Comments on critique.org/feeconomy.ht

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Wendell on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:49:47 0000]

It's like the frog in cool water analogy. Things start out comfortably enough but keep adding the heat (fees) little by little and before the frog realizes it he is a boiled frog.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Wendell on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:49:27 0000]

It's like the frog in cool water analogy. Things start out comfortably enough but keep adding the heat (fees) little by little and before the frog realizes it he is a boiled frog.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Wendell on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:49:07 0000]

It's like the frog in cool water analogy. Things start out comfortably enough but keep adding the heat (fees) little by little and before the frog realizes it he is a boiled frog.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Bethany on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:13:34 0000]

Thank you Nick! I've thought this for years. Steve has a point, however. Tipping is a nice way to reward good service. This unhappy system of underpaid waiters originated when tipping became mandatory. Ideally, we shouldn't tip poor servers. We shouldn't even tip average servers. Only good servers. Then there would be incentive AND no hidden costs. However, it's hard to help undo the status quo without individually harming your waiter.

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Zach on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:25:25 0000]

It's like Urinetown! Pay to Pee, due to the lack of water on the planet. It's horrible to see what companies are trying to pull on us.

So... do I get my $0.63 fee for spending time to respond? >.>

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Zach on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:25:04 0000]

It's like Urinetown! Pay to Pee, due to the lack of water on the planet. It's horrible to see what companies are trying to pull on us.

So... do I get my $0.63 fee for spending time to respond? >.>

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Joy Fleisig on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:16:14 0000]

I'm reminded of that line from _Les Miserables_ (the musical): "Charge them for the lice, extra for the mice, 2% for looking in the mirror twice..."

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Terry on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:23:36 0000]

Just say no to land lines.

You can have a Skype phone number and unlimited calling for about $90/year.

You can send faxes using faxzero.com and efax.com will give you a fax number and email your received faxes.

Google Voice is on the verge of replacing Skype for free. Already, you can get a free phone number from Google, and use their web based voice mail, and now you can call land lines with no charge from within gmail in a compatible browser. International calls, as with Skype, are very cheap.

And as for those ubiquitous tip jars that have become a fixture on every retail counter in the country, just ignore them. The person behind the counter is paid to serve you. If they don't serve you, they will be fired, or you will go somewhere else. The best "tip" a customer can give is repeat business, plus word-of-mouth advertising. Emptying your wallet into these tip jars as a sort of bribe to get the clerk to treat you nicely is foolish and thankless, even though they may mutter "thanks" (if they notice).

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from john on Fri, 07 May 2010 09:38:18 0000]

Pretty much the VAT

[CrittersMinion]

[Reposted from old comment system, from Steve on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:46:40 0000]

At most restaurants this is not included in the bill. The idea is that this way it's up to you to decide how good the service was and thus how much it was worth, giving your waiter the incentive to be attentive. But yours is a common reaction, and it explains why the level of service you receive drops noticeably when American waiters and waitresses hear your accent.