HMI Defender Room air filter - FilterQueen Deceptive Sales and Marketing Tactics. The sales tactics, marketing methods and vastly overpriced products became increasingly more astonishing as I researched this company and its distributors. The worst component is the borderline fraudulent lead-generation tactic used to get the salesman into the home. As if that slimy approach was not enough, the products themselves are misrepresented and incredibly over-priced. The salesman quotes a "world class" warranty, but does not tell the customer that the warranty only continues as long as the purchaser buys new filters at a price upwards of $155 dollars a year. Low-ball Poker or Fraud? I received a "Scratch & Win game" card in my newspaper, the Spokesman Review (3/23/16). One side of the card has "Casino Night" a festive font. It also displays "$10,000 Grand Prize!" There is a scratch-off section similar to a Lottery ticket. I scratched this section and exposed the text WINNER showing a poker hand of four Jacks in my five card poker hand, which is clearly one of the highest poker hands available. On the reverse of the card is a listing of the possible poker hands and a list of prizes. The four Jacks hand is the second best hand displayed, just under the four Kings hand. The second most valuable prize is an Apple Mac Book Air with a retail value of $999. There is a note in small print which states, "Order of winning hands does not match the order of prizes." The list of poker hands is in the familiar order; three of a kind at the top and four of a kind at the bottom. The list of prizes is apparently in random order, but has the $10,000 grand prize matched to the four Kings hand. Unless you are playing a game of low-ball poker, the best prize should logically be matched to the best hand and the same on down the hierarchy of poker hands; the three of a kind (three fours) is the lowest poker hand and should correspond to the lowest value prize, which happens to be a kitchen serving set. To cut to the bottom line of the marketing scam, I believe the vast majority of the scratch cards display a winning hand of four face cards: either Kings or Jacks, and I also believe there are no three of a kind hand cards available. In the perverse scheme of this marketing promotion, the recipient of the four of a kind poker hand sees that he or she has a great hand and is willing to put up with a short sales presentation to "earn" the prize which rightfully should be one of the high value items in the list, a Canon camera, an iPod Touch or an Apple MacBook Air. However, the clever scheme is actually topsy-turvy from what the average layman should expect. The lowest hand apparently wins the grand prize; the high hands win the BBQ tool set. The genius behind this "Low-Ball" marketing scheme is that the person who receives the low hand, say the three of a kind, realizes he or she will never beat the four of a kind hand, and will most likely throw the card away, thereby allowing the marketer to never deliver the most valuable prizes. I suspect that the company only provides the lowest value prizes - the BBQ set or the Kitchen Serving set, both worth below ten dollars each. The BBQ set is available on line for $9.20 each in a twenty pack. I experienced this scam presented by "Rick" from Hayden, Idaho and felt rather stupid but in awe of the marketing genius behind the scam. If the products presented in the sales presentation were of value it might make the embarrassment worthwhile, but sadly, that is not the case. In addition, the salesman told outright lies, total fabrications and simply seemed to make stuff up as he went along. Sales Tactics: There's a Sucker born every minute. The sales presentation for the Defender Filter Queen is an exercise in "FUD." That is, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. The salesman uses an electronic device purporting to suck in and measure the contaminants in room air. He makes statements that the air is foul, contaminated and probably deadly, causing all manner of pulmonary and sinus diseases. He quotes from happy customers who swear the filtered air cured their various ailments. He measures dust and attempts to use a scare tactic to make the potential buyer believe this household dust is particulate matter that causes disease, which of course contains a particle of truth, pun intended. He also stated that our home suffered from "sick building syndrome" by EPA standards. The EPA does not use that term, which is used for buildings contaminated with chemical agents (Gaseous pollutants), not dust (particulate matter). The EPA makes no mention of "sick building syndrome" on their web site related to indoor air quality. Filter Queen Defender Reviews See: http://www.air-purifier-power.com/filterqueendefender.html This piece indicts the business practices and product claims. Also see: http://www.airpurifierguide.org/brand/filter-queen http://www.ripoffreport.com read more