Take a close look at your supermarket’s shelves and you might think that Americans are eating less at every meal. Breakfast cereal that used to come in 18 ounce boxes is now appearing in smaller 16 ounce packages. What looks like a quart carton of ice cream is really only four-fifths of that. A “pound” of coffee is light by four ounces.  A bottle of cough syrup will now last only four days rather than five. Moreover, they’re trimming your wallet along with your waistline; compare the new prices stickers against your old receipts and you’ll see that the new smaller containers often don’t cost any less than their previously larger versions.

What’s up?

It’s called “short-sizing” and it’s the retail industry’s way of getting you to pay more, for less. They know that you’re likely to cut back on your purchases if prices go up. So, rather than charging you more they just put less in the box, bag or carton.  Over time, you’re wallet is still thinner that it would have been. That is, unless you actually eat less. (Based on my unscientific observation of the expanding midriffs of America, that isn’t the choice we’ve been making.)

How can you fight back against progressively punier proportions?

Buying in bulk is a time-tested solution, but has problems. While unit prices generally are lower when you buy in larger quantities, it’s not always the case.  You need to check the unit price—ounce, pound, or dose—to make sure. And, many of us don’t have the storage space for a dozen boxes of corn flakes, twenty pounds of potatoes or a case of ketchup.

If you can’t buy in bulk, here are a few other budget broadening techniques you can try:

1.    House brands—Store brands typically run 15 to 25 percent less than their “name” brand counterparts. However, store brands are often manufactured by the same company in the same factory as the name brand versions.  Here are a few examples from my local store:

a.    Ketchup (12 oz): Name brand $2.49, House brand $1.79

b.    Toilet Paper (12 rolls): Name brand $3.39, House brand $2.12

c.    Allergy Medication (Dyphenhydramine, 100 capsules)
      Brand name $14.49, House brand $7.49

During informal taste-testing at my kitchen table, the house brand ketchup turned out to be the favorite of my expert eaters—ages seven and ten.  While the brand name toilet paper promised to be “softer,” my delicate derrière couldn’t tell the difference.  Lastly, the allergy medications were actually manufactured by the same company, giving a clue to how much we actually pay for the cost of advertising the name brand products.

2.    Memberships—I used to turn my nose up at those people who pulled out their supermarket membership card at the checkout counter. I mean, why would anyone want to belong to a produce department anyway?  Lower prices! That’s why.  I happen to shop at Albertsons.  Last year, I finally broke down and joined their little club. Frankly, the savings were more than impressive.  Without paying any attention to the “specials” I was routinely saving more than ten percent at the checkout stand. If I open my eyes and take advantage of the deals, I’ve sometimes saved as much as 20 percent.  Hey, that’s twenty bucks on a hundred dollar grocery bill. (A week’s worth of latte’s is nothing to sneeze at.)  In the retail version of double-dipping, you’ll often get additional savings if you follow step one above and also buy the store brands.

3.    Online ordering—If a company doesn’t have to pay for retail frontage, parking spaces and checkout clerks, they’re going to save money at their end and are often willing to pass those savings on to you.  Online ordering isn’t just for books anymore.  From underwear to umbrella’s, office supplies to oregano, you can likely find an online vendor whose prices are as good as or better than your local store… and they deliver to your door.

4.    Farmer’s market—This is my favorite, fresh food at bargain prices. What’s not to love? These days, most towns have a farmers market of some kind where local growers display their creations.  Unlike supermarkets where it might take a week from field to freezer, much of the produce at the farmer’s market was picked that very morning.  The farmers don’t have to pay for shipping or advertising, meaning that even though their costs might be higher per bushel, they can sell to you for less.  Plus, you haven’t really ever tasted a tomato until you’ve tried it fresh from the vine.

July 31, 2008

As if to make my point for me about the differences in customer service between the US and Japan that I made in my recent journal entry, a query appeared on the On Your Side community page.

David wrote that he’d purchased a new Mitsubishi widescreen TV from Circuit City.  When he opened up the box at home it, the front of the set appeared damaged.  The short version of David’s long ordeal is that when he took the set back to the store to have them look at it… and hopefully provide him with an undamaged set… he was all but ignored. They refused to acknowledge they had provided him with a damaged unit.

David appealed to the store, the company, the manufacturer… and to “On Your Side.”  I’d be very happy to say that we’d been able to straighten this out for him. Alas not.  However, he was taken care of. Not by the American retailer, but by the Japanese manufacturer, the party least responsible for a set broken during shipping or delivery.

Why would a manufacturer decide to fix David’s set free-of-charge even though they clearly had no liability for the damage? The maker of the set wasn’t even a factor in David’s complaint.  There is only one possible answer, Mitsubishi acted in the name of good customer service and long-term reputation building.

While Circuit City’s store manager may have been concerned about his quarterly bottom-line, someone at the factory decided that one unhappy customer wasn’t worth damaging their reputation. 

I receive hundreds of complaints every month regarding domestic retailers and service providers that hard-ball customers over relatively small amounts of money, totally oblivious to the long-term consequences of creating activist adversaries.  Populist capitalist Dale Carnegie wrote the equation more than eighty years ago that every dissatisfied customer is going to tell his story at least ten times. My experience with Japanese retailers is that they realize that it’s better for the bottom line to take care of the customer than to suffer their enmity. The question is then, why aren’t American companies seeing this same equation?

The answer is that we are looking short-term. The Circuit City store manager is worried about this month’s figures—not next year’s. (He might not even be with the company by that time.)  This is a disservice to the company and to its owners, the stockholders, who will suffer the consequences of this management myopia a few fiscal quarters down the pike.

American companies also have the irrational belief that if they make an exception for one customer that every other customer will be banging on the doors for the same deal. Hey, I’ve got news for you. If you’ve got so many unhappy customers that you have to worry about them bolting because you treated one guy fairly… you’ve got much bigger problems on your hands!  The myth of the legions of customers waiting to return items is absurd. When we buy something, each of us hopes we’ve made a wise decision.  We aren’t looking to turn around the next day and return the item. Unless, of course, the item isn’t what was promised or doesn’t work properly. In that case, we’re due a replacement or refund, regardless of any precedent.

How do we get off this merry-go-round of poor customer service and short term management?  I’ll deal with that in a later post.

(NOTE: In the interest of fair disclosure, I gave Circuit City high marks for customer service in my book, “UNSCREWED: The Consumer’s Guide to Getting What You Paid For.” Which just goes to show, even good companies can go wrong.)

July 25, 2008

Thinking of doing some traveling? You might want to think about getting your ticket now, even if you know there’s a good chance you’ll change your plans later.

Why?  Because the $100 fee you’ll be charged to make a change is often far less than the increasing air fares you’ll pay if you wait to make your reservation later.

Here’s an example. For comparison, I chose a trip from Portland to New York on United Air Lines—from the first available Thursday in each month and lasting one week:

In this case, if you needed to fly in October, the round trip you’d pay this week is just $590.  If you delayed until September when your plans were firm, you’d pay $224 more, $814. However, if you decide in September to change your trip date to December, you’d pay a change fee of $100, making the total ticket cost only $660.

If you have to cancel your trip, that cancelled ticket is worth a round trip flight. If the new flight costs more than your original, you will have to pay the difference. However, if your new flight costs less, you won’t get a refund. Therefore, it’s best to have paid as little as possible in the first place.

Of course, there may be exceptions to the rule and different airlines may charge different fees for changes.  In general though, even if you have to cancel your trip, it’s still a better deal to buy the ticket as far ahead of time as possible for your earliest possible travel date. 

July 23, 2008

While out of town last week, I was in a department store buying a new outfit for my daughter. Two clerks were helping me make a selection, a third was preparing the gift wrap and the department manager was hovering over the three of them to make sure I was being taken care of.

Later, I had a problem with my phone card, which was immediately remedied with a single call.

When I returned to my hotel, I was met at the elevator by a suited concierge who asked me how my stay was going before holding open the door for me.

Unbelievably, at dinner when I requested a beverage that wasn’t on the menu, a kitchen staffer went across the street to a market and purchased one.

Where did these over-the-top episodes of customer service take place? New York, Chicago, maybe San Francisco. None of the above.  Try… Nagoya.

I’ve just returned from a two-week trip to Japan, a country that clearly has a much better understanding of the value of good customer service than our own. More than most American retailers, Japanese businesses behave as if their success depends upon making sure that you are a happy—and loyal—customer.

I think the reasons are two-fold.

First off… Japanese companies value their employees, who in turn act as respected members of a team rather than a commodity to be discharged when business slows.

Secondly, while American companies often roll up the red carpet as soon as the purchase receipt is signed, Japanese retailers have a much longer view. They look beyond the current transaction to building a long-term relationship with a customer.  I’m not talking about points plans or discounts. Japanese companies work to build a personal relationship between individual employees and customers. You can only do that, if you don’t treat your employees as if they are disposable.

Corporate America, are you listening?

June 12, 2008

June 10, 2008

A sharp-eyed AARP community member recently noticed my birth date in the left column of this web page… June 15^th.

Yes, this Sunday is my birthday... my 50th.  As of next week, I’ll be officially part of AARP family, and I’m in need of a little advice from those of you who passed this milestone ahead of me.

What do you know now that you wish you knew then?

You can leave your comments right here on this blog for all to see, or if it’s more private… just drop me an email at rburley@aarp.org.

I look forward to hearing from you.

June 9, 2008

How can you be sure that a company is going to treat you right? The Internet is a fantastic tool for researching companies before you make a major purchase. When I’m thinking of buying something from a company I haven’t done business with before, I’ll check them out online first.  Here are a few of the sites I use:

To see if they’re crooks…

www.bbb.org

Home of the Better Business Bureau

www.ripoffreport.com

Reports from dissatisfied customers

www.ftc.gov

Your government protecting you from unscrupulous companies and bad products

To find the best price…

www.pricegrabber.com

You can compare almost any retail product

www.bizrate.com

Price comparison with user reviews

To find the best airfare…

www.priceline.com

Best known and most inclusive. Allows bidding for flights.

www.cheapflights.com

Good to compare with Priceline

www.tripmama.com

Good site for independent trip packages

This list  is just a start; a simple Google search will locate others for you. There are sites that specialize in almost every industry... from collectibles to cars to real estate. The key is the comparison. Before you purchase anything more than $100, it’s worth it to take a few minutes to research prices online.  You’ll be surprised at the range in prices and availability. Remember though… the lowest price is not always the best deal—shop price & then check out the company to make sure what your seeing is worth believing.  Always remember... Caveat Emptor.

May 29, 2008

Coasting is a crime in some states. Who have thought it? AARP member Curt Young wrote to advise me of the fact after I’d posted a journal suggesting drivers shift into neutral in order to save gas on long grades. Sure enough, more than a dozen states have laws against “Unlawful coasting on downgrade.” (Thanks for the good info, Curt. I’ve updated the previous journal entry.)

The concept of illegal coasting raised a few questions for me though. First of all, how would it ever be enforced? A state trooper can’t exactly see your shift lever from his median hideaway. What about those laws for trucks banning “engine braking” because of the noise it produces? That seems like a Catch 22; you can’t keep it in gear when slowing down, but you can’t put it in neutral either. (Don’t wait for the ticket; just send your money.)

A little research into the genesis of the anti-coasting laws indicates that most were enacted many years ago to prevent high-speed skids and over-heated brakes. Most vehicles these days are equipped with anti-lock and anti-skid braking systems that all but alleviate both situations.

Another shift in technology will produce other problems for the anti-coasting forces. Hybrid vehicles with electric direct-drive motors often don’t have conventional transmissions. Those systems depend on coasting as part of the overall scheme to increase gas mileage. On a downgrade, the electric motors free-wheel to generate electricity.  The case could be made that any hybrid vehicle on a down slope is in violation of an “unlawful coasting” statute. (Once again, just send the money.)

This appears to be a case of the law being slow to catch up to technology.  Understandably, revising the rules of the road might not be a priority for legislatures struggling with bigger issues.  After all, Washington's lawmakers only recently repealed the following statute:
 

Washington Vehicle Code: 56,2--All motor vehicles must be preceded by a man carrying a red flag (daytime) or a red lantern (nighttime) fifty feet in front of said vehicle.

Ummm... wouldn’t the flag guy have been guilty of jay-walking? 

May 28, 2008

You can save yourself a lot of grief from identity theft by taking advantage of a little junk mail.

Many people keep their main email inbox free of spam by using a “throw away” email address when shopping online. In the same fashion, you can protect yourself from online identity theft by getting a disposable credit card.

Sign up for the best of the junk mail credit card offers that land in your snail mailbox. Use that card exclusively for online purchases. If your information is lost or stolen… you can cancel just that card. You won’t have to disrupt your primary credit card account —the one that autopays your cell phone, holds all your airline miles or is on file with the rental car company.

If you don’t want to open an additional account, you might still have an option. Some card vendors can provide you with a second differently-numbered card or even a single-use “virtual” card number.
 

Your contributions will do much to help.