If It’s Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is!

It’s one of my motto’s in life. And almost all the time I see around me examples that strengthen my belief in it. The last one belongs to Adnan. If you want to find out the details read his post Case Study: RSS Scraping.

It’s not my intention to rewrite his own experience. I just want to comment the situation. (I’ve done it on his blog, but why not take the opportunity and write a whole post? )

The conversation between Adnan and me went on the path of emphasizing how important it is that we all read TOS (Terms of Service) or any other name they’re given.

In his situation, however, there’s two issues that make the case stand out a tiny bit.

The first one, emphasized by Adnan, is that he didn’t even open the account with TheMoneyBlogs himself. They did it for him. As a result, the question that normally comes to his mind (and mine as well, although I kind of disagree with him) is whether he has the obligation to obey those TOS?

I am no lawyer (not even close), but I have always been interested in such small details that can change the whole equation sometimes and judging by what I have seen happening around me, I must say that the answer is yes. Why? Because although, as far as I understand, he didn’t specifically asked for an account with that service, one has been created for him. Since it seems he did not question that account nor did he ask to be closed (until recently, when the problems started), it can be very well considered that he agreed to become a member (I don’t know the legal term, but to understand my point you could think of it as if you were sent a letter from your credit card company in which you are informed about some changes in the terms and are told that if they don’t receive any response from you they’ll take it that you agree with those changes). As a result, just like any member, he is supposed to abide by the TOS.

You could also look at it like this: just becaue you don’t personally read the laws and are not aware of many of them, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow them.

However, and this is the second issue I want to bring in the discussion, the problem is not even in whether he must abide by the TOS or not. From just scanning them, I would say that they rule in his favor, as The Money Blogs say that their members retain copyright for the content they publish through TRADINGMARKETS.COM’s Blog Services. As a result I can only say that he is entitled to what he’s asking from them.

So what’s he supposed to do? Well I see two option. One, that I suggested, is to insist on getting an answer from them (which seems to be giving no results). The second one, which I don’t know whether he’s ready to take on or not, would be legal actions. Personally I would hate to be in his situation.

What are the rest of us to do? Learn from his experience. As I put it in my comments to his post, nothing is for free in this world (anymore). No matter how sweet and tasty the candy looks, when it comes from a stranger, there’s always a price he/she, sooner or later, will ask for. Whether we’re talking about specific situations like Adnan’s or, even, real life ones. If you smell something fishy, open your eyes and years as much as you can. Do as much research as possible. Oh, and someone offering something for free (whether they say it’s for free or just “forget” to mention the price), it’s a fishy smelling thing. I know everyone hates the TOS or, in real life, the “fine prints”, but they can save you a lot of trouble. And as I asked Adnan - what would you prefer: to have spent some time (even a few good hours) on finding out about the “stranger” or having to deal with the consequences of not doing your due diligence? I know my answer! Do you know yours?

And I can’t help it not mentioning that the lesson we should learn from him is one that can save us a lot of trouble when it comes to work at home scams.

I’ll end with the title of my post. Just remember that “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!” I’ll absolutely have the chance to write more on this.

Comments will be much appreciated!

P.S. Adnan, I wish you the best of luck and really hope things will work out for you!

Posted in Learn from Others, Piece of Advice, Scams |