Anyone who has ever scouted the recruitment press will have spotted the inevitable ads bugling the chance to earn thousands from home. This business runs itself, it says. It`s a simple business that anyone can run, simply surrender your personal details "here" to receive your free, no obligation information.
It looks like a newbie designer`s first feeble attempt at coaxing something pretty out of FrontPage.
Basheera Khan, UK contributor, ITWeb
They come with dodgy URLs like www.income4u.com, or www.changelifenow.tv and they`re mostly aimed at duping the public into doing something they wouldn`t if they knew what they were getting themselves into.
Generally with enough exposure to schemes of this sort, one learns very quickly how to steer clear of them. But what happens when established businesses, which one would think consider themselves reputable, perform a similar sort of fleecing - and hide behind the Internet while doing so?
I made this discovery while searching for a courier service. I was seeking a UK courier, not one of those with international marketing budgets, and so I did what anyone in a similar situation might do: I Googled it.
The search returned a number of results. One of the more promising-looking links led to a site called www.courier-companies.co.uk, which offered "the largest online guide for every type of delivery imaginable. Couriers, motorcycle despatch, overnight delivery by van, next day, national and international delivery and collection express parcel carriers, fast local delivery, and much, much more."
Too good to be true, I thought. But I checked it out - and to my great disenchantment, within two clicks, was redirected to the DHL UK Web site. Which, in case anyone is interested, is pretty awful. Bear in mind, I`m not talking about the DHL Worldwide Express site - that looks slick enough and is informative and useful - but rather the UK operation. And it`s terrible - it looks like a newbie designer`s first feeble attempt at coaxing something pretty out of FrontPage.
I haven`t checked the site`s functionality, mainly because the look of it turned me off almost immediately. But apart from the site`s general shoddiness, the very fact that I had to be drawn into it thinking it was something else speaks volumes of the UK operations idea`s about self-promotion - not to mention, in my opinion, casting aspersions on the business` sense of self-worth.
I find it amazing to think that any business, intent on drawing customers, would do so in a way that detracts from its brand. The brand is sacred - and you do everything in your power to boost its awareness, to make it appealing and, above all, to get the spending public on your side.
The worst part is that the dummy site, while neglecting to mention which specific courier companies it represents, does exactly what it says on the box, as they say. DHL can technically be described as a collection of courier companies, all of which offer the services as described on the dummy Web site. There is no false advertising, no blatant misrepresentation which one could use to petition the authorities for intervention. When it comes down to it, it`s an act that remains completely within the law while succeeding to be slimier than a very slimy thing.
That a business would choose to do something so completely opposed to the obvious goals leaves me boggling. One has to wonder, in a case like this, whether the end justifies the means. I`m not even certain this was a business-driven idea - it could have been the brainwave of an ill-informed PR (and at this point I should point out that I`m not prejudiced; some of my best friends are PRs). Regardless of the source, an idea like this should never have been allowed to see the light of day.
But now that it has, it`s made me completely aware of DHL - and equally aware of how far I will go to avoid using its services in this country. When will they get a clue?
Share
