Nobody likes to discover that they have been manipulated by a negotiation tactic.

Once burned, do you feel like telling the world about it?

I am about to 鈥渢ell the world鈥� about how I allowed myself to be manipulated by a negotiation tactic, one I ought to have been prepared for because it is regularly used on my clients by ICBC and other insurance companies.

This is my second of a series of columns exposing tactics used by insurance companies when negotiating personal injury claims.

By learning about these tactics, I am hopeful that you might avoid being manipulated by them in any negotiation you might encounter.

A number of displays had been set up one evening at the all-inclusive resort in Mexico where we had been staying. A beautiful, stone, chess set caught my eye.

My father had hand crafted a wooden set, which got me interested in playing chess when I was a boy.

Even though I had never become a master chess player, I liked the idea of having a beautiful set in our home so that perhaps my own children would show an interest.

I was new to holidaying in Mexico, but knew enough that you never pay the sticker price.

It was a handsome sticker price. I didn鈥檛 expect it to be so expensive.

I really had no idea, though. Each piece had to be hand carved, and then there鈥檚 all the stone tiling on the board. Really a piece of art.

But you get what you pay for, right? This was nothing like the multitude of mass produced trinkets that crowded all the other shelves.

I actually felt a little guilty dickering on the price of such a beautiful piece of art, but haggling is what it鈥檚 all about when you鈥檙e wheeling and dealing in Mexico.

I got a really good deal at the end of it all, convincing the seller to let the set go at a significant discount.

The sick feeling in my stomach, when I realized I had grossly overpaid, came when following my wife around a nearby town a couple days later.

The exact same style and quality of chess set was on display by the dozen, the sticker price even less than the 鈥渄eal鈥� I got from the vendor at the resort.

How did I, someone who negotiates millions of dollars of claims every year, get 鈥渢aken鈥� in a negotiation?

I entered into the negotiation without having a clue about the value of the item I was negotiating for.

The grossly inflated  sticker price  set the stage of the negotiation.

The vendor was able to suck me in to paying much more than I should have by giving me what felt like a great deal because he reduced his price so much.

It鈥檚 a classic ICBC negotiation tactic.

They鈥檒l start negotiations at $5,000 or less for claims where fair compensation for injuries and losses is $40,000 or more.

By doing so, they set the stage of the negotiation.

The unsuspecting injury victim knows enough to not accept ICBC鈥檚 first offer, and feels like they got a good deal when ICBC goes up to $15,000.

The most 鈥渇un鈥� example of this in my practice was where a client retained me after ICBC had offered $8,000 to settle a soft tissue injury claim that ended up settling for fair financial compensation of over $800,000.

How do you protect yourself from this negotiation tactic?

Do what I should have done in Mexico.

Find out the true value of the item you are negotiating for, so that an unfairly high (or low in the case of a personal injury negotiation) sticker price doesn鈥檛 manipulate you into an unfair result.

If negotiating for a house, consult an appraiser or real estate agent; if negotiating for a vehicle, consult a vehicle appraiser; if negotiating a personal injury claim, ask a personal injury lawyer for a free claim evaluation.