It occurred to me that companies make things inconvenient, in order to give you a chance to upsell to something convenient.
Why am I saying this? My ten year old state license plate was very battered. It was peeling, bent and looked terrible. I ordered a new plate and installed it yesterday. After I looked at the design I was curious what other designs were possible so I took a look at the state website for license plates.
I was surprised to see a separate charge to keep the same license plate information. Why wouldn’t you do that by default? If that changes, then you have to update your insurance company so that it reflects properly on your proof of insurance papers.
Then it occurred to me that many times companies make things difficult in order to sell you an upgrade. Airlines came to mind. In the past there were never separate charges. You paid one fee and got all the benefits even if you didn’t use them. When people wanted lower fairs then it became ridiculous how airlines are nickel and dimming people.
This happens in all industries. Many times things that are a “feature” to make things better are secretly worse for the customer. For example I have considered buying a new snapdragon processor because of it being more energy efficient. However the problem is that key software isn’t compatible with it, and as a IT consultant, I can’t tell my client that I am not compatible with their platform.
Companies strategically design things so that they seem better but are in fact worse. I have learned from YouTube and reading articles that cars are getting worse including brands that used to have reputations for quality. All car manufacturers are making cars with more plastic and less metal. We are getting worse cars and this has seemed to be happening since 2010.
This also is part of the reason that I am hanging on to my 2009 vehicle. It works well and other than a few cosmetic issues that could be fixed, it does the job for me. If I wanted to fix the cosmetic issues it would cost about $1800 for new upholstery and $3500 for a paint job. Then it would look new. So far that hasn’t been worth it to me. I’d rather have a reliable car that looks used than a new car that isn’t reliable.
What is shocking is to learn from various sources that some new cars have major mechanical problems with less than 100k miles. It is even more surprising to learn that some cars were never designed to last more than 100k and that is considered their “lifetime”. My car currently has about 150k on it and other owners said it has lasted to 300k. Am I cheap? Perhaps. I just don’t see the value in paying for a depreciating asset. I have wasted enough money on cars.
We need to carefully consider before we buy things. What exactly are we getting for our money, and what new inconveniences are they going to cause?