When a company offers you something that seems like a bonus but actually benefits them more than you.
I was at a carvery years ago for a works do where I noticed the guy serving the food pulling a bit of a heist. This scam has probably already been named but I’m calling it “The Double Yorkshire Scam”.
As we lined up to get our food I found myself watching the guy dishing up the Yorkshire puddings. This chef served a large Yorkshire to his customer then leaned forward and in a sly voice said “shall I give you an extra Yorkshire?”. He did it with a slight shiftiness that gave the impression he was breaking some strict “one Yorkshire pudding only” policy. “Yeah go on then!” said the customer and looked thrilled with his bonus Yorkshire as he walked off to the next station to get his serving of roasted meat.
“That was good of him, perhaps they are mates?” I thought. But then I saw him doing the same thing with the next customer, and the next, and the next. “Wow! My man’s like the Robin Hood of Sunday lunch!” I thought to myself.
Then came the cynical reality of the situation: Yorkshire pudding are made of flour and water which are two of the cheapest ingredients available, and they take up the most amount of space on the plate. The carvery must absolutely love handing out these things because it leaves less room - both in the stomach and on the plate - for the vastly more expensive cuts of roast beef.
As much as I like Yorkshire puddings, I don’t appreciate being cheated out of beef so when the friendly chef asked “shall I give you an extra Yorkshire” I calmly looked him in the eye and said “Fuck you”.