Over a Barrel

Over a Barrel: “out of one’s control; in a dilemma”. The phrase comes from the image of somebody draped over a barrel in a helpless position.  Not a place you want to find yourself! But sometimes you can find yourself in that position because you didn’t read the fine print, or you didn’t check out a situation, or something you thought wasn’t going to be a problem turned out to be a big problem.

When I moved to my little country parcel about 14 years ago, I loved the landlocked location about a mile from a reasonably good-sized town. It was private and secure and quiet and away from the roadway. It seemed ideal. Until I tried to get cable TV and internet. I made the routine call to Comcast to set things up and was startled to run into the brick wall entitled “Your location is unserviceable”.

Huh? The entire neighborhood had cable. I called Comcast and after a LOT of phone transfers, finally found somebody who told me that my driveway is 497 feet long and therefore, my home is “unserviceable”. Fourteen years later, after more attempts to get service than I can count, the location is still “unserviceable”. Comcast has the gold medal in “just say no”. And they have me over a barrel since they control the infrastructure that delivers high-speed internet in my neighborhood. This is definitely out of my control, and it has me in a dilemma, since I have a home-based business that needs good internet access, and I can’t get high-speed internet. I now have an office in town just to get the level of internet access I need to run my business.

I’m not sure I would have passed on buying the house if I had checked first, but at least I would have known about the problem and wouldn’t have spent fourteen years after the fact trying to find workarounds. So it really pays to check out a situation before you sign on the dotted line. Long-term contracts, cancellation fees, licensing agreements, unavailable services, incompatibilities  and the like can have surprises lurking in the fine print if you don’t check and then spend some time imagining what the consequences may be. I signed up for phone service with a 2-year contract. Well after the 2 years was up, I decided to change providers and was surprised to find that I would have an early termination fee. Why? Because that 2-year contract renews every 2 years! So to avoid the fee, you need to know the renewal date and schedule your switch for that date, or slightly before (not slightly after!)

When Cowboy's over a barrel, it's kinda cute. When it's you, not so much.

Obviously I’m not very curious about the contracts I sign and the situations I get into, but I’m learning to ask a lot more questions! I suggest that before you sign a contract, read it carefully, then before signing, take a little quiet time and try to imagine all the scenarios that could cause you problems. Don’t get caught over a barrel!