Minor things that bother you

[wanderer2575]

Just noticed on the gas bill that there's a line item for "service reliability charge".  wtf?  Isn't reliable service just part of doing business?  Can you imagine if other businesses could charge you extra for "reliable service"?

Plenty of other businesses do, although maybe it's a "convenience fee" or "service fee" or some other creative WTF.  I've seen posted photos of restaurant bills that include a "kitchen appreciation fee" or "living wage fee" or (grand prize winner) "economic recovery fee."  I already appreciate the kitchen by choosing to eat there.  It bothers me and it's NOT a minor thing.  It's part of the new norm to quietly raise prices by tacking shit onto the bottom of the bill instead of increasing the listed price.

[ZLoth]

Meanwhile, Everything Auto in Gatlinberg, TN posted this YouTube video today:

The Law Enforcement Officers at the Great Smokey National Park had a medical emergency, but a vehicle was blocking a side road from being used by emergency vehicles. The national park broke a window in order to access the console to place the vehicle into neutral, but were unable to.

[formulanone]

Just noticed on the gas bill that there's a line item for "service reliability charge".  wtf?  Isn't reliable service just part of doing business?  Can you imagine if other businesses could charge you extra for "reliable service"?

I always work in a 4.99% cleanliness appearance charge (BO) in all of my contract line items. There's also the $5.68/hour transportation fees (TS) for vehicle depreciation, maintenance, registration, and another for food and fuel (FU, about 3.33 to 6.66) that I work in from time to time. Also, my past education costs (UF) need to be defrayed during off-work hours, so I work in a flat fee of $2.42 for making a smart and responsible purchase and by showing up during operating hours.

After all, you don't want a unkempt and slovenly customer making a negative impact, right? And certainly you couldn't possibly acquire the item nor show up in person to purchase it if there was no method of transport. Do they also realize how bad it is for business if I collapse, entirely famished and in a sour mood because I haven't eaten? Think of the all the goodwill this spreads to creating customer loyalty and cultivates a well-tuned behavior pattern! Nothing beats the satisfaction of a wise consumer, not to mention the savoir faire I bring to every occasion, which pays it forward to all your clientele and employees in a positive manner.

You should start doing the same in all of your negotiations from here on out. Remember, never think of these mandated surcharges as a nuisance, think of them as a NEW-anced action plan for future growth and retention!

[kphoger]

Isn't that more or less what "TIP" is an acronym for when you order pizza and it asks whether you want to tip the driver as part of paying for your order? "To Insure Performance"?

Ugh.  We've already had a discussion on here about the evil of meal delivery "tips", which require you to reward the driver before he's even agreed to be your driver.

[kphoger]

I always work in a 4.99% cleanliness appearance charge (BO) in all of my contract line items. There's also the $5.68/hour transportation fees (TS) for vehicle depreciation, maintenance, registration, and another for food and fuel (FU, about 3.33 to 6.66) that I work in from time to time. Also, my past education costs (UF) need to be defrayed during off-work hours, so I work in a flat fee of $2.42 for making a smart and responsible purchase and by showing up during operating hours.

After all, you don't want a unkempt and slovenly customer making a negative impact, right? And certainly you couldn't possibly acquire the item nor show up in person to purchase it if there was no method of transport. Do they also realize how bad it is for business if I collapse, entirely famished and in a sour mood because I haven't eaten? Think of the all the goodwill this spreads to creating customer loyalty and cultivates a well-tuned behavior pattern! Nothing beats the satisfaction of a wise consumer, not to mention the savoir faire I bring to every occasion, which pays it forward to all your clientele and employees in a positive manner.

You should start doing the same in all of your negotiations from here on out. Remember, never think of these mandated surcharges as a nuisance, think of them as a NEW-anced action plan for future growth and retention!

I must say, your poetic streak lately has been very interesting.

[bugo]

If I'm watching YouTube, and an ad pops up at the beginning of a video, and after five seconds I have the option of skipping all ads, but I miss clicking [skip] until it's too later, so another ad pops up after it, then I should immediately have the option to skip that ad and go straight to the video.  After all, if I hadn't missed the first opportunity, then it would never have popped up in the first place.

If you're using a web browser, you can download ad blockers made especially for Youtube videos. They don't work with the mobile app, however.

[formulanone]

I always work in a 4.99% cleanliness appearance charge (BO) in all of my contract line items. There's also the $5.68/hour transportation fees (TS) for vehicle depreciation, maintenance, registration, and another for food and fuel (FU, about 3.33 to 6.66) that I work in from time to time. Also, my past education costs (UF) need to be defrayed during off-work hours, so I work in a flat fee of $2.42 for making a smart and responsible purchase and by showing up during operating hours.

After all, you don't want a unkempt and slovenly customer making a negative impact, right? And certainly you couldn't possibly acquire the item nor show up in person to purchase it if there was no method of transport. Do they also realize how bad it is for business if I collapse, entirely famished and in a sour mood because I haven't eaten? Think of the all the goodwill this spreads to creating customer loyalty and cultivates a well-tuned behavior pattern! Nothing beats the satisfaction of a wise consumer, not to mention the savoir faire I bring to every occasion, which pays it forward to all your clientele and employees in a positive manner.

You should start doing the same in all of your negotiations from here on out. Remember, never think of these mandated surcharges as a nuisance, think of them as a NEW-anced action plan for future growth and retention!

I must say, your poetic streak lately has been very interesting.

I owe it all to reading a rental car bill.

[Rothman]

If I'm watching YouTube, and an ad pops up at the beginning of a video, and after five seconds I have the option of skipping all ads, but I miss clicking [skip] until it's too later, so another ad pops up after it, then I should immediately have the option to skip that ad and go straight to the video.  After all, if I hadn't missed the first opportunity, then it would never have popped up in the first place.

If you're using a web browser, you can download ad blockers made especially for Youtube videos. They don't work with the mobile app, however.

That's why you use Firefox instead of the YouTube app on your phone...

[kphoger]

If I'm watching YouTube, and an ad pops up at the beginning of a video, and after five seconds I have the option of skipping all ads, but I miss clicking [skip] until it's too later, so another ad pops up after it, then I should immediately have the option to skip that ad and go straight to the video.  After all, if I hadn't missed the first opportunity, then it would never have popped up in the first place.

If you're using a web browser, you can download ad blockers made especially for Youtube videos. They don't work with the mobile app, however.

OK, I finally downloaded a blocker.  Can't believe it took me this long.

[kphoger]

One of the most annoying things in the universe is when someone with an iPhone (read:  someone who doesn't know how to reply without replying-all) "reacts" to a group text message with a reaction.  News flash:  everyone in the group doesn't need or want to know that you "liked" or "laughed at" the message.

There was once such a group text conversation going on, and one of my friends texted out sarcastically "I bet Terry will like this message".  And then, shortly thereafter, Terry "liked" that friend's message.

 

I recently started sending individual replies to everyone who reply-all 'reacts' to group text messages.  Here's an example that I sent yesterday:

"Kyle Hoger is really happy that you laughed at an image and thanks you for letting him know."

And then there's the people who decide that joking around with the sender needs to be sent via reply-all, and then everyone who wants to joke around back also decide that theirs need to be sent via reply-all too.  Here's an example that I sent on Sunday:

"Kyle Hoger really loves your picture and thanks you a whole bunch for sending it out."

The head deacon at our church just set up a group text message chain with all the deacons in it.  Yesterday, he texted out to the group an image of a list of all our names and phone numbers.  It's bad enough that I then got a zillion 'thank you' reply-all messages.  But then, last night, my best friend's dad sent out a request for him to send the .csv file as well.  My wife and I were already asleep in bed.  'Donk!' goes the notification, and then the light starts flashing.  So we're both awake at that point.  I get out of bed, go over to the dresser, clear the notification, and then can't get back to sleep for more than a half-hour.  Here's the message I sent him this morning:

"Unless it's a pressing matter, please don't wake Carrie and me up with a text message at 11:00 at night."

grrrrr.........

[/rant]

[hotdogPi]

I'm not even sure it's possible to react without it being to everyone in the group.

[kphoger]

I'm not even sure it's possible to react without it being to everyone in the group.

Then don't 'react' to a group text message.  As I said before:

News flash:  everyone in the group doesn't need or want to know that you "liked" or "laughed at" the message.

[1995hoo]

Regarding reply-all type issues, I got annoyed a couple of weeks ago when the owner of a very good restaurant near Warrenton, Virginia, sent out an e-mail about a discount offer, but she put all the recipients' e-mail addresses in the "To:" field. There were 500 recipients. I guess it was just dumb luck that nobody hit reply-all.

I thought about responding with a polite admonition not to do that, but I haven't done so (at least not yet).

[kphoger]

Regarding reply-all type issues, I got annoyed a couple of weeks ago when the owner of a very good restaurant near Warrenton, Virginia, sent out an e-mail about a discount offer, but she put all the recipients' e-mail addresses in the "To:" field. There were 500 recipients. I guess it was just dumb luck that nobody hit reply-all.

I thought about responding with a polite admonition not to do that, but I haven't done so (at least not yet).

Sometimes, those slip-ups are advantageous.  I work for a company that does contract work for the cable companies.  Every so often I find myself wanting to reach out about something to another contracting company's version of myself.  But, of course, I don't have their e-mail addresses, because I don't work for those companies.  But every once in a blue moon, someone at the cable company will send out a mass e-mail and put everyone's e-mail addresses in the To: field instead of the BCC: field.  Eureka!

[Scott5114]

Unless it's a pressing matter, please don't wake Carrie and me up with a text message at 11:00 at night.

Something like this came up in another discussion group I was reading, and the consensus there was that the timing of text messages is not the sender's responsibility—if someone would be disturbed by the arrival of a text message, it is their responsibility to put their phone on silent. (I know you don't have a smartphone, so I don't know if this available to you, but many—most?—phones now have a way to designate certain contacts as priority so they buzz the phone even when put on silent. That way even in the event that you want to be woken up by certain urgent messages but not unimportant stuff, you can configure the phone to allow that.)

While I see your point of view here, my conclusion was that the above was the right answer. After all, unless it's a coworker on the same shift, you are apt to not know what the recipient's exact sleeping schedule is, and even if you do, you don't know if they are involved in some sort of situation during waking hours where an incoming text would be disruptive. It's also easy to screw up time zones if you're not in the same one as the recipient. And one of the primary appeals of text messages is to be able to send a message when it's convenient for you, and the recipient can deal with it when it's convenient to them—I usually push through a half dozen or so messages to my boss Jake at 1am my time (4am his time) and go to bed, then when he wakes up and gets ready for the day he does whatever he needs to do with the info at around 9am his time (6am my time) while I'm asleep. If we had to line up our schedules the way we would have to do with a phone call, our company would never get anything done.

Isn't that more or less what "TIP" is an acronym for when you order pizza and it asks whether you want to tip the driver as part of paying for your order? "To Insure Performance"?

Ugh.  We've already had a discussion on here about the evil of meal delivery "tips", which require you to reward the driver before he's even agreed to be your driver.

Yep. It's not a really tip because it's not a reward—it's your bid in the auction to get a driver.

I don't have a much of a problem as some people when it comes to tips, but I have become more of a stickler for tipping well since I moved to Las Vegas because. Well. At one point the Culinary Union had access to high explosives, and I don't want to find out whether they still do or not.

[1995hoo]

Unless it's a pressing matter, please don't wake Carrie and me up with a text message at 11:00 at night.

Something like this came up in another discussion group I was reading, and the consensus there was that the timing of text messages is not the sender's responsibility—if someone would be disturbed by the arrival of a text message, it is their responsibility to put their phone on silent. (I know you don't have a smartphone, so I don't know if this available to you, but many—most?—phones now have a way to designate certain contacts as priority so they buzz the phone even when put on silent. That way even in the event that you want to be woken up by certain urgent messages but not unimportant stuff, you can configure the phone to allow that.)

....

At least with an iPhone—and I assume an Android can do the same thing—in addition to "silencing" the phone, you can put it on Do Not Disturb so that you don't get notifications at all. I have mine scheduled to do that every night from 10:00 until 7:30 the next morning, although I also set it so that immediate family are not subject to the lockout. It works quite well for me. But as I noted last week in the thread about using the public library, the one downside of that setup is that it means that if I simply have my phone silenced during the day (say, if I went to Mass and just flipped on the "silent" switch on the side), when those people call me it will make the phone ring despite the ringer being silenced.

[roadman65]

People who text you out of nowhere act like they know you.   


It's all phishing to get your attention, but it is somewhat annoying.  Why pick on me. How did you find me.

Why are these scammers all from the Phillipines? Every one has an avatar of a pretty young Filipino girl.

[hotdogPi]

Why are these scammers all from the Phillipines? Every one has an avatar of a pretty young Filipino girl.

How exactly? I notice the +63 country code for the Philippines, but they don't have a profile picture at ll.

And I'm not sure why it would need to be that demographic — the scams are usually fake E-ZPass notices or fake job offers, not intimate requests.

[kphoger]

Something like this came up in another discussion group I was reading, and the consensus there was that the timing of text messages is not the sender's responsibility—if someone would be disturbed by the arrival of a text message, it is their responsibility to put their phone on silent. (I know you don't have a smartphone, so I don't know if this available to you, but many—most?—phones now have a way to designate certain contacts as priority so they buzz the phone even when put on silent. That way even in the event that you want to be woken up by certain urgent messages but not unimportant stuff, you can configure the phone to allow that.)

While I see your point of view here, my conclusion was that the above was the right answer. After all, unless it's a coworker on the same shift, you are apt to not know what the recipient's exact sleeping schedule is, and even if you do, you don't know if they are involved in some sort of situation during waking hours where an incoming text would be disruptive.

Nope, my phone is either on 'silent' or it's not.  That's it.  So, if I silence my phone to incoming texts, then I cannot use it as an alarm clock.  But also, the notification light flashes when a text message comes in, even if my phone is on silent, which is disruptive the whole night long.

You assertion is basically that the sender is justified in assuming the recipient has a way of ignoring him.  Do you also consider this to be the case for calling people?  Should I be able to call anybody at any hour of the night, assuming that they will simply have found a way to ignore my call ahead of time if they don't want to be woken up?

My wife can select specific people whose calls will ring through even on silent mode, and I know that's common.  But, before I got this phone a few years ago, the Android smartphone I had before it did not have any such setting.  Even with that more 'typical' phone, I would have had to manually turn down the notification and ring volumes before going to bed every night in order to still use it as an alarm clock.  But anyway—assuming for the moment that I had a phone like yours—how can a close-ish friend or family member know if I have put them on the short list or not?  How can they feel safe in knowing their call or text message won't still make it through, even on nighttime silent mode?

It just strikes me as quite rude and inconsiderate to suggest that the caller/sender can act without any regard for the possibility of waking someone up in the middle of the night, shifting the blame instead onto the person who did nothing but go to bed at a normal time.

And I do know my friends' and family's work schedules.  Don't you?  Generally, if someone works nights, then everyone around them knows it.  And, during waking hours, if an incoming text would be disruptive, then that's generally when people put their phones on silent.  Movie theaters, church services, important meetings at work, etc.

I don't call or text anybody between 10pm and 8am unless I can be reasonably sure they're awake at the time.  I was taught growing up that this is just common courtesy.  You shouldn't knock on someone's door in the middle of the night unless it was an emergency, and you shouldn't call or text them either.

[1995hoo]

Can you just put your phone in a different room at night and use a normal alarm clock instead? Seems like that would solve the problem. (We leave our phones downstairs at night.)

[Max Rockatansky]

I usually solve this problem by putting the phone on the carpet screen first at night.  Our bedroom carpeting is thick enough that it usually absorbs residual noise from app notifications. 

[Rothman]

My phone is on vibrate 99% of the time.  Only use it as an alarm clock when I'm travelling.  Have a little alarm clock I bought for $5 at my bedside.

Have no problem texting/calling anyone any time.  Even in the landline era, people usually only had grandparents on the "do not call after 8 p.m. list"...

Getting offended by late texts or calls just seems like a recipe for general misery, whether or not it is actually rude for "late" communication.  Then again, some people don't feel alive unless they're mad at someone about something.

[kphoger]

Can you just put your phone in a different room at night and use a normal alarm clock instead? Seems like that would solve the problem. (We leave our phones downstairs at night.)

Two issues:

1.  The onus is now on me to figure out a way around someone else's general lack of consideration.  Now I have to buy an alarm clock because other people don't have the sense to leave me alone at night.

2.  In the event that someone actually does need to get a hold of me in the middle of the night—say my parents are headed to the hospital or something—now my phone is in the other room and likely won't wake me up.

Even in the landline era, people usually only had grandparents on the "do not call after 8 p.m. list"...

Seriously?  You'd call people at 11:00 at night in the landline days?  Your parents should have taught you better.

Then again, some people don't feel alive unless they're mad at someone about something.

That's basically the whole point of this thread, right? 

[hotdogPi]

Seriously?  You'd call people at 11:00 at night in the landline days?  Your parents should have taught you better.

Long distance was cheaper later at night.

[roadman65]

Why are these scammers all from the Phillipines? Every one has an avatar of a pretty young Filipino girl.

How exactly? I notice the +63 country code for the Philippines, but they don't have a profile picture at ll.

And I'm not sure why it would need to be that demographic — the scams are usually fake E-ZPass notices or fake job offers, not intimate requests.

On Social Media I see it all the time.  I've watched people request friends and such to others on a discussion.   

Actually most of mine are on WhatsApp.  Maybe I shouldn't say that's social media, but they try to weasel in.  On FB they ask for a friend request, especially on political flame wars pages from AI or the like.