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RIPOFF: How to Spot It, How to Avoid It by Peter T. Maiken

RIPOFF: How to Spot It, How to Avoid It

By

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1979
Publisher: Andrews & McMeel

I found probably the most common motivation for ripping off to be the desire for gain,"" reports Peter Maiken, editor of the Chicago Tribune Magazine. Unfortunately, he went to some lengths to reach this conclusion, advertising in Chicago newspapers for people to come forward--anonymously--and talk about how they or their employers ripped others off. The result is an interminable exercise in tedium--an encyclopedic recitation, profession by profession, that only a six-year-old would find surprising. A PR man tells us that in corporations, ""making a profit is paramount""; a mechanic explains how garages often use inferior replacement parts; a property manager admits that landlords care little about tenant complaints. We learn too that parking lot attendants gouge prices, doctors do unnecessary procedures, and store sales do not always proffer bargains. There is even dishonor among thieves, as Maiken shows with a strange chapter on ""Crooks"" included among more traditional professions--""Even though arson isn't my specialty,"" explains Clayton B., ""I'll do it if there's a dollar in it."" Anyone ripping off this book will get exactly what he deserves.