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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!husc6!harvard!adelie!cdx39!jc
From: jc@cdx39.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Free consulting service; what's the catch?
Message-ID: <634@cdx39.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 2-Feb-87 15:27:14 EST
Article-I.D.: cdx39.634
Posted: Mon Feb  2 15:27:14 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Feb-87 04:16:52 EST
References: <2584@phri.UUCP>
Organization: Codex Corp, a division of Motorola; Canton, MA, USA
Lines: 37
Summary: Sounds like brokerage to me...

> 	I just got an interesting phone call. Somebody called up and
> introduced himself as working for a new computer consulting firm.  What
> they do is come in and work with me to evaluate what kind of system I need
> to buy and then put me in contact with various vendors who offer products
> that match my needs.
> 
> 	He said it is free, and when I pressed him on this, we explained
> that the service is paid for by a number of computer companies, like IBM,
> etc.  
...
> 	Has anybody ever heard of this before?  Somehow, it sounds like a
> scam to me, but I can't figure out what it might be.  Could this really be
> a cooperative advertising and sales effort on the part on several large
> computer vendors?

This sounds like a more-or-less traditional instance of a broker, just
like what is done by a lot of "independent" insurance firms, for instance.
It's certainly rare in the computer consulting biz, but why not?

Your friendly local headhunters work in a very similar manner, as does
the salesman at your local computer store.  In all these cases, each
broker probably has a list of clients, and won't often point you at
anyone else, at least not without first calling them up and making a
deal.

Of course, it still could be a scam....






-- 
	John M Chambers			Phone: 617/364-2000x7304
Email: ...{adelie,bu-cs,harvax,inmet,mcsbos,mit-eddie,mot[bos]}!cdx39!{jc,news,root,usenet,uucp}
Smail: Codex Corporation; Mailstop C1-30; 20 Cabot Blvd; Mansfield MA 02048-1193
Clever-Saying: Uucp me out of here, Scotty; there's no AI on this node!