It bothers me the way deceptive marketing tricks are becoming standard business practice:
~ Roedy (born: 1948-02-04 age: 64)
- No payments for 2 years! Yes, but goods are such poor quality they will break before they are paid for. Exorbitant interest rates are built-in for a loan you did not need.
- Reward Points. You have no idea what the points are worth, and the vendor can change them at any time or expire them, or put onerous condition on them, unlike an honest discounted price. Chances are you will never get around to redeeming them.
- Mail in rebate. They count on you not bothering. They make it as onerous as possible to fill in forms with fine print. Often you never hear anything or that the offer expired even before you bought the goods. They will find some excuse not to give you the refund by devising all manner of arcane rules. The store will trick you by posting the price less the rebate you will likely never get.
- We donate $1 per sale to some worthy cause. Dawn dish detergent promises to donate a dollar to saving wildlife for each bottle sold. When you read the fine print, you discover they do no such thing.
- Club Cards. These raise prices since they take extra checkout line processing time, and provide an excuse to rip off tourists and occasional customers.
- Come Back Cash: Sears offers a $50 cash rebate for every $50 you spend. They don’t tell you that must apply by mail, and then spend the rebate only on certain brands of men’s clothing. It is in no sense cash.