White Van Speakers

I think, MrNordin was conned yesterday. He brought home a home theatre system which he purchased from this guy at the Petronas gas station for RM1,500. The guy said usual price is > RM2k. He said the item was an 'extra' from the 'warehouse', and he needed to dispose it quickly coz he needed money for his pregnant wife who was going to deliver any time soon.

And my husband, sebab kesian punya pasal, bought the thing and paid it in cash. I think the guy was a good salesman and my husband couldn't say no. Now, we have a new set of HTS lying in our guest room but we don't know what to do with it because we already have 2 at home!

Itu yang I tak faham tu, we already have 2 at home, yang pegi beli lagi satu tu buat apa? He said, dia ingat cousin dia nak (obviously his cousin didn't want it, right? that's why it's still at our house!). And he thought RM1,500 was a scream. I thought it was a scam.

I malas nak bising kat dia ~ I've already given him a piece of my mind and he knew he had made a mistake. So this morning I searched for the HTS brand ~ Audiovisio ~ and what did I find? Actually it was a scam! Read below for more info; the modus operandi was the same:


White Van Speakers

White van speakers is a scam sales technique in which a salesman makes a buyer believe he is getting a good price on audio merchandise. Con artists in this type of scam call themselves "speakerguys" or "speakermen".

The Process

The typical white van speaker scam involves one or two individuals, who are usually dressed in T-shirts and jeans or business uniforms. They drive a SUV or a commercial vehicle (usually a white commercial van, which is the cheapest to rent) that often displays a company logo.

To find suitable targets, the van operators set up their con in moderately trafficked areas—parking lots, gas stations, colleges, large apartment complexes—or even watch heavy traffic for people driving expensive cars and wave them down. The marks are usually affluent young men, college students, or others thought to have large amounts of disposable income.

After the speakermen attract someone, they immediately launch into a loud, fast-paced, and relentless sales pitch, such as:

"Hey buddy, you want some really big speakers for your house? We are making a delivery, and they made a mistake at the loading docks. We are going to sell them cheap! Pull over!"

"The temps on the docks made a mistake. They gave us 6 sets of speakers instead of 6 speakers. We need to sell them before we get into serious trouble with our boss back at the store."

"The computer order called for too many speakers to get put on this truck, and it will cost the company money to re-stock them."

The operators claim that they work for an audio retailer or audio installer, and that, through some sort of corporate error (warehouse operator mistake, bookkeeping mistakes, computer glitches, etc.) or due to the client changing the order after supplies were purchased, they have extra speakers.

For varying reasons they need to dispose of the speakers quickly and are willing to get rid of them at "well below retail" prices. The con artists will repeatedly state the speaker "value" as anywhere between $1800 and $3000, prices often purportedly verified by showing a brochure or a magazine advertisement. They will usually also have an official looking website verifying their claims.

If the mark declines the offer, the speakerguy uses various high-pressure negotiation and sales tactics to change the mark's mind. Among these techniques are producing any other glossy material that details the quality and high retail value of the speakers, and bombarding the potential customer with technical jargon, whether correctly or incorrectly used.

If still unable to convince the mark that he is turning down an incredible offer, speakermen will almost always significantly lower the price immediately (the actual cost of the speakers may be less than 3% of the MSRP). Some speakerguys will even suggest that, since the customer got such a great deal, he should pay a little extra as beer money for his supposed benefactor.

If the speaker men reach their self-set sales goal, a number of points are accumulated which, at the end of the sales period, receive a bonus ranging from $200-$2000. The motto is "sell the fuck out" or S-T-F-O for short, and the office pays $20 beer money!

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So ladies, please caution your husband on this, ok? I know, we ladies susah sikit nak termakan pujukan salesman macam ni coz we are more cautious of what we spend our money on. But orang lelaki ni, kadang2 mudah tertipu. Contohnya suami I.

En Nordin... En Nordin... when will you ever learn to say no ...