Someone once owed a company I worked for money. Their defense basically consisted of: “I have always paid my debtors in the past and I’ll pay you guys.” Our lawyer’s response was “what does your payment history with others have to do with your debt to us?”
Using examples not related to you (for lack of a catchier term) is an old negotiating trick that works surprisingly well. How many of us who have had bad dating experiences may have heard the line “I have treated all of my girlfriends/boyfriends well” only to be treated poorly? Alternatively, the smooth salesperson always uses the “I have sold hundreds/thousands of these widgets/big ticket items/mutual funds and all my clients are happy.”
If one really broke down this types of lines, two problems immediately come to mind. Unless you happen to have a really small social circle or live in a small town, it would be difficult to verify whether your partner has actually treated all his former partners well (…and, regardless, would you really want to know how many ex’s he/she had?) or whether the salesperson actually had hundreds or thousands of satisfied customers. Thus, there is foremost