An acquaintance recently mentioned that she was considering going back to school for an advanced degree in business, but that she didn’t want to take a required marketing class. She said that, to her, marketing was teaching people how to lie. Her remark caused me to recall some of the less-than-scrupulous techniques used to sell aviation products and how buyers have been burned. I’ve been thinking about all of this as I consider a developing concern with the marketing of the fine Zaon portable collision system.
At the truly ugly end of the spectrum, I’ve written about the whoppers that are regularly told by sellers of used airplanes—the ratio of sleaze to truth one runs across when in the market for a gently used airplane can be depressing. Ever since the Montgolfiers’ balloons, the three basic rules of buying a used aircraft remain invariable—never, ever buy unseen; have your maintenance technician do a careful pre-purchase examination and be willing to walk away.