SCRABBLE: Hidden Costs
Everybody wants something. I just hate it when people sell me something and just a few minutes later I find out that there is still some additional cost.
My good friend Bill Lapinski recently retired from a career with the Sheriff’s Department. He is now in the moving industry. When Adrienne and I decided to get married we decided to rent out her condo in Southfield, Michigan and move her treasures to my condo in Laguna Woods, California. I turned to Bill for his advice and input. Bill gave us some great pointers about packing and moving cross-country. He was able to guesstimate the weight of our load, which translates into dollars. Bill warned us that the bids which we would initially receive from moving companies would most likely be less than the final charges, due to the add-on of a number of hidden fees. Bill was correct. The first bid from one company was $3,100. Within minutes I received an email from the same company in which the bottom line was more than $3,500.
Being the lazy bachelor who I have been during the last 22 years, I have paid little attention to the appliances in my home. The refrigerator keeps things cold and the oven is used to heat things up. What else does one need to know? When things would break I would replace them or have them repaired. But, it seems that I had never cleaned my oven in the 10+ years that I’ve lived in my condo. And since the oven WAS NOT self-cleaning, Adrienne suggested strongly that I replace the oven and microwave. The trip to Home Depot was easy, it was just across the street. We picked out a self-cleaning combo with the microwave that is suspended above the range. They gave us free delivery and I paid $99 for installation. Today I waited around the house, at the appointed time for the delivery and installation. The delivery was prompt as promised. When it came time for the installation, the electric oven was plugged in with ease (I guess that ‘plugging-in’ is the installation for which they charged me $99.) Then the installer paused; he showed me how the old vent fan was ‘hard wired’. “This job requires an electrician,” he said. “I’ll come back at no additional charge when an electrician installs a proper receptacle.”
After a call to the building services desk I learned that needed to pay a fee for a building permit, forms needed to be filled out, and an inspector was required to look at the finished job, after a receptacle is installed. From a provided list of contractors I called two names and learned that the conversion fee could be as much as $350 (more than the cost od the microwave itself). If lucky, the electrician could do his part next week and the installation person could be rescheduled some time after that.
I was pissed, to say the least. An angry me headed back to Home Depot in a flash. The first associate I talked with was dismissive. She tried to turn the whole misunderstanding into my responsibility. That really made me upset. I picked myself up and walked away from her. I then sought out my original salesperson. My fists were clenched and I was ready for a big fight. But, to my surprise and delight, she addressed my concern, got a manager’s approval to pay for a portion of the electrician’s fee, and did it all in a timely matter. (There are still some good guys out there.)
When I buy a product or a service, I want to know the whole story before sign on the dotted line. I don’t want any surprises later on. If I had been told that there might be other costs I would have been prepared.
Likewise, when I share information with others about playing competitive style scrabble at clubs and tournaments, I tell them the whole story. I realize that sometimes I am scaring away some potential players by telling them about the study and commitment required to become a maven. People who want a comfortable game that requires little to no thinking would do better playing BINGO or CHUTES & LADDERS instead of playing SCRABBLE.
If you want the entire skinny on SCRABBLE without me holding back, get yourself enrolled into SCRABBLE 101