FTC sues amazon over dark patterns

[Apache]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Well, in Texas, where it can get really hot (and hunid), there used to be local rules mandating water breaks for workers, the governor has signed a state law rescinding those rights.

Yeah, I think that is a dangerous and stupid law.
Apache

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Well, in Texas, where it can get really hot (and hunid), there used to be local rules mandating water breaks for workers, the governor has signed a state law rescinding those rights.

Yeah, that was a real shock. And it was done during the intense heat-wave we're continuing to go through. Regardless of the point he was trying to make, it's a real black-eye for him.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, that was a real shock. And it was done during the intense heat-wave we're continuing to go through. Regardless of the point he was trying to make, it's a real black-eye for him.

Well, the media sure seems to be playing it that way, and I agree with the idea of local government being better than higher levels of government when possible, and no doubt the law will have unintended consequences, like the water break thing, BUT, I think the media is overplaying the water break thing just for headlines. The law is about state preemption in several broad areas, not just "a law to rescind the water break rights" as some headlines suggest.

1. All the deaths cited in the articles I see already happened while the local laws are in effect, so they are all irrelevant to the discussion, just sensational headlines.
2. The local laws are in exactly three places as far as I can tell. The rest of the state has no such ordinances, and mass dehydration doesn't seem to be huge state wide problem.
3. If you need to rely on laws to make businesses let their employees drink water, you've got way bigger problems, and probably should be creating a state law rather than leaving it to local municipalities, who apparently have evil, inhumane people operating there. Get OSHA involved.
4. The law doesn't go in to effect till September, after the dogs days of summer, so, yeah the "optics" of the timing are pretty bad, but that's all. No one is losing a water break during the current heat wave because of this law.

ApK

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Well, in Texas, where it can get really hot (and hunid), there used to be local rules mandating water breaks for workers, the governor has signed a state law rescinding those rights.

just a reminder: regulations are written in blood.

for every "lol that's obvious and doesn't need to be a rule" such as 'let your workers drink water in hot weather' is someone who didn't do that, to cut costs or whatever other reasons was valued over human lives.

[Catlady]

Going back to the early focus of this thread, Amazon's questionable practices upon checkout:

I placed an Amazon order for a few items today (something that's become a rare occurrence for me), making sure to meet the $35 free-shipping threshold. After I refused offers of a Prime free trial and got to the checkout page, I noticed that Amazon was charging me for shipping. I went back to verify that my items were all shipped and sold by Amazon, which they were. Then I finally noticed that on the checkout page, the default was two-day paid shipping. I had to specifically click the free-shipping option.

This is nuts, and seems to be designed to make consumers pay for a service they don't want. When the default has always been free shipping at a certain threshold, it's easy to assume that you are indeed getting free shipping without having to ask for it. I don't know of any online retailer that does what Amazon is now doing.

If Walmart wasn't out-of-stock on one of my items, I would've ordered there instead. Amazon continues to push me away as a customer.

[Quoth]

It took me about 1/2 hour or more to order coffee filters on Amazon just a while ago. Crazy process. The details would be boring.

No one here in the city sells any brand. No idea why. Many did have them.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Then I finally noticed that on the checkout page, the default was two-day paid shipping. I had to specifically click the free-shipping option.

This is nuts, and seems to be designed to make consumers pay for a service they don't want. When the default has always been free shipping at a certain threshold, it's easy to assume that you are indeed getting free shipping without having to ask for it

Amazon has always done this on my end. When you meet the threshold for free shipping, it becomes an option at checkout, but it was never the default. The default shipping method has always been checked, and I've had to switch to the free shipping option. I've never seen two-day shipping be the default, but I've never seen free shipping be the default, either. It's only been an option for those of us who pay attention to the order confirmation page.

[Quoth]

For a long time here till the very last step, default is "complete with Prime" (multiple pages). Then on last step the most expensive shipping is the default and you can pick cheaper or free if it qualifies, or prime. Parts of the order may separately have fixed shipping cost. Then you have to click again to change from Amazon's euro rate (on UK Marketplace) to the GBP price, where the usually better exchange rate of my payment method will be used. There is never free shipping on German Marketplace, but the price including shipping can be the UK price with free shipping.

Then also the included VAT is wrong on the UK web page (but not German or US) for higher value items and the price changes dramatically at the last stage of checkout. That's illegal for retail in EU, were sellers registered for EU VAT by law must display total retail including the VAT of the destination (if sales to that EU country exceed a threshold). The US Sales tax is a completely different system and unlike EU isn't part of the retail price as such.

Kindle ebooks are different and have no shopping basket, which is stupid, and are one-click only.