Bad Business Practices

I recently received a second notice from my city's utility department, trying again to shake me down for protection of my exterior piping.  It reminded me of the well-known Mafia practices, giving you two choices, neither of them good.  Below see the tactic employed in a very unethical way, in my opinion, which got them a bunch of money, I am sure, from people who got intimidated, by the wording of the notice, and the missing option to opt out, on the "ACCEPTANCE FORM".  In the end, they tell us you can buy it or buy it, buster (see form below).

You may ask, why am I sharing this experience of mine?  It simply underscores what I had written before; the customer is no longer the king, but the servant of even organizations, which should in reality serve us, the customer.  Am I the only one that experiences this form of abuse?  I think not.

As an aside, the probability that the water line from the city supply line, at the curb, to the home becomes defective is, in my opinion, very low.  hence this kind of deal is a moneymaker for whoever profits from this 'protection plan'.  Granted some will accept the cost for this protection.  As far as I am concerned, this is equivalent to buying insurance in case one is hit by lightening; it could happen, but is highly unlikely.

Something To Think About

My friend, John D., sent me an article that showed an interesting chart,  which I will share below.
 We are probably all familiar with the saying,
  "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it"  - Edmund Burke
 I would like to modify this slightly by stating, 'Those who ignore history are apt to repeat it'.
It was in 2008 when the last housing bubble exploded with terrifying results, yes, just about nine years ago, and here we are actively occupied to create another housing bubble; the chart below clearly shows that.

Taken from https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2017/11/the-biggest-ponzi-in-human-history/

Granted this is a very busy chart, however, it clearly shows that we are, worldwide, well on the way to not only create another housing bubble, but to invite another housing market collapse.  Even Germany who did not participate prior to 2008, has now joined the irresponsible crowd of nations, and, apparently, has found a reason why to participate, in the madness, this time.

For a while, right after the collapse, the lending industry (banks, etc) placed some hard rules in place, requiring reasonable assurance that the borrower has the means 1) to purchase the property, and 2) service the mortgage.  It did not take long before many lenders, who needed/wanted more fees, etc. were relaxing these more strict requirements.  In addition, interest rates are kept, to this day, at a very low level, inviting again those, who really should not purchase a property; they cannot afford, in the long run.

I am afraid the next housing collapse will make the prior look like a little bump in the road; this time it will be much more devastating, because the evil planners will want much more than previously.  The curve describing human greed is an exponential one!  For the most part, housing values have regained their previous losses and some.  It will be risky to acquire real estate in these uncertain times; some countries are more risky than others, to be sure.  But, in the end the 'Domino' effect will be the equalizer.