Unscrupulous Selling

Posted by in Career Advice




The other day I received a “follow up call” from a company we purchased some ceramic knives from on an infomercial. They claimed to be reconfirming the order, and “oh by the way we have this wonderful other service we would like to offer to you for free where you receive one hundred dollars of free gasoline.” Before I knew it, I was being passed off to another person who wanted to confirm my address and …. you know the rest of the story. This form of aggressive telemarketing is deceptive, manipulative and extremely irritating. The sad thing about it is the reputation of the initial company who offered the ceramic knives, as far as we are concerned, has been ruined. According to statistics, the average unhappy customer will tell 9-16 other people. That does not take into account the power of the internet, which includes Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter and the hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who will hear about this fraudulent company.

This form of unscrupulous selling is what gives infomercials a very bad reputation. If you are looking for a business career, be sure to avoid this form of employment. According to Clarice Cook, “Fraud takes on many faces and involves many avenues. Some television infomercial schemes are no exception. Nightly infomercials are especially dangerous due to the tired and vulnerable state of mind associated with the worry and fatigue some viewers may be experiencing as they watch them. Free money, instant cures and "things the government, banks or drug companies do not want you to know", are common trash talk for pitch men.”

As I share these ideas with you it reminds me of the famous misquote of P.T. Barnum’s, “There is a sucker born every minute.” Some sources claim the quote is most likely from famous con-man Josheph (“Paper Collar Joe”) Bessimer. Other sources say it was actually uttered by David Hannum, spoken in reference to Barnum's part in the Cardiff Giant Hoax. Hannum, who was exhibiting the "original" giant, and had unsuccessfully sued Barnum for exhibiting a copy and claiming it was the original, was referring to the crowds continuing to pay to see Barnum's exhibit, even after both it and the original had been proven to be fakes.

Here are some startling statistics from Privacy Corps:

The FBI estimates there are 14,000 illegal sales operations bilking consumers in the United States every day.

The National Association of Attorneys General estimates that although 5,000,000 Americans are defrauded by telemarketers every year, only one of five of them report the fraud, usually because they are too embarrassed.

Americans lose $40 billion a year to fraudulent telemarketers, according to the National Fraud Information Center. Investment scams alone amount to losses of $1 million an hour!

Charities make more money from selling your name and number to other telemarketing companies than from the donations they collect from calling.

On average, only 24% of what you donate, as a result of a telemarketing call, will actually get to the charity on whose behalf the solicitation is made. The telemarketing company hired to make the call gets the rest.
• 56% of the people targeted by telemarketers are 50 or older.
• 92% of the adults in the United States have reported receiving fraudulent telephone offers

One step you can take if you are fed up with this kind of twenty-first century con artistry, is to contact the Federal Communications Commission. Finally, be aware that fraudulent and deceptive companies do exist and take the necessary precautions to protect yourself.

Tom Borg is a consultant in leadership management, team building and customer service. Please see more of his blogs go to businessworkforceblog.com and administrativejobsblog.com. To view additional job postings go to Nexxt
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