Free gift

[CrystalStart]

Hi all!
How many times have you heard in on TV "come and you will receive absolutely free gift".
Can you think of under what circumstances one would required to pay for a gift?

 

[Dimandja]

Watch an "all new" episode of your favorite show tonight.

I guess, a merely "new" episode won't do.

__________________________________________
Try forum1391 for lively discussions

 

[CrystalStart]

Don't go away and you will receive absolutely free gift of all new episodes of our show!!! (made up by me)

 

[SkipVought]

I always told my sons, there's nothing free.

Maybe No EXTRA charge!

Skip,

_{[red]Be advised:[/red] The dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac, lays awake all night wondering...
"Is there really a DOG?"}

 

[trollacious]

I had a boss who used to tell customers who told him they could get services for free: "Free is always nice, but sometimes it's worth what you pay for it."

Lee

 

[CrystalStart]

trollacious,
it was priceless! I need to remember it.

 

[tgreer]

My wife always tells me much she can "save" by making some purchase. No matter how much of a discount, you are never "saving" anything, you're ALWAYS spending money. The only way to "save" is to not make the purchase.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting

 

[cLFlaVA]

Oh man, my girlfriend does that all the time!!! We'll be at the supermarket and pass something like dog food.

And she'll be like, "it's on sale, we should get it."

And I'll be like, "we don't have a dog."

And she'll say, "but it's buy two get one free so we save!"

*cLFlaVA
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[tt]tastes great, less filling.[/tt]
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.coryarthus.com/[/url]

 

[BocaBurger]

In reality, the only way to save when buying something is if it will make you money, or saves you time that costs you money.
When I sold business computer systems, I was always asked, "What's the bottom line, what's this going to cost?" and I would answer, "If this won't make you money, why are you buying it?" We would then sit down and do an ROI and if it was reasonable, I had an easy sale. If it wasn't, we would look for a better solution to the problem. Made me a lot of loyal customers. Too bad my boss at the time didn't realize this. When I was handed a particulary large commission check (and I was on straight commission, no draw), he said he was paying me too much money. I moved on to work for someone with a clue.



BocaBurger
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The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

 

[tsdragon]

tgreer: I disagree. If you buy something you otherwise wouldn't have just because it's on sale, then you're right: you haven't "saved" anything. However, if you buy something that you would have bought anyway at the regular price, then you have indeed saved money.

dimandja: I have actually seen episode that are not "all new", and you probably have too. How many TV shows have you seen where the major part of the episode consists of flashbacks and scenes from previous episodes, but the surrounding "story" is actually new. There you have a "partially new" epsiode.

What I really hate is commercials that say: "Save 50% off!" Just what the heck does that MEAN anyway? You can get 50% off, or you can save 50%, but how can you save 50% off?


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[BocaBurger]

I love those commercials that offer you a product for free, but the shipping and handling is enough to pay for the product many times over.

But wait! There's more!

Has anyone here ever bought something from an infomercial? What about from spam mail?



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

 

[CrystalStart]

Money ARE liquid, aren't they?

 

[SilentAiche]

BocaBurger beat me to it- my first reaction to Crystal's first note was indeed shipping and handling.

As to commercials, why does Toyota think I'm deaf? They're always yelling at me. And if a company makes a really clever commercial but the viewers don't recall what the product or the company was after seeing it, have they done themselves any good?

Some commercials are clever and effective. I still remember the carpet commercial from several years ago whose line was "The first thing a carpet should do is last."

THanks,
Tim

 

[BocaBurger]

What I really, really love are the commercials that portray men as complete idiots, or anyone as an idiot. If I have a trash bag that is full and heavy, I am not stupid enough to grab it by the top and try to do a clean and jerk. If they can offer a 50% off deal, it was too high priced in the first place. And none, let me repeat this, none of those extra items are ever worth the $60.00 or more they claim to.



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

 

[ESquared]

I had a conversation at Radio Shack once that went something like this:

Clerk: Do you want a free cell phone?
Me: Sure, why not.
Clerk: Great! Just sign up for service and it's yours right now.
Me: Wait a minute, I thought you said it was free.
Clerk: It IS free!
Me: No it isn't. You said I have to sign up for service to get it.
Clerk: Yes.
Me: Then it's not free.
Clerk: No, it's free.
Me: Okay then. If it's free, give me the phone, and I'll leave right now with it.
Clerk: I can't let you do that.
Me: You're not getting it, are you?

I have long hated this use of the word "free." I think truth in advertising requires that they say "at no additional charge."

Free refers not just to monetary value but also to any compelled act... if it's free there is no hindrance to simply taking it whenever one wishes.

 

[cLFlaVA]

Well, technically they're not charging you for the hardware. They're charging you for the service required to use the hardware.

If that's the case, then if I handed you a television right now, it wouldn't be free, because you'd need to pay the electric bill to watch it.

*cLFlaVA
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[tt]tastes great, less filling.[/tt]
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.coryarthus.com/[/url]

 

[ESquared]

cLFlaVA, you're missing the point.

The television is free if you give it to me without placing a condition on my behavior (pay an amount, sign up for service, whatever). It is my responsibility what I want to do with it. If I wish to use it as a boat anchor, that is my prerogative.

I argue that technically the matter of being charged a monetary sum is only a partial meaning of the word free. Like I said, it is NOT equivalent to "at no additional charge."

In my mind this kind of advertising is no different than a doughnut shop that sells "fat free doughnuts." The doughnuts still have all the fat... they just don't charge you for that part.

 

[cLFlaVA]

lol, point taken.

*cLFlaVA
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[tt]tastes great, less filling.[/tt]
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.coryarthus.com/[/url]

 

[CrystalStart]

One of my favorites is this "...and you cam eat late because we open 'till midnight or later..." So can I come at 1am? and should I have that healthy burger anytime after 6pm?

 

[BocaBurger]

Not everyone is a manager like you and has a 9 to 5 job. I was up until 11:30PM EST last night helping a customer in Australia, were is was Monday already.

Too bad it took him 45 minutes to figure out that his super special secure FTP system couldn't do ASCII transfers :-(

Too bad they don't sell booze too, after a session like this I could use a drink.



BocaBurger
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The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!