Archive for February, 2010

As Bad As It Gets – Have You Got One Of These?

February 14th, 2010

But this one is not another Jack Nicholson movie

America is angry, Europe is furious and Asia is steaming. Traditionally, one of the things one never fools with is another man’s wheels. That’s almost the 11^th commandment. A man’s car is his pride and joy, his space, his world, his toy. Watch what happens when someone scratches the paint – the owner goes ballistic, threatens to sue – and often does – screams for his insurer, runs around to body shops and generally carries on like a child. He will dine out on a minor fender-bender for months.

The Toyota recall

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, has recalled more than eight-million vehicles worldwide over faulty accelerator and brake systems. The recall covers models with “sticky accelerators” that cause cars to race out of control, a defect blamed for several deadly crashes, and has widened to brake system problems in the Prius and other hybrid models.

It’s worse and worser

Now we are watching what happens when the car’s manufacturer says, “Sorry – we goofed. We sold you a car with a bug in it, we have to take it back and fix the problem.” It’s an invitation to mass hysteria. Many car owners will simply say: Thanks for letting me know. Tell me when I should bring my car in to have it fixed. Others will rant and rage and attend to the problem with much moaning and groaning. And then there are those who will sue.

The lawyers

Toyota faces an avalanche of US lawsuits over its recall, with a consortium of lawyers joining forces to sue for damages over the plummeting resale value of the company’s cars. A federal court hearing in San Diego in March will aim at grouping together legal action involving 22 law firms across 16 states in which Toyota owners are seeking financial compensation as a result of the crisis. The latest lawsuits are among more than 30 which have been filed around the US against Toyota, including several personal injury actions linked to deadly high-speed crashes.

A law professor yet

Tim Howard, a professor of law at Northeastern University and a leading authority in consumer law cases, is coordinating the latest wave of lawsuits under the banner of Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium. The lawsuit alleges that the value of Toyota cars has declined sharply. Howard, who helped win a $20-billion (R153-billion) settlement for the state of Florida during the wave of litigation against big tobacco in the 1990′s, said the Toyota case would be one of the biggest in US history. “This is the strongest and largest case for economic damages to American consumers we’ve ever had,” he said. The lawsuit alleges that Toyota owners have seen the value of their cars decline sharply during the recall crisis and have also lost their use.

We thought we were buying quality

“Instead, they got a car so defective it could lead to their death.”

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Get excited, guys, Gillette is upgrading its razor yet again

February 12th, 2010

How come I don’t get bright ideas like King Gillette?

King Camp Gillette, 1855 – 1932, was an American businessman, popularly known as the inventor of the safety razor. While Gillette did improve the design of the safety razor, his true invention was an inexpensive, high profit-margin stamped steel disposable blade and a unique business model that later became known as ‘freebie marketing’. This beat out competitors and became the most popular razor of its time.

An idea is born

While working as a traveling salesman to support his family in the 1890s, Gillette would see bottle caps with the cork seal he sold, thrown away after opening the bottle. This made him realize the value in basing a business on a disposable product. Gillette hit upon an idea. Earlier razor blades needed continuous sharpening, becoming worn out quickly and making them expensive. He realized that a profit could be made by selling a safety razor at a reduced price and then making a profit margin on the inexpensive disposable blades. He developed a blade made out of very thin sheet-steel. Once the blade became dull, it was discarded and replaced by a new one, using the same holder. This has been called the ‘Razor and Blades’ business model.

The single blade

Remember the single blade in the blue paper wrapper? It was used for shaving a few times and then it was used for just about any job where cutting was involved. Every schoolboy had one in his pencil case for a quick sharpening job.

The two-blade razor

The shaving revolution started with Gillette’s introduction of a two-blade razor in 1971. Japan’s Kai retaliated by going to three blades in 1998. Gillette struck back with their three-bladed Mach3 followed by Schick Wilkinson-Sword’s four-blade Quattro in 2003. The five-blade Fusion was developed before the Boston-based Gillette became part of Proctor and Gamble and made its debut soon after. It became a $1 billion brand in annual sales and accounts for 45 percent of the men’s razors sold in the U.S., according to P&G.

Latest news

The latest development is again by Gillette – the blades are 15 percent thinner and meant to tug skin less, the holder has a better grip and features mineral-oil lubrication. The thinner blade sounds like a master-stroke and is reminiscent of what goes on in the semi-conductor industry which now lives in the nano-tech world. Perhaps thinner is the future of razors as well?

When is my next thin-thin shave?

The company plans to have the Fusion ProGlide on store shelves in June. It’s the first new shaver Gillette has developed since Procter & Gamble Co. took it over in 2005, and it benefits from research expertise at the Cincinnati-based makers of Olay skin cream and Pantene shampoo.

The future

Speculation is that Gillette will jump to six or seven or even 10 blades. The company focus is on making shaving easier and less irritating to the skin.

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Planning a divorce? Choose your lawyer carefully

February 11th, 2010

Lawyers lies: “He’ll walk out of court naked as a jaybird”:

It happens in many marriages – love dies. Thanks in part to the rising incidence of divorce coupled with the rising population of lawyers, competition between lawyers specializing in family law and divorce has become so fierce that some do not cavil at stretching the truth about what they can get for their potential clients.

The ugly business

Divorce is often an ugly business marked by mutual recriminations, hostility, hurt and a keen desire for revenge. An unscrupulous lawyer will fan the flames for his own selfish interest and promise to shoot down the demon spouse in flames. That vision of her left begging on street corners may gratify the soul, but it’s also baseless.

Hire me

“Hire me and you’ll get the house,” you may hear. Or, “Place your trust in me and he’ll leave court naked as the day he was born.” There are the promises of sky-high child support: “I promise you $5,000 a month,” the lawyer may vow, and of course, “Custody is yours. Bank on it.” Take much of these sweeping assurances with a grain of salt. Counting on a promise that proves false can lead to anguish. The proceedings bog down in recriminations flying in more than two directions, causing distress to the divorcing couple and to any children in range, too.

The lawyer is no savior

A divorcing spouse often sees the lawyer as a savior from economic and emotional hazards. The easiest way to hook a client is to promise whatever he or she wants to hear. Believe these promises and you’ll pay dearly. The very thought of losing the children deters many people from divorcing. Family lawyers know it’s an extremely sensitive issue. Parents are often willing to break the bank just to assure they receive custody. But any lawyer assuring the father that he’ll get custody of the kids is walking a fine line between reassuring and misleading the client. The same goes for promising 100% custody to the mother.

Custody

In most cases the court will decide that minors under age 6 should stay with the mother. If there are older siblings, the court will endeavor not to separate them from the smaller ones. Therefore, even if a 15-year-old wants to live with the father, the court may decide it is better for him to stay with the mother and younger siblings. Joint custody is a complicated issue, and should not be taken for granted.

Child support

Divorce lawyers courting clients play on another delicate issue – child support. Sometimes child support is essential for a spouse, especially if he or she stayed home raising the kids and has no job, or worked part time after the birth – and remains underpaid after the divorce. Sometimes, a spouse will make a sky-high support demand just for the sake of revenge. A lawyer promising a woman that she’ll get $5,000 a month per child is usually misleading her.

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