AL6400 Blog

Bonus Items To Make Up For Shortcomings

Alan Yu — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:03:30 +0000

There is a lot of buzz for the new iPhone here today of course as it has just recently been released here. I was reading previously how it didn’t get very good reviews from various publications due to some sort of reception problem with the phone. The interesting thing about this I thought is that companies recognize this and so on this launch day many people offered bonuses with the phone such as free cases to hopefully win over the consumer despite the publicized drawbacks.

I then heard two sides of the debate where some felt that it was a great gift to even out the shortcomings while some think it is silly as they would rather have the product at an optimal performance. You would usually have to provide a lot of free spiffs and bonuses if the problem is that rampant I think. It almost makes you wonder why they didn’t just delay it to work out all the kinks instead.

Sure there is money to be made as you know there is a clear demand for it. But I would think the damage done to your brand is far greater than the money you would make by just releasing the item prematurely. It also allows the competitor an option to sweep a lot of the spotlight from you. I think bonus items should be more about making the value of the purchase better as opposed to making up for the lack of features or capabilities of your product.

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Activating A New Credit Card

Alan Yu — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:45:43 +0000

I got a new credit card in the mail today and I guess this reaffirms that the message I got last week about being sent a new credit card for security purposes which was true. I had to go through all of the normal procedures in activating a new card. I also asked the customer service agent out of curiosity on the reason that my card had to be re-issued. The person told me that one of the merchants that I have used my card with have had their computer systems stolen and therefore all of the credit card accounts in it may have been comprised.

So this isn’t just a new credit card with a different expiry date. All of the digits are different as well. One setback as a result of this is that virtually every service provider that I have my credit card setup with must be informed of this change. For example, even something as simple as the utility bill where I normally just kept my credit card number on file for easy billing must be changed now.

I suppose it’s all for the better though as it wouldn’t have been nice to get surprised by an unexpected bill at the end of the month.

What Other People Think

Alan Yu — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:14:39 +0000

So today I was helping with some house painting and there was this little smear on the ceiling which looked like it was used to cover something up. The paint was the same the color as the ceiling which made it blend to a certain extent, but you still notice it. Since it was pretty high up and all, the homeowners contemplated about hiring a person to paint the ceiling and the estimate was about $600.

My first reaction was that the smear is not too big a of a deal I thought and for $600 it didn’t seem worth it. After talking about this the homeowners mentioned that they were originally okay with it but felt that guests would notice it and therefore it would look bad. This then lead into a conversation on how it should be what they think and not others. Eventually, they decided that it was better to save the $600.

I suppose it’s always nice to try make your property top notch if it means improving your in some way lifestyle. But spending loads of money mainly to try and win over acceptance/approval from someone else’s taste and perception in cases like this are just a money sink I’d say.

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Wanting New Stuff When Moving

Alan Yu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:24:01 +0000

So this week I am going to help with some people in moving and one thing that they have appeared to do is buy new equipment for their new home. Originally with the sale of their old home they agreed to sell all of the old appliances along with the place as well. The last person I talked to mentioned that he prefers it if people take things like the large appliances whenever they sell a home as the hassle and cost of having to transport them to the new place makes it feel as if it is better to simply buy new stuff.

On top of that, just the notion that they are moving into a new place made it semi justifiable to buy new stuff for it as well. So when they said things like they were thinking of buying a new television simply because they were moving that made me think of how much money they were wasting mainly to just have new stuff.

I think for myself, if the item requires some kind of massive deconstruction in order to transport or say the item is about $100 to buy a more modern day version then I would be inclined to do the same. For example, I couldn’t justify buying a new computer just because I am going to a new place as it is an item that is easy to disconnect and setup. Example, if I had a bulky desk and I was able to acquire a new one for cheap I would be inclined to let someone take the old one off my hands instead of dealing with having to transport it.

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Annual Pass Considerations

Alan Yu — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:05:32 +0000

Today one of my family members whizzed by a site attraction here called Science World with my nephew as it was a sunny day and all. They were going to go in just to find out that even for little kids the cost would be about $12 to get in and they didn’t think it was worth it for such a short stay. Then a topic was brought up on how buying single passes to places like the aquarium was just as expensive.

My brother was then saying how when he brought his son to the place a ticket was about $20 for the child. But then he noticed that the annual pass was about $100. Even though he only intended to go there for that one day he figured that the $100 pass seemed like a way better value and therefore he bought that just incase they return in the future. He figured his son would ask to go back anyways and that one day they could always just plan to go all of a sudden.

I was just thinking how that can be a great way to save money where one would try to find passes that allow to you attend places continuously as opposed to buying single tickets. Example, I guess this can hold true for things like movie rentals where getting annual plans can be better than just renting things individual. You have to make sure that there is a reasonable or likely chance that you will use the value of the pass as well. Otherwise it will end up like those unused fitness centre passes that so many people have.

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