"Frank Gilliland" wrote...

Excellent point. I bought a Sierra Zip Ztove (zip stove) a while back.
Unpacked it, read the instructions, tried to put it together, but the
top and bottom pieces didn't fit together. So I contacted the company
(ZZ Manufacturing) who told me that the two parts were manufactured in
different years. Then they blew me off.

I guess the method is to keep it cheap. Years ago almost any TV
mail-order gizmo was sold at the "special price of $19.95", always
under $20.

We get the same sort of thing here, everything ends in .99
The thing is that, with VAT (our sales tax), that should be added
on for the customer to pay. Are we supposed to believe that, by
some miracle, every time they add VAT to their price it ends in .99?

And all for under $200
Yeah, $199.99.

Do people still fall for that old trick?


Several years later a marketing executive disclosed that
they did research to figure out the highest price they can charge
for a junk product before the buyer returns it for a refund

What, he did a Ratner?

This sounds rather like scammers working out who they can target
who will not report the matter to the police. Maybe even putting
them in a position where they feel that they would be in trouble.


At that time the magic number was about $20. No doubt it's
higher now, and I'm sure the price of
Brian's processor falls below the current threshold.


It may depend upon the purchase method and location.
If you buy from local store, which you pass every day, it's not that
much effort to go in and tell them. But if it's mail order, would it
be higher before they go to the bother?
Also, if they blow the customer off, being local allows the customer
the opportunity to park their ass on the shop doorstep and cost
them more in lost sales.


Regards,
Peter.
http://www.citizensband.radiouk.com/