Phones and Petrol Stations

The next time somebody from China comes up to you at a petrol station and asks you if you’d like to buy a Samsung D600 sliding phone for RM500, in a whispery tone – The advice is “DO NOT”. Because the trick is to put the phone into his pocket, and pull out a dummy – one that can’t even be turned on. And that’s bad. You pay RM500 – or less, depending on your haggling skills – for a display dummy. Imitation is the best form of flattery, and he has imitated a man desperate for money, so that you feel confident that this is a man that you can bargain with. He imitates the haggling, knowing that whatever amount you hand him, is his gain and your pure loss. And he gives you the slip, by running away very quickly, and asking you to leave as quickly as possible, too.

The moral is that when a man offers you something far below the market value, knowing that the price you offer him is yet further discounted, there is something wrong. “It can’t be turned on and you need to fix it” sounds very plausible. But what is his proof? “I need to get rid of this real quick” sounds perfectly in keeping with his slimy way of talking. He creates a situation for you to believe that he is genuine, that the goods are genuine, and that things are what they seem to be. But they are not what they seem to be. At the end of the day, there remains only the dummy that you hold in your hand, and the realization that indeed – you, too, are a dummy. And however you look at the situation, the one who initiated the situation, can only be declared a winner. He planned those crucial few minutes, and acted out the lines with the professionalism of a Hollywood actor. You have only yourself to blame, and the expensive lesson to learn.