Deceptive Practice and Poor Services

By

Annette Bergman

 

 

I recently bought a house that I wanted to remodel and I had a man who said he would do the work and that we would need a dumpster.  He called the Dumpster Company from my house and then repeated everything the person on the other end of the conversation said.  “So it will be $175.00 for delivery and then $100.00 when we have it picked up. That’s it?”  He nodded yes.

So I said, “See when it can be delivered.”

“Friday between 1:00 and 5:00P.M.” the man repeated.

I nodded okay as I knew this man had to work on Friday.

Having sold real estate for thirty years I couldn’t help but think how long I would have lasted if I had told a client, “I’ll meet you there between one and five for you to look at the house.”

With cell phones and tracking devices you would think a business could come a little closer than between one and five.  So I was there just a little early and I waited until 2:30 before I heard the truck.

He asked where I wanted the dumpster and he backed it up exactly where I said.  Then I said, “I believe I need to write you a check.”

“I don’t know I’ll have to call the office.”

He climbed back in the cab of the truck and in a little while he said. “Yea, they said I needed a check for $475.00.”

“I was told it would be $175.00 now and $100.00 when the dumpster was picked up.”

He got back in the cab and called again. “She said that didn’t include the use of the dumpster.  So its $475.00 totals?”

“I tell you what I’m a little sick of the deceptive practices of businesses today so you just load that dumpster back up and take it with you.”

He got back on the cell phone and said, “She’s refusing the delivery.”

Then he apologized for the misunderstanding and loaded the dumpster back on the truck and left.

That would have been like me selling somebody a house and then at closing, “You do know that the ground the house sits on is leased?”

I then called a company that rents totes.  I got an answering machine three times on Friday and left messages for them to call me, but no returned calls.  So on Saturday I called back and the machine said if it was an emergence to call another number.  So I called the other number and got another answering machine saying to leave a message and I did.  “If you would return your calls during the week you probably wouldn’t need an emergency number. Don’t bother calling me back.”

I have found creative ways to dispose of most of the materials, but I did have to call a nice young man with a trailer to haul a load off for me and he was so helpful I had him come by my house and clean out the back of my truck.

Then I had to take my husband to have his eyes examined.  He had a change in his eye sight and need a stronger prescription.   They were having a buy one pair of glasses and get the second one free.  I thought it only made good sense to get his sun glasses too.  The first pair was going to be $173.00 and some change.  He wants the same frames and then she totals up the bill and says that will be $324.00.

“I thought you said it was a buy one pair and get the second pair free.”

“It is, but we have to figure”… and she lost me.  How complicated can buy one get one free get? 

Is this a new way of doing business?  If it is, I can say with one hundred percent honesty that I don’t like it.  Have the times changed so much that you have to be deceptive to get people in your store?

And while I’m at it I might as well complain about the grocery stores and their sales.  The sale should start when the newspaper comes off the press.  I went to a store this summer that had corn on sale.  I asked about the corn that was on sale and the man said. “That sale doesn’t start until tomorrow.”  You know I wasn’t happy and I didn’t go back there for corn.  It wouldn’t have hurt for him to say go ahead and get what you want and we’ll honor the sale price.  Therein is the problem.  There is no honor…or at least it’s difficult to find with the deceptive practices and poor services.