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Perhaps my Daughter is Right

Posted on December 18th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Why do they...?

UPDATE: 19 DEC 09  A front-page article in today’s Stars and Stripes indicates that Wal-Mart has reversed its policy of charging more for APO mailings. It states that they will now charge the same for APO as they do for domestic mailing. Finally, they get it. It’s a good PR thing to support your troops overseas.

I’d like to think that it was my blog post that tipped the scales, but I know better. Chalk this one up to the power of the press.

My kids are pretty smart; they have my genes of course. Well, half of them are their mother’s genes, and she’s really smart too. Anyway, my younger daughter, Allison, refuses to shop at Wal-Mart. She’s a bit of a political animal, and her refusal to shop there is on political or moral grounds. Since we frequently disagree politically, we haven’t fully discussed her reasons to boycott the place, but I assume that they center on their hiring policies and treatment of employees.

I may be joining her in her boycott, but for a practical reason that is dear to me. You see, there was an article in our “local” newspaper yesterday. The Stars and Stripes printed this article about how some retailers jack up the shipment price when sending items to an APO address. For the uninitiated, the APO address stands for Army Post Office (or Air Force Post Office) and gives us government  employees and military members an opportunity to mail and receive goods without paying customs duty and to mail at US domestic rates. For those of us in Europe, a package mailed from the USA will have postage paid to New York, and the Department of Defense picks up the tab from New York to our local mailroom. In the Pacific, the cost is to San Francisco or Seattle and the government likewise picks up the tab for the remainder of the cost.

In theory then, a retailer should charge no more for a package going to an APO address then would be charged for the same package going to New York (or the West Coast). An enterprising reporter compared the cost of items being sent to a single address in Atlanta, GA, and the same item going to an APO address. Now there may be some room for error here because the cost to Atlanta might be different than the cost to NY or SF. But there shouldn’t be huge differences. The article compares four retailers: Amazon.com, Target, Wal-Mart, and JC Penney. Guess which one hoses us the most? Wal-Mart. Amazon had exactly the same cost to an APO address as it did to Atlanta. JC Penney was slightly higher. Target (praise them!) had lower rates to the APO address. Wal-Mart, however,charged almost five times as much to ship the same item to the APO address as it did to Atlanta. Boo! Hiss!

I’m willing to keep an open mind about this, provided that Wal-Mart provides an explanation. When the Stars and Stripes tried to interview them, they declined. So, in this case, it’s “guilty until proven innocent”. I certainly won’t be shopping there. I doubt if they will miss my business, but it’s the principle. The Queen shops a lot at JC Penney online, but she almost always qualifies for free shipping (as much as she shops there, I’m surprised that they don’t send it in a limousine, but I digress). So we’ll give JC Penney a pass and they can keep our business. We also shop a lot with Amazon.com, and they are fair with their shipping costs, so they will keep our business. (Disclaimer: we own some stock in the Amazon.com company).

Because not everything that a person would want is available in the PX or on the German economy, we do a considerable amount of shopping online, and I wish that the retailers would be consistently fair. The best that we can do is to shop with the retailers that show that they want our business.

By the way, our daughters (and son-in-law) will be arriving in the next few days to celebrate the holidays. Some of their presents under the tree will have come from these fair-minded retailers. There won’t be any from Wal-Mart.

Retired-Ed

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Why Do They Do That? Part I

Posted on August 29th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Why do they...?

All right. The question is rhetorical, because, in most cases, we already know the answer to the questions that I will be posing. I’m calling this “Part I” because I just KNOW that there will be a few more mysteries out there. The first target of my rhetorical rage is going to the the world’s airlines. As one who flies infrequently, but for long distances when I do, I’m rather irritated with the airlines. The previous sentence may qualify for the greatest understatement of the year.

For example, why do they try to cram so many seats into the plane that any semblance of leg room is lost? Why do they charge for your baggage? This is the one that really just plain gets my dander up. Good grief, people are already trying to bring “carry on luggage” that is the size of Rhode Island onto the airplane. (Note for my Canadian reader: Rhode Island is our smallest state. It is “slightly” smaller than Ontario (the second biggest understatement of the year). Have you ever heard of Rhode Island, Sue?) Anyway, if they can’t cram that behemoth into the overhead bin, the gate crew will issue them a special tag and will check their bag for them into the hold of the airplane and then have the bag waiting for them at the gate when the aircraft gets to its destination. Say WHAT? You mean that some fools, like me, pay up to $50 to check their bags but others get the airline to do it for them and then have it hand delivered to them at the door of the airplane? Yep. Go figure. Who’s the dummy here?

What about, “Blankets may be obtained for $5.00. Pillows are $3.00. Headsets are $5.00,” etc.? What a load of crap! As I said, we already know why they do this. It’s the almighty Dollar. Or Euro. Or Shekel. Or Dinar. Or Pound. Or whatever. But why, oh why, don’t they just add everything in to the cost of the ticket? They used to do that. Hell, I’m so old that I can remember when meals were provided on flights. OK, some still are, but in the olden days they didn’t always taste like cardboard. And you got peanuts with your soft drink (served with the captain’s compliments). I know, some people have peanut allergies. But wait a minute, I’m diabetic, and it doesn’t bother me if the guy next to me is eating a banana split.

The airline industry is just out of control. Pretty soon we’ll be buying a “personal license” which will then give us the right to purchase a ticket on the flight. Think I’m exaggerating? Think again. Pro sports teams are doing it right now. It’s called “Personal Seat Licenses” or PSLs. I envision buying a license to have the right to purchase a ticket only to learn that there will be an extra charge to have a seat on the airplane.

Is anyone else fed up with the airline industry? Let’s start a campaign by voting with our wallets (or our pocketbooks). Do you know of any airline that does not charge for checked baggage? How about airlines that offer other “free” amenities, especially those that have been traditionally cost-free until recently? I think that we are being ripped off. The prices were raised a few years ago because (supposedly) of the high cost of fuel. Well, guess what, fuel prices are down now….at least for the time being. Have the additional costs been deleted? I don’t think so.

Even though I’m not in favor of big government, sometimes I think that flying was easier when the airlines were regulated.

Comments?

Retired-Ed

8 Comments