What are some dirty business tactics that everyone should be aware of?

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.1

Pricing of an item ends with .99: Most of the prices are kept like 19.99 or 79.99 etc. This is done for 2 purposes. First, its gives psychological edge. People (actually mind) recognize it as lower price compare to its rounded off upper count. Secondly, even though this amount of (1 paisa or 1 cent) is too small, business have missions of transaction each day, and so even 1 paisa or 1 cent per transaction make them millions of Rs or $ each year which is out of their audit and taxable income.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.2

McDonald fast food restaurants have policy to lure kids. McDonald’s every restaurant has some or other stuff that attracts kids. Theory behind that is that - when a family to go out to a restaurant, how they decided which restaurant to go? By studies it is observed that in majority families, it is decided by the kids. Kids has final say on deciding where to go for food over their elders (who can think rationally, compare prices, evaluate available food, check for junk food etc). McDonald take advantage of this reality. They make sure that their every restaurants has something to attract kids so that kids force their families to come to McDonald.

Typically they have free toys, free cars, cartoons on packaging, balloons, candy bars, crackers, play area blah blah to attract kids.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.3

One of the BIGGEST SCAMS - Big Billion day sales in India.

Diwali is the Biggest festival in India. With such a huge population every single shop (offline or online) try to lure customers into buying various products at very competitive prices.

Big online retailers (you know who they are) try to offer so many items on HUGE discounts. They publish huge advertisements in print media, TV ads and where not. They start advertising months in advance.

They create so much hype around these sales that even the most logical people get into temptation of buying items even when there is no real need. Its like instilling a sense of pride in getting good deals. People talk, compare and boast of their purchases without realizing that its a BIG, BLOODY LOOT !!!

Yes, you read it right. Its exactly that. Most of it.

I have come across items which were priced say 1500 INR (Indian rupees- close to 24 US dollars) originally before the discounts and some 7–8 months before the sale period. Same item is now made available at say 50% discount. In simple maths it translates into 750 INR or 12 US dollars. Thats a good bargain if you were looking to buy the same thing.

But when you check the “DISCOUNTED” price it is around 1300 INR or around 20 US dollars. Do you know where does it go wrong? The “base price” is changed for most of the products just before the sales. So the product which was originally available for close to 1500 INR / 24 US $ is now being sold for 1300 INR/ 20 US $. Real discount you get is somewhere around 13% but with inflated base prices you are tricked into believing that you are getting it at 50% discount.

This is CHEAP, UNFAIR & just not ETHICAL.

Sample this:

I did complain about it to one of the biggest retailer and their excuse to this was, “seller prices are not in our hand & they vary as per demand”. So its like saying that one of the biggest online retailer has no control over protecting customer rights against inflated pricing of sellers. Can’t believe if it is possible without they being part of the conspiracy.

Anyways, i have promised myself to keep track of prices during next year sales for some of the items, months in advance and verify the discounted sale prices.

I’m not implying that everything is sold on the premise of hiked prices, but yes, it is very dominant. So if you are one of those impulsive buyers waiting for Big Billion day sale, please verify the prices & buy judiciously.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.4

Small. Regular. Large.

Most Coffee Shops, Burger Outlets and many other fast food joints, ask you while you order your beverage - “Regular or Large”. Invariably people reply with Regular. What they don’t tell you is there is a Small variant available, which they will happily offer if you ask for it.

Next time don’t go for Regular, ask for Small :)

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.5

In few cinema halls in Bengaluru e.g. Inox theatres in Garuda and lido malls, the food counters give you 2 size choices for pop corns. The choices are tub and large tub. Both size boxes are kept in front of you to give an impression that these are the only options available.

The truth is that smaller options are available but either people are in a rush to get back to the movie or don't think much about it, so they buy 1 of these tubs which is much higher priced and often the quantity also gets wasted.

When I asked the guy at the counter why they are not keeping all options in front of the customers, he asked me to keep moving as there was a lot of rush behind me!

Not sure if such things happen in other movie theatre chains as well but looks like a new practice in Inox for sure.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.6

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The greatly exaggerated coffee shop which is available almost everywhere in India. Have you ever wondered why these shops are:-

• Almost empty for most time of the day.
• Offering discounts through wallets or on purchase of certain notebooks and several other places.

I have no personal enmity but I would like to share recent incident.

1. I entered A CCD store in Calungute Goa, as usual the store was empty.
2. My wife wanted to have a brownie for which I enquired on the desk, Rs120 was the reply.
3. I ordered a green tea and a Brownie. What really hit me was the bill, Brownie was charged at 180(taxes extra). Green tea 100 Rupees (only tea bag in hot water). With taxes bill was a whopping ₹324.(big amount considering the items ordered).
4. Now I went to the desk, I got a very polite answer “SIR 120 IS FOR DRY BROWNIE, WE SERVED YOU SMOKING BROWNIE”.(I maybe wrong in the name of exact Brownie He served ) He must have felt like Eureka I fooled one more customer.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.7

Around 3 years back, I was at Raipur airport. The airport was small and didn’t have many shops in it, not a single big brand to boast of. The biggest of the food outlets there sold cup noodles, biscuits and some other snacks. But his fastest selling item? Water.

So, there was a long queue before his billing counter and I was in it to buy water, like many others. The lady before me placed her order which also included a water bottle. This gentleman behind the counter politely asked her if she needed a 1 ltr bottle or a 500 ml one and the lady asked for the small one. He immediately billed it, took the money and then directed her to a side where her cup noodles and a small 500 ml water bottle would be served to her by his assistant.

The trick here? The 1 ltr bottle was cheaper than the 500 ml water bottle. How? Because they were from different brands.

The big bottle was of Aquafina and it was priced at a little less than 50 Rs. (I think) and the small bottle was of Himalayan which was priced exactly 50 Rs (If my memory serves me correctly). The guy knew that in a small airport like that people wouldn’t prefer to buy Himalayan and so, he changed his selling technique. Had he asked people if they wanted Aquafina or Himalayan, I am sure most would have gone for Aquafina. So, He didn’t ask the customers which brand they needed at all. He asked them if they wanted a 1 ltr bottle or a 500 ml one. Most people go for the small bottle to save money because water is anyhow served inside the flight for free and the bottle can be refilled at the airport for free as well. But our man here successfully sold them the costlier product which gives him a better margin by making a small change in his question.

I figured it out thanks to my height. I, just like the others, was also going to order the small bottle but luckily I got to see the carton beside his leg which had Aquafina bottles in it. I asked him the prices of both the bottles and ordered a one ltr bottle. Then I moved aside and watched the queue for the next 5 minutes. Guess what, the next two people who bought water from his counter both bought the small bottle without checking the price or the brand.

Never trust a guy trying to sell you something. :)

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.8

Undoubtedly Apple.

The have shown advertisements where iPhone7 is being used in the rains.

It’s water resistant.

I used it in the rains and water got inside it.

The Apple customer care centers are basically replacement centers. They asked me 2–3 times during my visit that the only option is to get it replaced for Rs 28,350 as warranty is void for water damage.

They refused to acknowledge that I know difference between water resistance and water proof. And that the phone was not immersed in water, it was just used in mild rains.

I walked out, angry and upset over how they did not even suggest to switch off the phone for few days, keep it in between silicon packets, remove sim card slot etc. All they asked was to get an immediate replacement by paying the said amount.

I did all of the above, and 3 days later when switched on the phone, it was working just fine. Had i listened to those crooks, I would have lost Rs 28,350 for absolutely no reason.

And listen to more weird thing, they said the replacement phone will not come in the box. They claimed it’ll be a new phone though, I’ll get just the phone, no box, no packaging, nothing. Hard for me to believe now that it’ll actually be a new phone or simply the same phone returned after drying it up for few days.

FYI: My phone was opened by them, and if I narrate how it was handled by them while putting screws back on it after I denied to pay for replacement, you’ll find Oppo/Vivo customer service better.

If Apple works, it’ll work for years. If it gives issues, be ready to be shocked with the kind of rubbish customer support they provide.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.9

I’ll mention one of the biggest scam happening everyday and the tactics used.

Petrol Bunk SCAM

This happens mostly in Bangalore and in almost every Bunk. And it happens when you fill petrol for Rs 500. Let me explain the sequence of events on how this tactic takes place.

1. You will be in the bunk mostly crowded due to the traffic.
2. Your turn comes and you tell the amount for which you need filling.
3. The guy enters the amount in the machine by standing in between it and you.
4. He will ask you to check zero and wait for you to see it and then starts filling. This is mainly to gain your trust. Now he stops exactly at 100.
5. Now, you’ll tell him that you had asked for 500.
6. He again turns back and re-enters the amount again such that you cannot see what he is entering.
7. Here comes the main part. Just before starting to refill he will ask you two questions i.e. (Card or Cash) and you gonna reply him with a answer. Say card.
8. He’ll tell you about Mobikwik and Paytm and probably show you the paytm sign with bar code somewhere and explain you the offers like you’ll get .15% cash back etc.
9. By the time you get distracted with his statements and look back at the reading, It gonna be around 130 etc.
10. Now he stops at 400 and takes 500 for it. The main point here is he never reinitialized it to zero and started back again from 100.
11. This happens to almost 3 out of 10 people and we never realize that its a scam and we complain about traffic for losing our mileage.

If in case you have card/cash in hand well before he speaks. He’ll talk about your bike. He’ll somehow start a conversation with you. This scam generally happens when you do not have a pillion rider with you.

Hope people reading be aware of this and try to catch them red handed. This may happen in most of the cities.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.10

1. I've heard from a friend that at some petrol pumps the owners manupulate the pumps to give less petrol. He said that they cannot manipulate it from inside because there is some sort of a government seal on inner side and any kind of mischeif on it will drag the owners in court. So what do they do? They use a washer that'll be fitted on the mouth of the handle they use to fill petrol. The pump is always computer operated and so it pumps quantity of petrol it is commanded. But due to small size of washer less petrol gets pumped out of the pump thereby creating load on the motor .If you take a waterbottle with you than you can easily catch these sort of people.
2. On many grocery stores owners attach magnet on the sensor of the electronic weighing machines. The magnetic effect confuses censor thereby showing less weight.
3. Seed of papita is mixed with black pepper as adulteration agent as it is a costly spice. Same happens with “besan”,flour of maze is used as adulteration agent. Same happens with coriander powder ,waste of donkeys is used as adulteration agent and perfume is also added. I dont know english word for “tilli ka tel” but it is used to adulterate ghee.
4. Kerosene is mixed with diesel  for adulteration
5. Sorry forgot to mention very important one. Whenever you go to buy jewellery ask the seller to turn off the fan right above the electronic weighing machine. If he refuses you can drag him to consumer forum as there is a provision for this. Use high power electric radiation machines to test the purity because many times metals like berrillium when added to pure gold go untraced by usage of traditional methods and chemical tests. Radiation machines however trace these type of elements very easily.

DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS NO.11

I am at an airport, had checked in early and have some time for a quick snack (yeah i just saw a Subway… )

I happily trot to the place and order a sub with extra meat (don’t judge me :P)… Since i occasionally visit subway i know the rate there, but being in an Airport i knew it would be bit expensive. The waiter informs me the bill amount and i asked for my card (gosh..i support digitization) and meanwhile i was mentally calculating the amount because it wasn’t adding up… i asked for the bill but he insisted on the card and said only when i pay the bill gets generated. After paying i had to move out of the queue, there is always another person behind you in the queue …

So i scanned the bill and there it was.. Instead of billing extra meat, he had billed me 2 subs… So immediately i went and encountered him and demanded explanation.. He immediately apologized and said that it was a mistake and agreed to return the amount.. i insisted on a new bill, but he said he cannot give a new one. So he returned the balance amount, again there was something wrong. He didn’t return the extra tax he had taken. Then i again argued with him and got the extra tax amount too…

Points to note:

1. ALWAYS ALWAYS Double check your bill before you leave the counter
2. They ask for your card before they give you the bill (he didn’t even inform me the bill amount) and most of the times people never check the bill after a payment has been made - we look only for the final amount and never care to tally
3. When you are overcharged, always ask for the TAX Refund too (its your hard earned money buddy)
4. Especially whenever you are in a new environment (like an airport), where you are not familiar with the rates, Always check the bill ( i will repeat again and again, care to check the bill now???).
5. Be careful when the product prices are quoted without the tax component.

P.S: This was the second time they tried to dupe me at a subway (not the same place), so i am quite sure that it was not a genuine accident (that he billed me wrongly).

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