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Anyone Else Want To Rant? Join In

Discussion in 'Not Sure Where it Goes' started by Von Jones, Jan 29, 2021.

  1. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I guess I'll add a little bit of good news to my negativity. The girl who called me for the Customer Service follow-up took my story to the owner. He put his shop foreman on the job, who thinks he's found the problem. He put a heat gun to the Engine Control Module and duplicated the issue. The methodology and the part that failed all make sense to me regarding how I experienced the problem, but I think the other stuff was broken as well, since the electrical issues cascaded. The owner is splitting the cost of the part with me and having it installed for free. So the $750 repair is gonna cost me $250.

    Fingers crossed.
     
    #1321
  2. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    Sorry you had to go through this.
    It's terrible i'm a Big believer in reminders
     
    #1322
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Well, they're gonna get reminders whether they like it or not. They can delete them if it's offensive to their professionalism. I always start them off with "Please," not "Hey Stupid!"
     
    #1323
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  4. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    I have a rant.
    This past weekend We stayed At a hotel For my granddaughter's wedding.
    The hotel charged twelve dollars to park your car in there parking lot. This was not valet parking, Is where I would expect to pay. Plus they had signs That's they would not be responsible for anything happening to your car, In other words no security this is the first time i've experienced this. Businesses today will find any way to make an additional buck.
     
    #1324
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2023
  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Hotels pull this crap so that when we shop for lodging the room rate is attractive. But all they've done is shift the cost from that top number, knowing that we're stuck once we show up. Since they all do it, they can all get away with it.

    ps: Congrats, Granddad!
     
    #1325
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    A hotel we used to stay in for a week at a time in Arlington, Virginia, charged $15 per day for parking, and that didn't even guarantee you a parking spot.
     
    #1326
  7. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    There is so much money in that region I would not be surprised if people paid for rooms that they did not use merely for the parking privileges.

    Back in my hometown, it reached a point where so many kids owned cars that the high school ran out of parking permits. So a couple bought a second house near the high school solely for their son to have a parking spot!!! Neighbors were up in arms over the permanently unoccupied dwelling next door.
     
    #1327
  8. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    They put in some self check out machines in our Aldi.:( People are using them and we are sort of a community there. But when word gets out, we will probably get invaded like all the other stores. My daughter worked at a larger chain and quit because they wanted her to monitor the theft at the self check outs. It was getting huge!
     
    #1328
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  9. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    It’s one thing to have to do all the work but it’s quite another thing when the derned checkout machine asks for a tip.

     
    #1329
  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    There is so much money in that region I would not be surprised if people paid for rooms that they did not use merely for the parking privileges.

    Back in my hometown, it reached a point where so many kids owned cars that the high school ran out of parking permits. So a couple bought a second house near the high school solely for their son to have a parking spot!!! Neighbors were up in arms over the permanently unoccupied dwelling next door.
     
    #1330
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  11. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I've found that lots of people won't shop at ALDI because of a lack of national brands and a lack of options for each product type. So that's helped keep the one near me reasonably uncrowded.

    Regarding your daughter: most place will not confront shoplifters. I just read where a Target (in California?) asked the sheriff's office to help with their out-of-control shoplifting problem, and then Target told them to not arrest shoplifters in the store because of bad press :confused:. I don't know what your daughter's gonna do other than shoot a disapproving glance.
     
    #1331
  12. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Remember Sears? The customer was always right. If you brought back an item because it did not work or whatever, they would honor your complaint and fix it or give you your money back. Very civil; customer and retailer. Sears stayed in business because of this.
    Eventually, people left Sears because people could buy items from China for much cheaper prices. ( I loved Craftsman tools.) But then they were made in China too. Sears could not keep up with Walmart, Target and Costco and went under.
    Now people have found ways to go cheaper. (just take the stuff)
    When the 'cheaper' stores go under, is that the end?
     
    #1332
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2023
  13. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Sears had kind of a twist in their policy regarding the returning of tools.
    If the tool was brand named Sears, then returning a tool was an if and maybe thing as opposed to Craftsman, which had a lifetime warranty.
    Nowadays, since stores like Lowe’s still sell Craftsman, they might honor the Sears sold warranty but it’s recommended that one just calls Craftsman customer service.

    But to the question, the typically cheap stores like Harbor Freight, are actually rebranding their products and selling them at a higher price.
    Walmart is another one. Their tools were cheap and inexpensive at the same time but now they’ve gone to higher priced brands which are still cheap and inexpensive but a little less cheap and more expensive.
    Still, when all else fails in the tool department, Amazon will have it if no one else does but now it’s just a matter of if the economy takes another big hit, will we be able to afford even the cheapest of tools no matter who sells them?

    Just as a side, some major grocery (can’t remember the name) in the UK is ditching all of their self check counters and going back to full time cashiers.
    Their PR person said (highly paraphrased) that the self checkout system didn’t allow for personal service and contact with the customer which is something that can make or break a store.
     
    #1333
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  14. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    Somehow someway The stores We'll have their customers pay for their losses due to shoplifters. When it reaches a point that they can't Compensate They will do something about the shoplifting.
    Back ln the 70's I worked for a large department store and was told by security that the stores did Add a percentage to the sale price for every item to cover shoplifting cost.
     
    #1334
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  15. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    Of course they make the honest folks pay. When it reaches a point that they can't make the honest pay, they file bankruptcy and close their doors. Home Depot is top of the list tolerating theft and making others pay for it.

    The biggest theft around here from stores is cosmetics by teen girls. Even though they are recorded in action, no one is allowed to approach them, only make note of it so it explains inventory discrepancies. Any clerk confronting them is fired. They sell it for a dime on the dollar to a place that sells it online for less money than honest sellers. It is organized crime and way out of control.

    Even in places like where I live, where law enforcement is the best, and judges have no problem in handing out jail and prison time, nothing is being done because management will never file charges because these crime syndicates control online reviews and news reporters.

    It is no different than the mafia that has controlled business and unions for years. The criminals are in power, not the honest folks.

    Another crime wave is package delivery companies that drop packages at your front door and run. The days of meeting the customer or putting the package out of sight, are gone. These companies have found it more profitable to pay claims if they are forced into it. Getting a carrier or a company to process a claim is so difficult that most folks just give up.

    If the carrier shows the package delivered at a certain place and time, then the responsibility falls on the customer to make sure they or someone is there to get it before the package thieves do. With Christmas approaching, the package thieves will be celebrating their most profitable time of the year. In most places the police are to busy with bigger fish to fry, than deal with this theft. If either the carrier or company selling is forced to pay a claim, then their prices go up.
     
    #1335

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