Bait and switch

Over the winter all my audio and video equipment said goodnight. Except for my stereo which is actually the oldest component I own. So I finally got around to buying a combination DVD/VCR player from Wal-Mart. I was extremely low on money, but sitting in my house with no money and no way to watch movies, or any of the million Simpson episodes I have on tape (Shhhh, I'm not broadcasting them for money) was boring me to tears.. I bought an inexpensive model made by Emerson hoping it would at least keep me occupied until later in the summer when I would have the money to purchase a higher quality model. Right away there is a problem. It had a hard time ejecting VHS tapes. They kept catching on the inner-workings making it necessary for me to give it a little nudge to get the rectangle to come out of the rectangular hole. At first I thought I wouldn't mind, but then it decided it didn't want to give my tapes back anymore. The machine was taunting me by letting the tape out just enough for me to try to grab it before it swallowed it back in. I had to use a screwdriver and needle nose pliers to get my movie back.

Of course if you have been reading this journal you know that I can't possibly think it's a good idea to waste your time with this little story. You know I must have an agenda. Suprisingly enough, I'm not even going to write about the cliche, "They don't make 'em like they used to," which I will go on for hours about some other day. What I want to tell you is what I discovered when I went to return the cheap junk for a little bit nicer, less-cheap junk.

Perusing the little selection they had for me to choose from, I saw the new model I wanted to buy, picked it up to feel how heavy it was, noticed that the inputs were stereo instead of mono, and it was only $15 more than the one I had originally bought. Just below the displays are the actual boxed ready-to-buy models. I pick one up and notice that the model in the box is not in stereo and has the VCR/DVD slots switched. I'm no idiot, it was very clear which models were available and the boxes below were not scattered around the way you would expect to see. I look closer and notice I was hoping to buy the 6100 model, but the one in the box was a 7100A model. I didn't understand why the supposedly newer higher-numbered model wouldn't have stereo sound in this day of home theatre revolution.

I looked at a few of the other models and noticed a pattern. they had 3 VCR's 2 DVD players and 2 Combination DVD/VCR's. In all but two instances, the display was a nicer version of the models in the boxes below. Almost all of the boxes contained units that weren't in stereo. What upset me more is that I could see one model, but I couldn't buy it based on my conclusions; and I could buy the ones in boxes, but I couldn't check out the product. It's almost like a bait and switch. Furthermore, why are the newer models of inferior quality? Aren't the products supposed to get better with each new version of a product? As I've said before, the greed at the top of the socio-economic food chain will only get worse and try to get more and more for their dollar. Outsourcing their jobs to cheap workers overseas, who have less mind to quality as it is, never mind the working conditions they endure. But as I said before, I'll gear up for the "They don't make 'em like they used to," rant later.

You may ask why I am asking so much of Wal-Mart, or why I would even support such a monstrosity of a corporation. I will only dignify one of those with a response...for now. Think about who generally shops at Wal-Mart. People without a lot of money. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, and for cheapskate's who are well to do looking to miser their money, they deserve to get screwed. But some people have no choice. They can't get a good job, maybe they weren't born with the intelligence or physical ability to make any more than their meaningless job on the assembly line. So not only are they too poor to go anywhere else, but their intelligence is capitalized on because they would not notice the disparities between the displays and the actual packaged product. They need to hold on to what little money they have and then they get screwed out of that. Of course I had a good long talk with the manager of the department. I didn't bring in my social views, just pointed out that it was wrong to show you one thing and sell you another. He didn't even notice til I pointed it out, and he told me not to be suprised if they are all changed by the end of the weekend. (Today is Friday) That is, if the company can afford to lose a few hundred dollars by opening a box for each of the new models and sacrificing it to the shelf.