Advice on....Snake Oil

mapman

Just call fraud fraud when it occurs. 

I've always thought it odd that so many here are quick to charge fraud, yet none (to my knowledge) have ever filed a fraud complaint with authorities. So although the accusers often claim their goal is to protect the "gullible" and misinformed, it's obvious that is not their genuine interest.

teo_audio

Snake Oil is a safe ’word phrase’ ... As soon as I hear it being bandied about ... I know we’re dealing with a person who has a lesser mental capacity than the task at hand requires ...

I think use of the word really just reflects laziness. It’s an overused cliche that says nothing at all. It’s so much easier to bleat "Snake oil! Snake oil!" than it is to string a few words together into a reasoned opinion.

djones51

If you're asking why I haven't it's because my wife is an attorney who explained to me why it would be a waste of time ...

So it would be a waste of time to file a fraud complaint with your state consumer protection agency, but it's worth your time to repeat the same claims here over and over and over again? Right.

georgehifi

Snake Oil products are designed for the gullible by companies that have no moral conscience. And are making a massive profit from them.

Wow - massive profits! Why don’t you sue a few of ’em for fraud? Get class action status and rake in a bundle of dough! Plus - consider how many of the gullible and misinformed you’ll be saving at the same time. It would be a truly humanitarian gesture, no?

mapman

It can be very difficult to prove fraud legally ...

Of course. That’s why we have lawyers. Yet it still appears that notwithstanding the frequent accusations of fraud that are made on this site, no one - not one single person - has ever even filed a complaint of fraud with authorities. Not one single time. That can’t be simply explained away by stating that fraud difficult to prove. No proof is required to file a complaint.

If fraud were a real problem in our world of hi-fi, you’d think at least one lawsuit seeking class action status would have been filed. After all the US is a rather litigious place - just consider some of the absurd lawsuits that have been filed: A woman who sued the government because she was burned by nacho cheese; class action status sought for suit claiming Garden Veggie Straws have no veggies;
and then there’s the class action effort regarding fake butter at Dunkin’.

So the explanation that no suit has been filed over hi-fi fraud because it would be difficult to prove just isn’t valid. Besides, it isn’t necessary to actually prove the allegation of fraud. The vast majority of cases are settled out of court.

djones51

Lawsuits against the type of deceptive practices employed by by some of these marketers isn’t worth the time or effort.

Apparently it isn’t worth the time or effort on the part of those making the claims of fraud, yet they have plenty of time to repeat the fraud charges here ad infinitum. If the fraud were as blatant and dangerous as some suggest, it’s hard to accept that no one has ever even filed a complaint. Why would they be frightened by something as simple as filing a complaint with a consumer protection agency? Every state has one.

... claiming since noone has sued them they must therefore work is fallacy.

I don’t think anyone here has claimed that.

And that's why I consider those who claim fraud and snake oil lazy and insincere. It's easy to make anonymous accusations here on the Internet. It's another to file a complaint and sign your name to it.