This is your brand new car (below) and somebody just took your keys and drove-off in it, 100-percent legally. This happened to my client recently. He is mega-smart, works out, does yoga, is super healthy. A random health screening at his office turned up a low reading on his white blood cell count. This led to doctor’s visits, lab tests, and a minor surgery to remove bone marrow.
“What did they find?” I asked him, just making conversation.
“Nothing,” he replied.
“What benefit did you receive?” I asked, more curious.
“Peace of mind,” he replied.
I said, wait a minute. Strangers came into your office and told you that you had a condition. Then they subjected you to all kinds of testing, at their discretion, including sucking marrow from your bone? Then they told you it was a false alarm?”
“Yes,” he replied laughing. “I think the whole thing cost between $40 and 50,000.”
I asked him, “Aside from peace of mind, what did that $40 to 50,000 buy you?”
“Not anything,” he replied.
Our society is covered-up with outrage, so let’s not go there. And there are many levels at which to address all kinds of scams. But if I could figure a way to legitimately stick a needle into your bone and suck out $40,000, I’d probably go door-to-door doing that. Forget vacuum cleaners! Wouldn’t you quit your day job and blanket the town selling wares, too? And I would hire lots of nurses to duplicate my efforts and pay lab-techs for print-outs, then deduct my costs from receipts to see what profit was left for me. Plus, you wouldn’t need to actually produce anything or ship anything or open warehouses overseas.
Then I asked him, “Were you offered any sort of guarantee or warranty for your $40-50,000?”
He laughed, “No.”
I said, “I think you just bought somebody a new Audi. And they took home your warranty.”
S.