Squeezing the Customer
Jan 8, 2024 08:20:55 #
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.
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.
Jan 8, 2024 08:31:11 #
Jan 8, 2024 08:55:42 #
Tesla's been doing that.
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
Jan 8, 2024 08:56:10 #
I hope the government doesn't make it illegal if I were to hack the car so the heated seat would work without paying subscription.
Jan 8, 2024 08:56:44 #
Tesla's been doing that.
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
Jan 8, 2024 08:58:48 #
MrBossHK
Loc: The West Valley of Phoenix metro area
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the "suits" are putting together their game plans for acquiring government bailouts because their self-destruction tactics didn't go as planned.
Jan 8, 2024 09:54:06 #
MrBossHK wrote:
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the "suits" are putting together their game plans for acquiring government bailouts because their self-destruction tactics didn't go as planned.
They did a lot of self-destruction tactics but subscription isn't one of them. The subscription tactics is a very successful one because actually the majority of the customers like it.
Jan 8, 2024 11:18:35 #
BigDaddy wrote:
Just about every time I see a Tesla on the road they are always white - except I did see a red one a few months ago. I was wondering about that. This is probably the reason for that.Tesla's been doing that.
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
White is free, all other colors cost you a few hundred.
I heard they were changing the free color to gray. Not sure though...
Jan 8, 2024 11:25:24 #
My 2017 and 2024 legacy came with heated front seats as standard. The 2024 added heated steering wheel an heated rear seats as standard for the package I got at no extra cost. it also has the driver monitoring system which annoys me to no end, to turn it off it disables the other safety features so I have to learn to adapt to it being there. Dealer is also paying for a three year subscription to MySubaru which allows me to remotely start, unlock, change the temp and locate the car. this deal will end about the time I get ready to trade it in.
Jan 8, 2024 11:29:01 #
marine73 wrote:
My 2017 and 2024 legacy came with heated front seats as standard. The 2024 added heated steering wheel an heated rear seats as standard for the package I got at no extra cost. it also has the driver monitoring system which annoys me to no end, to turn it off it disables the other safety features so I have to learn to adapt to it being there.
My car is old, no "safety features", I have to pay attention to and be cognizant of my surroundings.
Like in the old days.
Jan 8, 2024 11:31:09 #
What makes me giggle is that most of the people reading this, are doing so on a “smart phone”. Now, there’s a “did you buy it, or are you just paying a ridonculous usage contract fee?” question that people should be asking themselves.
Jan 8, 2024 11:33:14 #
flyboy61
Loc: The Great American Desert
BebuLamar wrote:
They did a lot of self-destruction tactics but subscription isn't one of them. The subscription tactics is a very successful one because actually the majority of the customers like it.
SAY WHAT?
Jan 8, 2024 11:33:33 #
BB4A wrote:
What makes me giggle is that most of the people reading this, are doing so on a “smart phone”. Now, there’s a “did you buy it, or are you just paying a ridonculous usage contract fee?” question that people should be asking themselves.
That plus did one ever think they'd be paying upwards of $1,000 for a phone?
Jan 8, 2024 11:38:13 #
flyboy61 wrote:
SAY WHAT?
I said the subscription tactic is a very successful one. Mark my words. All companies that have the subscription model will be doing well in the future. The customers like it. Voice a complaint about Adobe subscription fee and you will see how many UHH posts telling you how good of a deal it is.
Jan 8, 2024 11:50:42 #
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