Update! Free Market Competition - Failing in a personal way
Update:
Here's another issue related to the discussion below: When you bought something and had it delivered, it was delivered free of charge. First, let's talk about major appliance purchases. The appliance was delivered free; the installation was made free; removal of old appliance was free. So, today, you get the appliance cheaper, seemingly, but you're paying for all the things that were included in the price before.
Now here's a new wrinkle. My daughter-in-law got me a sweater for Christmas that was a size too small. I went back to the store, knowing that they did not have my size. I asked the sales clerk if the right size could be located at another store. In years past, this was a service that was done free of charge. I was informed that I would have to pay for the shipment from anther store. I said ok, but the result was a devious boon for the department store chain, not me.
The store actually got another $90 out of me. Can you believe it? Here's how:
Apparently, I could not just pay for the shipment. The store needed to credit someone for the sweater I was returning and recharge for the sweater and shipment. So they gave me a gift card in the amount of the return, and then charged me for the sweater and shipment. Corporations enriching themselves shamelessly at the expense of the customer.
New Update: Actually, they got less than $90 out of me. The sweater was on sale after Christmas, so the cost of the sweater and shipment was less than the original $90 by about $10, so they got $80 out of me. Ok, they say that I can use the gift card to pay for the charge, but since the charge was on a credit card and not the store's charge card, you know the red tape involved to using the credit on the new charge is not worth the headache. The store got another sale instead of providing service.
We're going to hell in a hand basket.