Yesterday I received an envelope from the the U.S. Census Bureau. "Cool, must be our census form", I thought. Nope, it was a letter from the director to tell me that I should receive a census form in the mail in about a week. Huh?
Why bother wasting the money to print and mail out these notices when they could simply send me the form? People are as likely to open the envelope with the form as they are the envelope with this advance notice. I know the census is this year and will gladly fill out the form and send it back.
I don't know how much the Census bureau wasted sending this letter to every address in the country. When the IRS sent a similar advance notice about the tax rebate checks during the Bush administration, news reports at the time placed the cost at around $20 million.
The average U.S. tax payer pays roughly $7,907 a year in income taxes. If the $20 million figure holds true for this mailing, that would mean income taxes paid by the hard work of 2,529 U.S. taxpayers funded nothing else but this useless letter. And the government wonders why citizens are upset over wasteful spending and budget deficits. That $20 million could've gone towards paying off the federal debt (a drop in the bucket, but still a lot of money and drops add up).
The census is a valuable tool, only happens every 10 years and is only as accurate as the data provided by citizens. The bureau has the responsibility to get the word out and reach a high participation rate. I get that and support their efforts.
They also have a responsibility to taxpayers to spend our tax dollars wisely. Sending out useless letters and producing lame Ed Begley, Jr. commercials that aren't effective doesn't help them achieve either goal.
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, June 7, 2009
More Reasons Why Chrysler Is In Bankruptcy
Yesterday I received a letter from Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Chrysler. It's a form letter sent out to Chrysler customers (we have 2 Chrysler vehicles) with info about the bankruptcy and assurances that they're still making great vehicles, will honor all warranties, blah, blah, blah.
At the end is an "Owner Loyalty Certificate" offering $1000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicle. Sounds like a good idea to retain customers and maybe generate some sales. Then I looked at the fine print and a couple things hit me...
The offer is only valid from May 5 to June 30. The letter was delivered to me on June 6, halfway into the program. The fine print says the offer's "not valid on a prior purchase or lease". So if I had purchased a new Dodge last week and then got this certificate for $1000 yesterday that I couldn't use, I'd be one ticked off customer and brand loyalty would be the last thing on my mind. Note to Chrysler...when running an offer like this, send it out in time for people to use it.
Only good for purchase of a new 2008 or 2009 vehicle with some models excluded. There are a lot of models on the excluded list which I understand. Manufacturers don't want to discount their best selling models. But it's now model year 2010...if you still have a 2008 Crossfire or Magnum on the lot, you want to sell it now. A $1000 loyalty offer is one way to do that. So why are there any exclusions on purchasing a 2008 model?
I'm disappointed to see Chrysler go into bankruptcy. We're overall pretty happy with the quality, styling and what not of our Chrysler vehicles. And I hope that they continue to make great cars and trucks. But they need to get smarter about how they run their business.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall when we bought my wife's car in 2005. It was a new purchase and Chrysler offered us an extra $500 rebate if we would finance through them at 0% interest for 4 years. In other words, these financial geniuses paid me $500 to use over $20k of their money for free for 4 years! Is it any wonder they're in bankruptcy now?
But I guess the joke's on me as an American taxpayer since we're squandering billions to bail these guys and GM out of a mess they created. Meanwhile Ford could get the royal shaft because they used smart management to avoid taking bailout money.
At the end is an "Owner Loyalty Certificate" offering $1000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicle. Sounds like a good idea to retain customers and maybe generate some sales. Then I looked at the fine print and a couple things hit me...
The offer is only valid from May 5 to June 30. The letter was delivered to me on June 6, halfway into the program. The fine print says the offer's "not valid on a prior purchase or lease". So if I had purchased a new Dodge last week and then got this certificate for $1000 yesterday that I couldn't use, I'd be one ticked off customer and brand loyalty would be the last thing on my mind. Note to Chrysler...when running an offer like this, send it out in time for people to use it.
Only good for purchase of a new 2008 or 2009 vehicle with some models excluded. There are a lot of models on the excluded list which I understand. Manufacturers don't want to discount their best selling models. But it's now model year 2010...if you still have a 2008 Crossfire or Magnum on the lot, you want to sell it now. A $1000 loyalty offer is one way to do that. So why are there any exclusions on purchasing a 2008 model?
I'm disappointed to see Chrysler go into bankruptcy. We're overall pretty happy with the quality, styling and what not of our Chrysler vehicles. And I hope that they continue to make great cars and trucks. But they need to get smarter about how they run their business.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall when we bought my wife's car in 2005. It was a new purchase and Chrysler offered us an extra $500 rebate if we would finance through them at 0% interest for 4 years. In other words, these financial geniuses paid me $500 to use over $20k of their money for free for 4 years! Is it any wonder they're in bankruptcy now?
But I guess the joke's on me as an American taxpayer since we're squandering billions to bail these guys and GM out of a mess they created. Meanwhile Ford could get the royal shaft because they used smart management to avoid taking bailout money.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
How Wendy's Tries To Rip You Off At The Drive Thru
Guard your wallet when ordering at the Wendy's drive thru. I went through the drive-thru at Wendy's for lunch today and placed my order for a #6 combo with Dr. Pepper. The cashier asked, "medium or large?" I don't eat at Wendy's very often so I assumed they must not offer a small size and replied, "medium". Then I took a quick look at the menu board and saw that they do have small and the medium size is an extra 59 cents!
After changing my order to the small size I pulled around and paid for my order. I could hear the cashier inside asking the next customer the same "medium or large" question. Drive-thru cashiers typically follow a script so I suspect this is Wendy's standard tactic to get people to spend more without realizing it.
Why do I say they're trying to rip us off? Because they asked if I wanted "medium or large"...that implies there are only two choices. They're not being honest about the choices. They could've asked if I wanted to upgrade to a larger size or simply asked if I wanted a small, medium or large combo. Instead they're trying to get customers to spend more by subtly removing the lower cost option from consideration.
To top it off, I got back to work and found that they didn't even give me any ketchup for my fries. It's doubtful I'll be eating at Wendy's again any time soon.
After changing my order to the small size I pulled around and paid for my order. I could hear the cashier inside asking the next customer the same "medium or large" question. Drive-thru cashiers typically follow a script so I suspect this is Wendy's standard tactic to get people to spend more without realizing it.
Why do I say they're trying to rip us off? Because they asked if I wanted "medium or large"...that implies there are only two choices. They're not being honest about the choices. They could've asked if I wanted to upgrade to a larger size or simply asked if I wanted a small, medium or large combo. Instead they're trying to get customers to spend more by subtly removing the lower cost option from consideration.
To top it off, I got back to work and found that they didn't even give me any ketchup for my fries. It's doubtful I'll be eating at Wendy's again any time soon.
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