BS: Ripoff on a new purchase

Subject: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 02:36 PM

I bought a new Honda snowblower today. It's a beaut! The NA made ones are trash compared to this baby. Oh yeah, it cost nearly double, but it has tracks instead of wheels, a hydro trannie, power assist auger height up and down from level... etc.

I got it home and played with it. I was a happy camper. Put it in the garage. Grabbed the ignition key and the manual and the "tool kit". Couldn't find the other key. Called the salesman and I was a rather unhappy camper. Only comes with ONE key. Now, I have never seen any equipment or vehicle come with only one key. Might be able to get a second key from parts, and I was transferred.

The parts guy could not believe it. He went and checked. One key. Got on his PC and told me I could buy one for $13.25. A key! $13.25 PLUS tax! It's aluminum! And they are all the same!

What a ripoff!

Now, I have to spend a half hour making one. I ain't givin them cheap bastards another dime!

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 03:07 PM

Not after buying the Honda.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 03:31 PM

Go ahead and spend the half hour to make one, gnu.

While you're at it, practice a new song. Or just sing to yourself for the pleasure of it. Keep your money from the jerks and give yourself a treat at the same time.

As for the $13.25 you are not spending, it's more than 13.25. To earn the income to replace it, you have to replace federal and state taxes, FICA and medicare. It'll cost more than 13.25, that's for sure.

After the key is made, spend the money at your local music store or get most of a good steak dinner.

Power to the people, even if only in small ways.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Wesley S
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 03:39 PM

Honda blows.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 03:43 PM

It sure does, Wes. Move snow faster and further than anything made in NA. And, with the hydro trannie and tracks, my Satanic nerve won't like hell so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: artbrooks
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 05:54 PM

Snow...blower? Is that anything like a bubble-blower? Oh yeah - you use it to move snow from where it is to where you want it. Isn't that the cold white stuff, right? What's it good for, anyway? Last time I saw some, except up on the top of the mountain, was December 2007.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Beer
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 06:00 PM

What! you expecting some snow soon Gnu?
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: CarolC
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 06:16 PM

We had about a half inch last winter. Looked really funny on the cabbages and collards. First time I saw any since the 1990s (except for a blizzard we got stuck in while visiting up north in 2002).

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 06:19 PM

It's not a case of expecting when... I know it will be delivered. Winter here is like pregnancy. It's gonna happen. We get nine months each year when we hope it will be reasonable weather, and we KNOW three will be tenuous... or a scream.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 06:30 PM

The only reason I can think of why anyone would need a key instead of just a simple toggle switch for a snowblower would be to keep kids from accidentally cranking it up. Got any kids? If not, just keep the one key that came with the thing in the ignition switch. Permanently. If you don't take it out, you won't lose it, and you'll never need a second key.

If you don't think it's okay to leave the key in the switch, use a lanyard to tie it to some part of the machine. Make sure the lanyard has enough slack so the key can be inserted into the switch, and don't ever untie it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 05:31 AM

If gnu sings while he makes the key what key will he make?


I'll get my coat..............

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 08:06 AM

Most keys are flat.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: artbrooks
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 08:37 AM

Especially gnu's.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 12:19 PM

Order receipt and processing....$5
Personnel time to pull and box key...$7
Create and print label...$2
Cost of key...45 cents
Total...$14.45

So you see, Gnu, you are actually getting a bargain!

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 01:40 PM

Sounds like MY story.

I have a woodturning lathe....made in England by Myford. It included a small flat-blade screwdriver to aid in assembly. Of course, I already HAD 27 flat-blade screwdrivers of various sizes.

Now, 14 years later, the lathe needs to have the grease in the headstock cleaned & replaced. (not a 'sealed-bearing' type machine)

To do this, the shaft must be removed. To remove the shaft, a small threaded machine screw must be removed. The instructions say "take a short ¼BSF bolt to use as a tommy-bar...etc"

What they do not say is where in the entire USA one might obtain such a short bolt. It seems BSF (British Standard Fine) items are, or used to be, used in 'some' machines in the UK, and in a few older Triumph motorcycles. Now...if Myford had INCLUDED one of these items (probably costing 50¢ at most) instead of a screwdriver with the $1700 lathe, all would be well....but I have been to machine shops, and scoured the internet and they are hard to find. I 'think' I have a lead for a supplier in Canada....but it will probably cost me...oh....$14.45 or so.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 02:17 PM

Bill... that REALLY sucks! If you can't get it, there is always drill, tap, get a new one made... of course, ya gotta REALLY whine at the machine shop so they don't charge ya an arm and a lathe.

BTW... Mum decided to splurge a feww weeks ago and get the last car of her life. $30k. And, they tried to add a $299 documentation fee (some call it admin, processing, whatever). And the pitch is, other companies charge more than we do. I felt so warm and fuzzy when I heard that being fucked up the ass was gonna be so much fun. I said... no, you gave us a price and we agreed to the price. If you can change the price, so can I. Do you want to start over? No.

She likes the new car.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 05:33 PM

"...always drill, tap, get a new one made."

Oh, if only! Ya' see, what you take OUT of this very, very shallow hole to put that BSF bolt/stud IN, is a tiny set-screw with a brass tip on it.....and the instructions say 'for gosh sakes, don't lose the brass piece!'. I don't see exactly what it does, but it seems to be important, and I'd never get that done in standard threads. (Even the collar that it fits in would be hard to re-drill)

Nope... I gotta get me that cheap little threaded stud..

(grinning at your Mom's new car....I'll bet they were NOT eager to start over!....good show!)

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Ed T
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 06:07 PM

"Sex is like snow... You never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it will last."

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Ed T
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 06:14 PM

Species: The northern Honda, Hombre on his winter migration from the house to the shed?

http://www.jokeemail.com/pictures/snowblower.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: gnu
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 06:47 PM

Good luck, Bill.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 07:17 PM

Ah, shopping for snowblowers in September? Sounds like back home in Wisconsin.

Now here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, I had to buy my winter firewood in June, before wood got scarce and prices went up. It was about $250 a cord this year for oak. My three cords should last me two years.


-joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 11:18 PM

I'm surprised there's any wood left in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Sure, you don't need a snow blower, Joe, but you might want to invest in some drums of fire repellant foam and a big hose.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: Bert
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 11:24 PM

Return it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoff on a new purchase
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 03:25 AM

Cheap items can be just as annoying. We bought a lawn strimmer for about £35 about a year ago, and it was battery powered. The battery had two LEDs one green and one red. A little sticker said *both* these lights will come on when the battery is plugged in to be charged, and they do not indicate how charged the battery is. Also, do not overcharge it or allow the battery to become completely discharged or the battery will fail.

In summary:
i) You cannot tell how near to fully discharged it is
ii) You cannot tell if it is fully charged
iii) Going too far in either direction will wreck the battery.
iv) Although it shows every sign of being designed to give you the information you need, someone has decreed this should be disabled.