The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXXI

[Zkribbler]

Can you use a coupon on the day of the printed expiration date? I'd always assumed the printed date was the final day of it's validty, instead of the first day of it being expired.

I would opine that the coupon is still valid on the printed day. In contract law, if a provision is uncertain, it is interpreted against the party causing the uncertainty.

If they wanted it to be no longer valid as of a certain day, they must make that clear, e.g. "No longer valid on 1/1/17"

 

[shadowplay]

The coupon in question expired 12/31/16 (the day I used it), and while the good people at Red Lobster accepted it without me making a fuss, the server made a point of telling me it expired, like he was doing me a solid.. I thought it was a little strange.

 

[Synobun]

Yeaaaaah, no. Expiration is the day after the listed date. Your server was a buffoon.

 

[cardgame]

Well that grammar just doesn't check out at all. Silly brits.

 

[Arakhor]

Well that grammar just doesn't check out at all. Silly brits.

People aren't drunk, you realise. They're tired and emotional and that doesn't fit into one syllable.

 

[warpus]

I would opine that the coupon is still valid on the printed day. In contract law, if a provision is uncertain, it is interpreted against the party causing the uncertainty.

If they wanted it to be no longer valid as of a certain day, they must make that clear, e.g. "No longer valid on 1/1/17"

"Expires on 2017/1/1" to me implies that the coupon expires as soon as the date changes from 2016 to 2017. i.e. it expires on 2017/1/1, meaning that as soon as this is the date, the coupon is expired. It's valid all of 2016, but then as soon as it's 2017/1/1, it is expired, just as the text says

It doesn't seem uncertain to me, the text literally says which date is the first date on which the coupon is expired. But I agree that some people would be confused by this and a lot of places would let it slide.

To maybe explain my reasoning a bit better, if someone says: "I turn 17 on 2017/1/1", this means that this person turns 17 exactly when the date switches from 2016 to 2017/1/1, not the next day after that

 

[Gori the Grey]

"Good through" helps avoid any uncertainty.

 

[Traitorfish]

I'm just curious what the "drink" in "drink driving" is. Is it a verb? Or a noun? Or something else? Or is the whole phrase "drink driving" just a historical accident that can't be analyzed grammatically? (sort of like the "isn't it" thing Brits add to the ends of sentences sometimes, even in cases where it makes 0 grammatical sense)

"Isn't it" it signals that the speaker expects agreement or confirmation, like ending a sentence with "yeah" or "y'see". It's rhetorical, rather than simply a-grammatical.

I mean, it's not like the way Geordies end a sentence with "like" or Glasgwegians end a sentence with "but", neither of which mean anything at all. (Personally theory, it's because both tribes speak so quickly they need a nice, solid syllable to stomp down on at the end of the sentence, or they'll just keep going indefinitely.

"Expires on 2017/1/1" to me implies that the coupon expires as soon as the date changes from 2016 to 2017. i.e. it expires on 2017/1/1, meaning that as soon as this is the date, the coupon is expired. It's valid all of 2016, but then as soon as it's 2017/1/1, it is expired, just as the text says

"Expires on xx/xx/xxxx" only tells us that expiry occurs at some point on the given date, though, that it occurs at the stroke of midnight. Most companies would, for sake of clarity, identify that time as the close of business (or at 11:59:59, depending on hours of operation).

You cite birthdays, but when I say "I was born on such-and-such date", I don't mean I came firing out of the womb as soon as the bells struck, I meant it occurred at some point within that twenty-four hour cycle.

 

[warpus]

"Expires on xx/xx/xxxx" only tells us that expiry occurs at some point on the given date, though

It is reasonable to assume that a coupon would not have incomplete expiry information printed on it. I think it makes a lot more sense and it is a lot more reasonable to take the statement "Expires on xx/yy/zzzz" at face value instead of assuming that the statement is incomplete and doesn't tell us when exactly the coupon expires.

Since there is no time specified, as soon as "it is now xx/xx/xxxx" becomes true, the state of the coupon flips from "not expired" to "expired". The earliest time this happens is exactly at midnight at the beginning of that day. At any time after that the coupon will be expired

I agree that it makes a lot more sense to specify the time, but if it is not specified you have no choice but to assume the above. Even if a lot of places would honour the coupon anyway because they probably want your business

 

[Traitorfish]

If most business would honour the coupon as a matter of course, doesn't that suggest it's the correct interpretation? If the wording is ambiguous, it makes more sense to follow real-world practice rather than trying to work it out from incomplete information.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Were the levels in the original Doom randomly generated?

 

[Takhisis]

If most business would honour the coupon as a matter of course, doesn't that suggest it's the correct interpretation? If the wording is ambiguous, it makes more sense to follow real-world practice rather than trying to work it out from incomplete information.

See here:

I would opine that the coupon is still valid on the printed day. In contract law, if a provision is uncertain, it is interpreted against the party causing the uncertainty.

I can quote you from West's Business Law by Clarkson et. al. if need be.

Were the levels in the original Doom randomly generated?

Nnno…? I am curious as to why you are asking.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Nnno…? I am curious as to why you are asking.

I was told that the levels in the original Doom are randomly generated and it took 22 years before anyone found out.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Due to the wording in the laws governing gift cards, which are legally prevented from having any "expiration," almost any coupon if challenged can be shown as having no expiration allowed. The information required to legally differentiate them from a gift card is seldom, if ever, present on the coupon. Most businesses are well aware of this fact, and understand that if challenged they will not only be forced to honor the expired coupon but face the consequences of having issued an "illegal gift card" so they will quietly honor a coupon even if it is obviously expired.

I'll wager that the snotty server at Red Lobster needs to be better versed in company policy.

 

[Samson]

I was told that the levels in the original Doom are randomly generated and it took 22 years before anyone found out.

I had to google it, found this and what I think it means is that the levels were not randomly generated, but some effects are. A lot of these effects are cosmetic, like monster noises and "the famous screen melting flourish you get between levels". Some are real game play features like weapon spread (making shotguns and chain guns fire like sniper rifles if removed) and monster behaviour.

 

[schlaufuchs]

Due to the wording in the laws governing gift cards, which are legally prevented from having any "expiration," almost any coupon if challenged can be shown as having no expiration allowed. The information required to legally differentiate them from a gift card is seldom, if ever, present on the coupon. Most businesses are well aware of this fact, and understand that if challenged they will not only be forced to honor the expired coupon but face the consequences of having issued an "illegal gift card" so they will quietly honor a coupon even if it is obviously expired.

I'll wager that the snotty server at Red Lobster needs to be better versed in company policy.

From what I can tell, you're mostly right, but not entirely. It depends on the wording of the coupon (specifically whether an actual dollar value is mentioned in the text of the coupon, which is something California requires to be printed on all coupons). Also no expiration dates on gift certificates is a California thing; the federal law stipulates a minimum 5-year term of validity, though other states have different rules.

http://www.franchising.com/articles/do_gift_certificate_laws_apply_to_coupons.html

 

[Timsup2nothin]

From what I can tell, you're mostly right, but not entirely. It depends on the wording of the coupon (specifically whether an actual dollar value is mentioned in the text of the coupon, which is something California requires to be printed on all coupons). Also no expiration dates on gift certificates is a California thing; the federal law stipulates a minimum 5-year term of validity, though other states have different rules.

http://www.franchising.com/articles/do_gift_certificate_laws_apply_to_coupons.html

If you go directly to the federal law in question you will find that even though it does allow for a five year term the requirements for claiming such a term are so convoluted that they are in practice never met. Not that they couldn't be, but if they were consumers would probably look at all the required posting all over the card and say "that just looks way too fishy, I want nothing to do with it."

 

[Gori the Grey]

I'll be getting Civ VI soon, which means that one of the games of Civ V that I'm playing will be my last game of Civ V ever.

I'm finishing up a game that is one of my best domination victories ever (as Sweden of all civs). Should I let that game be my last game and go out on a high note?

Or should I declare a particular game my last game ever, and take the results, win or lose?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'll be getting Civ VI soon, which means that one of the games of Civ V that I'm playing will be my last game of Civ V ever.

I'm finishing up a game that is one of my best domination victories ever (as Sweden of all civs). Should I let that game be my last game and go out on a high note?

Or should I declare a particular game my last game ever, and take the results, win or lose?

You should tell yourself that you will "probably play it again someday" and not attach any significance to any particular play.

Speaking of which, maybe I should install Civ III and give that a whirl...

 

[Lexicus]

Speaking of which, maybe I should install Civ III and give that a whirl...

Lexicus approves this message