Retail

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

The OJ Book: The Truth is Not in the Fine Print

Mouse Print* has long stood for the proposition that the big print doesn’t always tell the full story, and that the fine print is often the only place to find the complete truth.

Challenging that assumption is the Goldman family’s design for the OJ Simpson book they are publishing, If I Did It.  The book describes how OJ hypothetically would have killed his wife and the Goldman’s son, Ron. As you can see from the cover (enhanced with yellow arrow and asterisk by Mouse Print*), for once, the fine print probably distorts the truth.

OJ Book new
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Camophoto: Low Prices, Expensive Returns

While searching for low prices on a Sony Bravia 40V2500 LCD TV a while back, a net seller called Camophoto came up as having the lowest price: $1389.99. Considering that Sony charges $2299 for this TV, that is quite a savings. Of course, we don’t know how much Camophoto charges for shipping unless you go through the entire ordering process.

That is one problem. Two others are lurking on the “policies and terms” page:

*MOUSE PRINT:

PAYMENT POLICY

At this moment we accept all payments through MoneyGram money transfer. MoneyGram is an instant money transfer service that enables individuals to send and receive cash either domestically or internationally in just 10 minutes. Our sales team will give you the exact information of where MoneyGram agencies can be found in your city.

…

RETURN POLICY

…

All merchandise should be returned to our Order Processing Department:

Camophoto
Rehhagstrasse 79
CH – 3018 Bern
Switzerland

I wonder what it would cost to send a 53-pound 40″ TV back to Switzerland?

No need to be concerned anymore, the company’s website appears to have gone bye-bye.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Tide Bonus Bottle: 33% More?

Tide 33% more smallEverybody loves a bargain, so when you see a product on a grocer’s shelf that seems to promise more product for the same money, you are more likely to grab it.

These are called “bonus packs” where you might get an extra four ounces of shampoo, or 20 Brillo pads instead of the usual 16. Bonus packs are typically sold at the item’s regular price, so you are indeed getting something extra free.

This bottle of Tide promises “33% MORE.” But are you really getting one-third more free?  A quick look suggests yes, but a more carefully reading says otherwise.

*MOUSE PRINT: The fine print under the “33% MORE” claim says “ounces than 150 oz.”

In other words, this is not a bonus bottle at all. The big yellow banner is merely giving you an arithmetic lesson saying that this 200 ounce bottle is larger than a 150 ounce bottle by a third.

Thanks P&G for the eye-catching math lesson, but some free product would have been nicer.