02/28/2022
***I want everyone to read this. Then give your opinion. I DID NOT WRITE THIS BUT AGREE WITH IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY. If the author would like to take credit, he's more than welcome to. ***
A tale of a rip off artist.
Once upon a time... because every good story begins with: Once upon a time...
Joe and Joanne each bought one side of a brand new duplex. The garage doors on the duplex were installed literally hours apart.
Joe and Joanne lived similar lives. They both worked corporate type jobs, they both went to the gym to stay in shape, they both had similar social lives. In other words, they both used their garage door similar amounts.
After about 12 years both doors broke a cable. Joanne call a company and Jill showed up to fix the door. Jill went over the whole door. Jill sold Joanne 2 cables, even though only 1 cable was broke. The other cable was not frayed, kinked, or rusted (kinda made sense, both cables were the same age) for $100.00. Jill then sold Joanne a set of 10 rollers for $200.00 even though only the 2 bottom rollers were bad. The other rollers still spun, there wasn’t a lot of clicking or wobble in the roller heads (but it kinda made sense, the rollers were all the same age and got the same amount of use. Jill charged Joanne $99.00 for the service call, $50.00 additional labor for a total of $449.00.
Joe called a company and Jim showed up. Jim was a veteran door man. Been fixing doors for quite some time. Jim went through Joe’s door and replaced 1 cable (the other one wasn’t kinked, rusted, or frayed) and replaced 2 rollers that were bad. Jim charged Joe $24.00 for the cable, $5.00 per roller, and $99.00 for the service call. A total of $133.00.
Joe and Jim both laughed and shook their head with disgust when they saw what Joanne had paid. They both agreed Joanne got RIPPED OFF.
One year later Joe woke up made his coffee got ready and went to leave to go to work, but couldn’t because his garage door was broke. Joe called Jim’s company and Jim came out. Jim went through the door found a broken roller and a second roller with a wobbly head. Jim changed those rollers. Jim charged Joe $99.00 for the service call and $10.00 for the two rollers. Jill had gone on about her day without any worries or concerns about her garage door.
One year after that. Joe got up early to prepare for a big sales presentation. Had his coffee, went to leave for work, but was stuck again because the door was crooked in the opening. Joe postponed the sales meeting (his boss wasn’t very happy) called Jim’s company again and waited for Jim to show up. Jim replaced the broken cable (thought... hey not bad, Joe got 2 more years outta that cable) and found 2 more bad rollers that needed changing. Jim handed Joe another bill for $133.00. That day Jill waved at Joe and Jim as she went freely about her day without any concern for her garage door.
One year later, Joe got home from work and his door wouldn’t close. Joe called Jim’s company and waited that evening for Jim to come out. Joe couldn’t leave the garage door open all night (someone could just walk right into his house). Jim arrived and found a roller had jammed in the track. Jim went over the door and replaced 2 rollers. Jim charged Joe 99.00 for the service call $10.00 for the rollers and for being such a loyal customer Jim only charged Joe $49.50 for the overtime. Joe paid $158.50 for the repairs that night. Jim left the job and patted himself on the back for being such a great guy and not sticking it to Joe. Jill had a normal day and simply pressed the button to close her door that night.
One year later, Joe had made plans to meet friends for a Saturday of picnicking and listening to music in the park. When Joe went to leave he found his garage door wouldn’t work. He cancelled his plans and again called Jim to come fix his door. Jim was not happy about having to come out on a Saturday, but Jim did it anyway. Jim arrived and found a bad roller. Jim replaced the last 2 original rollers. Jim thought about charging Joe overtime for Saturday service, but quickly remembered that Jim was NOT a rip off artist, so he only charged Joe $109.00 again. Jill enjoyed the Saturday and never gave a second thought about her garage door.
When you add it up. Joe paid $642.50 for the same amount of work that Jill paid $449.00 for. Joe was inconvenienced 5 times. Jill was inconvenienced 1 time. Some could read this story and walk away feeling that the REAL RIP OFF ARTIST was Jim. Jim just slowly bled his customer over a longer period. Jim certainly charged a lot more overall.
Credit: Ernie Jaeger
