Bait and switch

Recently, I signed up for Amazon's unlimited cloud storage, but received an email from the company this week.

The email said they changed my terms and conditions and even though I've uploaded several hundred gigabytes of files, I no longer have unlimited storage.

It made me think if I owned a restaurant ,how would that appear? In fact, what about some other annoying industries.

AMAZON

Mr. Amazon: “I'd like to order a beef burger with a side salad and French fries.”

Waiter: “Certainly, sir.”

Half way through the meal, the waiter returns, removes a half-eaten beef burger and a salad. “I'm sorry, sir, our terms and conditions have changed and you no longer have the full beef burger and salad. You now only have half a burger. If you'd like to continue with the whole beef burger, our prices just doubled.”

OIL INDUSTRY

Mrs. Oil Person: “Hello, I'd like to order this Caesar salad followed by the chicken Fettuccine on special for $20, please.”

Waiter: “I am sorry, but just as you walked in, the chicken refinery had an explosion and it is 4 o'clock on a long weekend, so I am afraid it has impacted our supply chain. You know, it's just supply-and-demand economics, you probably would not understand, but the special is now $35.”

THE CONTRACTOR

Contractor: “I would like a pint of beer and a dozen wings with fries please.”

Waiter: “Certainly, sir.”

Half an hour later

Contractor: “Waiter, I ordered half an ago. Where is my beer?”

Waiter: “I'm so sorry, sir, right after you walked in, we got very busy and we started working with a few new clients. I'm sure you understand; we will be with you as soon as we can.”

Waiter delivers his beer and fries.

Contractor: “Excuse me, waiter, where are the chicken wings?”

Waiter: “I'm sorry, sir, we used all our wings for the new customers who turned up after you. We are getting a new supply now and if you'd like to come back tomorrow, you can finish your dinner.”

THE AIRLINE

Mr. FastJet: “I come to this restaurant an awful lot, I love your loyalty program and your food, so I will order a glass of red wine and a New York steak, please.”

Waiter: “Certainly, sir.”

Waiter delivers the food and then returns to the table..

Waiter: “I'm so sorry to inform you sir, we have an overbooked situation. I'm going to have to move you to the outside patio or we could offer you a half-price voucher to visit again in the future once our prices have increased.”

Mr. FastJet: “But I'm one of your most loyal customers; I specifically requested a seat in the restaurant.”

Waiter: “I understand, sir. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. The computer bumped you out of the restaurant because you showed up 30 seconds late. In the interim, I'm afraid somebody else purchased your seat in the restaurant.”

Of course, no restaurant that operated like this would be in business for more than a few months. It makes you wonder then, why would we keep going back to some businesses who do this to us constantly?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.