Oh, it's an invoice for five hundred quid, we'd better pay that pronto!

The BBQ Pit
#1

“Hey Mangetout, here’s an invoice for your department; what have you been buying this time?”

Except that it isn’t an invoice at all, it’s just a junk mail advert that looks exactly like an invoice; I’ve never bought anything from this company and indeed the service they are advertising is largely illusory.

Lame rant, sorry, but I really hate this sort of thing; I’ve had these in the past from legitimate companies (in one case, an IT supplies company that I had actually bought from in the past) hoping that I’ll buy a genuine product if they send me an unsolicited pro-forma invoice that just happens to forget to mention that it is pro-forma.

Advertising folks please note; this is a shoddy trick and not only will I not fall for this particular trick, it will actually result in permanent loss of my custom.

#2

I received two of these in the mail from the “American Domain Registry” - one at home and one at work. It’s only that the accounts guy is such a scrooge that it didn’t get paid. The one I got looked like exactly a US government document and said “your domain name will expire if you don’t renew it” (true, but I don’t have to renew it through you, you weasely fuckers). It’s totally out of order.

#3

I consistently get notices (from some lame fucks) which look like Bank notices, government missives and the like, telling me I HAVE NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE! And they will provide immediate coverage when I sign and return the form.

These always come from a “department” of some “agency”, so you’re supposed to think that it’s from someone you’re already doing business with. They are the telemarketers of snail mail.

#4

I get ads like that every so often and they get tossed out immediately. If a company is willing to defraud me to try to get my business, why should I trust them once they have my business? One nice thing about my current job is I actually do have the power to make sure we don’t do business with companies which use deceptive marketing practices.

CJ