Did You Get What You Paid For?

Did You Get What You Paid For?

Hoardings galore, ads and commercials, even during news time. Exhortations, calling out to you to shell out hard earned money for the exclusive product. Roadside sellers with colorful packs and proclaimed fresh products.

The excitement lasts …until the pack is opened.

This is not an uncommon phenomenon. Let’s take a look at two scenarios. The colorfully packaged box of fruits I purchased yesterday on the way home. The box declared that there were 2 kilograms of the fruit, say grapes in it. Opening the pack, the next day, my wife tells me that there is not even one kilogram of edible fruit in it.

The expensive mobile phone that I purchased for a few tens of thousands gave me satisfaction for less than one week. The features that were promised and proudly exhibited failed to live up to my expectation. And everything was less than expected.

Look at both the cases. The box of fruits as was expected was a case of spurious good in quaint packaging. The problem is, is it feasible for a commoner to take up action against the seller, who incidentally is not the packer, the middle man or the transporter. The packaging took place at some farm, hundreds of miles away. If we were to take up a case notwithstanding, there would be hundreds who come up with an opinion contrary to what was said. Ultimately, you just picked up the wrong box to buy.

The mobile phone is quite another story. Expectations were ignited in your mind, using vivid moving images and scene of frivolous joy and success. However the creator of the ads are smart enough to make no statement that is untrue. In fact they allowed you to lie to yourself. In fact it was your unreal expectations that betrayed you.

In short you never get what you paid for…..

Tell you what……Heads you lose, tails …..You lose, too!!!