tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post7736645158228594733..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: I have to askPhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-73505627296396654252012-04-01T12:47:00.845-04:002012-04-01T12:47:00.845-04:00I'm picturing Cobb...
These are both serious ...I'm picturing Cobb...<br /><br />These are both serious Cheapness Studies concerns: unmarked prices, and places whose marked prices fail to match up with the "real" prices, which are of course just the right amount higher that you'd feel petty making a fuss. And... I'd imagine you could go to court over something like the refusal of a place to sell you something at its marked price, but that no one does, at least not for things like baked goods.<br /><br />But what these things have in common is the sense - possibly unique to the U.S., these days at least - that things are always going to cost give or take the indicated price, but that it would be somehow gauche to expect to pay <i>exactly</i> what's marked. Taxes added to the bill, ambiguous tipping expectations, etc., make it less shocking when something ends up costing a bit more than expected.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-35233637215296055762012-03-31T22:34:39.033-04:002012-03-31T22:34:39.033-04:00This happened to me at a campus coffee shop. Thing...This happened to me at a campus coffee shop. Things used to have prices marked/signed somewhere, but they recently changed (i.e. increased) and now the baked goods are unpriced. I often ask, much to the annoyance of the hipster undergrads who see waiting on customers as something occasionally attended to between flirting and changing the music. (Wow, do I sound like a grumpy grad student yet?) Anyways, I got a totally ordinary cookie (sugar cookie, with a glaze, no nuts or chocolate chips or anything), expecting it to be about $1.50, only to find out it was $2.25. I bought it, but there is no way I would have paid $2.25 for it had I known in advance. (This is the place that has a PRICE TAG on an item saying it's $3.90, only to have people ring it up as $4. I've complained several times had them re-ring it up (while rolling their eyes at me), but the last time the girl was like, "oh, the price is $4." when I pointed out it was marked at $3.90, she claimed that they didn't put the prices on, and it was actually $4. Since it is only a dime it was more the principle of the thing, but still, I feel like that is worse than not having it priced (and not sure if you can totally do that. Shouldn't there be something illegal about marking something at one price and then charging a different price? I feel this happens a lot at HP restaurants too...))Brittahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02224221011978374915noreply@blogger.com