Absolutely Liars

Look at this:

Look at how many times Steve lies to us, and how many times the how-to.com people ALLOW him to lie!

The picture shows a website that I happened to stumble across while I was doing something else. That’s how these things always seem to happen. At first, of course, I was enticed into looking at the site because of the advertisement/link that said, and I quote: “…I discovered a web site that lets you do absolutely free background checks …”

Well I have always wanted to be able to do that! I mean, on TV and in movies and everywhere else that might apply, you always see people running background checks on other people from like, a public library computer or one at a cyber cafe` and they never have to pay anything, right? They just sit down, clackety clack on the keyboard, clickety click on the mouse, and the screen pops up with a host of information on whatever person they are looking for. Simple, easy, free, great stuff, right?! That’s one of the things that makes the interwebs absolutely awesome, right! (No this is not a cry for attention over SOPA or PIPA)

WRONG!

Apparently what makes the interwebs great is the lack of accountability for whatever anyone wants to post to get your attention and your clicks. There’s a thing called “click-through advertising” closely related to another thing called “affiliate marketing” and some other like-named things. This thing means that someone out there can make some amount of money just by getting you to click on a link and go to a specific website. That’s pretty nasty, when you think about it, since it means that they can say any damn thing they want to lead you to click on a link and there’s nothing negative that happens to them when it turns out that what they said to get you to click was an ABSOLUTE LIE! 

See, where it says “I discovered a web site that lets you do absolutely free background checks ” is closely related to the section that says “As soon as you’ve paid the small subscription you will be able to do an unlimited number of background checks and free public records searches for no extra cost.”

As it turns out, that’s what they mean when they say “absolutely free”. What they mean is, once you have paid, you do not have to pay again (for a whole year! wow!) to do a search. That means that the search you do AFTER you have paid is free, right?!?!

No, you asshole, that’s not what it means. What it means is they are Absolute Liars. They lead you in, with the promise of something that is not only free, but absolutely free.

Let’s take a look at that word: absolutely. (From Dictionary.com, and absolutely free website that gives definitions! thanks guys!)

ab·so·lute·ly
   [ab-suh-loot-lee, ab-suh-loot-]
adverb
Definition 1.
without exception; completely; wholly; entirely: You are absolutely right.
Definition 2.
positively; certainly.
Definition 3.
(of a transitive verb) without an object.
Take a look at the part marked in red bold. I put it in red to draw your attention. It is the first (and therefore usually considered the most common accepted usage) definition listed for the word Absolutely. It says there are no exceptions. So if we apply this to the concept of “absolutely free” that means “free without exception, completely free, wholly free, entirely free, positively free, certainly free, free without an object (look that up on your own time)”
So, I guess it really doesn’t apply to this particular page, does it? If the background search is free EXCEPT that you have to pay a subscription fee before you can do it… I mean, that’s like saying “Get the newspaper delivered to your door Absolutely Free after you pay your yearly subscription and delivery fees!” or “Get to live in your house absolutely FREE every month you pay your rent!” or “Get free, unlimited gas for one year after you pay for it in advance with cash!!”
Come on, guys!  No one is even TRYING anymore. We have all kinds of stupid crap like SOPA going on and PIPA and meanwhile the REAL people that make the interwebs a dangerously tricky and DISHONEST place at all are the people who are putting up and benefitting from sites like these.
Join with me, and we will rule the univer-  er, I mean… Join with me and write an angry letter to the website poster, “Steve”,  about the duplicity of the words on the site and demand they submit to the voice of the people!!! Rise up!
Or, go get another sandwich and watch American Idol until you fall asleep with your hand down your pants. Whichever is easier, Bub.

2 Comments

  1. Freecreditscore.com is the same way….love the jingle but “free after subscription” pisses me off.

    • Same here. It may be true in a literal sense of someone who doesn’t speak english, but the spirit of the statement is duplicitous at the least and a flat-out intentional lie to make money at most.


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