2. misc-audio
  3. 170663-84906

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
Post removed 
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,379 posts
 
I was at a Peter Belt demo in the 80s where he stuck tiny black triangular pieces of foil onto the glass of two windows. Everyone agreed that the same track sounded better the second time after he applied the product. What’s more likely? The 4 tiny pieces of foil improved the sound or that hearing a track again improves your ’understanding’ of the piece. Try this: Read a few pages from a book. Now read them again. Lot better?
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,633 posts
 
I wouldn't take it too seriously tommylion. In your case, it was a stone tweak, but on a larger scale, there are always members who call all horn speakers "shouty" etc.
Believe in your own choices and be happy with them. That said, mijostyn is correct I think in advising caution about hearing differences without a controlled environment. In your case though, you didn't spend a fortune anyway.
lancelock
1,081 posts
 
I did have a local fellow come over to buy a Plinius SA103. I had it hooked up and ready to audition. He came, he listened and he liked what he heard. He paid cash and left with it. He called me 3 days later and said it was making noise and it almost blew up his speakers. He said he couldn’t take a chance on it so I said bring it back and I will return your money, even though I was sure he screwed something up. When I got it back and I gave him his money I tried to get him to hang around long enough for me to plug it in and test it but he took off quickly. Once powered up it worked perfectly again as it did when I gave it to him.

The bad part is that he told another potential buyer that I was trying to sell a broken amp so that deal fell through.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,819 posts
 
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.


More to discover