HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: steve@tfs.com (Steve Maurer)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Complaining about a hospital bill...
Date: 17 Apr 92 19:29:54 GMT
Article-I.D.: tfs.1992Apr17.192954.20109
Organization: TRW Financial Systems

sean@sdg.dra.com writes:
>>                      All I answer is that my signature on such a form
>> was never meant to convey that I was signing a blank check, and in the
>> absence of a contract detailing price and services ahead of time, the
>> best they could ever hope to get is the reasonable value of their services,

> Sean Donelan:
>
> Unless you are a minor, this is incorrect.

    If this was the 1920s, you'd be correct.   However, nowadays the
courts do not allow companies to force "blank checks" in contracts as
a precondition to accepting any service -- ESPECIALLY MEDICAL SERVICE.

    If what you said held true, you'd have standard 'liability waivers'
as part of every contract; e.g. part of an airline ticket would be a
clause stating "you agree not to sue us, even if the wings fall off the
aircraft because we broke all the laws regarding federal regulations",
hospitals would have a "you can't sue us for malpractice" clause, etc.
The same goes for open ended costs: "you can sue us, but we can then
charge you lots of extra bucks on your bill if you do", and even "we can
charge you anything we want" clauses are totally worthless.

    As a rule, where you see any "open ended" clauses in contracts, they
are completely for show (to try to scare you - since unless the amount is
huge, the costs of recovering it are prohibitavely expensive).   Not only
do they have no legal force, attempting to actually use them in court will
usually HURT a creditors case, since the courts generally believe that
most contracts are written to screw the customer anyway.   To even have a
chance of collecting, the hospital would have to prove that the charges made
were "fair and reasonable".  All you have to do to dispute this is show up
and say how the insurance company said the charges were unreasonable, and
the judge will most likely throw the hospital's lawyers out on their ear -
if not fined.

    Generally, companies don't even try to sue people anymore.  Much
more likely, an aggressive hospital might try to ruin your credit rating,
but even this is getting harder to do because many credit reporting
agencies have noticed that people who are accused of "stiffing bills" of
certain hospitals, are otherwise good credit risks (your mileage on credit
reporting agencies will vary -- often even within the same agency how good
they are varies from state to state).

    Hospitals can also turn these bills over to a collection agent, but
even this is unlikely.  Collection agents like to handle clear cut "you
bought this, now pay for it" debts, collecting extra money from a hospital
not stipulated up front, is unlikely to stir them.  If they handle anything
where there is a real question as to the legality of the debt, they can get
into hot water extremely quickly.

						    Steve Maurer
						    steve@tfs.com

p.s. Standard company disclaimer; standard "I'm not a lawyer" disclaimer
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:10404 alt.privacy:1019
From: gilbert@mdd.comm.mot.com (John Gilbert)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,alt.privacy
Subject: Re: capturing caller id data
Date: 13 Apr 92 02:55:16 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Motorola, Mobile Data Division - Seattle, WA

In article <1992Apr12.232537.5638@clarinet.com> brad@clarinet.com (Brad Templeton) writes:

>Such a system sounds good to me, but there is a chicken and egg problem.
>
>You can't start refusing anonymous calls until almost everybody has the
>equipment to make non-anonymous calls.
>
>And it eliminates the security aspect of caller-ID, which would be usable
>to replace the "callback" feature many dialins use.


There is no such thing as a "security aspect" to CLID.  CLID is not even
close to a security feature.  For one thing, it assumes the line ID of
the device used to place the call is somehow associated with the person
placing the call.  In any area where CLID is implemented, anybody who
wants to do bad things will do it from a phone that has nothing to do
with them.

CLID is a minor convenience, at best.  Well, for some, it is a HUGE,
convenience, but ya gotta be willing to put up with a lot to get any
use out of it at all.

If you really like the "callback" feature, then argue for that, instead
of a poor substitute like CLID.

John


-- 
John Gilbert
gilbert@mdd.comm.mot.com
...!uunet!mdisea!gilbert
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.autos
From: eldred@rrunner.jpl.nasa.gov (Dan Eldred)
Subject: Re: Attempted cheating by Sears Auto
Organization: Jet Propulsion Lab
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:25:13 GMT

In article <23636@scorn.sco.COM> garyh@sco.COM (< Gary H >) writes:
>
>
>Sear is only good for batteries.  Their DIE HARD batteries are great.
>
>When my original toyota battery went out on me, I asked around about
>good car batteries.  Most people I asked mentioned SEARS.  I didn't want
>a SEARS battery though.  Anyways, after asking more people, I finally
>decided to buy a SEARS DIEHARD.  It's been about six years now and the
>battery is still kicking (even after running it down a couple of times).
>
Well, I bought a Sears Diehard for my Rabbit, and after 2 years it 
started leaking acid on the nearby fuel injection control unit.  I
got a new battery after paying the pro-rated fee for the 2 years I
had used it.  I paid as much as many batteries sell for outright in
many discount stores.  When the replacement Diehard failed after 2
years I decided I had had enough of premium grade batteries and got
an el-cheapo at Pep Boys, which has been working just fine for several
years now.

I have also had good luck with Delco freedom batteries.


-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|   PRESERVE THE BILL OF RIGHTS.  STOP CIVIL FORFEITURE UNDER RICO!   |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Dan Eldred                  | Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 198-326    |
| eldred@rrunner.jpl.nasa.gov | 4800 Oak Grove Dr.,Pasadena, CA 91109 |
| Phone: (818) 354-6519       | Fax: (818) 393-4440                   |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: MCI Telemarketing (was MCI = Morons)
From: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)
Organization: The Man With Ten Cats
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 22:56:12 GMT
Reply-To: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)

In article <1992Apr1.173030.10200@u.washington.edu> kevin@milton.u.washington.edu (Kevin Caskey) writes:
>I like MCI!, and I liked Sprint too! It doesn't bother me a bit that in May
>my wife can call her mother in Holland for 35cents/min (47 otherwise). ATT
>can't even come close. BUT ATT calls my unlisted home tele no to market their
>non-service. Great way to build a customer base. My no. is unpublished to
>avoid marketting. Way to go! ATT . AND a previous post called MCI morons?
>If you don't want to save when calling your friends, you don't need to give
>MCI their Nos.

In Massachusetts there is a difference between unpublished and unlisted.

Unpublished - number is not listed in the book but is available from
              information

Unlisted - number is not listed in the book or available from information.

You should check to see which you have, or if there is a difference in your
state.

-- 

Rick Kelly	rmk@rmkhome.UUCP	unixland!rmkhome!rmk	rmk@frog.UUCP
From: mpolen@gelato.mips.com (Michael Polen)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Thermostats
Date: 9 Apr 1992 15:50:39 GMT
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: gelato.mips.com

In misc.consumers, monty%roscom@think.com (Monty Solomon) writes:

>A HVAC installer recommended powering the thermostat via a different  
>transformer from the one in the furnace.  He claims that transients and surges  
>could occur when the motor comes on and would have a detrimental effect on the  
>thermostat.
>    Is there any validity to his claim?

Your HVAC installer probably got his training at Sears.  Most thermostats do not get their
poser from the furnace transformer.  The lines coming to the thermostats are control
lines.  Mechanical thermostats are switches, and they switch HVAC power.  It would be like
saying your light switch could get power from somewhere other than the lights power.  This
is also like stringing you hammock between two imaginary trees.

Electronic thermostats are battery powered.  They also switch HVAC power.  The two
functions are seperate.

I would report the guy to the BBB.

Mike Polen
MIPS Computer Systems (today)
From: olney@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Doug Olney)
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 20:12:00 GMT
Subject: What does your car sound like?
Organization: HP Network Measurements Div, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers



Howdy!

I've noticed that my new Plymouth Voyager (with Mitsubishi V6 and
automatic transmission) has what I would call a rough idle.  When I come
to rest at a stop light, the engine will let out a little foomph every
second or so.  Its enough to hear and feel, but is subtle enough
that the radio would drown it out.

Now, a neighbor who bought the same van just took it in for this same rough 
idle and was told that this is normal behavior and not to worry.  This bothers
me because my 4 cylinder manual shift cars never gave me cause to notice
the idle.  Besides, why should a computer controlled, electronically ignited, 
fuel injected engine at idle go foomph?

And so I thought I'd tap some net.experience.  Do larger vehicles with
automatic transmissions have more audible idles?  What do you hear when
you come to a stop light with the radio off?

I have an appointment with the Dealer soon, and I would greatly
appreciate any insight.  I've posted this here because I'm interested in
what is normal more than how to fix it.



							  Doug Olney
							  Santa Rosa, CA


ICYC (In Case Your Curious) my Voyager is not American, despite Lee 
Iocacca's posturing.  Made in Canada with a Japanese engine.
From: TACON019@ysub.ysu.edu (Fred Ullom)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: REAL shaving soap
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:06:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: ysub.92097.120609TACON019
Organization: Youngstown State University

Am I the only one left in the world that shaves with a shaving mug and a
brush? I can't find OLD SPICE cake soap any more. Does anybody know if they
have discontinued it? I can get one made by Williamson but the cake is
smaller and doesn't fit right in my Old Spice shaving mug.

I'd be willing to pay if someone could find me a dozen:-)
Thanks,
-Fred
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred S. Ullom
tacon019@ysub.ysu.edu
Youngstown State University
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "eliot gelwan" <eliot.gelwan@channel1.com>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: radio towers
Date: 12 Apr 92 11:53:55 EST
Reply-To: "eliot gelwan" <eliot.gelwan@channel1.com>
Distribution: misc
Organization: Channel 1 Communications

On 04-12-92 AL DATE wrote:

ADI've noticed an increased propensity toward filing nervous postings to
ADthe net.

And could that be one?

                                         eliot 
Internet: eliot.gelwan@channel1.com
    RIME: ->CHANNEL [R/O okay]
---
 EZ 1.37B #178  [in Brookline MA 10:31 am, Sunday 04/12/92]
--
Channel 1 (R)   Cambridge, MA

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: andre@farside.slc.mentorg.com (Andre' Hut)
Subject: Re: Looking for a 27" TV
Organization: Mentor Graphics
Date: 17 Apr 92 11:25:17

In article <1992Apr17.152409.21605@ichips.intel.com> mikel@pdx165.intel.com (Mike Lee) writes:
   >Well, my TV bit the big one last Sat.  Now, I've been a good boy for the
   >last week, but seductive siren call of the boob tube is too much to resist.

[text deleted]

   >Please respond if you have any recommendations or personal experience (good
   >and bad).   For personal reasons, I'd like to steer clear of Sony and
   >Mitsubishi, unless you have a compelling, stependous reason for getting
   >one.

The Sony Trinitron I bought in 1978 is still working like the day I bought it.
I have never had any trouble with any Sony product I have ever purchased.  
When you find something that works, stick with it.  I highly recommend Sony.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
My opinions are solely my own, and do not necessarily reflect those
of my employer.

Andre' Hut       andre@slc.mentorg.com  or  utah-cs!caeco!andre
Mentor Graphics, Suite 300, 5295 South 300 West, Murray, Utah 84107
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: lavoie@bnr.ca (Marc Lavoie)
Subject: Re: New Canadian Lotto Scam?
Reply-To: lavoie@bnr.ca (Marc Lavoie)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 92 21:02:45 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.222806.13398@dg-rtp.dg.com>, miller@dg-rtp.dg.com (Mark T. Miller) writes:
|> I just received in the mail an offer to depart with $9.95 to
|> participate in the Canadian lottery.  Text below, then a couple
|> questions about it's scam-i-ness:
|> 
|> 	"YOU have been selected for entry in a special Canadian Lotto
|> 	6/49 group program. You and your group get 84 sets of computer
|> 	selected Lotto numbers in the official Canadian Lotto 6/49 game
|> 	for the next 10 drawings.  You and 249 other Americans in your 
|> 	group will share all the proze money won duriong the 5 weeks of
|> 	play. (Prizes are drawn twice weekly, on Wednesday and Saturday)
|> 	The total prize money given away in prizes over 10 drawings should
|> 	be well over $100 million dollars. All prize money is paid out
|> 	lump sum, and no taxes are paid in Canada on lottery winnings."
|> 
|> This offer was interesting, in that recently some European grouping of
|> people won a huge pot in one of the state's lotteries.
|> 
|> anyways, seems like the first scam is that they take your money and do nothing!
|> Next scam thougt is, how can they buy "840 chances to win" for 9.95? 
|> How much does it cost to enter the 6/49 Lotto? My guess is $.50 to $1.00
|> per entry (though I don't mess with lotteries, I lose my money on Wall St!:()
|> So if it costs much more to buy all these chances, and they claim it all
|> is distibuted, then it must be a scam - right?
|> 
|> 
|> (My mother plays the lottery, and I was thinking of getting her to send
|>  me $5.00, I'd split the pot. . .:-)
|> 
|> 
|> Thanks,
|> Mark M.
|> 
|> 	Mark T. Miller					miller@dg-rtp.dg.com
|> 							...uunet!xyzzy!miller

This is probably not that much of a scam although I wouldn't quite say
that is very clean.

6/49 tickets are $2 (beaver bucks that is, around $1.65 US).  So if 250 people 
put $9.95 US, that makes about $2860 (beaver), or about 1430 tickets.  If they
were to actually buy 840 tickets for $1680 (beaver) they would still make over
$1200 (beaver) with very little investment.

There might be a scam in the actual number of tickets purchased.  I am not sure
if you actually reproduced their sales pitch verbatim but the way I read it,
it could actually be 84 sets of numbers total.  Now that yould be a scam!

I also question their claim about the prize money.  Prize money for less than
6 numbers is not very large.  The amount of the jackpot depends on the
number of tickets sold.  it has been known to be $14 million dollars but
that was only after it hadn't been won in 4 weeks or so.  The typical
jackpot is usually around $2 million I think).

I only buy tickets when the jackpot is $12 million or more.

Marc Lavoie
Bell-Northern Research
Ottawa, Ontario
lavoie@bnr.ca
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:10209 rec.autos:10942
From: rudloff@cetus.Colorado.EDU (IRAF users)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.autos
Subject: Re: Attempted cheating by Sears Auto
Date: 8 Apr 92 16:36:03 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

In article <1992Apr7.152359.27872@cci632.cci.com> jvz@cci632.cci.com (John V. Zambito) writes:
>>>BTW, My wife heard it through the 'mall' grapevine that this particular Sears
>>>had dropped, YES DROPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, not one but two cars off the auto
>>>lifts.
>>
>>Not that I'd wish it on anyone, but man, I'd love to see that... :-)
>
>When I was 17 I worked in a garage with a 19 year old named Kevin. 
>One day he brought in his car and put it up on the lift to do an oil change.
>I got a wrench to take off the rear-end inspection plug to check its
>oil level. I put the wrench on the bolt and pushed up. The whole rear-end
>started to go up. I jumped up and grabed onto the rear axle. Kevin was 
>taking off the oil drain plug when the front end started to go down and 
>he pushed up on the front but I was still going up. I was about 2 or 3 feet 
>off the ground when I started to think I should let go and run before the car
>went all the way over with me attached. Just then another guy who weighed 
>about 275 pounds ran over and grabbed me by the waist and pulled down 
>on me which put the car back down on the lift. We very carfully put the lift
>down and centered the car better on the lift. We used to call Kevin "kluts" 
>even before that.  Last I heard he was teaching shop at a high school in Vermont.
From: abulloch@garnet.berkeley.edu (Anthony Bulloch)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Laundry Detergent recommendations
Followup-To: misc.consumers
Date: 14 Apr 1992 09:47:48 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

In article odell@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Bernard O'Dell) writes:
>Cheer Free is supposedly "free" of those "irritants"--
>
>Surf supposedly is the best for everyday use---

Then Jon Noring writes:
>Try Amway's SA8 (powder or liquid) without fabric softener.  For 
>cleaning power and minimization of residue, it can't be beat.

Actually, Jon, there's now a major competitor to Amway's famous
washing powder.   A Colorado based company called Espial manufactures
an excellent range of 100% green, non-toxic, household cleaners
and personal-care items, which are used very happily by lots of
people who have allergic reactions to the standard commercial
products, as well as by people who just want to use environmentally
clean and personally safe products. (We just finished cleaning
my son's school with Espial products [no toxic residues for the
kids and no nasty chemicals for the parents doing the cleaning to
have to deal with], and everyone was amazed at how effective they
are, and delighted.)  I can give more details to anyone that's
interested.

Anthony Bulloch

(510) 549-9127 (home)
abulloch@garnet.berkeley.edu

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: ahearn@cds2050.cadence.com (John Ahearn)
Subject: Question about care of a porcelain sink
Organization: Harris Semiconductor
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 16:09:41 GMT

	I was hoping someone out there could tell me how to properly
care for a porcelain sink.  The house I am in has one in the kitchen
and the bottom is starting to stain.  We have have used abrasive cleaners
on it (probably should not have) and while they do a good job they aren't
perfect.  Presumably abrasive cleaners are bad, is this true?  If so, can
we correct this with some kind of liquid touch up?  Any help would be
appreciated.  Please email me directly since I don't read this group that
often.  Thanks in advance.

--
John Ahearn 		Cadence Design Systems / SC3-239
ahearn@cadence.com	2475 Augustine Drive
			Santa Clara, CA 95054
			(408)987-5037
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: whall@cactus.org (J. Wayne Hall)
Subject: Re: sale tax for free item
Reply-To: whall@cactus.org (J. Wayne Hall)
Organization: The Capital Area Central Texas Unix Society
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 19:28:20 GMT

According to Texas law, (this could be true in other states, I don't know)
if the item that is being shipped is taxable, then the freight charges
are taxable.  If the item is not taxable, the freight is not taxable.

Therefore, whether the item is free or not is not part of the question.
They only look at whether the item itself is taxable (they just "happened"
to give it to you for free...)

J. Wayne Hall
whall@cactus.org

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: kate@nrc.com (kathi samec)
Subject: Re: A good American car!
Organization: Network Research Corp, Oxnard, CA
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:12:34 GMT

In article <1992Apr1.004331.1309@b11.ingr.com> randall@b11.ingr.com (Randall Shepard) writes:
>Hi Folks,
>
>BTW.  I'm not one of those who believe you OUGHT to buy American just because
>it's American.  Hell, my Pontiac was made in Brazil.  My Honda was made in
>Ohio.  Buy the car you like the best.  But don't limit yourself based on rumor


Someone in the past posted a list of american cars not made in the US. Could
someone re-post this. It is great backup for arguements with certain people.
They didn't even know their car was made in mexico! 

Thanks
-- 
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kathi Samec     Network Research Corporation   - It's a cold bowl of chili
kate@nrc.com    2380 N Rose Ave                  when love lets you down
                Oxnard, Ca. 93030                         - Neil
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: parnass@cbnewse.cb.att.com (Bob Parnass, AJ9S)
Subject: Re: straight A's
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 14:10:26 GMT
Summary: what I examine while interviewing a job applicant


I examine these criteria when interviewing recent school
graduates for entry level positions (Member of Technical
Staff I):


 1.  Career goals - short and long term - do they "mesh"
     with the position and the company?
 2.  Education - course selection and grades.  Most
     candidates have MSCS or MSEE degrees.
 3.  Industrial experience, if any.
 4.  Communications skills - must I "carry" the interview or
     is the candidate asking questions and volunteering
     information?  I favor candidates with curiosity.
 5.  Projects - did this person participate as part of a
     team inside or outside of school?  Most of our projects
     are too big for one person to work alone so team
     players are more valuable.
 6.  Outside activities, hobbies - especially in technical
     areas and non technical areas which demonstrate
     creativity.
 7.  What would this person add to the work environment?
     (Somewhat difficult to ascertain, although related to
     communications and diverse background.)

Outstanding scholastic grades are necessary but not
sufficient.  Candidates with mediocre grades are usually
weeded out by our Personnel department long before the
interviewing process.



In article <1992Apr5.205307.668@athena.mit.edu>,
solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W Solinsky) writes:
 
> Here is the problem:
> 
>        You are an employer. You need to fill 10 positions with various
>        requirements and you have 100 applicants. All of them have given
>        you a resume and a transcript, and you have interviewed all of them.
>        Your primary buisness objective is to have the greatest productivity
>        without hiring more than 10 employees. What criteria do you use to
>        determine who gets the jobs?
> 
> (simple enough for you?)
> 
> Jason W. Solinsky


-- 
==============================================================================
Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihlpm!parnass - (708)979-5414
From: vernon@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (Vernon King)
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 15:58:51 GMT
Subject: Re: Question to formerly or currently Allstate insured
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers

Yep I got one for $9.00 at my last renewal time. (motorized belts) The
interesting part is I told my agent when I bought the Car that it had 
passive belts up front. I have a funny feeling the check should be for 
the whole year and the check is a little light but it is not worth my
time so sort the whole thing out.

Vernon
Newsgroups: misc.consumers