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Subject: Have A Clue & Maintain It So You Can Stay Out Of Jeopardy

Author:
Dennis S. Vogel

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Date Posted: 23:18:04 07/31/12 Tue
In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel 's message, "Who Needs The Clue This Time? The Business Owner or Customer?" on 23:24:33 02/27/12 Mon

(There was already a conviction for conspiracy with the intent to buy & distribute a controlled substance. In this case, it's a legal drug somebody allegedly obtained illegally & wanted to sell it to others who had no legal reason to use the drug.)

The defense lawyer wanted us to believe the defendant's alleged involvement was just a misunderstanding. Things aren't always what they seem.
It was left up to the 12 of us jurors to agree about an alleged coconspirator's (the defendant) guilt or innocence. Did he really agree to help the convicted party with the intent to buy & distribute a controlled substance?

The already convicted coconspirator was sure they understood each other & got caught committing the crime.

Do We Agree That We Have An Agreement?
Since a retailer & customer each has an active role, should they ASSUME they have a firm agreement or be sure they do?
Each may think there's an understanding, yet each may "understand" one or more details differently.

Criminals may think they agree on who is "safe" to deal with.

Apparently in this case, each criminal was acquainted with the informant who was working with some cops. Yet, if either criminal was suspicious, they were still comfortable enough to try to buy the stuff.

It wasn't illegal for the informant because the stuff he had was fake.

These are the basics of criminal conspiracy - agreement to commit a crime or do something legal through an illegal action. Even if an overt act is committed by one conspirator that agreement about the overt illegal act by one of them makes all coconspirators guilty.

Why am I making such a federal case of this? (It isn't just for this pun.)

Who Should Have Had A Clue? Who Assumed The Other Person Had The Right Clues?
A retail transaction is an agreement between a retailer & customer. All products purchased in that transaction, in effect, include the manufacturers' agreements that the products can be used to create the promised results. It's understood, even if that isn't presented as a verbatim promise.

Of course, computer software programs are different. No matter what's said or written about an application, to use it we agree to let it screw up our computers (& possibly our lives) even if a software company knew the problem existed & knew what would happen because of it. It's in the End User License Agreement EULA/Terms of Service TOS.

This is a bad example of customer service.

(Typically a EULA & TOS will also include a prohibition on reverse engineering, creating derivative works, removing trademarks, creating multiple copies, or anything else that may fix or avoid the problems software companies put in. Every time I read that garbage I think, "Well, there goes my To Do list for this month.")

That promise about results depends on the manufactured products being used in the right ways, especially safely (except for software which is sold 'As Is' with all known & unknown defects).

Depending on the importance & expense of a product/service result, a misunderstanding (about something you may think is minor) can come down to who should've known there was a misunderstanding & what should've been done to have avoided problems (This seems like a job for a special-ist.). Even if you interpret the result as being adequate, your customer may feel the result (& what s/he paid) warrants better than adequate.
This is the kind of situation that apparently doesn't get codified until there's some trouble or somebody involved doesn't know what the codes/rules are.

I wrote the need for special-ists in these posts: Reaching A Technological Frontier Entails Breaking Rules Part 1 & Reaching A Technological Frontier Entails Breaking Rules Part 2.

Who Made The Mistake That Led To The Problem?
Still on the subject of jury trials, people may "know"/be sure (their perception) they have a strong case. Maybe their cases were strong ... until witnesses started to testify.

I hope this won't offend anybody; I'm including it to make a point - "God so loved the world that He didn't send a committee."
A jury is a committee. What's a lot worse than a committee? People who give conflicting testimony despite supposedly seeing/hearing the same incident. What's a little worse than a committee? People believing what they hear while listening to a loved one (credible witness?) describe "exactly" what supposedly happened while s/he was using a product.

The number of people who directly or indirectly hear about a product failure varies. An unhappy customer (plaintiff) tells 10-20 others about their problematic experience with a business. Those others will tell 3-5 more depending on how interesting the story seems. That's the good news.

What's worse than people telling many people about problems? The WWW/the Internet is infinitely worse because electrons/digits travel quickly. If somebody isn't available to read a complaint now, that complaint will wait to be downloaded later. That implies the complaint was sent through & possibly stored in multiple servers. Assuming you are the defendant (target of the complaint), you may not realize a (alleged) problem happened. Yet thousands of people can read blog posts & email/forward those posts to people who may be interested. Those email letters get forwarded to everybody in the recipients' address books. Now, potentially millions know about the problem you allegedly caused & you aren't among them.

What could possibly be even WORSE than that?

That's right! You're an honest, dedicated, hard-working, worthwhile citizen, so you're held liable for things you barely had any involvement in. If you had become a software developer instead, you'd be a billionaire with no legal liability at all.

It Seems Like A Conspiracy, Doesn't It?
Those blog posts & email messages could be stored for millennia. (Unless you're a software developer who can hack into computers & delete those.) Though in 90 years or so, the issue probably won't be your concern, right? Unless eternal punishment really does exist & you're receiving it because of a problem you didn't even know happened.

Have you heard/read about a common nightmare in which a person is in public wearing only underwear (if not less than that)? What's worse than that nightmare? Answer: the situation I just described in the previous 2 paragraphs, especially when you can't depend on it being over when you wake up.
Note: You may be aware of the fact some people live in or regularly visit nudist colonies/communities. What kind of nightmares do they have? Do they dream about being in a nudist colony wearing just underwear, if not more than that?

The point is - Even the same or similar situation is very different for each person (underwear or not/boxers or briefs). We can experience what seems to be the same thing, but we're apt to have a unique interpretation of what happened & if the results are good or bad.

At least, one person in the conspiracy/retail transaction should have a clue about what could happen & possible ways to avoid or mitigate problems.

In a criminal conspiracy like illegally buying or selling a controlled substance (or pirated software), it doesn't matter if each coconspirator knew/knows which substance is being bought or sold. If each coconspirator agrees the substance is/should be a narcotic, it's enough for a conviction. Even if a coconspirator doesn't know the difference between Oxycodone & OXY Daily Face Wash, if the conspiracy goal involves buying or selling something illegally, it's a crime.

Whether the co-conspirator who does the deal tries to sell to or buy from a cop, the others are also guilty.

Lesson: Even in legitimate & legal retailing, you should know who else is involved in a big ticket transaction. If somebody is apt to get hurt, you should do what you can to avoid the injuries - especially if you may be legally liable for what happens or doesn't happen.

Even if the "jury" hearing your "case" is the general public, you can be on trial in absentia - (in your absence). It means you won't even have a chance to learn about the "charges" against you or your business. You won't get to face your accusers.

Depending on the jurisdiction where you do business, if you sell software, this warning may not apply to you legally. But it still applies morally.
Am I getting to be too philosophical tonight?

Please be careful so you don't end up in or on Jeopardy.
(From Weird Al Yankovic - I lost on Jeopardy)
"That's right, Al--You lost. .... You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame & disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!"

Dennis S. Vogel
thrivingbusiness@email.com
People don't necessarily believe what's true,
they believe what they think is true. Successful
marketing depends on making the right promises
when people are ready to accept your promises.
Please click here for free information.
http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: Have A Clue & Maintain It So You Can Stay Out Of Jeopardy	Clue Zone	21:30:08 09/28/13 Sat
What Are Your Customers' Nightmare Scenarios? -- Dennis S. Vogel, 23:07:34 09/28/13 Sat