The Chronic Consumer

My husband spends a lot of time in the garage working on his motocross bikes and our son’s ATV. Over the course of the years, he has amassed a pretty impressive collection of hand tools that allow him to make minor repairs and adjustments.

Recently, however, he’s been thinking about buying some air tools so he can tackle a few bigger jobs instead of having to take the bikes to the dealer for expensive overhauls. These tools would be a big investment at the start, but I think we’d end up saving money in the long run. It’s worth a shot, at any rate, so I’m going to give my husband the green light on this idea!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand all the kiosks that are set up at one of the local malls around here. It used to be that those booths and carts in the middle of the walkway were just put out on a temporary basis for special events like craft sales or whatever. But now, they’ve more or less become a permanent fixture, making it impossible to go shopping without getting accosted by 50 different vendors on any given day.

These kiosks offer everything from cell phones to Crocs sandals to mens gold watches, and I admit that I can occasionally find good deals on these products. But I hate having to walk around with my head down, trying to avoid eye contact with the vendors so I don’t get stopped every 10 feet by yet another sales pitch.

I wonder if these kiosks are common to all malls or if this is just a Midwest thing. I don’t recall seeing these when I went to San Diego and Honolulu, so I have no idea….

I love shopping online for most things, but one thing I can’t stand about the process is when websites offer limited shipping options. You’d think they’d want to offer their customers the best deals on shipping in order to build good will and loyalty, but that’s simply not the case at all.

For instance, this morning I wanted to order a motocross t-shirt for my husband and was all set to pay the $19.99 asking price — until I saw that I would be charged $12 for shipping! WTF???

It turns out that the website only shipped via UPS, which is why the charges were so jacked.

Obviously, I didn’t go through with the order. There’s no way I would pay that much for shipping on a $20 item. Plus, that site has now essentially lost my business since I’m not even going to bother checking for merchandise there anymore. Why would I when I’d just end up paying so much for shipping?

How hard would it be to stuff the tee into a big envelope and mail it through the post office? It would cost $5 tops, and would probably result in more sales for the site.

Well, whatever, it’s their loss. I just had to vent for a minute!