler:

Three men: $30
Bellboy: $0
Hotel: $0

Pay:

Three men: $0
Bellboy: $0
Hotel: $30

Return $5 through Bellboy:

Three men: $0
Bellboy: $5 (in bills of $1)
Hotel: $25

Return $3 to men:

Three men: $3
Bellboy: $2
Hotel: $25

So everything adds up.

The men pay $27 for the room, of which $25 ends up in the hotel's account, and $2 stays in the bellboy's pocket. You are missing that one dollar because the men got returned one dollar more than the bellboy stole.

===

On a similar note, do you know this joke on the circle of debts?

A customer walks into a hotel and wants to rent a room for $50. He says: "I'll put $50 on the counter, and I'll take a look upstairs, OK? If I like the room, I'll rent it." "OK," says the hotel owner. As soon as the customer is upstairs, the hotel owner grabs the $50, and runs over to the baker, to pay an $50 debt he has with him. The baker, in turn runs to the hairdresser to pay a $50 bill. The hairdresser runs to... and so on. 15 minutes after the hotel owner first ran out with this $50, a prostitute walks into the hotel, and says: "Here's the $50 I still owe you for that room I rented last week."

The hotel owner puts the $50 back on the counter. At that point, the customer comes down the stairs, and says: "Sorry, but I don't like your rooms," picks up the $50, and leaves the hotel.

Thus, all debts in the entire village were resolved.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Off-topic

Spoiler:

On a similar note, do you know this joke on the circle of debts?

A customer walks into a hotel and wants to rent a room for $50. He says: "I'll put $50 on the counter, and I'll take a look upstairs, OK? If I like the room, I'll rent it." "OK," says the hotel owner. As soon as the customer is upstairs, the hotel owner grabs the $50, and runs over to the baker, to pay an $50 debt he has with him. The baker, in turn runs to the hairdresser to pay a $50 bill. The hairdresser runs to... and so on. 15 minutes after the hotel owner first ran out with this $50, a prostitute walks into the hotel, and says: "Here's the $50 I still owe you for that room I rented last week."

The hotel owner puts the $50 back on the counter. At that point, the customer comes down the stairs, and says: "Sorry, but I don't like your rooms," picks up the $50, and leaves the hotel.

Thus, all debts in the entire village were resolved.

Spoiler:

Exactly the same end result could of course have been achieved by the prostitute paying her $50 to start the chain. The customer isn't necessary at all.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Spoiler:

Exactly the same end result could of course have been achieved by the prostitute paying her $50 to start the chain. The customer isn't necessary at all.

Spoiler:

There is a difference. You assume the prostitute HAS $50 to pay, but she hasn't. The point is that all of the debts cannot be paid off because nobody has the $50 to start the chain. Also, nobody knows there actually IS a chain, with each debt being the same amount of money: if they did, they could just wave all the debts.

[Josieb1]

Talking of credits applied randomly here's how they run Audible.

I participated in the offer buy three audio books and get a £10 coupon. Coupon duly arrived and I selected a book costing £9.35. I put book in my basket selected checkout and the price jumped to £10.60.

I contacted Audible who apologised and added another £10 coupon so I wasn't out of pocket. I purchased the book and another one, the two books costing less than £20.

I then returned one of the two books as couldn't stand the narrator (sometimes it takes longer than the sample to realise this). I got a coupon returned to my account.

I go to use the coupon and my credit card gets charged. I enquire why. The answer, it's a mistake but we'll refund you and debit the coupon, but please have another £10 coupon as compensation, ohh and here's a free credit too.

So my £10 coupon ended up costing Audible £40.

I dare not query it again, who knows what they'll give me.

[Katsunami]

"Y u give me so much moneyz? Ztap!"
- "Sorry ma'am... Honest mistake. We'll just take that £40 out of your account."
- "There, all done. Please have this £50 coupon as compensation for your trouble."
"Njaaaaargghhh......"