Large Scale Central

RANT! OT! Not trains

General Discussion
#1

The absolutely mad things people believe:

The gas company believes that if they charge me another $200 “reconnect” fee that I’ll be able to pay them the $220 I already owe them. Also that I’m more likely to get money for them if they refuse to accept payment in any of the following forms…

The car company believes that the more often they call me the more likely I’ll have the payment I’m late in making. Like they gas company, they also believe that fewer payment methods increases my ability to send them money.

The land lord believes that if he raises my rent $50, that I’ll be able to get his rent more easily next month.

And don’t get me started on the obscene things the government believes!

#2

Tom,
with our utility companies squandering profits and not reinvesting in infrastructure, plus passing on a carbon tax costing, our utility prices have risen sharply of late (my bill almost doubled for the same power usage). Should one have the audacity to be a day or two late making a payment, one not only incurs a late payment fee but also loses the customer loyalty discount as well.

As well as the utility companies, train manufacturers also seem to think that the higher their prices the more ‘affordable’ are their products. How many times do dealers raise current floor stock prices to match the newly released manufacturer prices? If the goods are instock and not selling then how does the dealer think that raising the price of floor stock to match current retail will enhance the chance of a sale?

The argument is that if he reorders then he will have to pay the increased wholesale cost. However, if he already has new old stock on the floor then he is hardly likely to be reordering the slow moving stock. I recall many sellers on a well known (but unmentionable) auction site that were selling new old stock Aristo-Craft locomotives and rolling stock, some in original black boxes, at current retail prices.

#3

Tom, Tom, Tom. I feel your pain, I truly do. I’ve been there. Whenever I was harassed by those loverly folks, I had fun with them. If they demanded that I verify who I am, I would just tell them that they called me, and that if they couldn’t rely on their fingers to correctly dial the number, that was not my problem, then I would demand that they verify who they are. Then I would ask how the weather was in Bombay. “I’m not in Bombay!” “Yes you are. That’s what the caller ID says.” You just have to be creative. The nastier they get, the more fun you can have. Don’t let the bstrds get you down.

#4

Our utility company spent about a billion dollars on a routine replacement of the steam generators in its nuclear plant… except they used a new design that squeezed more tubes in. A few months later they found out that, oops, this design causes the tubes to wear out very prematurely.

Obviously this is either the result of the utility demanding something unrealistic, or the manufacturer pushing an unproven design. Either way, it’s not my fault, nor the fault of any other utility customer. But guess who the utility believes should pay for this disaster? Yep, the customers.

#5

Just got a letter from the car insurance company saying they will now accept my payment only in the following forms… “Additional charges may apply.”

Of course, the letter started with, “Thank you for being a loyal customer since 2002.”

#6

Ray Dunakin said:

Our utility company spent about a billion dollars on a routine replacement of the steam generators in its nuclear plant… except they used a new design that squeezed more tubes in. A few months later they found out that, oops, this design causes the tubes to wear out very prematurely.

Obviously this is either the result of the utility demanding something unrealistic, or the manufacturer pushing an unproven design. Either way, it’s not my fault, nor the fault of any other utility customer. But guess who the utility believes should pay for this disaster? Yep, the customers.

Vermont decided to go the other way??!!

http://news.gnom.es/news/who-told-vermont-to-be-stupid