Ridiculous assertions that someone is being ripped off or conned


How many times has this scenario played out here? Someone purchases product X, and tries it in their system. They report positive results, that it works as advertised, that they got their money’s worth, that they are happy with the purchase. Then someone, usually having zero experience with the product, replies with something like: “No, you’ve got it all wrong! You’re being ripped off! You’re being conned!


Does anyone else understand how ridiculous and absurd these kinds of assertions are?! The consumer who actually put up their own money and took the time to evaluate the product in their own home/system reports it works as advertised, they are happy with it, that they got their money’s worth. Then someone else claims they were ripped off?!


Imagine an agency investigating consumer fraud getting a complaint like this: “My neighbor is being ripped off!” “No, no, he thinks it’s great, does everything he expected it to. He’s very happy with it, but I just know he’s being conned!” Do you seriously think they’re going to open any kind of investigation into it?


You can disagree with what someone says about the effectiveness of a product all you want, but to say they have been defrauded, when they report the exact opposite, is patently ridiculous.


tommylion

Showing 4 responses by mapman

"I bought an X and it sounds really good"

This is a common assertion. It’s an opinion, which is perfectly fine.

The result will likely be questions.

On one end of the spectrum, if X = some well known amplifier, there are many facts out there in many places probably over a period of time that support the claim.

On the other end of the spectrum, if its a relatively unknown product with few or no facts out there to support the claim, be prepared for all kind of responses, including some very strong challenges. If you are not prepared to offer up some facts to support the case and respond to the challenge, best to just keep quiet. You have nothing more you can offer at that point. Trying to censure or silence the challenger will likely accomplish nothing for anybody. If they are being insulting or breaking forum rules, that’s a foul and its fair game to flag the response as such.

It’s just how things work.
 

I always tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt initially except for obvious scams. Then let things play out over time and see what happens. The best one can shoot for is to make educated decisions based on facts and yes perhaps even opinions, if there is a common pattern to the opinion and enough facts to back it up.

For example, someone created a thread containing a questionable url in a link on their first post the other day offering information that nobody had asked for. I reported it as an apparent phishing attempt and the thread was quickly removed.

HEy @lancelock don't know what all you have up for sale but keep me in mind ... I might be interested.  
It’s absurd to act like high end audio is some kind of utopia immune to the world’s sins and that what people say on the internet about things they buy or perhaps even are given by others to promote (who knows?) are undeniable facts. It’s the internet folks. People can say anything and often do. Motives typically unknown.  Scams are abundant and many are aware...some not so much.  Confirm before you trust, especially when pricey items are involved. Even in the best case, much of what people want to pass off as fact is in fact merely an opinion, with little or no facts to back it up, and everybody has one of those.