How are you dealing with life now with the Covid-19 virus situation? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

Do you pay off your bill in total each month, thus incurring no interest charges? That is what we do, we haven’t paid interest on our CC in over 20 years. The industry has a name for customers like us: deadbeats. I’m serious. It seams illogical but we aren’t their ideal customer.

We are deadbeats too. Haven't paid a dime in credit card interest for about the same length of time (20 years). Yet, we use credit cards for every purchase we can. Just pay the bill in full when it arrives. Then we get cash rebates which total about $2K per year. FREE money.

(Yes, I realize the price of goods is jacked up due to the use of credit cards, but we'd have to pay those higher prices anyway, so the cash rebates are still free money.)

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

It's said that laughter is the best medicine. Well, if that's true, this video is a cure for what ails you, if only temporarily.

If ever there was a must-watch video during this pandemic, this is is it!





Mark

 

[Johnny Angell]

It's said that laughter is the best medicine. Well, if that's true, this video is a cure for what ails you, if only temporarily.

If ever there was a must-watch video during this pandemic, this is is it!





Mark

Definitely a must watch and it’s very on point.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Looks like all the major national retailers will keep their stores close on Thanksgiving Day.

Best Buy, Target Join Walmart Closing on Thanksgiving Day - Media Play News

Thanksgiving Day is slowly returning to a national holiday from the retail ecosystem. Big box stores Best Buy and Target are joining Walmart in not being open on Nov. 26. … Continue reading "Best Buy, Target Join Walmart Closing on Thanksgiving Day"

www.mediaplaynews.com

 

[ChristopherG]

Looks like all the major national retailers will keep their stores close on Thanksgiving Day.

Best Buy, Target Join Walmart Closing on Thanksgiving Day - Media Play News

Thanksgiving Day is slowly returning to a national holiday from the retail ecosystem. Big box stores Best Buy and Target are joining Walmart in not being open on Nov. 26. … Continue reading "Best Buy, Target Join Walmart Closing on Thanksgiving Day"

www.mediaplaynews.com

It's a good move but Black Friday should be interesting...

 

[Clinton McClure]

It's a good move but Black Friday should be interesting...

I imagine Black Friday will be moved up a week or two, but I could be wrong.

 

[Malcolm R]

A number of restaurants doing takeout around here (and also Domino's Pizza) say to pull up to the building and "pop your trunk" so they can put your food in.

I've never owned a vehicle that allowed me to "pop the trunk" from the driver's seat (I just purchased my 6th vehicle). is this a common thing? I guess that means I cannot patronize these places.

Also in this day and age, may places still want you to call your order in by phone, rather than having an online ordering option. I'd order a lot more often, from more places, if I could order online.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

A number of restaurants doing takeout around here (and also Domino's Pizza) say to pull up to the building and "pop your trunk" so they can put your food in.

I've never owned a vehicle that allowed me to "pop the trunk" from the driver's seat (I just purchased my 6th vehicle). is this a common thing? I guess that means I cannot patronize these places.

Also in this day and age, may places still want you to call your order in by phone, rather than having an online ordering option. I'd order a lot more often, from more places, if I could order online.

Really?

I've never owned a vehicle that didn't have a little button letting you pop the trunk from inside the cabin, and I've barely been inside of one in my life.

The last two I ever rode in without a trunk button were Chevy Monte Carlos from the mid-to-late 80s. But by the time I was 10 and my parents had moved away from that model, everything after let you pop the trunk from the inside. And everything I've owned has had the feature.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A number of restaurants doing takeout around here (and also Domino's Pizza) say to pull up to the building and "pop your trunk" so they can put your food in.

I've never owned a vehicle that allowed me to "pop the trunk" from the driver's seat (I just purchased my 6th vehicle). is this a common thing? I guess that means I cannot patronize these places.

Also in this day and age, may places still want you to call your order in by phone, rather than having an online ordering option. I'd order a lot more often, from more places, if I could order online.

It varies. My current 2018 GMC Acadia has a power tailgate that can be opened from the driver's seat. My wife's 2019 Buick Encore does not, nor did my 2011 GMC Terrain, my wife's 2009 Saturn Vue or her two Mercury Villagers. I think my 2002 Nissan Altima had a button to pop the trunk -- it's been so long, that I cannot remember. I'm pretty certain my 1993 Toyota Camry had that feature, though.

 

[Malcolm R]

My last four vehicles going back to 1997 have been Hondas. None have had a remote trunk/tailgate option that I can recall.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

My last four vehicles going back to 1997 have been Hondas. None have had a remote trunk/tailgate option that I can recall.

I'd been in all GM, Ford, or Chrysler stuff until last year. They all had trunk buttons from the mid-90s on.

Though now that I think of it, I'm not sure the current Kia Soul has an interior hatch popping button. I'm going to have to check that out.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

We got takeout from a restaurant that was doing the contactless “order by phone, pay by phone, valet drops it in the car” thing and they just put it in the back seat when we couldn’t get the trunk to open. I would imagine that as long as you’re respectful of what the business is trying to do that they won’t penalize you if they need to stick it in the back seat instead of the trunk.

 

[TravisR]

A number of restaurants doing takeout around here (and also Domino's Pizza) say to pull up to the building and "pop your trunk" so they can put your food in.

I've never owned a vehicle that allowed me to "pop the trunk" from the driver's seat (I just purchased my 6th vehicle). is this a common thing? I guess that means I cannot patronize these places.

My current car does not allow that but all the previous cars I had did let me do that. The first time that I went to open the trunk while my car was turned on, I was surprised to find out that it wouldn't let me open the trunk.

 

[TonyD]

My 15 year old Pontiac Vibe doesn’t have a button but it works the same to hit the unlock doors button. They open the trunk put the food in. Close the trunk.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Had to get self-quarantine for seven days and test negative before spending a long weekend in Vermont. State lines mattering is a relatively new phenomenon for me.

 

[Malcolm R]

Had to get self-quarantine for seven days and test negative before spending a long weekend in Vermont. State lines mattering is a relatively new phenomenon for me.

On behalf of Vermont, we thank you. But this must have been of your own accord, as I'd be surprised if anyone is actually enforcing such things at the borders.

I know some people who are here from western PA. They're not the type to follow such directions.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

On behalf of Vermont, we thank you. But this must have been of your own accord, as I'd be surprised if anyone is actually enforcing such things at the borders.

Could I have gotten away with not doing it? Probably. But Vermont's cross state leisure travel rules are pretty clear, and I was coming from one of the red counties (more than 800 active cases per million residents). I'm an employee of the State of New York, and Governor Cuomo takes COVID-19 rules really seriously. It just wasn't worth potentially risking my job over.

I will say that Vermont restaurants did a much better job of complying with COVID-19 rules than the few times I've been out to eat for sitdown service in upstate New York. A reservation was required for every meal -- even breakfast at diners -- and contact information was taken upon arrival to facilitate contact tracing in the event that an outbreak is associated with that establishment. All of the tables actually were spaced at least six feet apart, and the proprieters were a lot more strict about ensuring that patrons kept their masks on until they were seated at their tables.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Could I have gotten away with not doing it? Probably. But Vermont's cross state leisure travel rules are pretty clear, and I was coming from one of the red counties (more than 800 active cases per million residents). I'm an employee of the State of New York, and Governor Cuomo takes COVID-19 rules really seriously. It just wasn't worth potentially risking my job over.

I will say that Vermont restaurants did a much better job of complying with COVID-19 rules than the few times I've been out to eat for sitdown service in upstate New York. A reservation was required for every meal -- even breakfast at diners -- and contact information was taken upon arrival to facilitate contact tracing in the event that an outbreak is associated with that establishment. All of the tables actually were spaced at least six feet apart, and the proprieters were a lot more strict about ensuring that patrons kept their masks on until they were seated at their tables.

OMG, providing contact info wouldn’t fly down in the south. We’re (the royal we) already mad about masks.

 

[DaveF]

Some quick reading suggests things are less simple with a bankruptcy.

But yes, if this doesn’t resolve trivially through the credit card company, I’ll have to look into options. Not the least of which is talking to the CC company and asking how much my decade of customership has gotten for them, and if they’re ready to lose another 10 or 20 years of my usage over this matter.

Following up: My wife called Visa and talked with the claims people.

1. If the credit card company can't get their money back from the bankrupt vendor, we're responsible for the payment
2. We don't have to pay the charge on the credit card bill until the dispute is resolved
3. If the resolution is not in our favor (see #1) we're responsible for all accrued credit card interest during the dispute duration

We paid the bill in full. We're not taking the chance of getting hit by both the charge and also months of credit card interest charges on it. My wife also found in a news article a direct-claim contact with the retailer so she sent a request ot them and provided that info to the credit card company in our dispute claim records.

I need to look for other actions I should be taking in case the credit card company doesn't come through.

 

[Malcolm R]

A reservation was required for every meal -- even breakfast at diners

Many around here don't understand why this is necessary. I presume it's to keep crowds of people from showing up at the same time and congregating in lines waiting for tables. If the restaurant is full to allowed capacity, all they have to do is turn people away. If they're not full and not booked with reservations, they should still be able to seat walk-ins. As long as they take the contact info when the party is seated, reservations seem irrelevant.

The restaurant we go to most often is not requiring advance reservations. They just take your contact info at the door before you're seated. I believe they said they tried "reservation only" the first few days they reopened, but it was just a nightmare for them and hurt their business as they'd have people walk in and want a table when the restaurant was largely empty, but since they didn't have an advance reservation they turned them away. This is not a restaurant that has ever really taken reservations anyway, even pre-pandemic, so their clientele is not likely to make reservations and will simply go elsewhere if they're turned away.