Scam

[BOB BLACKSHAW 1Participant @bobblackshaw1]

[BOB BLACKSHAW 1Participant @bobblackshaw1]

Is there a scam on this forum, main page advert 15% off custom parts made. There is a spelling mistake and a flashing arrow pointing to a discount code. I am using a android phone when visiting the forum.

Bob

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Please forgive my ignorance of such matters, Bob :

… what exactly made you think it might be a scam?

MichaelG.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I cant see anything wrong with it….just a company scouting for business

[BOB BLACKSHAW 1Participant @bobblackshaw1]

Why I thought it could be a scam is the spelling for modeling was incorrect plus the pointy arrow, Ive been caught out in the past by a pointy arrow and have never clicked on one since. Also scams from BT via e-mail on my computer there sites have been convincing so Im very wary of sites that look suspicions. Sorry if i made a mistake here, I dont like pointy arrows.

Bob

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Bob I didn’t see your spelling mistake at all i just saw model…engineering…. modeleng

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

The use of "MODELENG" as a code is a common practice for businesses. By using different, discrete codes, depending on where they place their advertisements, it allows them to track the effectiveness of their advertising placement.

Ian, I assumed that Bob is based in the USA as he has used their spelling of modeling and not the usual English modelling. His profile suggests otherwise, though, without specifically stating a country of residence.

John

[BOB BLACKSHAW 1Participant @bobblackshaw1]

I suppose its how you look at words, MODELENG on the advert looked incorrect,but I can see it as a abbreviation,I made a mistake, better to be safe than sorry.

Bob

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Location is China.

Tony

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I see you one you mean. It is actually running alongside this very panel as I type!

The arrow is reciprocating across the [Get Instant Quote] button, above which is Using coupon code: MODELENG.

The word is quite clearly a telegrammatic code, and I don't see it as dishonest – though my own abbreviation usually omits the "EL".

What is not clear, is who is advertising, but it is RapidDirect and it does eem genuine. There are no obvious walls between the ads though, and this one shares the same white rectangle as a rather irritating, rapidly-circulating list of 4 or 5 other firms.

(I find that turnover annoying. I know it allows exposure to many suppliers in a compact space, but I would prefer a slower rate. The 15% OFF slogan bouncing about as it does, is worse.)

+++

I took a calculated risk, assuming this site's publishers do verify the probity of their advertisers, and pressed the Quote button. It opened the home-page for a sheet-metal fabricating and CAD/CAM company in China, and its web-site gives a full postal address. Obtaining an "Instant Quote" is not of course instant, but some steps beyond that. I did not explore the site further.

Its intended customers are probably mass-production trade customers supplying it with the appropriate drawing-files identifying the part, one hopes, only by a generic name like "Bracket" and opaque part-number! That it advertises on a site catering mainly for amateur engineers is rather suprising, but may reflect RapidDirect not really understanding that point.

They are not the only one. I have received many direct, unsolicited, e-post advertisements for various products or services. .Although I treat all as hazardous and some are very suspicious indeed, some may be from genuine entrepeneurs who don't really understand their foreign markets but cast their nets as widely as possible.

'

A point on the spelling (modeling / modelling):

The residents of many countries for whom English is their second language, tend to learn American, not English, and often affect a generic US accent in speech! That, I was told by an English, English-teacher working in Sweden, is the Hollywood effect: using sub-titled films and TV shows mainly from the USA, as informal exercises. And of course the American-run Internet. Just don't tell President Xi!

(I'm not sure what the locals made of sub-titled, British TV soap Brookside I once saw in a cafe in Norway…..)

Edited By Nigel Graham 2 on 28/09/2021 11:27:45

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Nigel Graham 2:

"That it advertises on a site catering mainly for amateur engineers is rather suprising, but may reflect RapidDirect not really understanding that point."

Very likely to be the case, yes. In China the pursuit of creative hobbies is still almost non-existent, the general thinking being that if work doesn't make you any money why do it at all. Obviously there are very good historical and socio-economic reasons to explain why this attitude prevails there.

It's interesting to note the unevenness in the quality of the translations on the site.

Some pages are impressively well translated:

Surface Finish

Others are predictably poor:

https://www.rapiddirect.com/about-us/

[JAParticipant @ja]

Having an email address as the local secretary of a world wide motorcycle club I get a lot of emails from Chinese firms looking for business. They seem to be sent randomly and I assume most are honest (I do not reply to them). This appears to be common practice.

As for American instead of English as a second language, British TV has a major influence. For example "Only Fools and Horses" in the Balkans. Recently this has been heavily reported after the death of John Challis particularly by the BBC.

JA

[Anonymous]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 28/09/2021 11:16:14:

The residents of many countries for whom English is their second language, tend to learn American, not English,

American spelling (and word usage) is by no means uncommon from Brits on this forum either. It's creeping in there as it has in Canada.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Lots of crap spelling on this forum, what's new?

Tony

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by BOB BLACKSHAW on 28/09/2021 09:11:32:

Why I thought it could be a scam is the spelling for modeling was incorrect plus the pointy arrow, Ive been caught out in the past by a pointy arrow and have never clicked on one since.

The banner with the arrow is just an animated GIF image. Perfectly O.K.

Russell

[Ramon WilsonParticipant @ramonwilson3]

Irrelevant to the above but Bob – you have a PM

Tug

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Surely the MODELENG isn't a spelling mistake, or an Americanisation.

This forum URL is MODEL-ENGineering.co.uk

Bill

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