Squeezing the Customer (Page 4): The squeeze comes from the government...in all directions...and flows down...to you. Everything is connected now...your control...is mostly gone.

Canisdirus

The squeeze comes from the government...in all directions...and flows down...to you.

Everything is connected now...your control...is mostly gone.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

jerryc41 wrote:

In case you haven’t noticed, companies are squeezing consumers to see how much money they can get out of them. A popular method is to charge a subscription for software. You pay for the software annually for the rest of your life. But, it’s getting worse.

Car makers are now using subscriptions and other techniques to get more money from buyers. Want heated seats? Fine. You can have them for a year or two, but then you must pay every month. The same thing applies to other features, although this technique has been opposed by consumers through the legal system.

Want a Jeep? Any color but white will cost you $495. This led me to imagine the following scenario.

Salesman: And you’d like the standard “Hot Pink” color?
Customer: Hot Pink? Anything but. I’d like blue.
Sales: Fine. That will be an additional $800.
Cust: What? Make it red, then.
Sales: Any color but Hot Pink will cost $800. It’s the additional setup of the paint booth and all the extra time and labor involved. You understand.
Sales: We’re just about done here. You’ll be supplying your own wheels, then?
Cust: No! The car needs wheels!
Sales: Of course, and we can supply very nice wheels. I’ll just add the $1,000 fee for them.
Sales: Oh, I see that tire vales are included free with wheels this week. You just saved yourself $400! Will you be supplying your own tires?
Cust: No, of course not.
Sales: We will add another $2,000 for tires, then. Now, about the air. The standard pressure we supply is 10 psi. If you would like the recommended pressure of 30 psi, that will cost just $50 per tire.
Cust: Fine.
Sales: I suggest you get here about two hours early to mount the tires on the wheels. That usually takes customers a couple of hours.
Cust: I have to mount them myself?
Sales: Of course not. We can do that for you - and also balance them - for a small fee of just $400 for all four tires.
Cust: You know, up till now, all cars came with wheels and tires.
Sales: Yes, I realize that, but the manufacturers were losing money on every car they sold. You see, Sleezy Motors makes cars, not wheels and tires. We have to buy them, and now we are passing the cost along to the customer. That’s why we offer customers the chance to supply their own wheels and tires.

Ridiculous? Maybe not. Jeep is getting away with charging for paint. When will other companies start doing that? Imagine telling someone in 1990 that he would have to rent all his software, or he would have to pay a monthly fee as long as he owned his car if he wanted the heated seats to keep working.

In case you haven’t noticed, companies are squeezi... (show quote)

I guess that I am sorta hard-headed.
When MS (Office) started "Renting" out their product I moved to Libre Office (Free) and have never looked back.
https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/
Best Wishes,
JimmyT Sends

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Jimmy T wrote:

I guess that I am sorta hard-headed. br When MS (O... (show quote)

Fine if it works. I tried Libre Office a few years ago and it almost worked. Did OK when writing new documents but screwed up formatting of old documents in a way that was difficult to correct. Went back to MS Office. It works.

gsnelson Loc: Western Maryland

Ridiculous? Maybe not. Jeep is getting away with charging for paint. When will other companies start doing that? Imagine telling someone in 1990 that he would have to rent all his software, or he would have to pay a monthly fee as long as he owned his car if he wanted the heated seats to keep working.[/quote]

Jerry: Looks like a good script for a one-man puppet show!

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

Henry Ford and his Model-T: “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.”

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

jerryc41 wrote:

In case you haven’t noticed, companies are squeezing consumers to see how much money they can get out of them. A popular method is to charge a subscription for software. You pay for the software annually for the rest of your life. But, it’s getting worse.

Car makers are now using subscriptions and other techniques to get more money from buyers. Want heated seats? Fine. You can have them for a year or two, but then you must pay every month. The same thing applies to other features, although this technique has been opposed by consumers through the legal system.

Want a Jeep? Any color but white will cost you $495. This led me to imagine the following scenario.

Salesman: And you’d like the standard “Hot Pink” color?
Customer: Hot Pink? Anything but. I’d like blue.
Sales: Fine. That will be an additional $800.
Cust: What? Make it red, then.
Sales: Any color but Hot Pink will cost $800. It’s the additional setup of the paint booth and all the extra time and labor involved. You understand.
Sales: We’re just about done here. You’ll be supplying your own wheels, then?
Cust: No! The car needs wheels!
Sales: Of course, and we can supply very nice wheels. I’ll just add the $1,000 fee for them.
Sales: Oh, I see that tire vales are included free with wheels this week. You just saved yourself $400! Will you be supplying your own tires?
Cust: No, of course not.
Sales: We will add another $2,000 for tires, then. Now, about the air. The standard pressure we supply is 10 psi. If you would like the recommended pressure of 30 psi, that will cost just $50 per tire.
Cust: Fine.
Sales: I suggest you get here about two hours early to mount the tires on the wheels. That usually takes customers a couple of hours.
Cust: I have to mount them myself?
Sales: Of course not. We can do that for you - and also balance them - for a small fee of just $400 for all four tires.
Cust: You know, up till now, all cars came with wheels and tires.
Sales: Yes, I realize that, but the manufacturers were losing money on every car they sold. You see, Sleezy Motors makes cars, not wheels and tires. We have to buy them, and now we are passing the cost along to the customer. That’s why we offer customers the chance to supply their own wheels and tires.

Ridiculous? Maybe not. Jeep is getting away with charging for paint. When will other companies start doing that? Imagine telling someone in 1990 that he would have to rent all his software, or he would have to pay a monthly fee as long as he owned his car if he wanted the heated seats to keep working.

In case you haven’t noticed, companies are squeezi... (show quote)

My 2cents worth of comments:

1. I am seeing rumors that Micro$oft may implement subscription payments for future versions of WinDOZE… at least the version without things like advertisements they may start to plant throughout its use

2. For several years I think most/all car companies are charging for certain colors… and the number of colors with charges has gone up. My wife likes the pearl white and with several car brands it is more… sometimes around $1,000. Also there are an increasing number of features that require subscriptions (XM, Nav, internet/WiFi, etc). Some of that is without cost for 5 years on our new Ford SUV… but the sticker price was ridiculous (over $90K)… but my wife liked the vehicle so I did the best I could… negotiating for about 2 hours… and she has put up with me for over 55 years so, within reason, she gets what she wants.

Barre Loc: Fairfax Co, VA

From what I've heard, when buying a Tesla, if you want any color other than white it'll cost an extra $3000

jeffhendy Loc: El Dorado Hills, CA

This is a very competitive market place. If you don't like what your possible vendor wants to charge you, chances are there's another product out there that will serve you just as well!

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

Not so ridiculous. I saw a window sticker on a new car where the dealer put in (I think) $100 charge for inflating the tires with nitrogen instead of "air." Or maybe it was $100 per tire. Whatever, I would have told them to suck it out & I'd bring my own pump. At least Costco uses nitrogen inflation and doesn't charge extra.

bwmarkus

I may be the odd person out (or substitute: old fart) on this question, but I DO NOT like paying subscription fees. For that reason, I stay with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which can be purchased outright - no subscription needed, thank you. Total cost of ownership is much lower.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

rcarol wrote:

Actually, charging for paint is not a new thing. I remember in the late '40s and early 50s, auto manufacturers would allow you to select a paint color from a competitor's line of autos if you were willing to pay an extra fee.

You’ve been able to order a Porsche, paint to sample (that you supply) for an extra charge since at least the 70s.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

fantom wrote:

I am quite happy to pay Adobe ten bucks a month fo... (show quote)

Is your second paragraph not "close minded"?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Jimmy T wrote:

I guess that I am sorta hard-headed. br When MS (O... (show quote)

That's what I use.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

SteveFranz wrote:

Not so ridiculous. I saw a window sticker on a new car where the dealer put in (I think) $100 charge for inflating the tires with nitrogen instead of "air." Or maybe it was $100 per tire. Whatever, I would have told them to suck it out & I'd bring my own pump. At least Costco uses nitrogen inflation and doesn't charge extra.

That used to be somewhat common, but consumers wised-up.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

KillroyII wrote:

My 2cents worth of comments: br br 1. I am seein... (show quote)

When I used to paint cars, the cost of a gallon varied, depending on the ingredients. Although car makers have been charging for special colors, I've never heard of having just one standard color and charging $595 (plus tax) for any other color.