Squeezing the Customer
Jan 10, 2024 07:36:29 #
Canisdirus wrote:
The squeeze comes from the government...in all directions...and flows down...to you.
Everything is connected now...your control...is mostly gone.
Everything is connected now...your control...is mostly gone.
I've yet to buy a car from the government.
Jan 10, 2024 07:37:36 #
Jan 10, 2024 07:40:52 #
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.
But any color but white? Some car makers might offer special colors for extra cost, but they don't charge $595 plus tax for any color but white. That's just a new way to make money. I see very few white Jeeps on the road, and there are very few white Jeeps on the local dealer's lot. The standard white Jeep would have to be a special order.
Jan 10, 2024 08:17:48 #
jerryc41 wrote:
In case you haven’t noticed, companies are squeezi... (show quote)
One way to beat them is by stop buying new cars, there are lots of mechanically sound second hand cars on the market, then maybe manufactures will start competing for customers the old fashion way, offering deals again or go under!
Jan 10, 2024 08:33:03 #
Subscriptions are a marketing scam. Another is shrinkflation. At my local Walmart, noticed that charcoal is now packaged in only 16 pound bags that look like the old bags. Used to be 20, even 24 pounds in a bag. Of course, price about the same as it was for the heavier bags. Another common scam to part us fools from our money.
Jan 10, 2024 08:48:43 #
DirtFarmer wrote:
Subscriptions work well when the software works we... (show quote)
I can understand that. I buy the software that I want, but I don't want to keep paying for the rest of my life. I might spend more than $120 on Luminar Neo products over the course of a year, but that's my choice, and I pay just once. I don't like paying Quicken $75 every year. I'm going to install a previous version and continue from this point on with that. Unfortunately, the new data will not work with an old Quicken, so I'd have two versions of data when I want to look up something. I'm afraid that I'll have to keep paying Quicken.
Jan 10, 2024 09:45:10 #
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.
I went as far as my states consumer protection department complaining about “usage contract fee” for the “free” phone they offered when I joined. To me this just shows you how in bed with business our government has become. I don’t understand how a company can advertise a free phone, but add a $26 charge at the end of your bill for that phone. It used to be that you signed up for a certain length of contract. Now you get a free phone, but if you leave the carrier before you have paid for the phone they want the remaining balance.
I must be getting to old to understand.
Jan 10, 2024 09:48:24 #
Ruthlessrider wrote:
I went as far as my states consumer protection dep... (show quote)
It's something like "Free Download" for software.
Jan 10, 2024 10:15:51 #
bwmarkus wrote:
Subscriptions are a marketing scam. Another is shrinkflation. At my local Walmart, noticed that charcoal is now packaged in only 16 pound bags that look like the old bags. Used to be 20, even 24 pounds in a bag. Of course, price about the same as it was for the heavier bags. Another common scam to part us fools from our money.
Scam perhaps. I don't like it. But... the majority of the consumers want it. So that is the way it will be.
Jan 10, 2024 10:37:10 #
Barre
Loc: Fairfax Co, VA
BebuLamar wrote:
Scam perhaps. I don't like it. But... the majority of the consumers want it. So that is the way it will be.
I don't think it's "the majority of the consumers want it", it's more that they don't want to bother to fight it
Jan 10, 2024 11:07:50 #
I can still remember asking dad if I could get a subscription to Popular Mechanics...he went through the roof.
Subscriptions? I'd rather die first...
Subscriptions? I'd rather die first...
Jan 10, 2024 12:10:58 #
Barre wrote:
I don't think it's "the majority of the consumers want it", it's more that they don't want to bother to fight it
Do a survey about the software subscription and you see.
Jan 10, 2024 12:46:48 #
BigDaddy wrote:
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...
When they say white is free, that implies that they didn't have to paint it white in the first place!
Jan 10, 2024 22:40:18 #
Barre wrote:
I don't think it's "the majority of the consumers want it", it's more that they don't want to bother to fight it
I absolutely want the subscription, you would be crazy not to. It costs less over time and is always up to date. The last time I purchased photoshop rather than pay for a subscription it was just over $700. It went up after that, I don't remember how much, but I couldn't afford to update it. By the time my copy was four years old it was totally obsolete. Prior to that copy I was updating once every three years. Three years of a subscription is $360 dollars. That's less than the purchase of a single copy of photoshop. So, not only does the subscription always keep my software up to date, it costs less than half what it would cost if I were to pay for the software the way people used to. On top of that, if you look at the fine print, you never did own the software. You owned a license for the software.
Jan 11, 2024 08:09:36 #
DebAnn wrote:
When they say white is free, that implies that they didn't have to paint it white in the first place!
Right. They give you a gallon of paint and a brush.
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