Business | Piss and Moan

Price match please!

Posted on September 24, 2018 by backuphill

Competition is rough these days! Retail stores, brick & mortar vs. online, are in a battle to get your dollars because there are so many choices out there. Most stores, in order to overcome the competition, will do just about anything to get your business once you’re in the store, so many of them will price match identical goods found at other stores just so they can capture your money before you walk out the door.

Walmart won’t even match it’s own online price!

Yesterday was the strangest experience I have had as a consumer in quite a while.

My daughter wanted to buy “Grand Theft Auto V” and she was going to just buy it online from the Microsoft store as a digital download for $29.99. I said she should check around first to see if she can get a better price since it has been out for a while. So she did. As it turns out, there were several stores who had it on sale – Walmart and Game Stop, just to name a couple.

So, we jumped in the car and headed out to Walmart. We located the game in their electronics section in two place, neither of which indicated the online price as seen above. One was priced at $29.98 and the other one was priced at $59.98. These are the same game, mind you…

We asked for some help, showed the employee the price on the phone, he looked in the locked case and said something to the effect of “Well, we just updated prices so that is a bit of a mystery.” He pulled out both items at different prices and we went to do a price check. Both came up as marked. Wait, what?!? So, I asked if we could get the price as indicated online and he looked at my phone again, scrolled through the listing and said, “It must be an online only special.”

I was like, “It doesn’t say that anywhere. If it were online only, it would say that wouldn’t it?”

His response was, “It usually does.”

So, again, I asked if they would honor online price.

He said, “I don’t have the authority to do that but if you want to order it online then you could pick it up at the front of the store.” REALLY???? You’re gonna go there?

I asked for a manager. He said he called one. We waited for 15 minutes and still no manager. I asked if one was coming. He said they should be but they have to do “rounds” before they can get there.

I called Game Stop, verified they had the game in stock, left Walmart, and she spent her money there instead. No hassle.

When the physical store can’t (any employee should have this ability) to match it’s own online store price, you have a problem.

Walmart versus Walmart.com – both losers in my book!

It sits all day, so why not?

Posted on September 20, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by David McBee on Pexels.com

Electric cars.

I think they would be more prevalent if people weren’t so worried about distance it could travel and charging it. I think those two things are sort of intertwined.

I guess I have always wondered why you have to plug the thing in in the first place. Why? If there is technology out there that will make high rise windows into charging panels, why can’t that be incorporated into automobiles? Or if Tesla can make solar roofing tiles and turn the whole rooftop into something that charges your home, why can’t it make the hood (or roof) of your car out of the same material?

I know, it takes a lot of time to recharge and I know (I asked this once of a smarter friend) that it would take a huge amount of charging to make a car work from such limited charging capability. He asked, “Would the cost be worth it?” My answer was that I didn’t know because apparently no one has tried, isn’t some charge better than no charge, and eventually cost would come down because that is what happens with tech as it improves.

Here’s the thing, most people’s cars spend most of the day sitting around, either in the driveway or in a parking lot somewhere. Why can’t it be recharging at the same time without having to be plugged in?

Things that make you go, hmmmmm.

Morning meetings

Posted on September 14, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Morning meetings, especially long ones, throw the rest of the day under the bus. Playing catch-up isn’t easy for the employees, and it is frustrating to your clients.

I realize there isn’t probably a perfect time to have a meeting, but there are definitely times that aren’t good to have them. Thus, the eternal question of “when?”

So, we play catch-up and everyone’s stress level or anxiety goes up.

#SMH

The dreaded ALL company meeting

Posted on August 24, 2018 by backuphill

woman standing in front of sitting people

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

You know what really sucks? Those all company meeting!

“Hey, even though we’ve worked together for years, let’s do an ice breaker.”

“Thanks for being here today. I am going to show you a PowerPoint about company/organization policies. This is our annual reminder and the same PowerPoint you have seen the last six years, but we’re gonna do it again anyway.”

“So, wasn’t that great? Thanks for being patient with that as we covered exactly the same things we covered last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.”

“Moving on, we really need you people to buy into what we’re doing here at our organization, so let’s sit around and brainstorm ideas for goals. Let’s write those goals on these giant post-it notes on the walls. Then let’s go around and place these colored dots next to the ones we thing are most relevant. Then we’re gonna rank the ones that are most relevant.”

“Now we’re gonna take those goals we came up with and in your teams please write some S.M.A.R.T. goals that your team can work on over the next year.”

“Finally, we are gonna post these goals in some really obvious spot where we can all see them and remind ourselves about why we do what we do and what we’re working towards.”

Then we all leave the room, looking at each other like we all just went through a painful root canal. We find the posted goals on the wall the next week and promptly forget they are there and ignore them for the rest of the year.

The life cycle of the dreaded ALL company meeting.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Extreme dislike – Morning Routine

Posted on August 22, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com

You know how you have that one thing that you really just don’t like doing? Do you wish there was a permanent solution so you didn’t have to do it? Yeah, me too.

In this case I am talking about – SHAVING!

Ugh, I hate doing it. I hate that it takes so much time to do it in the mornings. I hate that I have to buy razors and handles and cream/foam/gel (whatever). I hate that I have to look at my ugly mug each morning and debate, “Is today the day? Should I shave or not? Can I get away with not doing it today?”

OK, ladies, I know. I know! Stop complaining, right? I realize I have way less surface area to shave. But, I also can’t (realistically) hide my noggin in pants, or under a skirt (or even in a mask). You at least have that! I don’t have the option to hide it if I don’t want to shave.

And, yes, I could just go full lumberjack (or worse, hipster…), but this just isn’t really acceptable in the business world quite yet and I also have some health issues that keep from doing it long term. So, yeah, there are limitations that make it necessary to shave.

I just hate it.

Fleeing followers on Instagram

Posted on August 10, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Growing an Instagram account can be tough. Getting people to follow you, to share you, to like and comment is down right challenging.

What really sucks is that you start to see some results and people are beginning to follow you and then they flee – unfollow almost as fast as they followed you. At first I was being courteous and following them back, but I soon learned that these accounts were following my account just so they could get a follow and then they would unfollow my account.

Well, if that doesn’t just burn ya up, I don’t know what will. People work really hard to create good content so the can get followers and really make an effort to do it via a legit method (I mean I get spam offers for “follower generators” all the time). Kinda makes ya mad, ya know?

Is that really how people get followers to their accounts? Spam follow accounts and hope they follow you back?

Transaction fees are not my friend

Posted on August 3, 2018 by backuphill

The “Transaction Fee” column is killing my vibe.

The transaction fees at TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers) are killing the positive vibe of teacher authors and it is really annoying.

I realize they are providing a service for me and I am OK with them taking a cut of the sales since they are providing the service, but that flat fee of $.30 has got to be making TpT money as well, which I don’t find OK.

In most cases credit card transaction fees are between 1-3% of the purchase price and based on volume they typically offer the retailer a discount on the fees to encourage them to use their service. Plus, there is usually a monthly “subscription/membership” (for lack of a better term) fee for the retailer to use the service as a whole. Either way, what I am being charged and what they are being charged don’t line up in my mind.

For all these small transactions, there has to be a better deal than what I am getting. The credit card company (or someone) is making as much on my material as I am.