Sunday, October 25, 2009

Show me (all of) the money!

Message to people who buy stuff via the online or paper classified ads:

If I'm selling something for... oh, let's say $30. Then you communicate with me and make arrangements to buy the item and come to pick it up. Whether or not we've discussed the selling price, the price is the price. It is not OK to show up at my home, open your purse, or wallet, and accidentally discover that you only brought $23 with you, "Is that OK?"

No..... it's not OK. We agreed on $30. That's what the item costs. If the price wasn't satisfactory, you bring that up before you come over. Because if you do show up with $23, I'm going to tell you that it's not enough. I'm going to make you go and get the rest of the money. Then I'm going to rub salt in that you may have spent as much in gas getting the money you 'forgot' as you tried to shortchange me.

I'll tell you what. I'll drop the whole subject if the next time you're at your favourite food outlet, you coyly mention that you don't quite have enough money to pay the bill. Or tell the bank that you're a little short on mortgage money this month. Let's see how they take that little bit of news.

This kind of thing happens more often than you might think. The next person that tries this little stunt with me is not only not going to get the 'deal' they're trying to finagle for themselves, I'm want to not letting them have it at all.

2 comments:

Retro Blog said...

Obviously your customer is trying to make a deal. Yer privilege to refuse to deal with the cheapskate.

Who is a good little proactive tradesman? You are!!

Goddess of Madness said...

Or the people who are picking up something you have offered for free who never show up or do show up and take said item and then dump it a block away in a local business's parking lot because they decide they don't like it, defeating the purpose of freecycle.