You know those fish bowls you sometimes see at restaurants where you put in a business card for the chance to win a free lunch for your office? My husband has about twenty billion business cards and only deals with people with whom he exchanges a business card about...oh, once a year, so he's been putting them into the free lunch fish bowl whenever he sees one. We never expected anything out of it.
Guess who won the free lunch?
Of course, (and I don't know why we never considered this) there is a catch. The lunch is being put on by a representative of some organization, and by "free lunch for your office" he means "free lunch for whoever you can drag in kicking and screaming." So I get to go too. :) He considered not even taking it, but who can resist a free lunch? So we have about five other people coming- well warned that they are going to have to listen to a sales pitch- and we're excited about having lunch together today.
But we feel kind of bad. Is it wrong to accept something like this when you know that you will never, EVER buy what the person is selling? And that the people you are bringing are unlikely to buy the product as well? One argument is that the salespeople baited us- and we took it, but we are not obligated to buy anything from them. (They did not say that the lunches were put on by salespeople on the big fish bowl, after all.) The other argument is that these people are trying to make a living, and it's better to say no and let them give a lunch for somebody who may actually buy the product. We are going, but part of me feels bad about it. What say you, readers?
*We're not actually sure what product this person is selling- I'll have to update on that after the lunch. We looked up the organization he represents, and it was very, very vague. We never do business with anybody who is vague on what they are selling- it's an immediate red flag to us.
UPDATE: He was a financial planner and was interesting to listen to. He did not tell us anything we have not already thought about though. I wonder how many clients he gets through these lunch things? It must be a decent amount- we saw him meeting with another big group right after he finished with us!
5 comments:
I'd say this is definitely ethical. The salesguy is buying lunch for a chance to sell you a product. You're eating lunch and listening to his sales pitch. It's an equitable trade, I think. Sure... you have no intentions of buying anything from the guy, but you still listen to the pitch, and that's the only part of the bargain you're required to uphold.
One member of your group might, after hearing the sales pitch, realise that they know someone who might be interested in the offered product and transmit the info to them, who might then buy. So, even if no one from you group directly purchases, it's not necessarily wasted time for the vendor; s/he might get indirect sales. At the very least, providing a meal in exchange for a sales talk is *very* cheap publicity for them!
If you still feel guilty, post the company name for added publicity and you'll have more than paid for your lunch.
I know of a few restaurants in my area that also have a financial planner/free lunch fishbowl. It seems like a good way for the financial advisers to get their name out there.
For what it's worth, we do have a fee-only financial adviser. I think he has been worthwhile because when we meet with him we have to take a real, hard look at our finances and goals, and he helps us to organize our money to work as hard as possible toward those goals.
For people like me who don't really think about their goals, only vaguely know what assets they have, and just set up accounts and forget them, it is a good investment. He set us on a timeline, with savings goals, to remodel the kitchen. And add on a garage. My retirement funds are in something more aggressive than the annuity they'd been languishing in the past few years. I have disability insurance, which I never would have thought about. We've drawn up wills, and a durable power of attorney, and the other legal documents we need as an unmarried couple.
All things you can definitely do on your own, for way less money (we pay $1200/year for his services) if you're focused. We're not.
Oh! And some employers (my Mom's included) offer free financial planner services. Definitely a perk to use if your employer offers it.
In our area, local restaurants have drawings for a free lunch or dinner if you put in your business card. I'm assuming that this method of gathering local business people's cards offers them some sort of networking opportunity, from adding folks to their mailing or email lists to selling ads in their tabletop readers, etc. But if you're the winner of the meal, it's a small price to pay. ;-)
As for the ethical issue with the salesperson's free lunch, I'm with some of your other commenters. Even if you can't use the person's services, you may know someone who can. On the flip side, I'm sure plenty of folks walk into this thinking "No way will I buy whatever s/he's selling" and walk out interested in the product or service and laying out the cash for it. Besides, the salesperson can write off ALL of this as a tax deduction for his business at the end of the year. He's trying to network and there are expenses incurred from that. He's just taking the initiative to get "face time" with as many people as possible. I say keep handing out those cards! :-P
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