Do Firefox Users Pay More For Car Loans? 371
RandyOo writes "Someone wrote in to The Consumerist to report an interesting discovery: while shopping online for a car loan, Capital One offered him different rates, depending on the browser he used! Firefox yielded the highest rate at 3.5%, Opera took second place with 3.1%, Safari was only 2.7%, and finally, Google's Chrome browser afforded him the best rate of all: 2.3%!
A commenter on the article claims to have been previously employed by Capital One, and writes: If you model the risk and revenue of applicants, the type of browser shows up as a significant variable. Browsers do predict an account's performance to some degree, and it will affect the rates you will view. It isn't a marketing test. I was still a bit dubious, but at least one of her previous comments backs up her claims to have worked for a credit card company.
Considering the outcry after it was discovered that Amazon was experimenting with variable pricing a few years back, it seems surprising that consumers would be punished (or rewarded), based solely on the browser they happen to be using at the time!"
Re:I wonder (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously it would be high as the user would be a risk taker!
Re:IE6 (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh, come on (Score:5, Funny)
I work at IHOP you insensitive clod!
Re:Repeat after me (Score:5, Funny)
Correlation may not imply causation, but it certainly does waggle its eyebrows meaningfully in causations direction.
Re:IE6 (Score:4, Funny)
Do Firefox Users Pay More For Car Loans? (Score:2, Funny)
Retaliation for Ad-Block!
Really? (Score:5, Funny)
HTTP_USER_AGENT also passes operating system info (Score:5, Funny)
they could use that information to find people using apple products. and charge such people 9.5%. as long as the car was titanium white, such people would happily purchase at that rate
Re:Really? (Score:5, Funny)
Statistics motherfucker, do you understand them?
maybe it's just a standards compliance issue (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Repeat after me (Score:5, Funny)
Opera users aren't good people to lend to either, since none of them have any income. They spend all of their time scanning the Internet for stories about browsers (any browser) so they can jump in and extol the virtues of Opera. This leaves no time to hold down a real job.
Safari users are good people to lend to because, since they're using an Apple product, you already know they're accustomed to paying huge premiums for slightly shinier versions of various consumer goods. All you have to do is send the bill in an elegantly designed box and they'll pay it without question every month.
Chrome users are the best because their close relationship with Google shows they've already given up on the whole concept of privacy and will gladly supply you with any information you ask for. Plus, all you have to do is tell them you're not evil and not only will they allow you to do whatever you want no matter how evil it is, they'll actually defend your actions to others!
Clearly browser choice is and should be a significant factor in the lending business.
Re:Repeat after me (Score:5, Funny)
It is sometimes. For example, they should be charging the Safari users more, as those Mac fanboys will pay anything if it's marketed right.
Re:Its the USERAGENT string (Score:4, Funny)
So either deliberate or incredibly bad coding for a financial site.
Or incredibly deliberate bad coding.
That sentence stub made my brain incredibly deliberately fall out of my ears.
Re:Repeat after me (Score:2, Funny)
"Correlation is so highly correlated to causation that we're forced to conclude that correlations cause causation." [amultiverse.com]
Still cracks me up. Probably caused by^W^W^WHighly correlated with reading hundreds of threads like this on Slashdot...
Re:JavaScript (Score:3, Funny)
So what’s the Javascript you type in the address bar to have it give you 1%?
My personal opinion (Score:5, Funny)
After reading about this, I am completely {outraged}{amused}{indifferent}{turned on} by this practice.
Javascript error. Aborting script.
Re:Repeat after me (Score:4, Funny)
The phrase "correlation is not causation" is strongly correlated with stupidity.
Yes, but correlation is not ... oh, wait ...
Re:I wonder (Score:1, Funny)
Damned Canucks, sneaking across our border and stealing our low interest rates. No wonder the country is a mess. :-)
Re:I wonder (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Oh, come on (Score:5, Funny)
The sad thing is that you have to use your choice of browser to define yourself and make yourself feel superior to others. I don't need to resort to such immature behavior to validate my self worth. I'm a Mac owner.
Re:Repeat after me (Score:4, Funny)
Netscape users are not good because they are likely so old, that they are libel to die soon anyway causing you to pay out...
Gopher users are not good because they are dead, and the dead don't pay premiums.
Mosaic users...
Geico Gecko's Take? (Score:1, Funny)
Sorry, You'll Have to load the image. You're welcome to mirror it though.
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/04-083228L/3809/jpg/11/2010/img5/glowfoto
Re:Repeat after me (Score:5, Funny)
Repeat after me
after me
after me
after me
after me
after me
after me
after me
after me
Re:Really? (Score:1, Funny)
Statistics motherfucker, do you understand them?
Fucking statistics, how do they work?
Re:Repeat after me (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, I'd feel dirty if I defended Capital One, too.
They're local here and known by many people as Crapital One for their firing sprees and tendency to make employees disappear. They're also the fastest bank in the nation to sue their own customers. (I sell data to bankruptcy lawyers who keep up with this kind of thing.) They're the last bank I'd go to for a credit card or a loan anyway.
Yeah, but you have to balance that against the fact that they have funny vikings in their ads. That counts for a lot when you're choosing a credit card, you know.