Not as advertised
I hope you never get as duped as this.
But sometimes, it can feel that way.
Have you ever paid for tickets to an event, or purchased a car, a fashionable pair of sneakers, or an antique painting, based solely (I’ll come back to this important element later) on the amazing marketing material that you came across, or was sent to your inbox, or social media recommendations? Well, it seems to happen more and more lately, that what you throw your hard earned at, may not be exactly as advertised. I could give 101 examples in my own personal life of such instances, as I am sure you can. Indeed, if it’s not too uncomfortable to retrieve the memories, I welcome you to leave a reply and give your top cases of ‘Not as advertised’. (This is a family show, so no references to things that buzz, or…. you get the idea!).
So, recently, I was looking for intellectually stimulating local events for me and my better half, so I purchased some tickets for a science lecture (I won’t name the show or presenters as this is not the purpose of this post), that promised to use the latest in multimedia tech to enhance the presentation. It went on to use words like ‘immersive’ and ‘breath-taking’ amongst other superlatives, that really resonated with me. I bought the tickets there and then and entered the date into the diary.
Excitedly, the day came and we went…. only it wasn’t the day. In my hectic week and excitement for the event, we were a week early and were meet with a locked door and no lights on, much to the amusement of passers-by as I stood there convincing myself I had the correct date. Anyway, we had a nice walk, coffee and some cake to compensate my disappointment in my p*** p*** p**********!
Fast forward a week and we are sitting proudly in our seats and start to enjoy the show. A few minutes in and my discomfort in my seat accrues, as I squirm in confusion to what I am seeing an hearing. I look at my Partner, she looks quizzically back, and the interval seems a lifetime away. When it arrives, I can’t hold back my words and announce discretely that ‘I can’t take another minute of that!’. Another consolatory walk, coffee and cake are enjoyed.
Post processing the event in my respectful, positive and logical outlook on life, my discomfort had only been elevated due to the price of the tickets in comparison with the misleading marketing blurb on the event listing website. Digging deeper, I found social media information that hyped up the event, way more than was needed for what was actually being offered, with recent video’s clearly showing the disparity. Now, I’ve been on stage for various reasons in my professional and recreation life, so I know it can be nerve-racking and hard to please an audience, hungry for a first class production and value for money. Above I used the word ‘solely’, and that’s important, because these days, we have information on tap, friends we can call, etc, etc. But I chose to impulsively purchase tickets based on a digital event flyer I came across on my own travels through the vast wilderness of the internet.
Was I angry? Absolutely not.
Was I dissapointed? A little. That’s only human.
What did I lose? My wallet and fuel tank were a bit lighter.
What did I gain? I contributed to a live event and my Lady and I got two nice walks, coffee’s and cakes!
Taking things into context, I didn’t feel ‘ripped-off’, more ‘mis-informed’. In my advancing years, I looked to the positives and in comparison to some of the ‘not as advertised’ experiences in my life, this pinged with a very low alert ranking on the radar. Yes, us Consumers are protected from the more serious scams and fakery that seems to increase daily these days. So please take care out there. Oh, if you do find the location for your event is locked and the lights are off, because you have got the wrong date, go easy on yourself and find a nearby café or bar to enjoy the moment. After all; like me, you’ve probably paid for a few hours parking and put some proper smart clothes on!
Please check out the event calendar page for future events, or the Bermudaverse Meetup Group at: www.meetup.com/bermudaverse
Namaste,
Bermuda
(100% organic. No AI entities were harassed during the creation of this Blog Post.)