Unlimited software warranties

[John G. DeArmond]

peter at ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:

>OK, we'll drop the Sears bit... but I have never seen this behaviour from
>any merchant that I have done business with. Unless I've got a *recent*
>receipt or the merchandise is in "like new" condition, you can't return
>it. Period.

Haven't been shopping much lately, huh, peter?  About the only company I've
ever had any problems returning merchandise to in an interval not in
contention with my concience has been Service Merchandise.  Even good old
Sears, the company I love to hate, has ultimately returned my money when
requested.  Not sure what the point of this quibble is but whatever.

>The psychology argument is compelling, but as I've never seen it actually
>implemented I don't buy it. Limited (30, 60, 90, whatever) guarantees are
>common. Unlimited, open-ended ones? At K-mart?

Only thing I've ever had K-mart ask me for was a receipt.  Reasonable?
I think so.

>> Let's take our old whipping post friend, ISC Unix.  Would you really have
>> the guts to use the product for a year and then arbitrarily ask for your 
>> money back?

>I wouldn't. J Random corporate purchasing agent, with no causal connection
>to the product... sure. 

Of course, it does not get back to the purchasing agent until the technical
group decides that the product does not fit the bill.  And my experience is
that engineers and programmers tend to take junk products and deposit them
in the boneyard rather than hassling with the paperwork required to 
return products.  In other words, not really an issue.

>Before folks started cracking down on it, piracy
>was practically corporate policy many places, and that's not just a matter
>of being a deadbeat. Corporations do not suffer from embarassment.

Corporate piracy is still rampant even among software development companies.
I know, I've worked for a few.  But this has absolutely nothing to do with
the issue of warranties.  If a company is really going to rip a vendor off
to that degree, it is easy enough to get an evaluation copy from which to 
copy.  No paperwork trail and no potential interstate trafficking charges 
because no money is involved.  Example?  Both major 386 Unix vendors.
Another example?  I recently wrote to a PCB CAD software company requesting
a review copy for a magazine article I'm writing.  I neglected to mention
the magazine.  A copy arrived complete with a no-charge PO and a customer
number.  No questions asked, not even a phone call.  Summary: If someone in a 
large company really wants to rip off a package, it is trivial.  The more
common cultural pressure in pirating companies is to buy one copy and 
massively copy it for internal consumption.  Again, a warranty is not
involved.

I'm not sure what your point is, peter.  Are you arguing against better
warranties and the implied increase in quality.  I don't think that this
is the message you are trying to send but that's what's comming across.

John

-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC        | "Purveyors of speed to the Trade"  (tm)
Rapid Deployment System, Inc. |  Home of the Nidgets (tm)
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{emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd      |"Politically InCorrect.. And damn proud of it