David One - Goliath Nil

Lovely, if somewhat fanciful fairy story, David and Goliath. The idea that large threatening hulks of any form or character can be felled by a well-aimed projectile that strikes at its target’s most vulnerable point is food for the soul, and in some ways still informs my beliefs about justice, equity and, of course, come-uppance.

Oh, if there were just a few more slingshots and stones lying around our commercial litigation courts, what fun we might have!  For, despite the enduring presence of the Goddess Themis and her scales-holding daughter Dike in the portrayal of justice, commercial litigation systems the world over are not citadels of truth, equity and light.  Rather, those ancient scales more often tip in favour of litigants or defendants who have the capacity to throw an unlimited supply of money at whatever legal poo they find themselves standing in.

But, every now and then, despite the stench of money corrupting outcomes in our court systems, modern day Davids occasionally get a chance to fell a Golliath......and that’s what happened recently to a haughty Swiss company that has long taken an arrogant approach towards its customers. Yes, a representative of ‘Save the Time’, an Australian group that is seeking to overturn the unconscionable behaviour of Swiss watch companies towards their customers, has had a major win.  As a result, no longer can these horological harridans demand that a watch is serviced in accordance with their so-called ‘service regimes’.  They must  obey the instructions of the owner of the watch and service it in accordance with those instructions. 

While this may appear a trifle, it will have a significant influence on the relationship between watch owners and Swiss conglomerates who treat their customers like morons and assume they can gouge them for unrequired services.  Click here for the fuller story, and just in case you can’t figure who the ruling went against, think the letter R.