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US Sues Oracle Over Alleged Overcharging
CWmike writes "Oracle is being sued by the US government for allegedly overcharging it by millions of dollars, according to documents on file in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The US General Services Administration's Schedules are supposed to provide discounts that are as good as or better than that given to the vendor's most favored customers, the complaint states. However, Oracle employee Paul Frascella, who joins the government's action, learned that Oracle was finding ways around the GSA restrictions in order to give commercial customers even deeper discounts, according to the complaints. In one alleged practice Oracle was said to be 'selling to a reseller at a deep discount ... and having the reseller sell the product to the end user at a price below the written maximum allowable discounts,' the complaint states. Overall, Oracle's actions cost US taxpayers 'tens of millions of dollars,' it adds."
Yes. One of the stipulations of having a GSA schedule contract is that the government gets Most Favored Customer pricing. Them's the rules, and you break them at your peril.
Yes.
There's a law called the "Truth in Negotiations Act", "TINA" for short, which essentially states that when bidding on a government contract, if you can do the job for less than you bid it for you have broken the law. The bid discloses estimated profits, and the government goes along with varying rates of profit, but if your profit is bigger than you disclose, and it's because you put in a cost item that your company (not just the department doing the bidding, to prevent firewalling to induce uncertainty) knew it could do cheaper (not that it was doing it cheaper), then you are deemed to have ripped off the government knowingly.
I'd love to see a similar law passed for consumer transactions.
Generally we call that a "breech of contract"
Impromptu feghoot:
I found a pair of pants in a store that were very comfortable and stylish, and immediately appealed to my tastes. I took them to the front counter, where the shop owner was checking out the customers, and he said, "Okay, I'll sell you these pants very cheap, but you must agree to never, ever wear them on a Sunday." Without even really thinking about it, I signed the form, and took the pants home.
Well, I often wore them throughout the week, and I got a lot of compliments about the pants. They quickly became a staple of my wardrobe. But I hadn't worn them on a Sunday yet---so one day, figuring the old shopkeeper wasn't really going to hold me to it if I put the damn things on any day of the week I pleased, I pulled them out of my closet and got into them.
Just as soon as I had zipped up the zipper, suddenly, the pants started getting tighter. At first it was just uncomfortable, and I wondered if they had shrunk in the wash. But then it became painful, and I could barely move or breathe. My life flashed before my eyes. I felt like I was having the life literally squeezed out of me.
I stumbled over to the phone and called the store---which was fortunately open on Sundays. The owner picked up the phone. "Hello," he said.
"Pants...too...tight...." I wheezed.
"You're going to have to cut them off," he said flatly. "Don't expect me to help. It's Sunday."
"Why...are...pants...crushing....me."
"Well, you read the deal, didn't you? You're wearing them on a Sunday. It's a Breech of Contract."
Ba-dum-cha!
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.