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.