Q16 - Notice to subscribers: In order

[tzyc]

Why is (D) wrong? She requested on June 30th, it's 3 days earlier than July 3rd, isn't it?
And...what's credit?
First I thought it means refund but my dictionary says it's trust, reputation, deposit...but does not sound correct.
And is (B) wrong because she requested the next day and requested credit (which is not in the stimulus)?

Thank you

[ohthatpatrick]

"Credit" is like store credit.

If I buy a $10 shirt from Old Navy and then I want to return it, they could possibly say:
No refunds or exchanges (I'm stuck with the shirt)
Only store credit (I get my $10 back, but I have to spend it at Old Navy)
or
Refund (I get my $10 back, and I can spend it anywhere)

Let's summarize the policies here.

We're billed every 4 weeks in advance. Let's say every issue costs $1, so we pay $28 for 4 weeks of daily issues.

If we don't receive our paper, we should call promptly for replacement.
If they have a replacement copy, they'll just give us that.
If they don't have a replacement copy, they'll credit the $1 cost of that issue back to our accounts.
BUT, we have to report the lost copy within 24 hrs. If we wait longer than that, we don't get any credit back to our account.

If we're going out of town and want to request them to suspend delivery of the paper, we have to tell them at least three days before when we want the paper to stop arriving.

So if we're leaving on Thursday the 8th, we have until Monday the 5th at the latest to ask them to hold our deliveries while we're gone.

(The paragraph seems to imply that if we ask them to hold our deliveries, we won't have to pay for those issues)

In order to cancel our subscription permanently, we have to submit a written cancellation request prior to the date of cancellation. So I can't just call up today and cancel my subscription.

(A) Mr. R is in the wrong. He tried to cancel by just stopping his payments, but we know that in order to cancel we must submit a written cancellation.

(B) Dr. B is in the wrong. When we call within 24 hrs. to say we didn't receive a copy of the paper, we only get credit back to our accounts if the Gazette is unable to supply us with a replacement copy. But here, Dr. B called on Monday to say she didn't receive Sunday's issue, and the Gazette offered her the replacement copy.

(C) Ms. H is in the right. She requested temporary nondelivery and followed the correct procedure. She made her request at least three days before the delivery was to temporarily halt.

(D) Ms. J is in the wrong. She tried to cancel her subscription by calling. The cancellation policy stipulates that you must submit a WRITTEN request. Be careful with the various terms specified in the paragraph. You cited the 3-day rule for (D), but that had nothing to do with cancellation. The 3-day rule was for "temporary nondelivery of service". The last sentence explains the rule for "cancellation of service".

(E) Ms. S is in the wrong. She called about an issue she didn't receive and asked for credit, but she called MORE than 24hrs. after the issue didn't arrive (it didn't arrive on Sunday -- she called on Tuesday).

Hope that clarifies. Thank goodness we can just read our news on the Internet now.

[kc81144]

I interpreted the condition "Credit can be given only if the missed copy is reported to us within twenty-four hours and only if a replacement copy is unavailable" as

credit --> missed copy reported 24 hrs + replacement unavailable

So, I crossed off C because Ms. Herrera asked for credit to remedy her situation, but she didn't fit the two criteria.

I selected D instead because although Ms. Jackson did not follow the cancellation protocol, they stopped delivering to her and she asked for the situation to be remedied by "not being charged for the papers delivered in July." The policy never mentioned "not being charged" for papers delivered (and I did not equate "not being charged" to "credit" because those are different), so I chose D although I see how she didn't follow the cancellation policy.

Can anyone help me understand this better? I guess the main thing I want to understand is why my interpretation of the credit policy is wrong.

[ohthatpatrick]

Good questions.

Your conditional interpretation of the "credit" sentence is definitely correct.

However, that rule is only referring to situations in which you WANTED the paper, but it DIDN'T come.

The final two sentences deal with rules for when you DON'T want the paper to come.

If you want the paper to stop coming temporarily, you just have to request that at least three days in advance.

If you want the paper to stop coming permanently, you have to request that in writing, in advance.

So for the those final two situations, the basic idea is that if you followed the instructions for temporary nondelivery or if you followed the instructions for cancellation, then you shouldn't be at fault (shouldn't have to pay) if the Daily Gazette DOES still deliver your paper.

It's definitely annoying that the paragraph of policies isn't more explicit about saying, "if you follow the rules for temporary nondelivery / cancellation but we deliver the paper anyway, you will not be charged for those papers".

But common sense would lead us to believe that that is the intended purpose of stating those policies.

It would be AGAINST common sense to believe that the Gazette requires that you submit a written request for cancellation ahead of time, but still intends to keep delivering you the paper and charging you for it.

So (C) and (D) have nothing to do with this rule:
credit --> within 24 hrs. + no replacement available

Remember, this rule only pertains to when we WANTED the paper but did NOT receive it.

(C) and (D) refer to situations when we DIDN'T want the paper but DID receive it.

(C) deals with temporary nondelivery so we only need to look at the 2nd to last sentence. (D) deals with cancellation so we only need to look at the last sentence.

Let me know if questions remain.

[KyleN131]

Good questions.

Your conditional interpretation of the "credit" sentence is definitely correct.

However, that rule is only referring to situations in which you WANTED the paper, but it DIDN'T come.

The final two sentences deal with rules for when you DON'T want the paper to come.

If you want the paper to stop coming temporarily, you just have to request that at least three days in advance.

If you want the paper to stop coming permanently, you have to request that in writing, in advance.

So for the those final two situations, the basic idea is that if you followed the instructions for temporary nondelivery or if you followed the instructions for cancellation, then you shouldn't be at fault (shouldn't have to pay) if the Daily Gazette DOES still deliver your paper.

It's definitely annoying that the paragraph of policies isn't more explicit about saying, "if you follow the rules for temporary nondelivery / cancellation but we deliver the paper anyway, you will not be charged for those papers".

But common sense would lead us to believe that that is the intended purpose of stating those policies.

It would be AGAINST common sense to believe that the Gazette requires that you submit a written request for cancellation ahead of time, but still intends to keep delivering you the paper and charging you for it.

So (C) and (D) have nothing to do with this rule:
credit --> within 24 hrs. + no replacement available

Remember, this rule only pertains to when we WANTED the paper but did NOT receive it.

(C) and (D) refer to situations when we DIDN'T want the paper but DID receive it.

(C) deals with temporary nondelivery so we only need to look at the 2nd to last sentence. (D) deals with cancellation so we only need to look at the last sentence.

Let me know if questions remain.

This question was annoying for me too.

The question says "each of the denials could be justified solely on the basis of the policy stated above."

The fact that the question wasn't more explicit in saying "if we deliver the paper anyway, you will not be charged for those papers." Opens the door for the possibility that the denial could still be justified by the policy.

I get that it is implying that if they ask for non deliverance, they won't have to pay for those issues. But the language of the policy still allows for the denial to be justified. The Daily Gazette could easily have said, "Sorry, Ms. Herrera, per our policy, we only issue credit if you did not receive a paper delivery or a replacement copy."

That's why I eliminated C.