
Spot the fraud
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Spot the fraud
Can you see it?


A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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Re: Spot the fraud
Weight.
Damn capitalists!!!
Feel the Bern
Damn capitalists!!!
Feel the Bern
Wenn ich Kultur höre, entsichere ich meinen Browning!
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Re: Spot the fraud
I listened to the podcast. Here's an 8/6oz example

a more indepth article
https://consumerist.com/2015/06/10/watk ... hrink-ray/
I do not think this raises to the level of fraud unless all examples of small products coming in over-sized boxes also count as fraud.

Let the buyer beware. The cost/oz is right there on the price tag.
but ...
Here's the actual whine complaint
https://consumermediallc.files.wordpres ... null-0.pdf
Federal law, however, disagrees with me.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/c ... fr=100.100
I buy the store brand (which for pepper is exactly the same) and get 8oz for what McCormick charges for 3.

a more indepth article
https://consumerist.com/2015/06/10/watk ... hrink-ray/
I do not think this raises to the level of fraud unless all examples of small products coming in over-sized boxes also count as fraud.

Let the buyer beware. The cost/oz is right there on the price tag.
but ...
Let the grocer beware as well.The Minneapolis Star-Tribune sent a reporter out to local grocery stores and discovered that in one-third of these stores, shelf tags haven’t caught up with the actual amount of pepper in each tin. The newer versions are on the shelves, but the old sizes remain on the shelf tag.
Here's the actual whine complaint
https://consumermediallc.files.wordpres ... null-0.pdf
Federal law, however, disagrees with me.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/c ... fr=100.100
a) A container that does not allow the consumer to fully view its contents shall be considered to be filled as to be misleading if it contains nonfunctional slack-fill. Slack-fill is the difference between the actual capacity of a container and the volume of product contained therein...
I buy the store brand (which for pepper is exactly the same) and get 8oz for what McCormick charges for 3.
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Re: Spot the fraud
It's a little different with the chips. Large air-filled and mostly empty bags are designed like that--in part--to help protect against chip breakage.
Killing me with humorous lines will not Clark Kent the egg salad. ~Skeptoid
It seems that our RIVER has run dry.
It seems that our RIVER has run dry.
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Re: Spot the fraud
More slack filling lawsuits
https://www.truthinadvertising.org/wp-c ... plaint.pdf
the product only goes up to the top of the yellow circle.

old spice also

about a dozen more on a simple search
This one is flagrant

Seems like this is all the rage.
Oh, here's the worst offender

https://www.truthinadvertising.org/wp-c ... plaint.pdf
the product only goes up to the top of the yellow circle.

old spice also

about a dozen more on a simple search
This one is flagrant

Seems like this is all the rage.
Oh, here's the worst offender

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Re: Spot the fraud
With the pills there's a question of how full is reliable given that the pills are COUNTED EXACTLY by a machine.
This isn't a case of fraud, this is a case of whiners.
So are the other examples.
Or did the whiners figure that since they are no longer in school they no longer have to read anything?
This isn't a case of fraud, this is a case of whiners.
So are the other examples.
Or did the whiners figure that since they are no longer in school they no longer have to read anything?
-- our mission statement plappendale
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Re: Spot the fraud
Yeah I was going to mention the "non-functional slack-fill" and even post that link but Rob beat me too it.
The podcast was about class-action lawsuits and I agree that this sort of thing may be taking it too far. BUT, I do think that companies who do this should be called out.
There are people who always look at the label and check the price carefully when they go shopping, but you don't always have time for it and this difference is so subtle that someone who is in the habit of buying that particular brand likely wouldn't notice that they had changed the amount of pepper since the previous time they bought it. I mean, who remembers the exact weight of the last tin of pepper they bought?
Ed probably knows that packaging matters. Put something in a bigger package and you can get away with charging more for it. Even if the product itself is small. That's why the packages that DVDs come in are bigger than the old CD packages even though the disks are the same size. Most of it is just extra air.
The podcast was about class-action lawsuits and I agree that this sort of thing may be taking it too far. BUT, I do think that companies who do this should be called out.
There are people who always look at the label and check the price carefully when they go shopping, but you don't always have time for it and this difference is so subtle that someone who is in the habit of buying that particular brand likely wouldn't notice that they had changed the amount of pepper since the previous time they bought it. I mean, who remembers the exact weight of the last tin of pepper they bought?
Ed probably knows that packaging matters. Put something in a bigger package and you can get away with charging more for it. Even if the product itself is small. That's why the packages that DVDs come in are bigger than the old CD packages even though the disks are the same size. Most of it is just extra air.
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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Re: Spot the fraud
With DVDs it makes good sense.
Bigger cover art.
Bigger cover art.
-- our mission statement plappendale
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Re: Spot the fraud
I just accept it that marketers will try to fool you with the packaging, hide price increases, manipulate you, etc. The cure is for everyone to know how to read the labels properly (and to know how they manipulate those too, such as with serving size).
"If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight! Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little bit more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it, and then he perfected it so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor. Then, he used his fight money to buy two of every animal on earth, and then he herded them onto a boat, and then he beat the crap out of every single one. And from that day forward any time a bunch of animals are together in one place it's called a zoo! (Beat) Unless it's a farm!"
--Soldier, TF2
--Soldier, TF2
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Re: Spot the fraud
i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.
I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.
I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.
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Re: Spot the fraud
You mean the label on the shelf where it was placed didn't match the weight printed on the can?Rob Lister wrote:i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.
I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.
The one that tells you the unit price per ounce or whatever so you can compare with other brands or other size containers?
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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Re: Spot the fraud
That would be the one.Anaxagoras wrote:You mean the label on the shelf where it was placed didn't match the weight printed on the can?Rob Lister wrote:i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.
I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.
The one that tells you the unit price per ounce or whatever so you can compare with other brands or other size containers?
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Re: Spot the fraud
It's part of a larger issue.
People figure once they are through with school they should never have to read again.
People figure once they are through with school they should never have to read again.
-- our mission statement plappendale
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Re: Spot the fraud

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"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out."--Don
DocX: FTW.--sparks
"Doctor X wins again."--Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry."--His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone."--clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far."--Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig."--Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power."--asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." --gnome




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Re: Spot the fraud

--J.D.
Mob of the Mean: Free beanie, cattle-prod and Charley Fan Club!
"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out."--Don
DocX: FTW.--sparks
"Doctor X wins again."--Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry."--His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone."--clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far."--Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig."--Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power."--asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." --gnome
WS CHAMPIONS X4!!!! NBA CHAMPIONS!!
Stanley Cup!
SB CHAMPIONS X6!!!!!! 
"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out."--Don
DocX: FTW.--sparks
"Doctor X wins again."--Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry."--His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone."--clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far."--Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig."--Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power."--asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." --gnome




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Re: Spot the fraud

--J.D.
Mob of the Mean: Free beanie, cattle-prod and Charley Fan Club!
"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out."--Don
DocX: FTW.--sparks
"Doctor X wins again."--Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry."--His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone."--clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far."--Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig."--Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power."--asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." --gnome
WS CHAMPIONS X4!!!! NBA CHAMPIONS!!
Stanley Cup!
SB CHAMPIONS X6!!!!!! 
"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out."--Don
DocX: FTW.--sparks
"Doctor X wins again."--Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry."--His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone."--clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far."--Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig."--Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power."--asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." --gnome



