My company's "scam"

[MoonCat]

I agree with Irv. Most of us are on fixed incomes...many people don't get raises these days, and even if you do, it's not going to be that much and gas prices are probably going to swallow it up anyway.

[Kristev]

If the price of food doesn't invalidate your entire paycheck first, that is.

[Racket_Man]

I understand fixed incomes too. Pretty much everybody's on one, if you think about it.

So that excuse gets nowhere with me anyway.

in my line of work my income is highly variable and fixed at the same time ie. I get paid on a per hour basis (sub-minimum) and my hours are nearly the same every week BUT I get tips so my total income varies wildly at times. so one week I can make decent money the next 3 weeks make crappy money.

what pisses me off is when someone uses the "Well I AM on a fixed income" line as they are paying for $50 in pizza AND wanting their 3 cents in change back AND straight stiffing me.

[Jester]

There are very few parts of the country where 100% safe water does not flow out of the tap for essentially no cost.

Such as the water I get in my apartment out of the taps for uses ranging from drinking to bathing to the dishwasher and washing machine, which is "free" if by "free" you mean for only the thirty some odd dollars we pay the local water utility each month.

That being said, that is still cheaper than any water delivery service that deals with bottled water or water coolers.

[lineswine]

"Waah, waah, I'm on fixed income!"
Well, stop buying lots of expensive water! Sucky & dumb in one easy (if nasty) package.

[tropicsgoddess]

That SC needs to just shut up and fork over the dough. Fixed income my ass.

[protege]

The "fixed income" shit doesn't fly with me either. Lady, we're *all* on fixed incomes! Do you see me getting a raise every other week? As much as that would be awesome, it's not going to happen. I have to live within my means.

Sometimes though, it's not always possible. I'm sure everyone remembers the summer that my A/C unit blew up, and I wanted to bring home a certain vehicle...before something happened to it, since the 'garage' that was working on it left it sitting outside. Anyway, since I get migraines, I needed the A/C, but I also wanted to get the car running. I had no choice but to put it on credit, and make payments. But, before doing that, I called up USAA and Discover, and asked if I could get a lower rate. USAA said that I was already getting the lowest possible rate. But, both said that as long as I made payments, I wasn't going to get nailed with late fees. Took a couple of months, but I was able to juggle some investments around, and paid it all off.

[Caractacus_Potts]

That is pure SC comedy gold right there. The stuff that passes for logic in their pointly little heads just kills me.

I was just on a consumer complaint website and some SC said he saw a sign for a sandwich at a fast food restaurant that said, "2 for $4". He went in and they wanted $3.59 for one sandwich and would not sell him one sandwich for $2.

He complained up the chain of command until the MOD finally told him she couldn't help him and he was reading the advertisement incorrectly.

The SC actually had the gall to say, "Its only three words! How exactly am I reading this incorrectly"?

My comment was along the lines of, "It's not even three words. It's one word, two numbers and a currency symbol; none of which say that you get one sandwich for two dollars!"

Quantity discounts, they are not rare species of unicorns never before seen in the wilds of shopping.

[underemployeed]

I was just on a consumer complaint website and some SC said he saw a sign for a sandwich at a fast food restaurant that said, "2 for $4". He went in and they wanted $3.59 for one sandwich and would not sell him one sandwich for $2.

He complained up the chain of command until the MOD finally told him she couldn't help him and he was reading the advertisement incorrectly.

The SC actually had the gall to say, "Its only three words! How exactly am I reading this incorrectly"?

My comment was along the lines of, "It's not even three words. It's one word, two numbers and a currency symbol; none of which say that you get one sandwich for two dollars!"

Quantity discounts, they are not rare species of unicorns never before seen in the wilds of shopping.

In all fairness, I think now most places put "Or regular price each" which does help cut down on confusion, because I know most of the grocery stores have 10 for $10, where you can get one for $1. but in a convinence store it is a safe bet to assume, X for $Y, you need to have the quantity X not Z.

Usually the 2 for $4 is 60pt font, and the reg price each is 10pt.

Also, normally when I hear I'm on a fixed income, I think they mean to say "I get paid to sit at home and do nothing, except find ways to bitch at you while you work for your money", sure its nice you put in your 30years and got a pension. I doubt my generation will ever retire, especially with the amount of older people going back to work because retirement got cut short due to bad planning, bad luck, etc etc

[Seshat]

But at the same time it comes down to living within your means, we have one older woman that I feel bad for because she goes through our trash looking for soda cans to get some extra money.

See, her I'd help. She's not complaining, she's trying to handle her financial problems herself. Sure, it's a difficult, slow, method - but she's TRYING. (Hopefully she leaves your trash in a suitable state for it to be picked up, too.)

I'd also help the ones who genuinely can't do more than care for themselves, or (in the worst cases) care for themselves as much as possible and minimise the load on their carers.
But that's a been-there, lived-that for me. It REALLY sucks.

Ones who gripe and complain but make no effort to sort things out themselves? Nope. Not interested.

[Mytical]

See now I thought it was a simple concept, but I think I was mistaken. You can't afford something, you do without or find cheaper alternatives. Then credit comes along and messes everything up, because the majority of people have no concept of credit. I digress...

Coming from wearing hand me down clothing, having a leaky roof, and a house that is falling down around me..I know well about living within my means. In fact the only thing I really didn't have to worry about is food, though I ate a LOT of potatoes. Being raised on a farm meant at least that wasn't a concern.

Now I understand about wanting to use bottled water instead of local sources...some places water isn't fit for consumption. There may litterally be no other options/choice either. However, as it is one of the more important things in life, the SC might want to let something else go. Food, water, and shelter are the more important things..(sorry to say) so if you have to pass on cable, telephone, etc. Sacrifice something not crucially important for something that is. Crazy concept I know.

[barainga]

I ran into similar situations when at worked at the cellphone call center. People would only pay $50 when they owed $75. One that I saw was the customer would never pay the change and would always round down to a dollar amount. So if she owed 49.95 she would pay 49.00. To this day I do not understand how anyone would think this is okay. It took almost a year and a half for it to catch up to her because the difference was so small. Keep in mind she never paid the past due and only ever the current.
Current: 50.50
Past Due: 5.31
Total: 55.81 She would pay 50.00

Since payments are always applied to the past due first, her next bill would show her having a past due of 5.81

It also took about 15 minutes of my life to figure out what the hell was going on with her account that I can never get back and another hour and a half trying to explain it to her. I say try because she either A: was just that damn stupid, or B: was playing dumb which is worse they being dumb.

[Estil]

If this lady is that hard up for money, why would she have a water delivery service at all? There are very few parts of the country where 100% safe water does not flow out of the tap for essentially no cost. (In quantities used for drinking anyway.) Even if it isn't tasty a cheap-ass Brita will take care of that.

Or do what myself and the pioneers used to do; make the water into coffee. Yes, back in the pioneer days they used coffee to make the then not-so-clean water from lakes/ponds/rivers more tolerable to drink. And that's no joke.

[Sleepwalker]

Back when I worked at Dunk's we'd rinse our customers' bottles out and then leave them lined up behind the exterior trash can for our local bottle picker to find. He actually supported a family off of returning bottles.

[protege]

He actually supported a family off of returning bottles.

Good for him Quite a few people, in rural SW PA, will turn in bottles and cans to the scrapyard for cash. I knew a guy who would walk several miles out from the nearest town, and would spend the next few days picking up any cans he could find. Since he helped keep my grandmother's side road clear of litter, I'd do what I could to help him out. Many times, I'd give him the cans I was going to recycle, and a huge plastic bag to carry them in. I felt that he was doing me a favor--I hated to pick up the crap that the rednecks had thrown into our fields. While I was at it, I'd throw in scrap aluminum and other metals I knew he could sell. That arrangement went on for years, until the farm was sold in 2007. But, the last year she lived on the farm, he got *very* lucky. That is, as I was helping him out, one of the other neighbors made his day. He gave the guy a ride to his farm, gave him *several* bags of cans...and then took him to the scrapyard to sell them! I sure hope that guy is doing OK--when I knew him, he had some mental issues, and was possibly homeless.