The Vent and Rant Thread

[4691mls]

Anybody else wish there were a way to permanently unsubscribe from any ads related to holidays celebrating relatives you no longer have? Like all the ads that have been coming in my email for Father's Day gifts. These are from stores I do buy from so I don't want to unsubscribe from their emails altogether.

[badgoodDeb]

Kinda, yeah. But I either ignore the ads, or peruse them for gifts for myself!

[timebug]

I get around ten emails a day (spam!) from people who have 'seen me on Facebook' and like the look of me. Interesting, as I am not/have never been/ will never be/ on Facebook!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by timebug

I get around ten emails a day (spam!) from people who have 'seen me on Facebook' and like the look of me. Interesting, as I am not/have never been/ will never be/ on Facebook!

Mine is getting flooded with helpful warnings that my iOS devices are in urgent need of security updates. Given that I'd rather gnaw off my own ear than own anything Apple, their concern is deeply moving.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by timebug

I get around ten emails a day (spam!) from people who have 'seen me on Facebook' and like the look of me. Interesting, as I am not/have never been/ will never be/ on Facebook!

My old Photobucket account has been recently spamming me with emails warning that they're going to close it. It's been empty for years.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

My old Photobucket account has been recently spamming me with emails warning that they're going to close it. It's been empty for years.

I'm not sure that counts as spam if you really do have an account there and they really are going to close it, empty or not. It's appropriate for them to give you repeat notice. They'd be getting a lot of Homer Simpson-esque complaints if they didn't.

Homer: What really burns me up is they didn't give us one word of warning.

Carl: What do you mean? They ran those TV commercials about it, and that big radio campaign.

Lenny: Don't forget the leaflets they dropped from the Space Shuttle, and the 2 weeks we all spent at area code camp.

Homer: Not a single word of warning.

[Hemmi]

I tried to get in to Photobucket and delete my images when they did away with free accounts. I couldn't get past all the pop-ups to do it. I finally just emailed them and told them to delete my account. Never have heard from them again.

[Rumpelteazer]

Yesterday I had a customer complaining about the price of a light bulb for his daughter's bedside lamp: €2.00 (since he didn't want to pay €4.50 for an LED light bulb). Whilst waiting for me to get and test the light bulb he saw the light bulb shaped outdoor light fixture we have. He wanted one, I told him the price €99.95, excluding light bulb. But he wanted it and also bought a €9.00 LED light bulb for it.

It isn't uncommon, customers complaining about the price (usually a couple of euros) of something they need, but when they see something they want the price isn't an issue.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Yesterday I had a customer complaining about the price of a light bulb for his daughter's bedside lamp: €2.00 (since he didn't want to pay €4.50 for an LED light bulb). Whilst waiting for me to get and test the light bulb he saw the light bulb shaped outdoor light fixture we have. He wanted one, I told him the price €99.95, excluding light bulb. But he wanted it and also bought a €9.00 LED light bulb for it.

It isn't uncommon, customers complaining about the price (usually a couple of euros) of something they need, but when they see something they want the price isn't an issue.

Certainly true, on the other hand, it could be matter of perceived value. Perhaps he simply didn't think the lightbulb was worth the asking price, but saw that the fixture was. There's also the "mind your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves" philosophy. A friend used to act incredulous when I'd not buy some $x.xx thing, but would then spend $xxx.xx without complaint. I'd have to explain that if I didn't control my spending on the $x.xx things, then I wouldn't be able to afford the $xxx.xx thing.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Yesterday I had a customer complaining about the price of a light bulb for his daughter's bedside lamp: €2.00 (since he didn't want to pay €4.50 for an LED light bulb). Whilst waiting for me to get and test the light bulb he saw the light bulb shaped outdoor light fixture we have. He wanted one, I told him the price €99.95, excluding light bulb. But he wanted it and also bought a €9.00 LED light bulb for it.

It isn't uncommon, customers complaining about the price (usually a couple of euros) of something they need, but when they see something they want the price isn't an issue.

It's a common enough fault that there's an English idiom for such people -- "penny wise, pound foolish".

[ApK]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's a common enough fault that there's an English idiom for such people -- "penny wise, pound foolish".

I think that's different. An example of "penny wise, pound foolish" might be if the customer didn't want to pay the high price for a case of lightbulbs, so bought several individual bulbs instead, not realizing that added together it cost as much or more than the case would have. I don't think it's the same as the issue of priorities that was described.

ApK

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's a common enough fault that there's an English idiom for such people -- "penny wise, pound foolish".

(But I myself agree with APK: " I'd have to explain that if I didn't control my spending on the $x.xx things, then I wouldn't be able to afford the $xxx.xx thing.")

Cartoon I saved around 1990:

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's a common enough fault that there's an English idiom for such people -- "penny wise, pound foolish".

I learned that one on the lap of my British mother.

But she was better at quoting it than following the implied advice. She drank enormous amounts of tea, and would get occupied doing something, forget about the teapot, and suddenly the pot was boiled dry and ruined.

Because she did it so frequently, she bought the cheapest, flimsiest Japanese teapots she could find. (This was decades back when Japan was the source of cheap junk.) I said "You know, mom, if you spent a bit more, you could get a good teapot you wouldn't ruin if it boiled dry, and you would save yourself aggravation now and money, long term." She never did get it.

But then, decades in IT made me familiar with the issue of blank looks when I talk about life cycle costs...
______
Dennis

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I learned that one on the lap of my British mother.

But she was better at quoting it than following the implied advice. She drank enormous amounts of tea, and would get occupied doing something, forget about the teapot, and suddenly the pot was boiled dry and ruined.

Because she did it so frequently, she bought the cheapest, flimsiest Japanese teapots she could find. (This was decades back when Japan was the source of cheap junk.) I said "You know, mom, if you spent a bit more, you could get a good teapot you wouldn't ruin if it boiled dry, and you would save yourself aggravation now and money, long term." She never did get it.

But then, decades in IT made me familiar with the issue of blank looks when I talk about life cycle costs...

Surely kettle, not teapot?

[poohbear_nc]

Cats ... Sigh ... Pixie decided to go bug hunting early this morning ... and cleared everything off the top of the microwave onto the kitchen floor at 3 am ... nothing like being blasted out of REM sleep ... I want a nap!