I had two astonishing experiences recently. One was with my friends Easyjet, the other one with Xing. Let's start with Easyjet. I am still using them if the flight is min. 3x cheaper than that of other carriers so knowing that they don't make any money of me at all. This is regularly the case on the route Zurich to London and Basel to Nice. Now when you fill out the online form by default, insurances and a strange bag fee are checked and added to your total. I nearly clicked to check out because I was in a hurry but then saw that the total amount should have been smaller incl. all taxes and fees, so I checked it and saw the insurance and bag-fee adding about 20%. Not too much still but then I had this thought. How many people will not see this and simply pay for bogus things? Is it 20, 30, 40% or maybe even more? Don't know, but it is clear that Easyjet does this deliberately.

Now to Xing. People know that I don't use Xing but LinkedIn. But a few weeks ago someone from Switzerland sent me an invitation to join his Xing network, the first time ever. I thought I don't want to annoy that person so subscribed to it. But did not use it ever since and the info I entered was absolutely basic since I don't intend to use it at all. A few weeks later I got this e-mail here:

Dear Mr Haller,
Your XING Premium Membership will expire on 28 Apr 2008. Your account
will then be automatically converted to basic membership. If you would
like to enjoy the benefits of Premium Membership you can remain a
Premium Member for just EUR 5.95 per month:

I had a good laugh. What do you call it when you have a free membership, don't know it, don't use it and then get a message saying you better subscribe now to be able to continue to use it? It is obvious that in both cases Easyjet and Xing the same type of accountant guys are trying to outsmart people. It appears that they are successful. I just wonder who is so dumb as to fall into such traps? And what happens when they find out because someone like me tells them? I believe honest business practice will in the end always pay off and is the only successful model. I'll watch now Easyjet and Xing to see if my business ethics apply there too...