What do you think of people who renege on deals?

[bhsup]

A man's word is his bond. Yes? What's the point of telling someone 'x' if later down the road you just come back and say 'stuff x' instead?

Now I realize sometimes the world intervenes to make it impossible to keep your word and okay that's situationally...well not okay, but something to be taken into acount. But to just arbitrarily choose to not keep your word, that's stinky poo. What say you, CFC OT? Am I just out of touch with how things should work in the modern world?

 

[Perfection]

If someone reneges on deals I will be wary of dealing with them again.

Credibility is and always will be important.

 

[Azale]

I think it reflects negatively on that person's character. It would be hard to respect or trust someone who did that.

 

[JollyRoger]

Chapters 7 and 13 may explain the modern ways:

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I think it's important but that importance is in degrees. To me the level of offense I take to someone reneging on something depends on how important the 'deal' was to me to begin with.

I guess I should caveat this by saying I was in charge of a student government so I'm totally used to people saying they'll do something, then acting like they are doing it, only to find out they didn't do it and there's nothing that I can do because I can't fire them. I also have a friend who's nearly a pathological liar so again I'm kind of used to it. I suspect I'd take more offense if I didn't have these experiences though I still think keeping your word is important.

 

[Lord of Elves]

I'm not particularly comfortable with either of the extremes presented in the OP. Sometimes reneging on a deal is appropriate, depending on the circumstances, though sometimes it is representative of a person being untrustworthy/having no respect for the person they made the deal with. It's very subjective to the circumstances surrounding the deal.

That said, I generally try to do things I say I'm going to do.

 

[Lord Baal]

I dislike people who don't keep their agreements, and am wary of dealing with them myself. I do recognise that there are certain situations in which it would be worse to actually keep the deal though, such as in politics. For example, Australia's former Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised she would not institute a carbon tax prior to the last election. The election resulted in a hung parliament, and one of the compromises she was forced to make to remain PM was to institute a carbon tax. I'm not going to get involved in an argument about which major Australian political party is best right now, or the desirability of a carbon tax to begin with. I'm merely illustrating the fact that sometimes compromise is necessary, and I have no problem with reneging on a deal if the situation warrants it. Just being a lying sack of crap, on the other hand, I don't like.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I'd feel pretty bad cursing someone who couldn't go on a trip with me because they got hospitalized.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

They shouldn't have had that beer before they turned on the wood chipper.

 

[Defiant47]

There's an unlimited number of people in the world, and I will not waste my time with those who have ruined their own credibility.

 

[nerdfighter13]

Once someone goes back on their word, I don't trust them very much unless they had a really good reason for breaking it.

 

[azzaman333]

Depends why they've reneged. If it's because cbf, not happy. If it's because someone died, cut them slack.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

What is cbf?

Chipper-Beer/Fosters?

 

[Lord Baal]

Cbf?.

 

[azzaman333]

Can't be <redacted>

 

[Lord Baal]

What happens if keeping their word would result in prison-rape? Then they'd be breaking their agreement so they can't be <redacted>.

 

[bhsup]

Let's not forget this was in the first post.

Now I realize sometimes the world intervenes to make it impossible to keep your word and okay that's situationally...well not okay, but something to be taken into acount

 

[MobBoss]

A man's word is his bond. Yes? What's the point of telling someone 'x' if later down the road you just come back and say 'stuff x' instead?

Now I realize sometimes the world intervenes to make it impossible to keep your word and okay that's situationally...well not okay, but something to be taken into acount. But to just arbitrarily choose to not keep your word, that's stinky poo. What say you, CFC OT? Am I just out of touch with how things should work in the modern world?

Reminds me of the Bush/Gore election when Gore actually called and conceded to Bush on the phone, then rescinded that when the count in Florida got closer. The scum.

 

[Zelig]

Reminds me of the Bush/Gore election when Gore actually called and conceded to Bush on the phone, then rescinded that when the count in Florida got closer. The scum.

If Florida had gone for Gore, I doubt Bush would have been appointed based on Gore's mistaken concession.

So I'm not sure if you're calling him scum because because you think he should have waited until later to rescind the concession?

 

[JollyRoger]

Reminds me of the Bush/Gore election when Gore actually called and conceded to Bush on the phone, then rescinded that when the count in Florida got closer. The scum.

Good thing Bush never scummed his way into breaking his word on nation building.