People make outlandish promises about Feng Shui that are just part of their marketing campaign. As Mark Johnson says, even the most credible practitioners will “go down the tubes” with the quacks if they fail to exert appreciable lasting effects on people’s lives.
Certainly a thorough analysis of McFengshui shows the practitioners cannot live up to their exaggerated advertising, but this is the “Feng Shui” that everyone thinks is authentic.
Remember that con artists often think that they have a special power that most people do not have.
The United States Federal Trade Commission issued guidelines for the use of environmental marketing claims. According to the FTC — on which much of ISO 14020-14025 was based — environmental advertising must be true, not misleading, and substantiated.
Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce are against the law. The FTC code of regulations (Section 260, Subsection E) states as follows:
[A]ny party making an express or implied claim that represents an objective assertion about the environmental attribute of a product or package must, at the time the claim is made, possess and rely upon a reasonable basis substantiating the claim. A reasonable basis consists of competent and reliable evidence. In the context of environmental marketing claims, such substantiation will often require such competent and reliable scientific evidence.
Someone who makes a claim about their Feng Shui abilities without having an independent, third-party certification, by law must do the following:
You might consider letting students work on whatever you’re wanting analyzed. This should not cost anything, because you are using students. This helps you to understand the process of analysis, and the students get to practice.
Remember that because they are students, an instructor must check their work! Students can make serious mistakes. This means the students submit a written analysis to you and to the instructor. It doesn’t mean someone who claims to be a “feng shui teacher” comes out to see whether you removed clutter from your Money Corner.
Review the analyses carefully. I wouldn’t take the advice of one student; I would make sure that the instructor agreed with their conclusions. If several students reach a consensus and the instructor agrees, their advice would definitely be worth implementing.
Best of all, if the analysis was incorrect or incomplete, you can talk to the school. You influence how the school trains students. The students learn valuable lessons. The instructors fulfill their obligations.