8. We reserve the right to refuse service and disable a customer’s key at any time for any reason
Also, they are lying in that it was just one employee that did this. From the ticket you can see an employee was answering the ticket at first, but then "Rick" took over, who appears to be "Rick Ruhl", a co-owner of HRD software, and throws gems like this to the stunned customer:
You are not buying software, you are buying your callsign's access to the software.... Again refer to section 8 of the TOS, which was written by our Attorney.... See you in court.
Extortion is still extortion. Even if the thing you are threatening to do is perfectly legal sans the threat.
Also:
Being an asshole is still being an asshole. Even all was legally sound and the other guy could/should have seen your capability to screw him in the terms, securing and exercising that capability is a choice, and that choice can make you an asshole. It is perfectly legal to choose to be an asshole, but don't come whining to me or anyone else when you get called out. Those are the stakes.
If you actively piss off your customers or prospective customers enough to hurt your reputation, that is on you. It's your problem, and it's your fault.
Unless they're selling it as a subscription service, I really doubt that line in the TOS would hold up in court. For a contract to be legally valid, there has to be an exchange of consideration [nolo.com] - you have to get something for the money you paid. Putting a line in the contract which allows them to unilaterally revoke everything you paid for nullifies that consideration, essentially invalidating the contract. They'd have to give you your money back to enforce that clause.
Why is this unbelievable? Many ham radio people I know are outright assholes. This is just the natural outcome of the attitude in the industry...arrogance towards newbies with questions, act superior because you know more about ham radios than the guy asking questions, etc. What is amazing is that people are actually surprised at this.
Here is the support ticket (Score:5, Interesting)
Here is the entire support ticket the guy opened: http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?attachments/hrd-software-inc-pdf.336462/ [qrz.com].
It seems that they have in their TOS a line that says:
8. We reserve the right to refuse service and disable a customer’s key at any time for any reason
Also, they are lying in that it was just one employee that did this. From the ticket you can see an employee was answering the ticket at first, but then "Rick" took over, who appears to be "Rick Ruhl", a co-owner of HRD software, and throws gems like this to the stunned customer:
You are not buying software, you are buying your callsign's access to the software. ... ...
Again refer to section 8 of the TOS, which was written by our Attorney.
See you in court.
Unbelievable!
Re:Here is the support ticket (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Here is the support ticket (Score:4, Insightful)
Extortion is still extortion.
Even if the thing you are threatening to do is perfectly legal sans the threat.
Also:
Being an asshole is still being an asshole.
Even all was legally sound and the other guy could/should have seen your capability to screw him in the terms, securing and exercising that capability is a choice, and that choice can make you an asshole. It is perfectly legal to choose to be an asshole, but don't come whining to me or anyone else when you get called out. Those are the stakes.
If you actively piss off your customers or prospective customers enough to hurt your reputation, that is on you. It's your problem, and it's your fault.
Re: (Score:2)
The kind of extortion HRD are undertaking would get them in the dock facing 5 years jail in a german court.
Yes. it really is that serious.
("Accident" isn't an excuse, The penaltes are for the _attempt_)
Re:Here is the support ticket (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Why is this unbelievable? Many ham radio people I know are outright assholes. This is just the natural outcome of the attitude in the industry...arrogance towards newbies with questions, act superior because you know more about ham radios than the guy asking questions, etc. What is amazing is that people are actually surprised at this.
Re: (Score:2)
That gem should be archived and pointed out to "journalists" covering the story, because it shows the clear lie of their official statements.
Re: (Score:1)
And once you've been Rick Ruhl'd, they're Always Gonna Give You Up.