My Amazon boycott is over

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(10-02-2018, 01:17 PM)Benton Wrote: My wife does that at Sam's, the scan and go. I think it works there because you have fewer people buying higher volumes, and 1 or 2 people checking as you go out. But I don't think that would work at regular Walmarts or smaller stores as you've got more people buying fewer things and going out at the same time.


Ultimately, someone has to keep some sort of check on the system, otherwise it goes off the rails. If you scrap all the laws and regulations, employers will pay employees as little as possible. That's not socialist propaganda, that's historically what's happened every where in every form of government. We've been heading that direction more and more for the last half century in the US. 

Not to come off as a totally horrible person, but another big reason why it works there? You're required to pay a membership fee. That keeps out the really poor.

Generally if you're homeless, on SNAP, or just generally really poor, you're not looking to pay a membership fee in order to steal 100 roll packs of toilet paper and 8lb jars of hummus.

[NATI BENGALS]

I did give up my Amazon membership mainly because i hate that brick and mortar stores are disappearing. But there is a giant amazon hub near Cincinnati. And i have not heard good things from anyone that worked there. Nothing but bad and a giant company raping the workers. Of course they were ex employees.

I absolutely hated wal mart and didnt go for a good 6-7 years. I caved because 20$ for a pack of wife beaters was too painful at other stores. last couple times i went i got made in the USA socks shower shoes and a soap dish. Took some effort to look at the labels. But it was all competatively priced.

[GMDino]

(10-02-2018, 06:27 PM)Dill Wrote: Just a side note on the issue of technology, wages, and worker replacement.

Well into my teenage years (I was born in '51), most every gas station had a service crew of attendats who pumped your gas and washed your windows, and often checked your oil and tires.  That was "the standard."  A self-service station would appear non-competitive.

Then these new-fangled self-service stations stared opening up in the late '60s. They were not Sinclair or Shell or Humble or other big name brands, though now I cannot remember their names.  I saw them first in "big cities" like Billings and Rapid city (I am from Southeastern Montana, where our county seat is 4,000 people). HS kids seemed to prefer them because the gas was a few cents cheaper.

By the mid-70s, it was RARE to see a service station attendant anywhere, and by then I was driving as far as Texas and Connecticut.  Apparently consumers preferred the savings, or over time forgot the convenience.

Credit cards no doubt made this easier, but the transition to self service occurred before credit cards could be read at the pump.

So these service jobs became superfluous, and not really because of advancing technology--just consumers willing to work a little more to save a buck.  Now pumping one's own gas is just normal. And companies save on wages, apparently.

NB I seem to remember attendants at NJ gas stations, back in the 90s--required by law.  Was that the case? Is it still?

(10-02-2018, 06:34 PM)Nately120 Wrote: We were actually talking about this the other day.  No matter how vividly I recall full service stations being the norm, the idea of anyone pumping my gas other than me seems like a completely absurd concept now.  When I tell teens now that I had a job bagging groceries when I was their age I may as well be telling them that I used to have a job herding woolly mammoths, or calibrating Victrolas or something.

One township around here still has/had a law on the books that require someone to pump your gas for you.  I know they intended to change it but I don't know if they did.

And one town over is an Exxon station that will pump your cas for you at no extra charge, but they give you a discount if you pay cash instead of credit.

[Yojimbo]

I live in Oregon, where it is state law, that you cannot pump your own gas. There are a couple loop holes for farmers and diesel, but otherwise, sit in your car, doesn't cost extra, tip if you want.

[Benton]

(10-02-2018, 10:17 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Not to come off as a totally horrible person, but another big reason why it works there? You're required to pay a membership fee. That keeps out the really poor.

Generally if you're homeless, on SNAP, or just generally really poor, you're not looking to pay a membership fee in order to steal 100 roll packs of toilet paper and 8lb jars of hummus.

Nothing horrible at all. Not all poor people commit crimes (I think everyone realizes that) but there is a higher crime rate among those in poverty (higher substance abuse rates, too). 

[Griever]

(10-03-2018, 09:25 AM)GMDino Wrote: One township around here still has/had a law on the books that require someone to pump your gas for you.  I know they intended to change it but I don't know if they did.

And one town over is an Exxon station that will pump your cas for you at no extra charge, but they give you a discount if you pay cash instead of credit.

first time i went to jersey i had no idea and got out to pump and i got yelled at by the attendant "NO SELF SERVE IN JERSEY!!!!"

[GMDino]

(10-03-2018, 12:08 PM)Griever Wrote: first time i went to jersey i had no idea and got out to pump and i got yelled at by the attendant "NO SELF SERVE IN JERSEY!!!!"

First time I went to NJ was an accident because I missed my exit on the PA turnpike and I didn't know you can't just make a left. 

I was trying to get to a gas station to buy a map!  

[Dill]

(10-03-2018, 12:08 PM)Griever Wrote: first time i went to jersey i had no idea and got out to pump and i got yelled at by the attendant "NO SELF SERVE IN JERSEY!!!!"

So it's true!

Well there is one way to increase employment.

[Belsnickel]

(10-02-2018, 12:20 PM)Benton Wrote: I'm not a fan of the BEZOS though. Carrots work better than sticks. But, ultimately, something needs to be done. It's ridiculous that taxpayers are forced to keep companies profit margins high. 

You're absolutely right that incentivizing behavior has better outcomes than fines, but the issue comes about in how to incentivize. In our current situation with the budget state and a low tax revenue stream, there isn't much room to incentivize and at the same time cover the benefits the employers we are trying to alter the behavior of aren't providing themselves.

(10-02-2018, 11:07 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I absolutely hated wal mart and didnt go for a good 6-7 years. I caved because 20$ for a pack of wife beaters was too painful at other stores. last couple times i went i got made in the USA socks shower shoes and a soap dish. Took some effort to look at the labels. But it was all competatively priced.

That's that modern day slavery prison labor, for ya!

[Belsnickel]

[*michaelsean*]

(10-04-2018, 11:58 AM)Belsnickel Wrote:

That's a two way street then.  They were making more than people thought.  

[Belsnickel]

(10-04-2018, 12:08 PM)michaelsean Wrote: That's a two way street then.  They were making more than people thought.  

Honestly, I don't know too much about this controversy. I'm probably one of the harshest critics of capitalism on this board and I couldn't tell you much at all, or even about the BEZOS bill. It's just not been on my radar too much. I just wanted to make sure this was out there before people started "woohoo"-ing too hard about this.

[*bfine32*]

You may want to reinstate the boycott:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

Quote:The attack by Chinese spies reached almost 30 U.S. companies, including Amazon and Apple, by compromising America’s technology supply chain, according to extensive interviews with government and corporate sources

[Griever]

(10-04-2018, 11:58 AM)Belsnickel Wrote:

the monthly bonus that she is referring to was the Variable Compensation Pay (or VCP). The bonus amounts to 8% (and during peak its 16%).It is contingent on two things: warehouse production and attendance. 4% for attendance, and 4% for productivity. If an employee uses UPT (unpaid time off that they give people to use) once, then their 4% is cut to 2%, and if they use it once more, it goes to 0% for attendance. The productivity one is not in the employees control, its all based on the amount of work the fulfillment center does as a whole.

They had been talking to Customer service and warehouse associates, who wanted the cash up front instead of the unpredictable extra amounts at the end of the month (so if a building has a freight issue, and they dont do a lot of production for the month, their bonus wont be that great for the month).

Anyone who has stock before nov 1 will be keeping it. All they are doing concerning that is not giving it out to anyone after nov 1, and then replacing it with the option to buy stock directly from the company probably at the end of 2019 (when people who had stock will be able to touch it). The RSU that you get from working there doesnt vest for 2 years, so if you leave or get fired, you dont get to do anything with your stock because it hadnt vested yet