Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 21:21:34 -0400
From: Jane Harmon <janeh@erols.com>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: applied memetics (ignore last)
Aaron Lynch wrote:
> (Previous copy was missing attributions.)
>
> Richard Brodie Wrote:
> >Tim Perper wrote:
>
> Tim Perper:
> ><<Over the years of studying courtship and seduction, I've drawn two
> >conclusions. One is that there will never be lack of entrepreneurs who
> >want to sell "guaranteed" seduction techniques, and the other is that no
> >such things exist.>>
>
> Richard Brodie
> >Tim, I suspect no one will argue with your first point; your second,
> >however, is easily disproved by counterexample. The Ross Jeffries products
> >are indeed guaranteed; anyone who does not successfully seduce three "hot
> >babes" in the first year is offered their money back. What you probably
> >mean, though, is that no seduction technique will work for all men at all
> >times on all women. I suspect no one will argue with that either. Even
> >Jeffries claims only 70% efficacy with his techniques even when mastered.
>
> Tim's full message was not posted to this list. If he had posted to the
> public list, he would probably have checked his words more carefully. I
> suspect that by "guaranteed" Tim meant something like "foolproof," though
> we have to ask him for his meaning.
>
> Commercial "guarantees" are often empty gimmicks by companies knowing that
> only a minority of dissatisfied customers will go to all the trouble of
> repackaging a product, mailing it in, describing the problem, etc. to get
> their money back. When the product is sexual, I suspect that embarrassment
> lowers the rate of applications for refunds even lower. And in the event
> that Ross does not honor each legitimate guarantee claim, how many men will
> want to go through a public process of complaints and lawsuits? Not many.
> Potential claimants know this in advance, which can further discourage them
> from even asking for the refund.
This reminds me of the (no-doubt apocryphal) story of an excellent - and
possibly quite legal - scam; a particular company offered 'marital aids' for
sale, either on the Internet or in magazines, when they in truth had no stock
of any sort. People would order the implements, and some months later receive
a letter to the effect that the company in question had gone out of business,
and enclosed, please find a check for a full refund. The scam worked because
the check was made out to the account of a company with a name like ANAL SEX
TOYS, or something, and they were reasonably sure that a large percentage of
their would-be clientele would rather lose the money than deposit the check.
And it only required that *some* of the refundees not cash their checks for
the scam to be profitable.
This scam has been discussed on alt.folklore.urban, but alas, I cannot recall
whether or not they determined if it were true or legend.
[NOTE- the above tale is in no way meant to be a reflection on the products or
services under discussion, about which I lack the information to have an
opinion.] - Jane
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