Have you ever fallen prey to false advertising?

My sources say no.

Yes.The trip to Gilligan’s Island was alittle nit longer than three houirs ;(

My father was one of them crazy hippies who detested materialism, the government, corporations and all…I’ll never know how right or wrong he was about all which he used to tell me but it’s pretty much indoctrinated me into approaching any form of advertising with a garlic reef and crucifix. But no.

False advertising is also synonymous to me with that Stoner’s Pothouse thing.

Cooking implements? Wooo-aaat??

I really hate to give this answer, but its the truth. wife and i have had Directv for many years and have been completely satisfied, until now. my mother is 92 years old. in attempt to update her into the world of High Definition television, i decided to use Directvs Refer A Friend Program. i completed the paperwork line by line, so that she would receive a $10 a month credit and so would i. she was accepted into the program and received her $10 dollars a month credit for five months. i have received zero. i have called Directv not once, but five different months and complained. each month the representative assure me that he/she had taken care of the problem. this is March. my Directv bill arrived and still no $10 dollar credit. i then once again called Directv and asked to speak to a supervisor. i explained the situation again for the 5th time. i told this supervisor that this situation reminds me of the old bait and switch scheme. “its not the $10, its the principle involved.” Charles, assured me that i would be receiving a phone call from someone in the credit department of Directv…..“to straighten out my situation and that he, like the other four, were sorry for the mixup.” it does not take a rocket scientist to punch a few numbers into a computer and give a person credit where it is due. i advised Charles that this was the last time i was going to call. if my next bill did not reflect my $10 credit, that i would be switching to Dish Television and also to ask my friends to do the same. 10 bucks is not going to kill me. i am giving Dirctv the benefit of the doubt one more time. to believe this is not false advertising on their part. i am counting down the days.

@Symbeline I guess that’s why I’m so frustrated. I’m such an anti-materialism/consumerism soapboxer. In fact, the project I’m working on is for my small business (promoting art and handicraft) which is dedicated to the “buy local” ethic. So, I’m super, super annoyed. I bought paint that was supposed to be better than the average paint (paid extra for it) and ended up working with the worst paint ever. I feel so used. I rarely buy anything that is mass marketed. Now, I have and I regret it.

Moral of the story: If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

Yep. Dyed hair, fake fingernails, and a stuffed bra.

@jealoustome What exactly was this time-saving product you purchased?

An University promised to encourage acedemic freedom and other values…. that proved to be false… they also took out the video games after the first week…and dinner wasn’t a happy time with placemats ect when it turned out to be a tray full of slop and line ups 1000 long

“To Kill a Mockingbird” gave me no useful advice on killing mockingbirds. It did teach me not to judge a man based on the color of his skin, but what good does that do me?!

What good does not judging a person based on skin tones do you? Seriously?

Yes, I once sent $45 to cover the taxes and reservation fee for 100% refundable ‘free’ vacation. No matter which date I chose, there were no rooms available, and the refundable guarantee was only if you were not satisfied with the vacation – after you took it.

When I was right out of high school and new to living on my own, I made some dumb mistakes. One in particular I remember involved a drawing for a free car at the mall. I was told entering the drawing was free and one lucky winner would win a red sports car. I figured I would fill out the sweepstakes form and drop it in the box like everyone else. I did not read the fine print. On the back in microscopic letters it said that by signing this form I was agreeing to switch long distance companies. The sign simply said enter to win a free car and said NOTHING about switching phone companies. I just failed to read the fine print on the entry form. It took forever, lots of phone calls, and switching fees to get back to my preferred provider. Other instances very similar to that occurred. I have learned to break out a very large magnifying glass and scrutinize the fine print of any and all contests, sweepstakes, or “free” offers. Most of the time it is a scam, especially online.

The funniest thing was when my father was told he won a “free boat” from some dealership. He had entered some contest. He was told he had to come pick up the free boat in person. It was two states away. He drove hundreds of miles, excited that he had won a free boat. When he got there it was a tiny inflatable raft that looked something like a swimming pool toy. He was really mad.

@escapedone7 That reminds me of a USA Today story where a woman won a free “Toyota”, in a sales contest by her employer but the prize was actually a Toy Yoda doll. She sued him and he had to give her the car.

@john65pennington I hope you will tell us all how the directv issure works out. If you make it a question, it will pop up if anyone does a search for directTV with problems or scam or refer a friend. You would be doing everyone a service.
Sometimes it really isn’t about the money.

I fell for the stuff envelopes at home scam when I was about 20. I thought it was probably to good to be true, but figured WTH. What’s the worst that could happen? I’ve wasted $75 before. (That wisdom was imparted by my mom. lol)

My stupid ex purchased this around 1998: http://www.bloussantproduct.com/
They are herbal pills that purport to permanently increase your breast size. For larger increases, just take the pill for more months! It looks like they’ve reduced their prices since then (quite a bit accounting for inflation), but she paid about $1500 for a six-month supply. I told her this was going to be an incredibly stupid purchase, but it was all she was capable of. After six weeks and zero change in her breast size, she gave up and put the pills in the closet because they just basically gave her the runs.

I’m sure similar logic applies to penis enlargement pills, like Enzyte or Extenze.

”...quite a bit accounting for inflation…” Bwahahahaha!

@davidbetterman You would not realize that I was quoting Homer Simpson…

I once spent about 100 bucks on one of those miracle “Q-Ray” bracelets that were touted on t.v. as a cure-all for different maladies, from headaches to high blood pressure. I wore it for about 2 months and all I got was a piece of cheap metal that always got in the way when I had to use my hands to fix something. So much for infomercials. Sigh! :(

I think many have been duped a few times, lol.