# Web site tells me after all the work that there's a charge. Name for this trick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689 "2015-01-01T17:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/21 "2015-01-02T00:10:46Z")
> [@gracefulfatsheba](#): > > Can’t really tell what your opinion is here. Did he do a smart thing or not? That’s up to the OP - was paying for the results of an online test worth it? Obviously to the OP, it was. I hope it was worth it to him or her at least. Would it have been to me, or most people? No, probably not. I don’t think he did a smart thing at all\*, but that’s his or her decision. \*Because free online tests are worth what you pay for them so paying for them is stupid, and paid-for online tests probably even moreso. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/22 "2015-01-02T00:46:48Z")
I’ve seen that trick with online IQ tests. They sucker you into spending time answering all the questions. Then ask for money for the results. I fell for it once and just closed the Tab without paying. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/23 "2015-01-02T01:34:48Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > This seems like the perspective of someone who has fallen victim to the sunk cost fallacy. > > After you have already incurred the cost Y, and cannot get it back, the correct criterion is: > > So long as X\>=Z then you are better off paying. It depends on the definition of Z. I’m assuming that \*\*jtgain \*\*is defining Z as the _total_ payment to get the results ie including what has already been expended. If he defines Z in that way, then the marginal additional cost of obtaining X (the results) is Z-Y. If that’s what **jtgain** means then he is quite correct. Whether it is worth paying to see the results depends on whether the marginal additional cost to get the results is less than or equal to the value of knowing the results. If **jtgain** meant Z to be the marginal additional cost to obtain the result then you are correct that he is committing the sunk cost fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/24 "2015-01-02T01:52:51Z")
While it’s not exactly the same thing, the OP reminds me of the “[Web.com](http://Web.com)” commercials that offer to “build your website for free!” “ **We will build you a website for free!** ”, etc. Yes, we will _build_ this website for you, heck, we’ll even show it to you after we’ve built it. But if you actually, you know, _want_ this website we’ve custom built for you, well, that will only be twenty easy payments of one low, low price. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/25 "2015-01-02T03:16:44Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > This seems like the perspective of someone who has fallen victim to the sunk cost fallacy. > > After you have already incurred the cost Y, and cannot get it back, the correct criterion is: > > So long as X\>=Z then you are better off paying. You are absolutely right. I don’t know what I was thinking this afternoon. 🙂 Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/26 "2015-01-02T03:52:03Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I did an online test that required filling in dozens of answers on several pages, but when I click to get my results, they tell me it costs a few dollars to get them… Sounds like you provided survey answers for free. They should be paying _you._ Now they have your data and you can’t take it back. I’ll admit asking you for _more_ money is pretty cheeky, but forget it, Jake, this is Chinatown, I mean the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/27 "2015-01-02T13:01:50Z")
Despite the addage, time is generally _not_ money. You didn’t lose or invest $15 into taking the survey, just as you didn’t spend $15 writing and replying to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/28 "2015-01-02T16:12:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > _Originally Posted by panache45 View Post > Reminds me of a Medicare-provider site. After finishing the lengthy questionnaire, including a detailed medical survey, it was rejected because I didn’t have a middle name or initial. It didn’t even give me a chance to make one up._ WTF? I don’t have a middle name and that has never mattered. We had one student (from Indonesia) who didn’t have a second name and got slightly miffed if you asked for one. I assume that Megawati Sukarnoputri just added a patronymic for public purposes. I know that Sukarno was her father. But there are forms that insist on two names, but they usually put an asterisk on any required fields. Many times (so many that I’ve lost count), an on-line form refuses to accept my last name which has a hyphen in it, telling me that’s an “illegal character”. If it won’t take hyphens, I’d be shocked if it would take an asterisk. The most annoying example I remember was a health insurance company which initially allowed the hyphen in my application but would not allow the hyphen when I registered a username for online account access, and then refused to validate my registration because my the names were not identical (one entry with a hyphen, one without). The OP reminds me of two other situations. #1 They’re giving away free samples of cookies or whatever in the grocery store, you eat one without thinking about it, then you feel guilty so you make chit chat with the clerk and say nice things about how good the cookie tasted and you end up buying a bag after all even though you really didn’t want them. #2 You have a terrible pain so you go to the doctor and they make you wait three hours and then they take x-rays and make you wait two more hours and finally come back and tell you nothing’s broken, it’s just a sprain, take two aspirin and call me in the morning and you feel cheated, like after all that time you spent in the doctor’s office you should be leaving with a cast. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/29 "2015-01-02T18:19:25Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > Many times (so many that I’ve lost count), an on-line form refuses to accept my last name which has a hyphen in it, telling me that’s an “illegal character”. You could solve that by removing your hyphen. Have you tried horseback riding? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/30 "2015-01-03T17:30:46Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > This seems like the perspective of someone who has fallen victim to the sunk cost fallacy. > > After you have already incurred the cost Y, and cannot get it back, the correct criterion is: > > So long as X\>=Z then you are better off paying. Obviously I already thought X\>Y or I wouldn’t have taken the test, and we already saw Y\>Z, so, already, X\>Z. I don’t think I applied a sunk cost fallacy. As to the original question, “bait and switch” seems close. But I do think this trick deserves its own name. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689/31 "2015-01-03T17:35:53Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Reminds me of a Medicare-provider site. After finishing the lengthy questionnaire, including a detailed medical survey, it was rejected because I didn’t have a middle name or initial. It didn’t even give me a chance to make one up. Same here, with Obamacare. I was told I’d have to do it on the phone, they couldn’t reset my web application. And that it would take 20 minutes. Which means 30 minutes. Just to find out what it would cost. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-tells-me-after-all-the-work-that-theres-a-charge-name-for-this-trick/708689.md?page=1)