This isn't DragonCon's bailiwick at all; D*C doesn't get a vote on how Froggy does business, they only get a vote on whether Froggy CAN do business at D*C at all next year. You folks remember the "vacation" people back in '07, with their little clipboards and their "win a cruise" scam: when D*C found out what those turkeys were up to, they got banned from ever coming back (and we got warnings posted here about their scamminess), but that was the limit of what the convention organizers could really do. The company had provided entirely reasonable (presumably faked) evidence of being a real company, before the convention.
No, it's not D*C you all should be asking questions of, it's the company that transferred your money to Froggy! (And, maybe, your own lawyer, if you're REALLY mad and have a few hundred bucks to throw at it.)
I know so little about Froggy that I don't even know if they use PayPal. Paypal has a set of rules about transactions conducted through their service which might have an affect on this situation; each credit card company has its own set of rules, and none of them entirely agree, so this could easily range from "buyer beware" to "notify our fraud department" depending on the finance company involved, the size of the transaction, and the mindset of the department manager setting policy for the Resolutions Division involved.
Yanno, this might be a good topic for a panel at the EFF. The way that the law interacts with business conducted electronically is changing every month, sometimes every day.
What does federal law have to say about internet advertising and its relation to "deceptive business practices"? Does it matter whether you have a dated record (such as a printout of an unaltered confirmation email) clearly stating a specific price for the service, that doesn't match what you're asked to pay subsequently? Is there any sort of an allowance for an honest clerical error, or is the honest-but-fumblefingered website owner required to honor the lowest price he advertised ... or are they safe with a "reasonable advance warning to all customers of the error"? What constitutes "reasonable"?
What is the time period in which a business is required by law to refund a deposit on a pre-ordered Internet service?
What is the fine print on the agreement to use Froggy's photography service? Is there a clause that the price may change on a preorder?
Is there a clause that by purchasing/preordering, you commit yourself to arbitration in the event of a dispute ... and if so, will that hold up in Georgia? -- in your home state? -- in Froggy's official state of residence? -- for legal purposes, where DID that transaction take place?
How should a so-called "regular user" figure all of this out before doing business with an Internet-based company in the first place? Should electronic businesses be required to put their location of record someplace on their "about us" or "contact" pages?
Anybody want to spend some time cramming at their local Law Library in the next thirteen days?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-08-21 08:02 am (UTC)No, it's not D*C you all should be asking questions of, it's the company that transferred your money to Froggy!
(And, maybe, your own lawyer, if you're REALLY mad and have a few hundred bucks to throw at it.)
I know so little about Froggy that I don't even know if they use PayPal. Paypal has a set of rules about transactions conducted through their service which might have an affect on this situation; each credit card company has its own set of rules, and none of them entirely agree, so this could easily range from "buyer beware" to "notify our fraud department" depending on the finance company involved, the size of the transaction, and the mindset of the department manager setting policy for the Resolutions Division involved.
Yanno, this might be a good topic for a panel at the EFF. The way that the law interacts with business conducted electronically is changing every month, sometimes every day.
What does federal law have to say about internet advertising and its relation to "deceptive business practices"?
Does it matter whether you have a dated record (such as a printout of an unaltered confirmation email) clearly stating a specific price for the service, that doesn't match what you're asked to pay subsequently?
Is there any sort of an allowance for an honest clerical error, or is the honest-but-fumblefingered website owner required to honor the lowest price he advertised ... or are they safe with a "reasonable advance warning to all customers of the error"? What constitutes "reasonable"?
What is the time period in which a business is required by law to refund a deposit on a pre-ordered Internet service?
What is the fine print on the agreement to use Froggy's photography service? Is there a clause that the price may change on a preorder?
Is there a clause that by purchasing/preordering, you commit yourself to arbitration in the event of a dispute ... and if so, will that hold up in Georgia? -- in your home state? -- in Froggy's official state of residence? -- for legal purposes, where DID that transaction take place?
How should a so-called "regular user" figure all of this out before doing business with an Internet-based company in the first place? Should electronic businesses be required to put their location of record someplace on their "about us" or "contact" pages?
Anybody want to spend some time cramming at their local Law Library in the next thirteen days?