BMR Lite

[vendic]

Spare parts hell.
If it doesn't fit, can you just short the limit switch and fit an external one instead?

A number of times I've found products where the cost of the whole thing is cheaper than the some of the spare parts so had to do crazy shit like above.

[Thumper]

I've seen that application. You can buy an external float that plugs into the outlet. Short the pump to run all the time then you plug it into the back side of the new float plug. When the new float (uhh floats) it energizes the plug and the pump powers on.

I found an entire cap assembly (switch, float lever, handle, cord) for like $75. The entire pump costs less than $200. The switch coming in from Amazon tomorrow cost me $12. I was willing to pay a little more to have a genuine Ridgid replacement that I knew for sure fit my application. But oh well.

[vendic]

Damn!
They are slugging people $75 for an external float switch now?
I used to get them about the same price you are getting the spare for. Though I did have to wire it, it wasn't pre-wired.

[pumpkinpi]

Ugh. Sorry. Also, sorry about the bad interaction with the uneducated Home Depot employee. I've had some myself, but I don't blame them. I blame the box store model, when their dozens/hundreds of employees per store really can't be able to answer every question. I went to a HD once looking for gaffer tape. Nobody even knew what it was.

[Thumper]

Exactly, it's the store model. Sure Home Depot, Wallmart, or Lowes appears to have everything. But you rarely have the expertise in the store if you need help. There's a reason most professionals go to a specific plumbing supply outlet, or electrical supply contractor. Sure it's more expensive (they pass the cost onto the customer anyway) but they'll have what you need, they know what you need, they can help you with the solution.

[SciFiFisher]

I've seen that application. You can buy an external float that plugs into the outlet. Short the pump to run all the time then you plug it into the back side of the new float plug. When the new float (uhh floats) it energizes the plug and the pump powers on.

I found an entire cap assembly (switch, float lever, handle, cord) for like $75. The entire pump costs less than $200. The switch coming in from Amazon tomorrow cost me $12. I was willing to pay a little more to have a genuine Ridgid replacement that I knew for sure fit my application. But oh well.

Let's pretend for a moment you are Home Depot and/or the manufacturer of a $200 pump. To repair it probably takes a minimum of 1 hour of shop time. Labor cost is probably going to be around $75 per hour. Parts if they have the usually mark up will cost you a minimum of $25. Throw in a couple of other things like recycling fees, taxes, and etc. It's probably cheaper for the average person to just buy another pump.

Then there is you yahoos who do your own labor. And you buy your parts as close to direct as you can get. $12 part. They probably make $4 off of it tops. $200 pump. The manufacturer makes at least $75. I think you can see where this is going. There is a parts shortage for a reason.

[vendic]

Only because you can't convince the majority to commit to a better alternative in the long run because they are convinced they have no say in the matter.
Bit like politics really, only there people think they have a say but really don't.
Apart from that it's the same though.

[Thumper]

Two switches showed up yesterday. One was an exact replacement. Swapped it in then tested the pump in a bucket outside. Cleaned it up a bit and swapped it back into the hole. Cleaned up the backup pump a bit and it's again ready to be a back up. I filled out the online form to return the other switch. One of the options was to exchange it for another item. So I've got another correct switch on the way.

[vendic]

A happy ending!

[SciFiFisher]

A happy ending!

Does that mean this was the wrong thread for this story?

[Thumper]

Oh, I was hopin' there'd be a happy ending.

[SciFi Chick]

Ugh. Sorry. Also, sorry about the bad interaction with the uneducated Home Depot employee. I've had some myself, but I don't blame them. I blame the box store model, when their dozens/hundreds of employees per store really can't be able to answer every question. I went to a HD once looking for gaffer tape. Nobody even knew what it was.

Which is why I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled when I went to my local Lowe's to have the paint from my porch matched. The guy working there used to work for a real paint store and had decades of experience matching paint. He even took it outside into the sun to make certain. Best customer service experience I ever had in a box store.

[SciFi Chick]

Never going to understand how some people think. We just spent a week in Florida with two other couples. Nice people, and we've travelled with them before.

Somehow, I missed this post before now. This kind of thing is why there are very specific people that we are willing to travel with, because when someone has this kind of attitude, confronting them only escalates it. The last time I went through this was on a trip to Hawaii. Absolute nightmare and that friendship slowly withered away completely afterwards.

[Tarragon]

And to think those big box store associates want $15 per hour?

Of course, if they made a living wage, they might stick around and learn enough to be useful.

Of course, if they were useful and made a living wage, the price would go up a few cents and then people would buy online after talking to them.

The only solution is to nuke the 'net from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[SciFiFisher]

And to think those big box store associates want $15 per hour?

Of course, if they made a living wage, they might stick around and learn enough to be useful.

Of course, if they were useful and made a living wage, the price would go up a few cents and then people would buy online after talking to them.

The only solution is to nuke the 'net from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Funny you should say that. A couple years back Best Buy was referred to as Amazon's show room.

[Thumper]

Every once in a while you get lucky going into a Home Depot. You find a guy with 20 years of experience in the area you need assistance in. He helps you and you're well on your way to your home improvement solution. Turns out he was the manager of the local mom and pop hardware /plumbing supply/electrical contractor supply store that was forced out of business when the Home Depot came to town. He had to get a job there to put food on his table.

[SciFiFisher]

Every once in a while you get lucky going into a Home Depot. You find a guy with 20 years of experience in the area you need assistance in. He helps you and you're well on your way to your home improvement solution. Turns out he was the manager of the local mom and pop hardware /plumbing supply/electrical contractor supply store that was forced out of business when the Home Depot came to town. He had to get a job there to put food on his table.

That is sort of heart breaking.

[geonuc]

Every once in a while you get lucky going into a Home Depot. You find a guy with 20 years of experience in the area you need assistance in. He helps you and you're well on your way to your home improvement solution. Turns out he was the manager of the local mom and pop hardware /plumbing supply/electrical contractor supply store that was forced out of business when the Home Depot came to town. He had to get a job there to put food on his table.

That is sort of heart breaking.

On the surface, maybe, but the guy may actually be doing better financially than he was before.

[SciFiFisher]

Every once in a while you get lucky going into a Home Depot. You find a guy with 20 years of experience in the area you need assistance in. He helps you and you're well on your way to your home improvement solution. Turns out he was the manager of the local mom and pop hardware /plumbing supply/electrical contractor supply store that was forced out of business when the Home Depot came to town. He had to get a job there to put food on his table.

That is sort of heart breaking.

On the surface, maybe, but the guy may actually be doing better financially than he was before.

That is true. I have heard a number of stories of the independent small BO who makes more money going to work for the big corporation as a peon.

I don't know if that is also sort of sad.

[Tarragon]

And some of those older guys are retired and just do it because they enjoy helping people and it's a reason to get out of the house so they don't drive their spouses crazy.

[vendic]

On the surface, maybe, but the guy may actually be doing better financially than he was before.

That is true. I have heard a number of stories of the independent small BO who makes more money going to work for the big corporation as a peon.

I don't know if that is also sort of sad.[/quote]

It's sad. The main reason small businesses fail is due to lack of initial funding. IOW, if you have plenty you are more likely to succeed.
If you have to rent a place, much of your income goes to that. If you had the resources to buy the property and fund the business then you have lower operating costs which makes it easier to succeed. It also means you can afford to let the business grow and the first few years are almost always also the years where you lose money, earn it.
The cost of equipment goes up too. In our case, we had to finance a stove/oven. The cost was $3000 to buy outright. We paid that $3000 in the first year but because most of it was interest, we still had four years to go. In effect, that equipment cost three times it's actual value. Bottom line is that it's far easier to start a business and run it profitably if you have money than if you have just enough or just not enough. This doesn't just affect businesses. If you are poorer and have to rely on credit then the things you buy are costing you more than someone that isn't. The rent/buy thing is an example. A person taking a loan ends up paying twice or three times the amount on that property than it's worth compared to a person that can just buy it without a loan. When all these things add up, it's a system stacked in favor of those who are doing well at the expense of those who are not.
Now I don't know about anyone here but the idea of a bank getting 2 times the value of a property in interest while the eventual owner gets just the value of the property is pretty fucked up, when you consider that they bank technically owns the property till it's fully paid. IOW, the risk is minimal. Naturally, the flow of money up only serves to cause more defaults. Which the banks then use to explain that they need to charge more interest to cover those losses. Round and around we go.
The most astounding thing is that most people think this is right and normal.

[Rommie]

Well it is normal, it's what is a standard of usual transactions people do when starting a business, so by definition it is.

[vendic]

Well it is normal, it's what is a standard of usual transactions people do when starting a business, so by definition it is.

It is normal, here. It's different in Oz.

As an example, loans aren't given at different rates depending on your credit history. At least they weren't the last time I had one. They just need to know that you have a record of paying it back, have collateral to draw against or have a guarantor. The rate never changes however for the same loan type. Here two people get different interest rates based on a credit rating system that no one really knows how is derived. There are basic guidelines but there is no formal definition anywhere on how to determine one's credit rating. It's all undisclosed.
Here, different people get different rates on housing loans, car loans etc. I'm not talking 1 or 2 percent, its ten or twenty percent difference.
It's not a case of if you have work and can afford to pay it back, they determine it totally on the mystical credit rating system. Since I have never applied for a loan here I have no credit history. So it's assumed that I'm right down the bottom of the rating system. You have to really screw up to go lower. They say that is the standard rate, but people get rewarded if they have a better rating. Not really. It's just a fantastic way to keep poorer people in the debt cycle. Currently the average American owes $15,000 in credit card debt iirc. That means lenders are getting similar amount from people every year also due to interest.
e.g. have a look at payday loans. The effective rate is about 900% p.a.
This is why I supported Sanders with his plan of using the post office to provide the same service at far lower rates.

Another example, this actually happened to us. We got deposits and withdraw's in the same day. Even though the deposits outweighed the withdraw's by far and were placed first, they processed every withdraw first, then charged us a huge fee for lack of funds. Then they put in the deposit and after that removed the fee's. A great way to get a few hundred dollars for nothing at $35 a pop for the fee. We complained and they sent us a nice letter explaining that they can mix and match and process deposits and withdraws in any order within the 24 hours that they came in, and did so to help customers. They actually said that. Stick your fucking help up your ass was my response. They chose the one possible way that they could get a fee for every withdraw by processing in highest withdraws first to lowest withdraws, then put smallest deposits in leading to highest deposits. Because that helps us.
It's a mess.
Oh, the biggest insult was that SFC knew that withdraws were coming so deposited a check early in the morning to make sure we wouldn't get hit with fee's. Where was the check from? It was not only from the same bank, it was from another account from the same damned branch!

[geonuc]

Here, different people get different rates on housing loans, car loans etc. I'm not talking 1 or 2 percent, its ten or twenty percent difference.

There are usury laws that limit interest rates on some things, such as car loans and credit cards.

[SciFi Chick]

Here, different people get different rates on housing loans, car loans etc. I'm not talking 1 or 2 percent, its ten or twenty percent difference.

There are usury laws that limit interest rates on some things, such as car loans and credit cards.

Yeah, but it's not a very good limit. 25% interest is usury as far as I'm concerned, and those payday loans that take the title of your car is a very convenient way of getting around that law. And I only ever see those facilities in low income areas. From what I can tell, about the only thing usury laws accomplish is preventing the law abiding creditor from breaking your legs when you can't pay.