It's amazing to me how often people rant about how they've been ripped off by one company or another.

Case in point: Yesterday's "Consumer File" column by Greg Dawson.

It seems he got a letter from a reader suspecting that she'd been "ripped off" by a big-box discount store.  Her story as related by Greg:

About two years ago [she] bought a "flat TV" at [a particular discount store] for $400. She did not bother to ask but was "under the impression" that it was digital. "To my shocking surprise, I discovered during a 'test' by one of the local stations - I do not have cable or satellite - that my television is in fact analog. I am thoroughly ticked!!! I spent over $400 for the TV, thinking I was getting the latest technology, and now I will have to get a converter box or cable/satellite. Have I been ripped off? What remedies do I have with the manufacturer?"

As some of the commenters pointed out, two years ago most people weren't concerned about digital TV coming, so most people wouldn't have bothered to ask, nor would they have been "under the impression."  It would have been of no concern.

Speaking from personal experience, I learned just over 10 years ago that DTV was coming.  At the time I was working for a company that represented a wireless microphone manufacturer.  And my job was to educate wireless mic dealers about the coming of DTV, how it would impact wireless mics, and how this particular manufacturer had already dealt with the situation and as ready to help those who didn't have compatible mics make the transition.

Yet, even though I've known about this for so long, and been one of the educators on DTV, when we got a "new" TV 2-3 years ago, I didn't care about DTV's impact.  I didn't assume it was digital.  I didn't ask if it was digital.  Despite knowing all about it, the I don't think the thought even crossed my mind.

If I was buying a TV today, yeah, the thought would not only cross my mind, it would be of paramount importance.  I'd make SURE it was digital.  And then (and only then) would I be justified in getting "thoroughly ticked" if it turned out not to be DTV compatible.

So, Greg's responses to the questions,

Q: Have I been ripped off?

A: Are you kidding?

Q: What remedies do I have with the manufacturer?

A: Nada.

are spot on.

Ripped off comes when products and/or services have been misrepresented in one way or another.  If you fail to ask, or fail to even think of asking about a product or service, that's not a misrepresentation, and you're not being ripped off.  If you think there may be some area of ignorance on your part - that is, you know that you don't know something but you don't know what that something is - then do a little research and ask the experts what you should be looking for and what you should know. 

As I've been writing this, I just realized one other important detail... she bought the TV at a big-box discount store.  That's not the kind of place where you get service, nor will you likely find knowledgable experts there... at least not for the products on the steel shelves.  One of the ways they can keep their prices lower is because they don't have to pay for expertise.  Shop there, and the saying is exceedingly apropos: Buyer Beware!

They didn't rip her off.  She just shopped for the best price without bothering to learn what it was she was getting for that price.

Have you had someone accuse you of ripping them off?  If they weren't, what could you have done to have avoided that perception?  Or were they just completely unreasonable?

Conversely, have you ever felt like you've been ripped off, and discovered that you may not have been?  What changed your perspective?  And what could the seller/service-provider have done to have avoided the initial impression?