Happy Birthday! Here's something you had all along!

[KaeZoo]

I had a customer who purchased an iPod adapter as a birthday gift for her daughter, and brought it to me for installation.

Background: this is an adapter that's meant to allow you to play your iPod through the factory radio of a vehicle that's not equipped with an auxiliary input jack. Lots of older cars weren't designed with portable electronics in mind, and there's a fairly high demand from people who want to use their iPods and MP-3 players in their cars but don't want to replace the factory radio. There are wireless types that use an FM transmitter, but they often don't work very well. This customer purchased a hardwired type that requires a direct connection at the back of the factory radio.

The customer paid for the adapter and installation labor, and arranged to sneak her daughter's car to us so we could install the system and have it all ready to surprise her daughter on her birthday.

At the installation appointment, I pulled the car in and started my normal pre-install inspection. That's when I noticed that the vehicle was already equipped with a factory auxiliary input jack; it was just located in an out-of-the-way spot, and the car's owner and her mother had no idea it was there.

I pointed it out to the Mom and explained that there wasn't much point in installing the new adapter, because the car was already equipped to play her daughter's iPod. I told her that she could return the adapter and the installation labor (over $150 in all), and started to suggest some other items that should could buy for her daughter's birthday instead.

And here's her response:

"I'm just going to show her that jack and pretend that it's new. She won't know any better, and then I don't have to buy her anything!"

[Mamochan]

What... a jerk. at least she could have bought a nice docking station instead. >.<

[EricKei]

"I'm just going to show her that jack and pretend that it's new. She won't know any better, and then I don't have to buy her anything!"

I can certainly see someone pulling that on their kid...but they should at least have the tact not to ADMIT it to anyone >_>

Heck, they could use some (or all!) of that $150 to get her some itunes gift cards or something, yeesh.

[protege]

I can certainly see someone pulling that on their kid...but they should at least have the tact not to ADMIT it to anyone >_>

Ugh. What a cheap bastard. Btw, does anyone know if there's a factory-installed input jack on an '07 Toyota Corolla CE?

[Kristev]

The mean part of me would like to call and warn the kid that they've got dreadful, stingy parents.

[Beki710]

What a cheapskate!

I went the cheap route with my car, it has a cassette player so I have a blank cassette with a lead and headphone jack that you can plug straight into an MP3 player. Cost me all of about £4.

[BrenDAnn]

Cheapskate indeed. Too bad someone can't send an anonymous call or something to the daughter alerting her to her mother's cheap ass ways. I'm sure THAT would go over well.

[sstabeler]

cheapskate, it almost makes you want the daughter to already know about the factory-installed jack, and make that clear. And that she expects an actual present, or she'll treat the parent as if said parent hadn't given her one.

[Teefies2]

Why certainly ma'am you can return that item and pretend the jack is new so that you don't have to buy your daughter a present for her birthday. There is, of course, a 50% restocking fee, or we can tell your daughter the truth, whichever you prefer.

[PepperElf]

what a cheap jerk.


and ... my car doesn't have one either. but it does have a tape deck so i use one of those cassette-cord thingies for my ipod.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Le Sigh!

Mine has neither the aux jack nor a cassette deck. So I tried the FM-Transmitter. Sadly none of them work worth a shit since being near DC means that there is damn little dead air to use it. I can find a station that works for maybe three miles and then my Enya-induced good spirits are interrupted by some political debate in Spanish, a rather depressing news story, or by some DJ that could be the centerfold for "Obnoxious Radio Personality Monthly".

I need to buy a new head unit.

[draco664]

cheapskate, it almost makes you want the daughter to already know about the factory-installed jack, and make that clear. And that she expects an actual present, or she'll treat the parent as if said parent hadn't given her one.

It would be amusing for the daughter to go, "What that? That's always been there. I never knew what it was. What do you mean, that's my present?"

[Caractacus_Potts]

IDK about her being so cheap. Don't forget she had already bought the adapter and paid for the installation. Pointing at an existing jack and saying it was new would be just the kind of snarky thing my mother might do to me if I had been bugging her for something I wasn't bright enough to figure out I already owned.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Ugh. What a cheap bastard. Btw, does anyone know if there's a factory-installed input jack on an '07 Toyota Corolla CE?

Would that also work for the iPhone? If so how would I have one installed on a 1992 Toyota Corolla 4-door?

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Why certainly ma'am you can return that item and pretend the jack is new so that you don't have to buy your daughter a present for her birthday. There is, of course, a 50% restocking fee, or we can tell your daughter the truth, whichever you prefer.

I vote for this response

Sucky mom is sucky. And cheap. You'd think after she went to all that trouble and expense to do something nice for her daughter, she wouldn't turn around and then do absolutely NOTHING. But...people are weird...and sucky.

My '02 Saturn SL1 doesn't have an AUX jack either...nor does it have a cassette player, and when we bought the car new in '01 I really had no idea why I'd ever need a cassette player again. D'oh. My SiriusXM radio dock for the car is not factory installed so the reception is sometimes spotty, though I find that if I put the antenna on the southernmost side of the dashboard it works better. Usually it sits on the floor (the antenna) because I haven't managed to stick it to the dashboard and it keeps sliding off, plus most of my drives are too short to justify dragging the radio along. (It fits in my home boom box too!)