Did either of these companies do anything wrong?  Anything illegal?  Anything immoral or in bad taste?  Absolutely not, except for maybe the latter question.  My point is,  deceiving your customers shouldn't be a marketing strategy.  In fact there shouldn't be any place for that nonsense in any business transaction.  My rule of thumb is if I would mind my children being treated like that, I just wouldn't do it.

    I find that it is very easy to be successful while being very up front with every customer.

Do I get every order, no. But hopefully those who choose to go elsewhere don't leave with a negative image of me or my Company. Wouldn't it be nice to see the universe move in that direction? Oh yes, I have been called naive many times before. I can live with that.