rec.autos.simulators

by **Eldre** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 07:43:08

> The merchant is charged by the bank for EACH credit and debit card
>transaction...and soooooo the merchant passes the 'hidden' cost onto you
>in the form of higher prices...it's the AMERICAN way..
>dave henrie
>(born in the usa)

>"> Really? IS that from the merchant or from your credit card issuer? I
>don't
>> have that problem, but then again, I'm in the US.

>> Eldred

Well, if that's the case, then it wouldn't matter if you paid CASH. I mean,
when I see something marked $19.99 in the store, the price doesn't suddenly
jump to $20.40 just because I whip out a credit card...

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.racesimcentral.net/~epickett
GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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by **Christoph Moni** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 09:20:37

Imagine how much Sierra would save on support-costs if they wouldn't
produce the game at all :-)

--

Christoph Monig

"It takes two to lie - one to lie and one to listen"
Homer
(Simpson, that is)

> What you are seeing is NOT Papyrus but Sierra/havas. They have an
> active business in Germany, not so in England etc. Now the biggest cost
> for a
> software product other than the costs of programming is........
> anyone?
> anyone?
> Buehler?
> The biggest cost for a company selling software is SUPPORT.
> Why do you think they coded the N3 patch so we couldn't see the old ICR2
> tracks? To save money. Imagine the Sierra help line getting swamped by
> callers who want to race at Mid Ohio...but they can't find that track on
> the
> N3 cd. Imagine all those Geforce/Tnt users calling up the support lines
> cuz the
> ICR2 tracks won't work in d3d.
> Sierra has made a cost-analysis decision that frankly sucks...but they
> will
> probably save more money in support funding they they would have made in
> sales.
> And yes....we yanks will help with those unfortunates who can't get
> it....
> dave henrie

by **ymenar** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 09:34:41

> Thanks SO much for your lecture, Frank.
> That's helped immensely.

Your welcome Bruce, I'm happy you have finally seen the light <G> You are
no martyr.

> > Bah stop being martyred Bruce. It's just normal that you'll always find
a
> > person who will want a version of any sort of title released in his
> country,
> > especially when the *** business creates non-international shipping
of
> > it's software. The same goes for about any form of Entertainment.
People
> > all around the world whine that their favorite group hasn't yet released
> > their newest CD in their country, or that the new Star Wars movie was
> > released many months after North America (there is a big tendency so
that
> > Episode II becomes the first movie in history to be released the say day
> > throughout the world). So see the trend is slowly growing, it just
takes
> > time Bruce. Calm down if you want you will have Nascar Racing 4 the
same
> > day as everybody else.

> > Someday people from Chile and Djibouti will complain that X company
> doesn't
> > release Y title in their country. It's just a matter of expanding their
> > market. It's not because it's not done that they intend it that way.
You
> > just can't "internationalise" your business simply like that.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.racesimcentral.net/
-- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 11:59:11

Australian banks (of which there are only about five major concerns) are
generally recognised as being the greediest in the entire Universe. I do
not exaggerate; they make *** profits and yet charge ridiculous amounts
to their customers.

If I transact a withdrawal over the counter, with another human, I pay $2-50
per transaction.
If I don't go into the bank, but use their ATM on the wall outside, I pay 50
cents for the same transaction and I get the same receipt as that handed to
me by the teller.
If I use a generic ATM that happens to handle my bank's ATM card, I will pay
(approx) $3-75 per transaction.
If I make more than x number of transactions per month, I pay a premium.

And so it goes on.....with all these big banks doing pretty much the same
thing.

There is a big backlash in Oz against these corporate hyenas but,
unfortunately, their competition is pretty thin on the ground.

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

by **Eldre** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:00:52

writes:

Actually, if I paid off my balance every month, using my VISA credit card would
be cheaper than using my VISA bank card. The bank card *would* cost me
transaction fees. The credit card wouldn't, and there wouldn't be any interest
either. Bruce, if your credit card company charges you an *extra* fee even
when you pay off the balance every month, you should be able to find one that
doesn't.

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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by **Bruce Kennewel** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:18:27

(Pssst! Eldred....it USED to.)
At one stage (about 1990, I think) we would charge a premium, quite legally,
for those people who used a credit card in preference to cash or even, where
the customer was known, personal cheque. All that WE as the retailer were
doing was passing what the CC company charged us on to the customer.

Then things went stupid, political correctness time arrived and it was
considered descriminatory to differentiate between modes of payment.

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

Henrie"

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:29:13

Probably, but I use it so rarely that I honestly can't be bothered.

It's the normal bank charges which annoy me more than anything...and we
can't circumvent using a "bank"....we MUST have a bank account into which
our monthly salary can be deposited (that's a requirement of my employment,
not a Government statute!) and a "bank" account is one of the things that we
must have in order to satisfy the requirements of the Australian Tax Office.

Catch-22 is alive and well in our land, believe me!

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

by **The Enigmatic O** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:46:04

Right. Forget the money. Start bartering. Get rid of that overhead
really quick.

-Tim

by **The Enigmatic O** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:52:31

Political correctness? Man, you are something. A honest-to-god,
died-in-the-wool reactionary bigot, aren't you?

How exactly is making a choice based upon the market, based upon
realizing that it makes financial sense to do so, a "politically correct" move?

Ah, *** it. No sense arguing with one so dense. In your mind, if it
shakes up your tiny worldview at all, it's obviously both evil and PC, so...

-Tim

by **Dave Cas** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 13:08:05

I pay $5.00 a month for the Wells Fargo checking account the card is attached
to. I use this account to pay all of my bills, so the "cost" is more than
made up for in saved postage and time spent writing checks the old fashioned
way. And I'm sure the majority of people reading this pay a monthly fee and
those that don't probably have just a basic checking account. So, yes there
is a cost but, you get what you pay for.

Dave Casey
Casey_94 (NASCAR Racing 3 & 4)
www.teamcasey.net
www.lvkc.com
www.buycoolcrap.com

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Mon, 15 Jan 2001 19:58:45

If a retailer advises a potential customer that a surcharge of 3% will apply
for credit card transactions and the customer says "Thanks, but no
thanks...I'll take my business elsewhere" then the only person (possibly)
losing is the retailer.

It is "politically correct" to introduce legislation that says "Thou (the
retailer) shalt not determine your method of payment for goods or
services....Big Brother will do it for you".
THAT is what I meant by "political correctness"....the inability for the
trader to determine how HE wants to be paid for his goods or services.

It actually worked out quite well.......for a while. We (and by 'we' I mean
a whole host of retailer businesses) turned it around and gave discounts for
cash transactions!
However, even THAT was legislated into illegality.

"Honest-to-God died in the wool reactionary bigot"? Well, I guess that if I
fit your description of the term, I must be!

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

by **Eldre** » Tue, 16 Jan 2001 01:48:30

writes:

Ok, so it doesn't cost more now to use a CC. Problem solved!<g>

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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by **Eldre** » Tue, 16 Jan 2001 01:48:30

writes:

Ok, well...that sucks. The thing I hate about MY bank is this:Several branches
have replaced the tellers inside with ATM machines. That's 'presumably' to
save money, right? No - they charge me $1.50 for any ATM transaction(used to
be free) whether it's a deposit or withdrawal. So, if they're saving money by
not having live tellers, why do they gouge me on ATM(and EFT) fees...?
Methinks they have to make enough money to pay for the new ballpark
here...(Comerica Park). :(

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Tue, 16 Jan 2001 05:40:44

I'm old enought to remember when ATMs were first introduced here and my
memory is certainly sharp enough to recall the hype that these auto-tellers
would actually REDUCE your banking costs, Mr. & Mrs. Customer!

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Tue, 16 Jan 2001 05:42:21

No.....because we just jacked up all the prices of goods (software/harware)
and services (maintenance/upgrades) fro 3% to 5% to compensate.

--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

rec.autos.simulators

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood

NASCAR 4, there goes the neighbourhood