Thanks Atty. Bong for this info. I'll take note of this and try to ruffle a couple of feathers when I buy a laptop. :)
On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 12:37 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This kind of practice by computer retailers may be actionable under > the Consumer Act of the Philippines (Republic Act 7394). You may want > to look at the "prohibition against deceptive sales acts or practices" > under the Consumer Act. Article 50 states: > > "ARTICLE 50. Prohibition Against Deceptive Sales Acts or Practices - A > deceptive act or practice by a seller or supplier in connection with a > consumper transaction violates this Act whether it occurs before, > during or after the transaction. An act or practice shall be deemed > deceptive whenever the producer, manufacturer, supplier or seller, > through concealment, false representation of fraudulent manipulation, > induces a consumer to enter into a sales or lease transaction of any > consumer product or service. > > Without limiting the scope of the above paragraph, the act or practice > of a seller or supplier is deceptive when it represents that: > a) a consumer product or service has the sponsorship, approval, > performance, characteristics, ingredients, accessories, uses, or > benefits it does not have; > b) a consumer product or service is of a particular standard, quality, > grade, style, or model when in fact it is not; > c) a consumer product is new, original or unused, when in fact, it is > in a deteriorated, altered, > reconditioned, reclaimed or second-hand state; > d) a consumer product or service is available to the consumer for a > reason that is different from the fact; > e) a consumer product or service has been supplied in accordance with > the previous > representation when in fact it is not; > f) a consumer product or service can be supplied in a quantity greater > than the supplier intends; > g) a service, or repair of a consumer product is needed when in fact it is > not; > h) a specific price advantage of a consumer product exists when in > fact it is not; > i) the sales act or practice involves or does not involve a warranty, > a disclaimer of warranties, > particular warranty terms or other rights, remedies or obligations if > the indication is false; and > j) the seller or supplier has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation > he does not have." > > The acts of the retailer in question may fall under the main paragraph > of Article 50. A violation of this article may subject the person in > breach to penalties (Article 60). Consumer complaints can be brought > to the DTI. > > Following the principle of freedom of contract, in general, there is > nothing that prevents a computer retailer from entering into a > bundling agreement with Microsoft for a computer to be sold together > with Windows. However, with regard to consumer protection, a deceptive > practice may take place when the computer is offered to consumers at a > certain price without Windows but at the time of purchase the retailer > suddenly requires the computer to be purchased with Windows at an > additional cost. If Windows is required for the purchase, this fact > should have been made known to the consumer at the very beginning and > the price for Windows should have been included in the purchase price > of the computer. > > Note: This is for information purposes only and does not constitute > legal advice. > > > On 7/26/08, Daniel O. Escasa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > How legal this is? It's like buying a toy whose packaging says "Batteries > > Not Included", then having the clerk at the check-out counter tell you > that > > you have to buy a specific brand of batteries from them. Is Bong Dizon or > > any other lawyer on this list? > > > > As an aside, I've sworn off Octagon. Nice to browse, but I've had some > > doubts about their reliability since my cousin bought a Compaq > > top-of-the-line notebook for his son some three or four years ago. It > cost > > over 100K at that time, 3GHz Intel single-core (wala pang dual-core > noon). > > It broke down, within the warranty period IIRC, he sent it to HP's > Service > > Center, waited months only to be told that they couldn't honor the > warranty > > because it was purchased in Brazil (!?!?!) and didn't have the > international > > warranty. My cousin was obviously furious, but he misdirected his ire > toward > > HP, when it was Octagon that apparently sold him a gray-market notebook. > > > > As to Microsoft's bullying tactics, if you'll recall from the antitrust > > trial, they weren't afraid of even IBM. They were pricing Windows 95 at, > > IIRC, 5x the OEM price they were charging the other manufacturers. > > Pressuring IBM to drop OS/2. Some things never change. Paging the US DOJ! > > > > On 7/26/08, jan gestre <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Hi Carlos, > >> > >> Our company purchased three(3) Compaq laptops from Octagon SM Megamall > >> branch some four (4) months back and all the laptops came with DOS. They > >> didn't give us any hassles whatsoever. Maybe now MS is forcing them to > do > >> this bullying tactics but hey MS was able to bully even the big > >> manufacturers like HP to have Vista pre-installed on their Mini-Notebook > >> coz > >> if they won't follow what MS wants then MS won't certify their drivers. > >> > >> Jan > >> > >> On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 6:54 PM, Carlos Yu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >>> Hi, > >>> > >>> Just wanted to share a true story with PLUG members. One of CYWare's > >>> programmers' laptop wouldn't power up yesterday and since we were > >>> chasing a deadline for a project, I decided to purchase a new one right > >>> away. I went to Octagon in Park Square 1 Glorietta and found a decent > >>> Compaq laptop reasonably priced at 40K PHP. The laptop box said it > came > >>> free with the DOS operating system which didn't matter to me since we > >>> were going to install Linux on it. > >>> > >>> I called the sales guy, handed him my credit card, and told him I > wanted > >>> to purchase the machine. He then told me that they were not allowed to > >>> sell the laptop unless I purchased an operating system with it. I told > >>> them that my company, CYWare, sells primarily Linux based products and > I > >>> would be installing Ubuntu on it. The sales guy insisted that a > >>> licensed operating system had to be installed on it and told me I had > to > >>> purchase Vista with the machine. I then asked for the manager and > >>> explained what I was trying to do. The manager instructed the sales > guy > >>> to make a phone call and after the phone conversation, they > re-iterated > >>> the same policy: Windows Vista had to be purchased with the machine. > I > >>> then asked the manager if he was willing to give up the sale because > >>> there was no way I was going to pay for something I really didn't need. > >>> To my amazement, he said he was. > >>> > >>> Needless to say, I took my business elsewhere. After visiting a few > >>> stores, I realized that the nice laptops all came with Vista. I ended > >>> up going to WellCom and buying a more expensive laptop that came with > >>> Windows Vista installed. Of course, once it got back to the office, > the > >>> hard drive was reformatted and Vista was replaced with Ubuntu. > >>> > >>> I know I could have researched the purchase more carefully, but > >>> unfortunately, I was in a rush and foolishly assumed that a laptop > >>> purchase would be simple. Go figure... > > > > -- > > Daniel O. Escasa > > independent IT consultant and writer > > contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com > ) > > personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph > > Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/silverlokk > > If we choose being kind over being right, we will be right every time. > > > > > > _________________________________________________ > > Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List > > http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug > > Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph > > > > > -- > ---------------------------------------------------- > bong dizon > law.norms.code > http://lawnormscode.sync.ph > _________________________________________________ > Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List > http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug > Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph > -- CLIPorSKIP - Quick news clips about the Philippines http://www.cliporskip.com/
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