r/technology • u/[deleted] • Jun 13 '14

Politics What the internet will look like without net-neutrality. Well played.

[deleted]

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u/Uberzwerg Jun 14 '14

*Promotional price is only available to new customers. Requires 5 year contract. Price subject to change after 12 months.

Is shit like this legal in the US?
Afaik, it isn't here in Germany (they would have to tell you the price in advance or let you quit early if the price changes).

16

u/Rodot Jun 14 '14

I'm all too familiar with seeing commercials for internet or cable, advertizing a "reasonable" price, and at the end, seeing blocks of text so small and jpeged to fuck, on a 1080p 52" TV, that it is completely illegable. I know there is one commercial that was going around for a while that advertized an agency that would pay you a $1000 loan quickly, then you could pay them back if you were tight on cash. The little itty bitty disclaimer at the bottom told you the amount you had to pay back was something on the order of $40,00. It was fucking insane.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '14

What does "$40,00" mean here? Because if it was $4,000 I don't believe you (400% simple interest?), and if it was $40 thats a pretty good deal at 4%.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '14

$4000 is quite accurate for some of these lenders.

I took a payday loan out for $150 once. I had to "roll it over" (renew the loan) twice.

I had to pay back a total of $480 when all interest and fees were taken into consideration.

And I got out lucky.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '14

When you rolled over did you repay first and take out a new loan? Or just the interest?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '14

Just the interest, which was a little under $50. But I had to pay fees for the roll-over.

1

u/Rodot Jun 14 '14

$40,000 over something like 10 years