From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfob somebody ↔ off phrasal verb informal1 LIE/TELL A LIEto tell someone something that is not true in order to stop them from complaining with She fobbed him off with a promise to pay him the money next week.2 GIVEto give someone something that is not very good instead of the thing they really want with They tried to fob me off with a cheap camera. → fob→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
fob off• Confronted in his domestic environment, he would find it more difficult to fob her off.• Madame Weill, a tiny woman in a tailored suit, tried to fob the policeman off.• Gavin repeatedly tried to fob them off and one family has still not been paid.• I hoped the Hall Brothers were not going to try to fob us off by paying us in kind.• She tried to fob him off tactfully at first, but then he became brutal.• They were instructed to fob them off with promises in order to get them back to work as quickly as possible.• It was impossible to fob her off with vague statements - and perhaps unwise.fob with• It was impossible to fob her off with vague statements - and perhaps unwise.fob with• It was impossible to fob her off with vague statements - and perhaps unwise.From Longman Business Dictionaryfob somebody → off phrasal verb [transitive]1to give someone something that is not as good as the thing they really want withEast Europeans are highly sensitive about being fobbed off with out-of-date stock.2to giving someone an explanation, excuse etc that is not true in order to stop them complaining or asking questions withI’m tired of being fobbed off with excuses and promises. → fob→ See Verb table 