Don’t believe everything you read
If it’s on Facebook it must be true. As you read those words, your sensible side should be telling you that the truth isn’t always what it seems on social media. People misrepresent themselves all the time for a variety of motives. But for some reason, we’re often taken in.
Think about all those women seduced into sending money to non-existent boyfriends that turn out to be entrapping the vulnerable and lonely all over the world. Or teenagers that think they’re flirting with attractive 20 year olds that are actually middle aged paedophiles.
Business transactions no different
It’s no different for companies. People somehow believe that they can get away with underhand stuff on the internet because it seems anonymous. They also think they won’t be found out.
Yes, it’s a ‘real’ Trellidor product, or so they say…
We’ve had people trying to sell security gates online, advertising them as second hand ‘Trellidors’ when they clearly aren’t Trellidor security gates.
The poor buyers then expect their local Trellidor franchise to fix these gates when they malfunction, which we can’t do if they aren’t genuine Trellidor security gates.
Other security companies have unlawfully copied and used our product photos on their websites. This is to intentionally mislead people into believing that the bogus company manufactures and/or distributes the security barrier in the picture.
Still others have used our product names, like Clear Guard or Clear Guards for their Poly Guard and Cottage Guard for their square burglar proofing.
To top it all, we’ve had people complaining about their ‘Trellidor’ security gates and dragging our hard-earned reputation through the mud on Facebook. When our Trellidor franchises visit the site to sort out the problem, they find that the security barrier in question is not one of ours!
Fortunately we have experts to help us track these cases and insist that the perpetrators stop their dishonesty. And our photos are now protected against theft by our clever digital boffins. Not that the culprits always comply with our request to stop their misrepresentation. But we do try to ensure that our customers are armed with the correct information as far as possible.
Buyer beware
The bottom line is that it pays to beware of what you read on social media and websites. This is especially important when it comes to your personal safety.
Here are some ways to combat the misinformation out there:
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If you are in the market for security barriers, read our Trellidor blogs on doing your homework before making a decision.
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Contact your local Trellidor franchise and direct your security questions to an actual person! We have a 40 year old reputation as leaders in the security barrier industry to uphold, so you’ll be dealing with someone that has your personal safety interests at heart.
The best advice, though, is to visit your nearest Trellidor showroom.
You’ll then be able to physically try out the products you’re interested in and talk to someone that can show you all the products attributes.
They’ll also organise for someone to visit your home or business to actually measure your windows and doors. They will give you a quote based on those measurements and your product choice. This is a whole more accurate than the guess-work you get on websites.
