In case you wondered, this Mercedes two-seat convertible goes for around $50K. And also in case you wondered, owning a new Mercedes is not for the faint of heart or the light of wallet. Owning a luxury car is like living with a sick relative. It's always something...something that costs big bucks.
Anyway, my customer came in last week with an ancient and quite broken leaf blower. She asked if I might be able to fix it? My assessment was that the on/off switch was broken.
She wanted to know how much it would cost to fix. Since I don't have the parts to do it, I called a repair shop and got a quote of $70-$80. A new leaf blower costs $70.
She refused to get the new one. She said that she would have her handyman look at it.
Today she came back, with the broken switch that her handyman had removed. I told her that we didn't have the switch in the store and she asked me to call the repair shop again, to see if they had it in stock. I did. The parts costs $35. She had me write down the address so that she could go pick it up. A ten mile round trip.
By the time she is done, she will have spent $35 plus tax, plus whatever she pays the handyman, not to mention the cost and time involved with making two trips to see me and another to go to the repair shop. All to avoid spending $70.
Weird.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
Nov 26, 2008
It's The Cheapest Person Who Spends The Most
One of the constant sources of amazement to me in the hardware store, is the number of people willing to spend a dollar to save a dime.
I have a wealthy elderly customer who drives a car like this. She is about 85, give or take a decade.
In case you wondered, this Mercedes two-seat convertible goes for around $50K. And also in case you wondered, owning a new Mercedes is not for the faint of heart or the light of wallet. Owning a luxury car is like living with a sick relative. It's always something...something that costs big bucks.
Anyway, my customer came in last week with an ancient and quite broken leaf blower. She asked if I might be able to fix it? My assessment was that the on/off switch was broken.
She wanted to know how much it would cost to fix. Since I don't have the parts to do it, I called a repair shop and got a quote of $70-$80. A new leaf blower costs $70.
She refused to get the new one. She said that she would have her handyman look at it.
Today she came back, with the broken switch that her handyman had removed. I told her that we didn't have the switch in the store and she asked me to call the repair shop again, to see if they had it in stock. I did. The parts costs $35. She had me write down the address so that she could go pick it up. A ten mile round trip.
By the time she is done, she will have spent $35 plus tax, plus whatever she pays the handyman, not to mention the cost and time involved with making two trips to see me and another to go to the repair shop. All to avoid spending $70.
Weird.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
In case you wondered, this Mercedes two-seat convertible goes for around $50K. And also in case you wondered, owning a new Mercedes is not for the faint of heart or the light of wallet. Owning a luxury car is like living with a sick relative. It's always something...something that costs big bucks.
Anyway, my customer came in last week with an ancient and quite broken leaf blower. She asked if I might be able to fix it? My assessment was that the on/off switch was broken.
She wanted to know how much it would cost to fix. Since I don't have the parts to do it, I called a repair shop and got a quote of $70-$80. A new leaf blower costs $70.
She refused to get the new one. She said that she would have her handyman look at it.
Today she came back, with the broken switch that her handyman had removed. I told her that we didn't have the switch in the store and she asked me to call the repair shop again, to see if they had it in stock. I did. The parts costs $35. She had me write down the address so that she could go pick it up. A ten mile round trip.
By the time she is done, she will have spent $35 plus tax, plus whatever she pays the handyman, not to mention the cost and time involved with making two trips to see me and another to go to the repair shop. All to avoid spending $70.
Weird.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
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10 comments:
The old bat will probably not give the handyman much if any money, she'll whine and try to get him to do it as a favor...
It's like the Honorable Marilyn Milian always says, "Lo barato sale caro," translated, "The cheap comes out expensive."
MAybe she's living the "penny saved is a penny earned?"
For that age group, it's a hard lesson to give up after going through the depression.
I'm just sayin' but know and understand what you said.
It's that way in our business when people bring in books to conserve or scan. Crazy.
My best to you and the Mrs. ; )
Happy Thanksgiving!
I have relatives like this. Boggles the mind.
But one less leaf blower in the landfill.
My father is like that. Drives all over town to find the best price for gas even if it's only a fraction cheaper.
I hope to be extremely weird someday.
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