Mastodawn

janggolan 3d ago

For some reason our pickup has started making terrible shrieking noises behind the glovebox somewhere. It happens if the fans are running.
I scheduled the earliest appointment available and got up at the crack of dawn.
I waited while they found the problem.
The motor that runs the air systems is broken.
Because the noise is intolerable for all of us except my husband who's hearing is too impaired to hear it we will spring for the repair.
Summer gave me this look when I told her that this, probably the largest car dealership in these parts, wouldn't take a personal check, will not give change if you pay cash and will charge a 4% surcharge if you use a card.
I swear paying for anything is getting dicey.
I made them take a check because we have bought all of our cars there since 1968 and had a personal account until they stopped doing that too.
I am starting to feel like customers are an inconvenience for businesses anymore.
Summer has the best eye roll.
Good morning, Mastodon.

why not wy 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 how taf are you supposed to pay them then?

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@wyatt_h_knott
My question exactly. I will bring enough cash to pay when the part comes in and they do the repair.

@NorcalGma2 food stamps or bitcoins?
Eyeroll with you

@NorcalGma2
But in the movies, they show us that everything’s great over there. I’m joking, of course. It’s really interesting to read about life overseas.

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@nathan
I will be the first to admit things aren't so great.

@NorcalGma2
Good morning

Process "Tedious" Parsnip 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 the not giving change for a cash purchase bit sounds like something for the Better Business Bureau.

Summer is quite right.

Stephen Bannasch (316 ppm)3d ago

Maybe pay in a big stack of one dollar bills?

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@stepheneb
Good idea!

Stephen Bannasch (316 ppm)3d ago

This next suggestion Is just getting silly but I like visual!

Come with a big leather bag of ones and a fancy counting machine. Get the final cost and keep feeding ones into your counting machine. When the accumulating hopper is temporarily full pull those bills out into a messy pile on the counter and keep feeding bills until the count is one more than the amount owed. Pack up the counter machine into the big leather bag with more ones and say: “Keep the change.”

epicdemiologist 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 You would think that "never make it hard for people to give you money" would be right at the top of the list of rules for operating a business, but apparently not!

James A Nielsen 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 I had the same problem with my car dealer. I used a debit card instead of paying an extra 3% for a credit card. And now Lowe's wants to charge $3 to send me a statement instead of paying on-line. Business is getting too big for their britches, as mom used to say.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK 3d ago

@JamesNielsen @NorcalGma2 over here (UK) the government made credit card surcharges outright illegal in 2012 - although debit cards have never had them.

Most businesses will still accept cheques from an older/ well known customer (it should have been on the dealers computers you have been using them for a while, although increasingly a lot of them don't even bother to hire enough admin staff to look after customers, they do the bare minimum to sell a car)

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@JamesNielsen
I wonder if my debit card would save me the fee. I will check thanks.

The Lady (La Donna)3d ago

@NorcalGma2
Businesses are out of control. They feel entitled and think doing business should be free for them and cost customers more, I guess.
I do live Summer's eye roll.

Carolannie 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 isn't it awful? Businesses try to get you coming and going. It used to be that they at least performed customer service

@NorcalGma2
Apparently, I now have a parasocial relationship with your dog, because I was scrolling my timeline and saw her picture and thought, "Aw, there's Summer." before I even clocked your handle or avatar.

tintouli 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 whatever. Summer is so beautiful

I'm with you on all this payment stuff : -(

@NorcalGma2 I’ve been gettin irritated at the number of businesses going cashless. Latest were big signs at a hospital clinic and fast food drive-through I saw yesterday. I think I’m going to hoard my coins scattered around the house and in jars. And I totally know I will collect and hoard “old” paper currency of the US. For reasons.

ChefRaven 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 it’s just ridiculous. Here’s a good one for you the San Francisco Giants Ballpark doesn’t accept cash anywhere. They do, however, have like reverse ATM machines where you can put in cash and get a payment card out. 😂

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@chefraven
Wow! That's wild.

Paul Wermer, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 3d ago

@NorcalGma2
Great eye roll indeed.

And when did the customer become the commodity?

f*cking b*tch club 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 it’s truly awful.

I’ve noticed a lot of places switching over to “cash only” which is perplexing as we don’t have an actual bank in town anymore. The last one closed a couple months ago, and even they didn’t have cash on hand, just an ATM (with limits on withdrawals)

other places are slipping in a surcharge for credit transactions without saying anything, and of course now there are “convenience fees” everywhere too.

I hope the repair solves the problem!

@grammasaurus @NorcalGma2 My last car repair I got a large discount by paying cash. They offered me the discount.

If they are charging fees for credit cards (probably not for debit with PIN?) then I'd make eye contact and asked pointedly, "ok what is the CASH PRICE for this repair?"

Is the USA going to "over the table/under the table" economy like a lot of countries have? That would explain it.

My dad's truck has a little bit of blower noise with the A/C on. Hopefully doesn't get that bad.

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@mike805 @grammasaurus
If it was a repair shop I likely could get a cash discount but this is a dealership. I will try my debit card next time.

IANAL, but this seems like one teeny tiny area where being in America might be a good thing - Australia, UK, and others have strict (and low) limits on the amount you can pay in coins, but …

Anthony David 3d ago

@isol @NorcalGma2

Australia on the other hand is starting to crack down on card transaction fees.

We still have some of the most profitable banks in the known universe. 😩

@adavid @isol @NorcalGma2 People have tried that sort of thing with their taxes and it did not go so well.

Now if a restaurant, for example, tried to refuse cash, you could drop the cash on the counter and walk out. You owe a debt, that's legal tender, bye bye.

If you have to pay in advance then they can refuse it.

Katherine W 3d ago

That is ridiculous! I have had the "5% surcharge for credit card use" from a couple of businesses lately, but they have offered other methods to pay. I have a feeling that that isn't going away, and will just get worse. Having cash to pay is a good idea for next time.

Sandor Spruit 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇺🇦🇨🇦3d ago

@NorcalGma2 @xs4me2 Checks are still a thing? 😲😳

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@sandorspruit @xs4me2
They still exist.
Our recent seismic retrofit contractor would only accept a check.

Sandor Spruit 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇺🇦🇨🇦3d ago

@NorcalGma2 @xs4me2 Euh. It was in the news here, I think last week, that 60% of transactions is now by phone over here. Whole generations have never ever even seen a check, let alone use them 🫣

Missingtale 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 @sandorspruit @xs4me2 I know this is off topic and must be normal where you are but to me in the UK the idea of a seismic retrofit contractor sounds like some one who is hired by an evil overlord to upgrade the earth shaker 3000 to a 6000+.

Norcal Gma 2 3d ago

@misingtale @sandorspruit @xs4me2
Ha!
We live in earthquake country on a hill.
Attaching our house even a little more soundly to the foundation seemed a good idea.

stevenray 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 I’m glad you put your foot down.

AI6YR Ben 3d ago

@NorcalGma2 no change?!?!?!

FeloniousPunk 3d ago

@ai6yr @NorcalGma2 You can thank their banking services for that. Banks charge an amazing amount of money for the safe services + the fees from the safe collection services + the sheer cost to maintain a safe bolted the floor somewhere in the building because, yeah, they have to rent that too.

Commercial Banking is almost worse than being robbed.

@NorcalGma2 It seems like everything in America is intentionally broken.

@[email protected]

@[email protected]

The grift economy is the gift that just keeps on grifting.

Dark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈3d ago

@NorcalGma2 good afternoon!

@NorcalGma2 In my country - New Zealand - our banks have done away with cheques / checks. No longer an option. Our central bank is reviewing rules on cash use too. Deliberate way to exclude poorer people who don't use an app on a smart phone for everything.