It seems that there are people in California who don't understand the English language well enough to understand what they are getting into when they sign telecommunications contracts. It is alleged that people are being defrauded by cell phone vendors, but if so the proper response is to track down and prosecute that fraud. The same aggressive investigation should also be applied to the possibility that people are deliberately running up large phone bills and then claiming supposed non-comprehension to avoid payment. My wee wifey's immigrant grandmother hid behind feigned non-comprehension for decades. As for the people who innocently chose the wrong plan, that is just the consequence of their failure to adapt and they need to pay the cost of that failure.
English is the language of law in the United States, but since I am not a lawyer I certain whether contracts in the 200 languages spoken in California can be legally binding. If they are, then the new regulation proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission is going to open up a can of worms which will make doing any kind of business in the state even less attractive. Legal documents cannot be translated by the same people who translate the manuals for DVD players.
Posted by triticale at July 29, 2007 03:21 PM | TrackBack