[MD] Where have all the values gone?

[khaled Alkotob]

Arlo, Platt, Ham, Platt et al

Another point to focus on is the grey area used to separate the consumer
form his money.

A while back I was in one of those rent to own places. They had a VCR
with a payment of $10 for the rental with full ownership after one year
rental. I thought that paying a $120 for a $60-$70 VCR is a crime, but
hey it's an option. Then I noticed that the $10 was the WEEKLY payment
not the monthly one. $520 for a VCR.

The rebuttals we get are:
1. that they are providing a service. 
2.The customers who shop have such a bad credit rating that they are
doing them the favor. 
3.Nobody ever rents for a year.
4.nobody is holding a gun to their head.
5. if they are too stupid to figure out that they can save for a couple
of weeks and then buy it outright, they get what they deserve.

To me that is no different than the kirby salesman that wouldn't leave my
grandma's house till she bought the $1,800 vacuum cleaner. Did the
salesman commit a crime?  Legally, no. Morally, in my opinion, yes.

And so it goes from there, one gray area after another, from giving
teenagers credit cards, to making you buy the paint protectors on your
new automobile. 

It is illegal to bribe a government official. But it is not illegal to
hire his wife or son to baby sit your dog for the weekend for $20,000.

Skirting the law and seeing what one can get away with has become the
favorite pass time. Social, ethical, moral implications are no longer
brought up.


Khaled