LITTLE CORPORATE DISHONESTIES

by Andrew Tobias

I pay for CreditSecure from American Express, and it mails me a quarterly review that includes, among other things, my credit score from one of the three rating agencies. 

 The report could have just as easily shown all three scores, but instead it gives instructions for getting the other two at no extra charge, "instantly," on line. 

 I go to that URL and am instantly asked to sign up for on-line access.  In the fine print, I see something that seems to suggest that if I take the time to sign up, I would no longer get the mailed reports.  It's not completely clear (one might almost say hidden), so I called to check and – sure enough.

 So basically this is a ploy by Amex to get me to lower their printing and mailing costs, hoping I won't notice or mind.

 At least for me, a straightforward message would have been honest and more effective.

 Dear Customer:  We'd like you to consider switching to our on-line service.  The advantage to you: you can access your credit situation 24/7 at no extra cost and have the satisfaction of knowing you did something good for the environment.  The advantage to us: we lower our costs and have the satisfaction of knowing we did something good for the environment.  If you consider this a 'win-win,' please go on-line and sign up!

 Instead, they tried to trick me into it. 

 Or how about this: those web sites, like DirecTV, that ask whether you want to receive occasional marketing offers – with the default box checked ("yes, I do") – so you uncheck it . . . but then when it turns out you used hyphens in your phone  number (or some other glitch that forces you to go back and redo an error) they've quietly rechecked the marketing boxes in the hope you'll make whatever little correction was needed without noticing that – while everything else remained the same – the empty check boxes had reverted to being checked.  And now they have your permission to send you marketing offers and sell your email to others.

These are tiny manipulations that amount to little more than over-eager salesmanship, with perhaps a pinch of duplicity – and a dollop of cynicism – thrown in.  But they bug me.

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