Posted by: coconews | May 14, 2008

Are you being discriminated against and don’t know it?

It’s a little secret people don’t want you to know about.  You ask, how could I be discriminated against and not know it?  Well, this kind of discrimination has nothing to do with the color of your skin or nationality, it is to do with where you live. Yes, I said, “where you live” 

Things you may want to know….

A lot of people like to shop or hire people in the area they live in.  Lets face it, it’s a lot more convenient than running across town, getting quotes from businesses out of the area, etc., etc.  Unfortunately, if you live in or near a wealthier area of town you can end up paying more for goods and services because some businesses assume you can afford to do so.  This is a form of price discrimination.

What you can do…

Try to get quotes for goods & services from other companies outside of the area you live for comparison sake, especially if you live in or near a wealthier area of town.  You will be able to quickly weed out any business that is gouging you.  Usually their prices are three to five times higher than anyone else.

Remember…

A phone call here or there can sometimes save you some big bucks.  

 

Posted in retail hazards, retail tips | Tags: ,

« Buying a car? Buying a suv? Buying a van? Buying a truck? Just test driving a new vehicle you are admiring? Why does a car dealership have to photocopy my drivers license before I test drive a vehicle?
Does it matter what home inspector you hire? Are all home inspectors created equal? Do I really need a home inspector? »

Responses

I have heard various stories from people about this type of problem. From getting quotes for painting, blinds, carpeting, etc. to the price of a more specialized light bulb.

For example a person wanted to buy some specialized light bulbs to have on hand for their bathroom light fixtures. The big renovation stores did not carry this particular type of light bulb. The local lighting store wanted $10.95 per light bulb. Another lighting store 10 minutes away was selling the same light bulbs for $3.00 per light bulb. The first store was charging almost four times the price for the same product.

When they questioned the first store why the high difference in price, they were met with a blank stare, silence and a shoulder shrug.

I should mention that they were looking to buy a dozen replacement bulbs not just one.

Just by making a few phone calls they saved themselves a lot of money.

By: coconews on May 14, 2008
at 3:50 pm

FYI - I’m still planning to do a thread on the hazards of blogging.

I’m trying to coordinate a piece with another blogger who will go into more detail about internet/blog security.

By: coconews on May 14, 2008
at 4:17 pm

Hey Coco,

Thanks for the advice on Paul’s blog re: VoW. I”ve looked into it a bit, when it comes closer to the time I want to buy, I’ll get more involved. Hard to find time to keep all those plates in the air.

BTW - The house I was watching on the market was sold last march $699K then renovated, then listed dec/07 for $999K then delisted and later relisted in Feb/08 for $1,090K, still on the market today.

We must all be crazy if it is normal to see anything on a market, tried at one price , failed, then have the price raised later to… somehow entice a buyer? It’s like a complete opposite of how a market works, or should. Oh well, c’est la…someone will buy it sooner or later… or will they?

By: Vansanity on May 14, 2008
at 4:53 pm

Thanks Coco, interesting topic.
The other night on CBC National they had a feature about buying automobiles. You should negotiate the price before going for a test drive because once you hand over your drivers license, the dealership “may” run a credit report and pre-determine how much you can afford and thus you might be sold more than you wanted, the interest rate you will pay, etc… This form of discrimination determines what vehicle you buy and you didn’t even know it!

By: View on May 14, 2008
at 8:31 pm

Silly me Coco,

You can imagine my pleasure when I scrolled to the previous topic about buying an automobile!!

By: View on May 14, 2008
at 8:33 pm

Hi Coco,
I’m always amazed and the time and effort you and other bloggers dedicate to these great sites. That said, I still miss your old blog. I feel so out of the loop without my fix of articles!
Thanks for all you do!

By: GM on May 15, 2008
at 12:01 am

View,

I didn’t see the CBC news story. Someone told me about it though. I did my own homework and came up with the thread you read below.

I did read the CBC story online after I published mine and a person accused me of copying CBC’s story. Although the story is similar we have different information from each other.

I disagree with CBC on negotiating a price in advance; doesn’t that give away your power to compare prices at other dealerships for leverage, etc.?

Personally, I would do the photocopy of the drivers license with the “do not run a credit check on me” on the bottom of it. I would tell the dealership, I will be checking my credit report after test driving several makes and models at different dealerships. That if any dealership runs an unauthorized credit check, that I will never do business with them again and report them for running an unauthorized credit check on me.

By: coconews on May 15, 2008
at 6:17 am

GM,

The old blog took a lot of time on a daily basis and had a lot of problems which I will get into on another thread in the future.

I actually was just going to take a break from the old blog and post some links on other blogs, but that didn’t work out too well because someone decided to copy the format in less than 24 hours.

The economic news blog eventually would become a dead blog anyway. When the economy slows, what do you talk about then? When it will go up? Zzzzzz. If the economy just stays stable/flatlines, what do you talk? How boring it has become? Zzzzz.

When met with adversity, reinvent your blog.

By: coconews on May 15, 2008
at 6:37 am

Vansanity,

Your welcome.

By: coconews on May 15, 2008
at 6:38 am

FYI,

I was told this by a carsalesman. They hate negotiating deals by email, as you become faceless.

When you say you want such and such a vehicle and your contacting various dealerships for their best price by email, they don’t like it.

Plus, since they do not have your personal info from drivers license it becomes kind of hard to run an unauthorized credit check on you.

By: coconews on May 15, 2008
at 6:58 am

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