The Emerging RadioShack/Netflix Debacle

New submitter DigitalParc writes "RadioShack recently launched a promotion for 6 months of free Netflix service with the purchase of a laptop, tablet, or phone. This ended up being a fantastic deal, until the shoddy redemption site they were using for the Netflix code redemption was exploited and many of the codes were stolen. 'Users on slickdeals, a deal-finding and sometimes deal-exploiting website, found that the URL of the redemption website could be changed upon trying to enter a code, resulting in a valid Netflix subscription code being generated. Within hours, many of Netflix codes that were allocated to this promotion were stolen and some were redeemed or put up for sale on eBay.'"

Comments

RS is liable

[Anonymous Coward]

If they can't find a way to invalidate some of those codes, they're liable for damages. Which is a shame; as much as people hate on RadioShack, I find them very convenient to pick up a piece of equipment that I need immediately.

Re:RS is liable

[mythosaz]

The preceding was post brought to you by the year 1981.

Re:RS is liable

[Cinder6]

Honest question: 7-11 sells random audio adapters, cheap soldering equipment, and wiring?

Re:RS is liable

[StormCrow]

You mean you can actually still buy that at Radio Shack?

Re:RS is liable

[gnick]

Las Cruces (At least when I was there) had 2. One for RC cars, cell phones, etc. Another one for EE students to buy components that most RS customers would look at and think, "Why would somebody want a metal toothpick? Especially one that flimsy?"

Re:RS is liable

[TheCarp]

Last time I was there I picked up an LM7505 voltage regulator and a 24 V center tapped transformer. I mean yah, I would normally order that from mouser or someone else; or drive 45 minutes to the good hobby electronics store, but for just a couple of basic things, RS is not so bad.

Where does 7-11 keep those? Is it near the slurpees?

Re:RS is liable

[Anonymous Coward]

A few days ago I went to radio shack to buy some capacitors. They also carry things like resistors, LEDs, breadboards, etc. They also have a lot of the MAKE electronics books and kits to learn electronics. I've also bought things like relays, soldering supplies, etc.

Re:RS is liable

[BronsCon]

Nothing close to what they had 15 years ago, though. Sad.

Re:RS is liable

[firex726]

Same here, that's the only reason I got by RS now.

I might pay an inflated price, but it's still only $1 in store compared to $0.25 online; so no big deal.

Their less techinal stuff, like an audio exten cable, are just bullshit though; $20 for a 3' stereo cable, not even a Monster, it was RS's store brand.

Re:RS is liable

[avandesande]

If the larger store I went to recently is an indicator they have started carrying quite a bit more like the old days....

Re:RS is liable

[netsavior]

I think many of the stores might sell real stuff somewhere in the back... but the last 2 I went to had nothing more than cellphones and headphones, nothing else.

Re:RS is liable

[geekoid]

The one near my house as a bunch of arduino boards, as well as electronic components.

Re:RS is liable

[netsavior]

It is awesome that your radio shack is still a radio shack. Mine is not. You know those drawers full of switches and other breadboard components? Yeah those are gone, 'cause of some superbowl rebranding, or something.

Re:RS is liable

[AK Marc]

Last I went to one (it's been years), they had no components. They recommended Home Depot, who did carry solder irons and solder. Radio Shack sold phones, toys, and not much else.

Re:RS is liable

[geekoid]

No. its better the 15 years ago. Nothing compared to 25 years ago.

Re:RS is liable

[AK Marc]

When I last went to a Radio Shack (close to 12 years ago now) it was for speaker cable. They only sold the packages like you describe. I went to the same one 5 years before that and they had it by the foot on rolls. And electronic components. But in 2001, last I was in one, there was nothing like that at all. I guess they tried making a come back. But now, I'm nowhere near one, so I can't check again. Like the solder and iron I mentioned elsewhere, Home Depot was a better electronics store than Radio Shack (solder, and piles of speaker wire, though they call it electrical wire there).

Re:RS is liable

[Anonymous Coward]

It depends a lot on which ones you go to. Some store managers have removed the components completely, others still have at least all the basic sized resistors and a small selection of other things or more. Or in one case, I stopped at one to see they had a bare minimum number of components: some resistors and two sizes of caps to chose from, as if it were some kind of token.

Re:RS is liable

[SJHillman]

Depends on the location. The one nearest my hometown is basically just cell phones and RC cars. The one near where I live now has a pretty decent selection of electronic components. The former one is in a mall, the latter has its own store in a shopping plaza, so that might be part of the difference.

Re:RS is liable

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems more like $1-3 in store versus $0.01-0.05 online. For $10-20 you could order enough components online to duplicate whatever small stuff RS might be carrying and have it on hand yourself. For some real commonly used sizes, for a dollar order more resistors of a size or two than you are likely to use in a long time. And then every time I order special parts for a project, I through in some extra common parts, or if I need unusual sized caps or resistors, for a quarter more I can have a bunch extras in case I ever need them again. As convenient as a RS can be when you really need a part (assuming they even carry it), it is a lot more convenient, and a lot cheaper, to just have the stock in your house.

Re:RS is liable

[Mike Buddha]

I haven't seen a single Radio Shack in the Portland area that doesn't have a cabinet of components. Not one.

Re:RS is liable

[Applehu Akbar]

I'm old enough to remember real Radio Shack: discrete ham radio components hanging from the ceiling like bats in a cave. Big tubs of resistors and capacitors you could root around in. Racks of tubes. And...customers! I swear I'm not making this part up RS stores had customers in those days!

Those were the days when ham radio fans had hair, and did not have oxygen tanks.

Re:RS is liable

[BronsCon]

Dude, I'm not 12 :) I just happen to have worked there 15 years ago, so that's what I used as a point of reference. I was raised by a robotics engineer; I grew up in that fucking place... Seeing what it's become today almost makes me shed a tear... almost.

Re:RS is liable

[Anonymous Coward]

On the east cost I've seen ones with anywhere from zero to a half dozen of those little modular drawer things (with ~4 drawers each). Most had only one or two of them though.

Re:RS is liable

[Applehu Akbar]

Fifteen years ago? I was talking specifically about 1956, in the early Toronto suburbs, when my ham uncle took me to a Real Radio Shack for the first time. Now that was Stuff That Mattered.

Re:RS is liable

[Strange Ranger]

So you grabbed whatever was in their little geek bins in the back that worked for you and told us the details. Sure ok.

You could open a Pinball themed shop selling pinball machine parts too. But the front 98% of it better be a brew pub with working pinball machines, good food, and hot waitresses.

Re:RS is liable

[BronsCon]

So you've got a few years on me. You still missed the part where I said I *worked there* 15 years ago, but surely that must have been after i practically *grew up* in the place; you don't have nearly the head start you think you do. At any rate, it seems we're both in agreement that RS has become a much lesser store than either of us remember it to be; I'll go ahead and get off your lawn now, so our pissing match of just how far they've fallen doesn't leavy any browns spots.

Re:RS is liable

[BronsCon]

Wow... and this is why I don't post late-night as I'm heading to bed... That should read "I'll go ahead and get off your lawn now, so our pissing match over just how far they've fallen doesn't leave any browns spots". Also, sorry about the footprints; it should spring back in a few hours.

Re:RS is liable

[RabidReindeer]

If the larger store I went to recently is an indicator they have started carrying quite a bit more like the old days....

Rumor has it that they decided that they were getting trounced on the consumer electronics front and have retreated to some of their more traditional offerings. Not much chance that Wal-Mart's going to be stocking 50 mf capacitors.

It's also helping (I think) that there are now ways of doing things with electronics that don't involve ultraspecialized chips that have to be wave-soldered onto a multi-layer circuit board. The Arduino and Raspberry Pi provide a lot of power, but they are good matches for simple custom interface circuits, buildable from Radio Shack components.

Plus, the Shack is selling the Arduino and Pi alongside them.

oops

[sootman]

I'm surprised Netflix would agree to a partnership like this and not be in control of how the codes were handed out.

Re:oops

[Drethon]

If Netflix sold the time codes to RadioShack up front, I don't think they particularly care what happens to them. Not that I found anything that says one way or the other what happened.

Re:oops

[maliqua]

this seems to be a big deal for no reason, a large corporation has to eat the cost of a few Netflix subscriptions and get a website patched.

Re:oops

[asmkm22]

Well, apparently RadioShack must not be able to afford such a standard response. Or maybe some random manager is just trying to pass the buck in an effort to salvage a quarterly bonus or something. Either way, maybe they shouldn't have blown their wad on a superbowl commercial, and instead focused on just being a quality store where you can get electronics and electronic parts. Not every company needs to exist as a industry behemoth.

Re:oops

[Anonymous Coward]

and instead focused on just being a quality store where you can get electronics and electronic parts

Except, that hasn't been true for a LONG time.

Radio Shack is now just a retailer of low end electronics, cell phones, and only the most basic of electronics parts.

They stopped being what you describe a very long time ago.

Re:oops

[Anonymous Coward]

Why? Anyone who registers is a potential customer and counted in the ranks. It's all good for them. It's Radio Shat that gets splattered.

Re:oops

[Technician]

Codes should need tied to the unit serial number. When RS buys there inventory with the NetFlix deal, the website should require the device model/serial number pair to match the devices purchased by RS to be validated.

Re:oops

[LordKronos]

This isn't the first time this happened. In late 2012, there was a promo where you by an LG (I think that was the brand) HDTV and get a year of netflix for free. The problem was, you could just go onto the LG website and enter your serial number, and the website would accept any made up number as long as it started with the correct 2 or 3 digit sequence (or something like that). That was all over slickdeals too.

Re:oops

[farble1670]

If Netflix sold the time codes to RadioShack up front, I don't think they particularly care what happens to them

they certainly do care about customers being pissed off at netflix because of RS's screw up. i know, it's technically RS's fault, but companies don't want their name associated with any sort of bad experience.

why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Joe_Dragon]

why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for even when you are just buying batteries

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Aaden42]

You know you can say, “No, thanks,” when they ask for your phone number, and they’ll still sell you your batteries, right?

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

Or do what I always do: not go to RadioShack to buy anything.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[gnick]

553-2869. Or 867-5309. It's not like they call and verify before they give you the batteries.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Charliemopps]

Refuse to give your number and then I chew out the clerk. I even refuse to give my zipcode. I refuse to participate in data mining myself and they should be ashamed of themselves for asking.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[plover]

The Rat Shacks in Minnesota stopped asking for phone numbers over a decade ago. Hate on them all you want, but I recommend using current facts, not memories.

Re: why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

Or you could just say not thank you.
The clerk does not care about your number or zip code.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[LordLimecat]

Thee clerk has a (crappy) job to do. You should be ashamed for yourself for venting about corporate policy decisions to a clerk who has nothing to do with them.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[jeffmflanagan]

The part where your shortcomings as a person enter the picture, and cause you to abuse the clerk is the larger problem.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[geekoid]

Yes, it's the clerks fault.
You're an asshole. You could simply say "No".
Of course I haven't been asked for any of the info in over a decades.

". I refuse to participate in data mining myself and they should be ashamed of themselves for asking."
dear lord, they might get information to make there store better fit your needs! oh lordy lordy!

Datamining, sheesh, so what?

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[AK Marc]

Yes, the clerk is "just following orders". If the orders are bad, the clerk has the option to not follow them.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Mike Buddha]

Yep. I haven't been asked for a phone number in a long, long time. I go in there looking for their closeout stuff pretty regularly.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[cdrudge]

They haven't asked for phone numbers (or anything else really) for ages. At least at all the stores around here.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

And get chewed out by his manager for not following company policy. Or maybe fired, depending. Not worth the hassle, not when he can simply ask and let you say "no thanks" instead. Holding the wage slaves accountable for what their corporate masters decree is pointless and petty. And venting your rage at those same peons makes you the bad guy, not them.

Oh and your quote from the Nuremberg trials? Not applicable in this situation. In the actual court, "I was just following orders" was actually a valid defense - for low ranking grunts. You'll note that all the famous war criminals were not low ranking. Officers and fascist leaders were held to a higher legal standard, and could not pin their crimes on their superiors (because if they could, any culpability could be passed up the chain of command until it hit a dead end). The guy behind the counter at radio shack is the epitome of a low ranking grunt; thus you've chosen a poor analogy.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[AK Marc]

Holding the wage slaves accountable for what their corporate masters decree is pointless and petty.

It's not slavery when it's voluntary. The worker can walk out at any time. That they choose not to indicates that they accept the abuse and accept the poor policies.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

You know what else you can do to clerks at stores? You can vent about other problems you had before you got to the store, and they usually have to just stand there and take it. You can go in, blame the clerk for potholes, how my boss treated you earlier in the day, getting dumped by a girl, etc., and few a little better. Or if you have nothing to rant about, just call them amusing names for amusement and other stuff you couldn't get away with trying on friends. If you yell at the clerks enough, sometimes, you can get them to work faster or free goodies if the manager thinks you were upset over service. And ever having trouble finding a public trash can? Well, there are more stores than trash cans around where I live, so if you don't want to dump trash in the street, just pick a store and some employee will have to clean it up.

After all, if they don't want to put up with any such things, they can just quit right there and then.

Or you could just not be a dick when it isn't going to amount to anything other than getting other people annoyed or upset, whether someone works for a store or not. And if you still insist that employees should be your personal doormat, then consider that saying "no thanks" and moving on saves you a lot of time at least with the same out come as far as policy...

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[davidhoude]

I hope they punch you in the face right before they walk out.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[AK Marc]

You know what else you can do to clerks at stores? You can vent about other problems you had before you got to the store, and they usually have to just stand there and take it. You can go in, blame the clerk for potholes, how my boss treated you earlier in the day, getting dumped by a girl, etc., and few a little better.

That's what my 7 year old does. Anyone in a uniform or with a name tag, he walks up to and talks to, endlessly, until I drag him away.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[AK Marc]

Why would they punch me? Both you and the A/C seemed to assume that I did something offensive. What did I say to convey that? I just objected to the use of the term "wage slave".

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

And the clerk can be ashamed about using corporate policy against a customer who has nothing to do with it, and the customers who don't vent can be ashamed they meekly complied with a policy that had nothing to do with them, and non-RS customers can be ashamed they had nothing to do with it, too. There, we're all ashamed now. Happy?

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

Might have something to do with saying that employees have the option to just quit in a response to a person saying not to chew out employees over stuff they can't change. Seems like an asymmetric situation: customer put up with ten seconds of hearing question and saying no thank you, or an employee quitting/ignoring policy until fired.

I've had the misfortune of working at a chain store with similar such policies before, and while all the employees and management disliked such policies, there were threats of being fired from corporate for managers not enforcing it, and then from managers for employees not following it. They weren't empty threats, as corporate was willing to fire a manager at the other store in town, someone I knew, despite their stores performance metrics being above average and twice the ones at the store I worked at. You could say it was for his own good, kicking him off a sinking ship, except ten+ years later that store is still there, and it cost him time to find a new, lower paying job. Nonetheless, when a customer starts to complain, you could say, "I'm sorry sir, both my manager and myself disagree with the policy and realize it is bad business sense to do so, would you like the corp address to complain to people who set the police?" Nope, they would rather continue on a 5 minute customer service "lesson" as if they were helping the employee while half a dozen people wait behind them in line. Or would just spend more time getting upset, or do file a complaint but in such a way it says the employee said something offensive or had an attitude issue with no mention of the policy being the trigger of their outburst.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

Off-topic, but this is /. so being OT is practically a requirement.

I recently made a small purchase (under $20) at the local MicroCenter (think Fryes, but with a smaller footprint and less food in the store). At checkout, I was told that they needed my name -- that checking the customer record in their database was a requirement for all cash sales. Luckily for me, I spell my name without an "h", so there wasn't any confusion with the other "John Doe" entries.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[AK Marc]

He violated policy willingly until he was fired *before* looking for a new job? He obviously wasn't too bright. When I was in that situation, I started looking for a new job almost immediately. One of the big secrets to finding a job is something nobody told me, and I had to find out for myself. It's much easier to find a job while employed. If you are unemployed and looking for a job, everyone presumes there's something wrong with you.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[Anonymous Coward]

You hear enough people assuming companies won't go as far as firing people over such policies that amount to minor inconveniences to customers or are otherwise just superficial customer interaction (certainly enough customers who blame employees for not disregarding such things). Then you have someone who thought being manager of the best performing store of the chain in the state couldn't get fired for concentrating on making the store profitable and actually succeeding. He wasn't prepared for a corporate that decide following the letter of policy was more important than traditional business efforts like good customer service or making money. I guess they felt the need to make an example of someone, and ignore the drop in the store's performance the next year.

Re:why not tie to phone numbers that RS asks for

[davidhoude]

Not you per se. I just mean that if a customer is being that much of an asshole that the employee is going to walk out on his job, he should punch the person in the face because it would make the situation better.

Suits them well

[vikingpower]

In / on a US market, you are fully liable not only for what you do, but also for the consequences, even if and when unintended or unforeseen, of what you do. Or say.

Could someone "exploit" examiner.com

[Anonymous Coward]

And "steal" that ad I refuse to watch before reading the article.

Debacle?

[Freshly Exhumed]

We've talked before about commercial web site glitches and the ramifications on consumers, but it seems to me that the same thing would apply in this case, with RadioShack being completely culpable. One other thing: TFA doesn't indicate any sort of Netflix legal action at this point, so maybe this supposed "debacle" isn't all that important to them.

Re:Debacle?

[DarkOx]

My guess would be Netflix does not care or does not care much. Radio Shack probably paid them something for those promo subscriptions. If anything Radio Shack will now have to buy more from Netflix to ensure they can provide them to their own legitimately entitled customers.

Even if it was a handshake deal where Radio Shack gets to offer a free month of Netflix to entice customers and Netflix gets a shot a retaining some of those subscribers who might not otherwise try the server they probably still don't really care much. It isn't as if Neflix does not offer a free month to all new subscribers anyway! I would guess Netflix's own promo system is smart enough to not let you sign up for a free month multiple times from the same billing address. Where as with these promo codes, each code is probably good for a month of service. So at worst they suffer a few dead beats for a short period. Bandwidth isn't free but I would still guess Netflix incremental per customer costs are very low. Who knows maybe even a handful of cheats will decide they like the service enough to hang around and start paying.

Also on the Netflix side, I'd guess if you use more than a handful of promo codes over a period of a year or so it triggers at least an automated account audit and they probably know what campaign the codes belong to; how far will they go to prove you did not buy 6 PCs from Radio Shack, I don't know. They can probably catch the worst abusers if they care to try.

Re:Debacle?

[farble1670]

My guess would be Netflix does not care or does not care much

well, they should care. companies should care when their product is associated with a negative experience, even if it's indirect. it's the same reason that the coca-cola corporation does not want the news airing video of someone beating their spouse holding a can of coke. advertising (positive and negative) is to a large degree subconscious.

Re:Debacle?

[davidhoude]

They offered 6 months, not 1 month.

Obligatory

[ArcadeMan]

Obligatory Seinfeld clip.

Slickdeals Dark Side

[pwileyii]

I hate it when people have the impression that they are entitled to steal from others. I use the SlickDeals website and a lot of time they have some great deals, but if you dig deeper into the forums on that site, there is a dark side. This is my opinion, if you took a code and used it for yourself, you are stealing, but maybe the temptation was a bit too great. It is like finding a 20 dollar bill on the floor and keeping it. You know it isn't yours, but the person of irresponsible enough to lose 20 dollars so they kind of deserve it. If, on the other, you generated hundreds of codes and start selling them on Ebay, you are stealing and being a complete dick. That is like watching someone drop their wallet, pretending not to notice, picking it up when the person is out of sight, cleaning out all of the cash, and then tossing the wallet in the dumpster outside.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone took codes and redeemed them / sold them, it's straight up fraud.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[mythosaz]

There's a fine line between straight up fraud and obviously unethical (but within the rules) behavior by frequenters of deal sites.

Your average SD or FW user will gladly stack unintended coupons, order obvious price errors, price-match to after-rebate prices; they'll cycle and trade online payments to churn giftcards and reward points -- all because the fine print allows them to. Once you've decided that, "Hey, the system lets you, so it's fair game," or "They screw us, so lets screw them," it's not far to just trying to redeem codes by trial and error.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[dysmal]

Agreed. Slickdeals can be a very useful website but the stuff that some of the people openly brag about in the forums makes me ill. Fraud is fraud. If you're using one of those codes, it's fraud. Yeah you can blame it on bad security and whatever else makes you feel better but it's still fraud. You're getting something for nothing. It's not Porsche's fault that my car got stolen when i left the keys on the seat, the top down, windows open, but the doors locked. It's my own damn fault! (Note: I do not, nor have I ever owned a Porsche!)

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[pwileyii]

Yes, and then they'll get mad when the obviously unintended coupon interaction doesn't get honored, the price error order gets canceled, or the store refuses to honor the post rebate price of an item. They try to screw the system and when the system fights back they start whining about it. I've used a few questionable deals, but those NEVER get on the front page of the Slickdeals, you have to dig into the forums to find them. In every case, the company acknowledged the error and didn't honor the deal. I didn't get mad because it was expected behavior. There are also deals that seem to be too good to be true, but are actually intended as a promotional tool. There have even been deals that weren't that great, but the company ends up refusing to honor them because if the unexpected number of responses to it (those make be feel a bit upset with the company). An example of that is a company offering a free one dollar item without purchase and then later telling customers they intended for it to be with purchase and then proceed put you on their email list anyhow.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[imrahilj]

Hit the nail on the head.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[TheGratefulNet]

2 kinds of really bad SD/FW users:

- ones that take advantage of the system to buy one for themselves

- ones that take advantage of the system to be ebay 'flippers', so they can resell, with no interest in the object, itself.

I hate the notion of flippers. the word even sound silly, used in this way, but its become a known meaning for this kind of person.

being a middleman and scimming profit is not something to be proud of! seriously. its not anything to aspire to, yet there is some glory that SD/FW people seem to take from this practice.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Anonymous Coward]

(Note: I do not, nor have I ever owned a Porsche!)

So you stole each and every one of them, using the described method at least once, didn't you?

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[jedidiah]

Do the rules allow for the attempted action or not?

That's all that really matters. If you created a bad set of rules that led to unintended consequences you don't like, then you should honor your side of the bargain. The fact that you are an idiot should not make you immune from your own stupidity.

This goes triple for corporations that are supposedly run by professionals and should know better.

"Gaming" the rules is the same as following them.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[jandrese]

I've never heard of Slickdeals, but your post makes it sound like the website equivalent of that friend who always has some scheme that's totally going to work this time and he's found a way to beat the system. But he's always broke and angry because his last sure-fire scheme didn't work out. Or worse, he's happy because he yelled at some poor CSR for an hour and got some token "go away" prize that was worth marginally more than his initial investment.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[mythosaz]

"Gaming" the rules is the same as following them.

To the autistic, with no understanding of (or regard to) ethics or morality, you're 100% correct.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[mythosaz]

Your average SD or FW post is just good deals - people posting things on sale or clearance, your basic YMMV closeout. ...plus the usual kickback from referral sites.

Your average SD or FW power user is busy combining those deals with price-matches to things that are obviously after-rebate or typos on models in competitive ads, etc.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah the whole community is pretty bad. Even when they don't exploit, they have a dedicated community that buys our the entirety of stock to flip ON THE FORUM TO OTHER POSTERS for profit. The moto x original deal was a nightmare, tons of people registering and getting like 30 reserve codes for phones, then selling them on the forum.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[rolfwind]

Just a question, but have we become so stupid as a society that we need analogies for even simplistic situations to begin with?

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[afidel]

Contracts are contracts, if you think for one microsecond that a corporation won't do EVERYTHING in its power to screw you over using the fine print you're delusional AND lucky to have never been screwed in that manner. For the rest of us we've learned that the corporations have zero ethics or morals so we feel free to treat them in the same way. It's like people who feel they owe a former employer anything after they have left, why? I might feel an obligation to former coworkers as I've often developed personal relationships with people I'm around for around half my waking hours, but I feel zero obligation to the corporation once the employee/employer relationship ends.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't see what entitlement has to do with it. It's an opportunity, and someone exploits it. Why exploit? Because fuck them, that's why.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Obfuscant]

It's not Porsche's fault that my car got stolen when i left the keys on the seat, the top down, windows open, but the doors locked. It's my own damn fault! (Note: I do not, nor have I ever owned a Porsche!)

Well, if you left the keys on the seat with the top down and windows open, it can truly be said you never owned a Porsche, you were just making payments on one you were borrowing for a week.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[mythosaz]

Thank you for illustrating my point.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Arker]

The company you are ordering from will screw you on obvious errors every chance they get. On the rare occasions when they do not, it's called "breach of fiduciary responsibility" and is actionable. So yes, I do not see anything wrong with the little people treating them the same way in return. And I have no idea what SD or FW are, though they sound like they might be interesting.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that's obviously not true. If I accidentally ordered 120 Netflix subscriptions because I was too stupid to figure out how to use their website, Netflix would not stick me with the bill (this is actually true, my mom somehow managed to order 4 separate subscriptions, Netflix sorted it out in about 20 minutes). And frankly, I pretty much guarantee you're the kind of asshole who would go apeshit if a company tried to screw you over an obvious error, even if that "obvious error" was you trying to fuck over the company but having it blow up in your face.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[Lehk228]

the rules are the terms of the promotion, the people exploiting a defect in the redemption site were criminal crackers, not much different from the guy emailing out viruses that steal your bank password

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[geekoid]

"The company you are ordering from will screw you on obvious errors every chance they get."
no likely. But you keep to your delusions.

" On the rare occasions when they do not, it's called "breach of fiduciary responsibility" and is actionable. "
Stop using term you clearly do not understand.

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[trytoguess]

You mention FW several times. Might I know what site you're referring to?

Re:Slickdeals Dark Side

[mythosaz]

FatWallet. Similar to SlickDeals.

Cashback on purchases, and user-generated deal discussion forums.

another Radio Shack wonder

[wolfguru]

The 80's called - they want their web technology back.

Re:another Radio Shack wonder

[cbhacking]

What, the technology of the web from a decade before the web was invented?

I'm guessing you're a youngster, maybe don't even remember 1991. That was the year that both HTTP and HTML were first publicly described (though HTTP was version 0.9 and HTML was not yet standardized at all), and it didn't really take off until 93 or 94. The first few years certainly didn't have anything like the concept of HTTPS or dynamic content or "web applications" at all.

Get off my lawn! (I'm not quite 30...)

Re:another Radio Shack wonder

[HeavensTrash]

So... You don't remember 1991 either, is that what you're saying?

Don't you hate when

[Anonymous Coward]

The gist on /. homepage is only missing the last few words?
For me this is a clickjacking technique that may force me to leave this site.

Vajk

Is there really enough at stake to call this a deb

[JoeyRox]

Seems like a first-world pebble in the road to me.

this is why...

[Anonymous Coward]

this is why we cant have nice things.

Is there a shortage of STEM 'people'?

[avandesande]

With the high profile issues lately such as the healthcare.gov, radioshack, mtGox... you have to wonder.

Re:Is there a shortage of STEM 'people'?

[PRMan]

There is a massive shortage of programmers everywhere. But universities keep churning out English, Math and Law majors of which we have massive gluts.

Re:Is there a shortage of STEM 'people'?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a "massive glut" of Math majors? Please tell me you aren't serious. I graduated from Major State U., undergrad size some 24,000+ in 2009. Of the couple thousand to graduate that year, *5*, literally FIVE, got B.S. Mathematics degrees. I was one of them. Computer Science / Software Engineer? An order of magnitude more.

Glut of Math majors, hah, yea. I would LOVE to see a citation for that.

Re:Is there a shortage of STEM 'people'?

[geekoid]

it's a glut if only 4 were needed.

Radio Shack

[fred911]

You've got questions?
                                        We've got stupid looks.

Re:Radio Shack

[n7ytd]

You've got questions?

We've got cell phones!

Re:Radio Shack

[Trailer Trash]

You've got questions?

Hey, so do we!

Re:Radio Shack

[cdrudge]

When I enter the store and they ask me "Can I help you find anything?" I reply "Not likely."

Re:Radio Shack

[CCarrot]

You've got questions?

                                        We've got stupid looks.

Haha, the one I remember best is:

"You've got questions?
We've got blank stares..."

Which pretty much applies to any 'tech' chain store these days...*sigh*

its RadioShack btw

[RobertLTux]

yes speaking as one of the Sales Support folks that Corporate decided was "not needed" yes the service is middling to Ghastly.
(hint for the SMs if somebody comes in and tells you they need 3 640-2373 a 640-2184 any Salesmaker on the floor had better come up with a few things in the 27? series to suggestive sell BEFORE you even breath anything about cell phones)

the Name of the Store has been RadioShack for over a decade.

and the guy that greenlit this should be shot out of a cannon at the nearest Unemployment center.

So?

[Murdoch5]

Radio Shack has to honor the deal, they have to provide what they said they would.

Re:So?

[Anonymous Coward]

To people who actually bought the product, of course. The thieves will curse and cry, but they deserve nothing.

Radio Shack can't pay for good IT people and they

[Joe_Dragon]

Radio Shack can't pay for good IT people and they lost the tech guys when dropped that stuff they used to sell and became a shitey cell phone store

Lack of QA people

[Joe_Dragon]

They want to end users to be the testers for free.

about the tim Iaasic Asimov was working for them..

[Thud457]

useless bitches got rid of the tube testers ages ago.

actually, it's the signifier of our Age

[Thud457]

"Gaming" the rules is the same as following them.

To the autistic, with no understanding of (or regard to) ethics or morality, you're 100% correct.

Or Wall street. Or the boardroom. Or Congress.

Re:actually, it's the signifier of our Age

[BronsCon]

Right. The autistic.

Re:actually, it's the signifier of our Age

[BronsCon]

I was going for funny, but I'll take flamebait, I guess.

Run some analytics on the web logs ... undo ...

[BitZtream]

the problem.

Seriously, theres enough info in any default apache or IIS log to find the majority of the bullshit codes generated/stolen. Find anything that looks fake and kill it, anyone entering a killed code, have them call in to activate/get a new code, all these people who steal codes over the Internet generally aren't ballsy enough to make the phone call repeatedly, make sure the call comes from a good solid landline, no VoIP crap, sorry if it effects all 8 of you legitimate users of radioshack and netflix.

This is (just) a shitty long day for some sys admin somewhere who has to make up for some shitty developers mistake. This is pretty much the status quo is it not? Most if not all of the bad codes will be found out ... if they want to, it may be well worth it for them to have the accounts active anyway for the books or just for possible retention values.

This is a great example of the no press is bad press mantra. Both RadioShack and Netflix will see increased customer counts for people trying to scam it, slam dunk marketing.