Death by a Thousand Cuts
Big corporate scams are obvious - Enron, Worldcom,
But there are scores of small rip-offs that we deal with every day. Let me share three that have gotten under my skin. These are clearly nits, but pick I must.
1: The St. Mary's Garage in San Francisco has a early bird special that lets you park all day for $20 if you arrive by 9AM. After that it is $30. They advertise the special with two giant signs. The full rate is only displayed on one complex board that you don't see until you pull into the ticket dispensing area. They do not pull down the early bird special signs or put up a "$30 All Day" sign. How many people park, only to get an unexpected $10 bonus?
2: My Treo cell phone with service by Sprint makes it impossible to hang up on a call if you answer another through call waiting. So, I have had times where I was using minutes on one active call, and the other call that has long ago disconnected also continues to bill.
3: If you use a credit card at Safeway the terminal tries to steer you to entering a PIN so it will be treated as an ATM transaction. It takes 5 or 6 steps to use the card as a credit card, while using an ATM card only takes 2 steps. Why? Safeway pays less for ATM transactions. Meanwhile, you get charged cash advance fees on your credit card if you use it as an ATM card.
Anyone else have examples of these sorts of irritating practices?
But there are scores of small rip-offs that we deal with every day. Let me share three that have gotten under my skin. These are clearly nits, but pick I must.
1: The St. Mary's Garage in San Francisco has a early bird special that lets you park all day for $20 if you arrive by 9AM. After that it is $30. They advertise the special with two giant signs. The full rate is only displayed on one complex board that you don't see until you pull into the ticket dispensing area. They do not pull down the early bird special signs or put up a "$30 All Day" sign. How many people park, only to get an unexpected $10 bonus?
2: My Treo cell phone with service by Sprint makes it impossible to hang up on a call if you answer another through call waiting. So, I have had times where I was using minutes on one active call, and the other call that has long ago disconnected also continues to bill.
3: If you use a credit card at Safeway the terminal tries to steer you to entering a PIN so it will be treated as an ATM transaction. It takes 5 or 6 steps to use the card as a credit card, while using an ATM card only takes 2 steps. Why? Safeway pays less for ATM transactions. Meanwhile, you get charged cash advance fees on your credit card if you use it as an ATM card.
Anyone else have examples of these sorts of irritating practices?
posted by Howard at 11:57 AM
2 Comments:
At Sony Metreon on 4th and Howard streets they don't let you in the theatres with the beverages you bought downstairs or from the corner store...even a bottle of water or a starbucks doesn't get a pass. Go figure...non-fat sugar free Vanilla lattes aren't welcome at Metreon theatres simply because Sony doesn't sell them.
I have always been disgruntled about parking garages "hiding" the rates until you have pulled into the ticket area and basically cannot turn around (the point of no return).
At the Metreon, I beleive it is not policy to allow outside food and beverages. However, I have been allowed to bring in a sandwich from the downstairs grill. I think it depends on who's working the tickets.
Cabbies:
Another gripe I have is with the cabbies who drive the long way, don't run the yellows and let the meter run at the light, or pretent to not have change. The last one is the worst because having change is part of their job. Only 2% of the cabbies I've taken can be considered positive or happy people and I know that most of them don't like their job and probably just really need money, so I don't mind graciously tipping anyone who doesn't try to rip me off. But is their misery really a reason to try and scam their clientele? If you're a jerk to them, you deserve it. But their attempts mean that they perceive most people who take cabs to be stupid and unaware of the fastest way to their destination. Are they right?
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