I admit that I have tried quite a few frugal practices myself. Some of them have worked out and some have not. But there are some frugal practices that I have no intention of doing. In fact, I can’t stand it when others do them either.
For me, I draw the line at taking advantage of people or businesses to do something that clearly isn’t intended. So while I will happily clip coupons and do deals in order to get free or low cost food, I won’t get free products online through a promotion and then lie about purchasing them at a store so I can “return” them for cash. I can’t stand that.
Today I ran into another frugal practice that I can’t stand. We were in a mall computer store that was jam packed. My laptop is showing signs of qualifying for geriatric care, so we know that it we will have to replace it in the next year or two. My husband wanted to show me a couple of models that I might like. Once we determined the type of laptop needed, we could look around for refurbished or close out deals should they be available at the store later.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get near either machine because each had someone testing them out. Not a problem until 30 minutes later, both people were still on the laptops, chatting on Facebook and responding to email. We walked around the mall for another half an hour and came back–yup, both customers were still on those computers. Now they were both on Facebook. We finally left, a little miffed, no closer to knowing anything about either machine.
While a laptop is a large purchase that should be made carefully, I think it is safe to say that the customers who were trying out those machines for at least the hour that we waited were not actually deciding on a purchase but rather taking advantage of the free Internet connection, fast computer speeds and distracted employees. They were using the store for a purpose it wasn’t intended to be. The store potentially missed out on several sales during that time.
Should I gripe about this experience, or do you think I’m overreacting? Please comment and tell me your thoughts.