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OpEd
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your opinions on issues of public concern.
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Mail letters to the Forsyth County News,
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deliver to 302 Veterans Memorial Blvd.,
fax to (770) 889-6017 or email to
editor@forsythnews.com.
W?
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\ ' jJ \II Bucchino
Washington’s faith may
have acted like shield
Sunday was George
Washington's real birthday, an
appropriate time to consider
the faith of America's most
important founding father.
At age 13 George tran
scribed "110 Rules for Young
Gentlemen." written bv
Ignatius of
Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in the
1590'5. George memorized them. They teach
that man is God's servant who lives not for
self, but for others. They became part of his
character:
"Let your conversation be without malice
or envy...
"When you speak of God or His attributes,
be serious and speak with words of reverence.
"Let your recreations be manful, and not
sinful.
At age 20, he wrote prayers to say each
morning and evening. On Sunday mornings
he prayed: "...pardon, I beseech Thee, my
sins; remove them from Thy presence, as far
as the east is from the west, and accept me for
the merits of Thy son, Jesus Christ..."
At 23 Captain Washington was caught in a
surprise ambush by the French and Indians
near what is now Pittsburgh. Every British
and American officer was shot but
Washington though he rode back and forth
across the battlefield. George later wrote to
his brother, "By the all powerful dispensa
tions of Providence. I have been protected
beyond all human probability or expectation,
for I had four bullets through my coat, and
two horses shot under me. yet escaped unhurt,
although death was leveling my companions
on every side of me."
On July 2, 1776 he told his troops: "The
fate of unborn millions will now depend,
under God, on the courage of this army. Our
cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only
the choice of brave resistance or the most
abject submission. We have therefore to
resolve to conquer or die."
Seven weeks later British General Howe
had trapped Washington and his 8,000 troops
on Brooklyn Heights, ready to crush them the
next morning. Washington gathered every
vessel from fishing to row boats and spent all
night ferrying his army across the East River.
By morning many troops were still exposed to
the British.
"In a most unusual change in weather, the
fog did not lift from the river. It stayed thick,
covering Washington's retreat until the entire
army had evacuated and escaped," writes
William Federer in his inspiring book,
"America’s Gotland Country." Never again
Ethics of rebates likely depends on experience
A short quiz! Rank the follow
ing acts on a "yes/no” scale of eth
ical human behavior:
1) Someone accosts you on the
street and takes your money at
gunpoint; 2) you buy a product
and, when you open the package,
find that the contents were not as
represented; 3) you are offered a
great price on a product via a mail
in rebate.
Clearly, few people would give
a "yes" to the first two acts. But
what about the third? What could
be better than the offer of a terrific
price break? Let's take a closer
look.
A few months ago I was shop
ping for a $69.99 computer soft
ware package. Lo and behold. I
found it under a sign indicating a
price of-$0.01! No, that's not a
misprint. 1 was going to be paid
one cent to buy the product.
All 1 had to do was pay the
$69.99 (plus tax) and then submit
two mail-in-rebates, S3O for
upgrading from an earlier version
or a competitor's product and a
special one-day (and this was the
day) S4O rebate.
Coincidentally, while I was
puzzling over how this could be, a
manufacturer's rep was restocking
the shelves. So I asked. She
laughed and said, "the promotion
really does boost sales, people
switch from our competitors and
we add new annual-update sub
scribers. But most importantly,
few people actually receive the
rebates." Huminm!
Let's look even closer. A
recent study described in
PC World" indicates that "about
60 percent of buyers who could
redeem computer-related rebates
don't try." Presumably they buy
based on the after-rebate-figure
but then forget, lose the documen
tation, or put it aside until the
rebate has expired.
Os those who try. "half experi
ence problems or don't get a check
at all." If only 20 percent actually
receive the rebate, a 100 percent
"deal" reduces seller revenue by
only a 20 percent; a 50 percent
rebate translates into a 10 percent
reduction; and a 20 percent to a
paltry 4 percent. In each case, the
impact on the seller will only be
Mike
McManus
they became black." and were
amputated wrote a Committee from Congress.
A Quaker named Isaac Potts came upon
Washington upon his knees in the snow, pray
ing aloud for his beloved country. He thanked
God for exalting him to the head of a great
nation which was fighting at fearful odds.
The Quaker told his wife of the sight: "Till
now 1 have thought that a Christian and a sol
dier were characters incompatible, but if
George Washington not be a man of God I am
mistaken, and still more I shall be disappoint
ed if God does not through him perform some
great thing for this country."
On May 5, 1778 Washington learned that
the French would join America as allies. The
General told his troops. "It having pleased the
Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the
cause of the United American States, and
finally to raise up a powerful friend among
the princes of the earth, to establish our liber
ty, and independence upon a lasting founda
tion, it becomes us to set apart a day for
gratefully acknowledging the divine good
ness..."
In 1781 Washington's southern army
defeated a detachment of British troops. Lord
Cornwallis was infuriated and began pur
suing the outnumbered Americans. He waited
the night at the Catawba River, which the
U.S. troops had crossed just two hours earlier.
Miraculously, a storm arose during the night
causing the river to be uncrossable for five
days. Cornwallis nearly overtook Americans
at the Yadkin River, but another flood arose,
allowing Americans to escape.
The French navy seized control of the
Chesapeake Aug. 30, 1781, driving out
British ships. Washington rejoiced and
besieged Cornwallis' stronghold at Yorktown.
With no ships to escape upon, Cornwallis sur
rendered.
Washington wrote Congress, "I take a par
ticular pleasure in acknowledging that the
interposing Hand of Heaven...has been most
conspicuous and remarkable."
Washington had more near escapes than
victories. Would God have protected him
from bullets, and saved his troops with fog
and floods had he not been a praying
man?
Mike McManus is a nationally syndicated
columnist. r
did the British have such a
rare chance to win the war.
During the freezing winter
of 1777 at Valley Forge, a
dozen soldiers died a day. with
many not having blankets or
shoes. "Feet and legs froze till
Mel V- VI
' /U
1/5 of what is advertised.
Although an individual consumer
may actually see the 100 percent
refund, overall, to the sellers, the
mail-in-rebate process results in
only a 20 percent price reduction.
Contrast this with a price reduc
tion at the cash register. Everyone
would walk out of the store, pay
ing exactly the amount upon
which they based their purchase
decision.
Today mail-in rebates are
everywhere. At the extreme, some
can be as small as $0.50 with
redemption requiring a $0.37
stamp and preparation time, clear
ly few of these will ever be
redeemed and the price reduction
is illusory. Unwary consumers
make their purchase decisions
based upon these promotional
prices and what, in actuality, turns
out to be unreasonable expecta
tions, although some of this
'’unreasonability" resides within
their own behavior. "Caveat
Emptor" (let the buyer beware)
applies not only toward the seller
but to the purchaser him-or-her
self.
Now let's go back to the origi
nal ethical question. Excluding
process specifically established to
hinder the legitimate claiming of a
promised rebate, is there anything
wrong in taking advantage of
human nature the fact that peo
ple forget, they procrastinate, they
make errors? Everyone does it.
Low rates on prepaid telephone
cards work on the same "princi
ple."
Their use was probably pre
saged by early experiences in
Japan, where almost all public
telephones required the use of a
pre-paid card. The telephone
companies discovered that so
many were lost or never used that
over a relatively short time they
earned windfalls which translated
into billions of dollars. The prin
ciple was simple sell a service
I PSQHMRtni
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Wednesday, February 25,2004
in advance on which you will
never have to deliver. Ingeniously
capitalizing on this pattern, they
then started issuing cards with
fancy graphics to attract collectors,
much like postage stamp collec
tors have always done. The only
surprising thing is that it took so
long for the concept to be applied
in the U.S.
There are now gift cards that
work the same way. Unbeknownst
to the buyer or recipient, they
carry periodic "maintenance
charges" that erode their value
over time. Hmmm! Invariably
there is "fine print" which indi
cates that this will happen, but the
sellers rely upon the fact most
people will assume "that which is
reasonable" and few people will
take the time (or have the visual
acuity) to read the fine print.
In each of these situations, dif
ferent people will see the issues in
very different lights. Mail-in
rebates that lower prices or cards
that reduce rates for phone calls
provide a positive benefit. One
could argue that the fact that
"human nature" puts some people
at a disadvantage is of their own
doing. On the other hand, if it is
shown that, invariably, predicting
human behavior can be used to
deceive, is it "fair" to exploit that
behavior? Instead of a mail-in
rebate, might it be more appropri
ate to provide an immediate price
reduction at the cash register, con
sistent with the purchaser's price
expectations?
These practices, and therefore
the issues, are becoming more per
vasive in our society. They are not
confined to fly-by-night opera
tions. The biggest and best know r n
companies use them. We live in a
society where trust is a major
issue. Where do these take us?
In a nation as large as ours, it is
difficult for individual voices to be
heard. We don't turn out to vote.
When we do. the key issues are
often not on the ballot.
Additionally, we don't keep our
selves up to date on current issues.
We are in a much better position to
grumble about things as suspicion
and mistrust grow. But in actuali
ty. the power to change things lies
in the hands, in this case, of the
consumer. But the exercise of that
power takes knowledge and some
effort. If things are going to
change, people must to make con
scious decisions based, in part, on
the ethics of the practices involved
rather than just let things "hap
pen" to them. And agencies of the
people government must
also be responsive.
Are mail-in rebates ethical?
Your answer probably depends on
your experience with them. For
the minority (e.g. the 20 percent),
the issue is probably less one of
ethics than it is of inconvenience.
However, the great majority may
hold a very different viewpoint.
Ethics, like beauty, probably
resides in the eye of the beholder.
As a postscript, I completed all
the requirements for the two
rebates and mailed them in the
next day. I got S3O back as prom
ised.
I won't go through all the gru
eling details of what it took to get
the other S4O, but it was more
effort than it was worth. I pursued
the task both out of curiosity and
as a matter of principle. The rebate
was incorrectly rejected by the
manufacturer. The quest for cor
rection encountered impenetrable
barriers erected within their email
and telephone follow-up systems,
a totally uncaring executive office
and president and a sympathetic
store manager.
The story had a happy ending
as a result of a call to one of the
manufacturer's small plants where
I was able to talk to a helpful
employee, once again showing
that: wonderful things can happen
if you make contact with a caring
human being, rather than having
to work through the impersonal
systems that are often established
to shield organizations from their
responsibilities.
♦♦♦
Dr. Melvyn Copen of Cumming
is an educator and businessman
who has worked and lived in many
foreign countries and provides
consulting services for businesses
and organizations throughout the
world. His column appears every
other Wednesday. Please share
your comments with him via e
mail at melcopen@hotmail.com.
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