Consumerism
The good, the bad, the ugly: personal experiences in consumerism.
Verizon joins the bandwagon in text messaging fee hikes
Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:30:50 -0800
Our cellular networks are growing. The data portions are being upgraded. There is additional capacity out there. So why are text messaging prices being raised by 50%? Three of the big four have raised them now, with T-Mobile being the only company that has not raised the rates yet.
- Verizon: Just announced, will be $.15 starting March 1, 2007.
- Cingular/AT&T: $.15 as of January 21, 2007.
- Sprint: $.15 as of October 1, 2006.
- T-Mobile: Still $.10. Stay strong guys.
This is crazy to me; if anything, the rates should drop marginally since they have become extremely popular. It will keep people comfortable paying only a fraction less, which in turn will probably spur more messages - ultimately more money for these companies. However, greed will prevail, and I guess smarter people than I have determined this is the best way to make more money. It is an easy way to get people motivated to buy bulk plans, which I assume typically go unused (so they get away with using less capacity for the same price.)
Say what you want about Best Buy...
Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:09:24 -0800
... but they're a big company, and big companies can be useful.
I won't mention the obvious bad points - the stupid salespeople, incompetent techs, people getting arrested for using two-dollar bills...
Instead, I'm going to share my positive story tonight. Best Buy pulled through for me, as I had hoped. Most big companies will price match (especially in the consumer and office electronics markets) and I'm always looking at the weekly ads. Not just to look for a deal, but just to get a general feel for how the prices are rising and falling.
Anyway, this week Fry's had a sale on Seagate 750GB PATA hard drives for $309.99 - not an amazing deal, but I am in need, and I had a gift card to Best Buy, so the timing was right. I took the ad to Best Buy and had them price match that (after the salesperson told me "750GB PATAs don't exist" and I had to correct him...) - on top of that, because at one point or other Best Buy decided to add me to their mailing list, I get monthly coupons for 10-12% off of various things; this one sounded promising. It said only "external hard drives" on it, and I was hoping it wouldn't be an issue. Sure enough, they either did not care or did not know that it wasn't applicable to my item.
Anyway, now I am the proud owner of another 750GB drive, which is good, considering the 400GB in my Linux box is about to die. Total price: $272.79 (original price was $399.99 - a 32% savings.) While most people can't use the coupon since it's mailed to individual people, the Fry's price match is still valid for anyone to use, so if you want a 750GB drive without the drive to the local Fry's, I encourage you to price match it.
Rave: Fellowes
Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:12:51 -0800
I recently called Fellowes to see what my options were for fixing my nearly broken shredder. There's a one year limited warranty, and a lifetime warranty on the blades. For some reason a few months ago something in my shredder apparently came loose. To use it required shaking it around a lot until the motor got started.
Anyway, I was told that they would not cover anything except the blades - but he said they wouldn't leave me hanging out to dry. For the price of the replacement part ($48) I was able to get a brand new shredder that was supposed to comparable. However, it wound up being even better.
I purchased my old shredder for $189 if I recall; this one retails currently for over $200 still. Not a bad deal. Brand new shredder including shipping for $48. Fellowes will get my business in the future!
Just take a look at how much larger the new one is (on the right) compared to my old one:
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). 13 queries. 0.150 seconds.