But you are right, I’m out of line.

Nevertheless, I’ll ad that everyone should try, once in a lifetime, first class in a plain (real first class, not super regular on most canadian airlines i.e. free cookies and 1 extra inch), or be lucky enough to somehow get an upgrade. The experience is quite remarkable.

But maybe I’m just dreaming.

Nicolas

Why people expect Rolls Royce quality and service on a used Dodge budget is beyond me.

But we should all refuse to put up with surly/bad service. Regardless of the price, sales staff are paid to be customer service agents. I’m not even asking for a smile. Just courtesy.

If a company has promised you preferential treatment from service bundling, I’d be skeptical whether you’re actually receiving any different service than unbundled customers (what a great way to up sell people to bundles! “honest man, if you buy the complete bundle we’ll actually solve your problems when you call!”)

My point was that most companies aren’t explicitly offering different levels of quality of service at different prices (with airline travel being the notable exception).

If I may put a damper on this paragraph, a lot of those companies do offer “unofficial” better service. If you are a good client (good meaning paing lots for cable, internet, phone…), you will get a quicker answer when you call customer services.

Which companies do it? I won’t tell but I know a few from my working experience.

Nicolas

PS: I hate the WJ light/jokes/too friendly attitude. But then again, I also hate to absence of service on AC.

What’s interesting is that people have completely de-valued their time throughout the whole process. Explain to me why someone would drive 30 kms across a city, spend over an hour of their time (and consume the fuel for travel) to save $0.01 / litre on gas? Even on minimum wage, the total loss would be 24X the potential savings!

Can a direct flight save you an hour or two? How about the potential for a delay, lost lugguage, risk of death (ok that’s a little extreme) etc. All these things add up.

If nothing else, we need to factor in all of our time and energy when making purchasing decisions. If one store costs 10% more but you get help right away and don’t need to drive back and forth for more parts all weekend, I’d say pay the price and write off the extra cost as money buying you happiness!

I do pay more for organic food (produce, milk & eggs)…I also pay $7/month more for a gym that is more convenient and nicer than the cheapest gym in town…

I know that I’ve personally spent money to support the endeavors that I enjoy. From the local coffee shop getting extra tips or business to the card shop that fueled my Magic habit, I’ve actually been willing to put in extra money to help them keep margins. My swing dance group uses the local legion for Saturday dances (when nothing else is on) and I specifically dropped $10-15 / head (me and the girl) on the first few weeks to ensure that they liked the traffic.

Personally, I think that we’ve really eschewed quality for quantity and that the cycle is such that everything is suffering. I can see the crunches on planes as “being fair”, but my new vacuum cleaner doesn’t even come with a 5-year warranty. I’m willing to pay more so that I don’t have to waste time buying a new vacuum every 2 years.

Same goes for health. How many of us have ever employed the services of a nutrionist, a dermatologist, a massage therapist (or reflexologist or acupuncturist) or a personal trainer? How many of us could greatly benefit from these services but just can’t “justify” the cost? (I’ve done a few of these and even I think that I’m short) How many people don’t eat well b/c it costs twice as much?

I honestly think there’s some type of “local maxima” for this stuff. We may not be there with the airline yet, but we’ve really crossed that point with health.