Bait and Switch
According to the Canadian Government's Competition
Bureau it works like this.
You are attracted to a store by an
advertisement for a bargain-priced product. Once at the store, you
discover that the product is sold out or otherwise not available. You
may then be "switched" to a higher priced item by a salesperson, or
while you are in the store, you may find yourself induced to make other
purchases. In either case, the retailer captures your shopping dollars
by luring you to the store with an advertised bargain that was never
intended to be made available in reasonable quantities.
I'm sure you have driven down to a retail outlet in the early days of a
sale only to find out that the bargain no longer exists. (Or that it
was not as it appeared in the ad, but that’s another story). You know
this is intentional when it has happened several times at the same
retail outlet.
Some
large North America companies have been charged for using bait and
switch. Most of us don't seem to care enough or we expect this type of
deception in the marketplace, because we go back for more.
If
you are like most people you did not complain when drawn in by this sly
scheme, even though you wasted time and money visiting the store. Maybe
you were mad about it but just looked around the store while you were
there. Maybe even bought something. That’s the idea.
Maybe
you will be trapped this way again soon. This type of marketing exists
because it is not often investigated, and that is because there are not
enough of us that complain.
Unless
we do complain and take our business elsewhere, we should expect a lot
more sleazy marketing tactics.
“It
takes two to lie: One to lie and one to listen” – Homer Simpson
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return Greed
Profit Consumerism
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