Good Addvertising or Fraud?

[Weird Harold]

I found the following taped to my door today, long with a rather gruesome picture of a "Time Magazine Cover" and selected quotes from "news citations" :

Hello:

My name is **** **** and I am going to be in your area next week testing drinking water for Chlorine, which has been linked to cancer and heart disease in humans. While Chlorine is needed in the water to help kill the bacteria in our water we don't need it in our bodies. I would like to have you and your spouse together for the testing. if you would please call ******** for an appointment I will be happy to work with you, when you both can be home. This visit is only to let you know how much chlorine is in your drinkng water. Learn how you can have the best tasting, absolute safest water for drinking, cooking, ice, tea, coffee, and etc right from the convenience of your kitchen for only 7 or 8 cents per gallon- This test will take about 15 or 20 minutes, beyond that will dqmd on how many quesuons you nmy have.

Better Quality Drinking Water in not a matter of chance, It is Your Choice.

Is this an ethical pitch? ie "Just Good Business"?

Is this kind of pitch even legal?

Would YOU make an appointment?

 

[April]

That's messed up. Starting off all concerned for your health, and ending up in a cheap play for your money.

If you're gonna advertise a business, be up front about it. Don't act like you care about the quality of the water. That kind of misleading tactic makes people distrust advertising. If I had a flyer like that on my door, you can bet that I would not do business with that person or company.

 

[Mensa]

Warning! Danger! Look out!!

You already know the answer to that one, Weird Harold. Scare tactics! They use it because it works. Safe drinking water is always a major concern with people. More people will say yes to their come-on than will say no. Count on it!

 

[Starfish]

Harold....

It's already been said....Not to trust this. It is a sales pitch, but not an illegal one.

But about the issue of Chlorine in your drinking water...

Chlorine evaporates into a (rather environmetally damaging) gas, and to be honest, it is as simple as filling a jug and not capping it off, placeing it in the fridge and drinking that over the course of the day.. MOST (not all but a large amount) will evaporate in 6 hours, so it is best to fill up your jug(s) the night before you drink it, then you can cap it off during the day. All you need to do before you drink is pour it into a glass, and that will reoxygenate the water. (or put in in the blender and give it a quick whip around, which won't even dirty the appliance)

Due to the fact that I am studying Biology and have had a huge amount of hard Sciences, I have tested the tap water of the entire region I live in for the following substances.........Phosphorus, Potassium, Iron, Calcite, Florite (which is a Calcite), Lead, Mercury, and Chlorine.

I developed this technique because I have a large amount of freshwater tropical fish, and the chlorine in the water is deadly to them...
This way, I don' t have to spend a lot of additional money. like my friend do????, on water for my fish, which require regular waterchanges.....
Also this keeps my Phosphorous and Potassium levels up, so that I can grow some incredible aquatic plants!

Hope this helps..

You need to test your water, but you can call local and state agencies to get info how to go about it.
Water testing tablets arn't expensive, but unfortunatly, they are usually sold in bulk, to agencies and schools.
Get ahold of your local Water Resource Mngmt. Division? or what ever they call themselves...

They may even come test your water for you......

Don't take their reserve readings as the juice on your source.....

lead comes from pipes... not resevoirs or water towers.....

You get water from Havusau (sp?)??

 

[Weird Harold]

It's already been said....Not to trust this. It is a sales pitch, but not an illegal one.
...
You get water from Havusau (sp?)??

I haave no intention of calling this guy. I already have a water filter far drinking water, and let the chlorine evaporate out of the water for my plants.

Most of the water for the Laas Vegas Valley comes from Lake Mead alhough ome come from ground water. Whereever mine comes from, it would break your meters for calcites. the water here is so hard that if you drop a glassful, the water breaks instead of the glass.

 

[Cheyenne]

I have no lead pipes and I get regular notices from the local water company about testing of the water quality. My water comes from Lake Michigan and I'm more concerned about Crypto in it than I am about chlorine! We had the Cryto outbreak in Spring of 1993 and it still seems like yesterday to those of us who got infected.

 

[Closet Desire]

Ranks up there...

...with siding and window sales reps. It's called "puffing" and it's not illegal, but what's he selling anyway? Very expensive water filters? I seem to recall that the £10 water filter I use here removes chlorine...one of the simpler things to remove. Goes straight for activated carbon and bonds.

Want to hear something that might make you nervous? Our water company has begun a programme where treated sewage water is fed back into the resevoir and then sent out again. I know there are treatment systems for vacation homes in the US that put out water cleaner than when it came in, but it does sort of go against instinct.

 

[GuyJD]

CALL 9-1-1

 

[ChaoticLil]

Unfortunantly I've seen this type of promotion quite often in natural/alternative health business (and I try to use natural remedies as much as possible). The thing is though they believe in all of that information, and honestly think that they are trying to save you from a long and painful death. Doing this door to door though seems pretty fishy to me.

I personally would not make an appointment, not from what they are saying in the flyer, but strictly from the fact that they are doing door to door selling. They are already using high pressure tactics, and you haven't even let them in your home! If you really wanted to buy another filter you could easily find what you need from the net, and it would most likely cost alot less.

 

[Weird Harold]

...and I'm more concerned about Crypto in it than I am about chlorine!

That is why I spent the extra buck for a Pur Ulimate filter over the basic Pur model. It filters Crypto and other spores as well as several additional chemicals the basic filter isn't rated to stop.

Cost works out to about thirty cents a day for good tasting safe(r) drinking water.

 

[Ezzy]

Re: Ranks up there...

Want to hear something that might make you nervous? Our water company has begun a programme where treated sewage water is fed back into the resevoir and then sent out again. I know there are treatment systems for vacation homes in the US that put out water cleaner than when it came in, but it does sort of go against instinct.

CD one of those facts not advertised well in the London area, Thames Water (the local water company) will do that on several different points along the Thames, so in theory if you live down in the docklands area you may be actually drinking water that has been drunk before, then processed then put into the Thames, only to be taken out lower down the river and processed then drunk Etc.

There are I think 4 extraction points on the Thames in the London area, and after treatment there are3 points the used water is returned to the river.




EZ.

 

[Bigdog]

When it says they want to talk to you and your spouse together, that is a dead giveaway they are going to use hardsell tactics. They get you together, figure out which one of you is weaker at resisting sales pitches, then play that person off the other. I've encountered this with people selling water systems, vacuums, timeshares and frozen food.

One of the advantages of having dogs, it is hard for salespeople to make their pitch while running for their lives.