WhyADuck
Premium
join:2003-03-05
| Re: Deja vu The problem may be with the advertising and packaging. No one could object if they were selling "Vonage service (includes Linksys or Netgear router programmed for use with Vonage)" BUT if their ads and packaging prominently feature the router and either do not disclose that it's "locked" to Vonage service, or disclose it only after the consumer arrives at the store and then only in fine print on the box (as an example - I haven't seen the actual packaging) then I think there is a serious problem. Customers have a reasonable expectation that routers are not tied to a single provider (just as when you buy a non-digital camera you don't expect it to be tied to a certain brand of film, to the exclusion of all others). If that is not the case, then it needs to be fully disclosed to the customer, certainly before they put any money down for the product, but also in the printed advertising so the customer doesn't make a wasted trip to the store to discover that the product is locked to a single provider.
Hopefully the stores that sell these intentionally-crippled devices will get a lot of returns, and decide that full disclosure up front is better for their bottom line. |
