Since we registered, we have been hit by spam from various national banks congratulating us on the registration and imploring us to open an account with them. (Oh, the gap between aggressive sales and lazy servicing!)

But the latest spam we received was outrageous and, I would contend, unethical. It was a package of books (mug shot above) arriving as VPP or Cash on Delivery. At a price of Rs 2088 payable by cash, we were offered by United Book Company, a company I had never heard of till today, three books telling us how to fire employees (and here we are trying to figure out how to hire people!). I don’t know if United Book Company is trying to squeeze money out of gullible newbies or if they’re just dumb. Assuming the latter (a charitable assumption), here is what’s wrong about this method of sales:

• It is unsolicited
• It causes disruption and confusion at the recipient’s end. (Where did this come from? What is it? Did any of us place an order?)
• It puts the burden on the recipients to refuse something they never asked for (which is what we did).

Something tells me the United Book Company does not really care. All I can say is – Startups, beware.