Surely not another complaint about Quesia.Com's billing methods - where is Ken Lay when we need him?

Questia.com provides access to thousands of academic texts and newspaper and magazine articles - but you need to beware of its trigger-happy billing system which can mean that using Questia.com could very easily cost more than you think.

I'll come to my gripe (and explain the Ken Lay reference) in a minute, but first some other gripes from the Net:

Sara, on ripoffreport.com complained of difficulties in cancelling a three month subscription with Questia which renewed the subscription without reference to her. Kerim, on the anthropology blog, Savage Minds, complains also about the ease with which Questia.com turned a trial subscription into a recurring subscription. Here's one on complaints.com about Questia.com's habit of renewing people's subscriptions without telling them.

And I notice that Lansbridge University, which uses Questia.com, warns students of "Questia's policy on automatically renewing subscriptions. If you decide not to keep your Questia account before your trial period is up, be sure to contact Questia to have it deactivated. Otherwise, it will automatically be switched over to a monthly billing and you will be charged accordingly."

In my own experience, I signed up for a package which they renewed at a higher price than agreed. We sorted that out a year ago, or so I thought. This March they helped themselves to $8.62 from my credit card (which, incidentally, had expired six months earlier, thanks a lot, NIB Visa) with no explanation when my subscription, which I had no intention of renewing, still had a month to run. A small amount? Yes, but I don't exist for the purpose of giving Questa.com money for nothing. I could not get an explanation from them as to why they took my money - their emails when I complained largely side-stepped that issue - and, of course, I didn't get my money back.

I wouldn't deny for a minute that this company has thousands of satisfied customers but I wonder how much Questia.com's renewal policy makes for them every year? I don't know but if you don't want to be a contributor to their coffers, be very careful about doing business with these guys.

And Ken Lay?

This item from a report on Questia.com on Wired.com in 2002 said that "In three previous rounds of financing, over $165 million dollars had been raised, including an investment from former Enron CEO Ken Lay. Lay is also on the company's board of directors." Publisher's Lunch reports that Lay will stay on the board at least for the time being and quotes Questia's Helen Wilson as saying it would be 'premature' to speculate about his future."

Well, she was right about that alright.

Got an opinion? Comment here.

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Off-topic: Africa to pay for Europe's "green policies"

In efforts to make quick and symbolic gains in Europe's otherwise failed policies to curb climate gas emissions, environmental and anti-globalisation politicians are aiming at Africa's few economic success stories, says this story on afrol.com. Campaigns to buy locally produced food and travel to local destinations particularly hit out against African products.

Link:

afrol News - Africa to pay for Europe's "green policies"

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Off-topic: Executing child offenders in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen

One of the most shocking photographs I ever saw was of nooses being put over the heads of two teenage boys who were being executed in Iran for having sex with each other. Now Bock the Robber has this list of boys and girls who are under sentence of death in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen for crimes committed when they were under 18. While he used the headline "Islamic Savages," I happen to think - and he probably does too - that most Muslim countries are outraged by such executions and by Islamic extremism in general.

According to this article by Amnesty International, "Iran has the shameful status of being the world’s last official executioner(1) of child offenders – people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. It also holds the macabre distinction of having executed more child offenders than any other country in the world since 1990, according to Amnesty International’s records."

In the past three years, children have been executed in China (1), Sudan (2) and Pakistan (1), according to Amnesty. Iran is the only country to have executed children this year.

stopchildexecutions.com lists people, mainly teenagers, over 18 who are under sentence of death in Iran for offences committed when they were under that age....



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And here is the rest of it.

Off Topic: Residents call a halt to assisted suicide in Swiss housing block

I'm in favour of making assisted suicide available to people who are suffering great pain in terminal illnesses. In Europe, many people go to Dignitas in Zurich to die. But what if you lived in the same apartment block in which Dignitas, er, facilitates suicide? Read this remarkable article from The Guardian to get a flavour of what it's like.....
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