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Which
meant that everything was marked down significantly in price compared to what
it cost when it was brand-new and had promise of significant sales. In fact,
the store (which has long since shuttered) had a giant sign on the front window
promising up to “70 percent” off the book price.
NOW
TO SOMEONE who enjoys books and the process of scouring for them, the joy of
such stores is that you might actually find an interesting volume amidst all
the junk that nobody wants – priced for about $6, compared to the $25-30 that
new books go for these days.
That’s
not a bad bargain!
Yet
there’s always someone who’s going to find something to complain about with
regards to just about anything. And I still remember the one customer who came
into the store with a couple of books that were marked down to about $4 each,
then tried to argue that the “70 percent” discount ought to be on the $4 price –
not on the original price of the book.
In
short, someone who had a chance to buy something for $4 (plus tax) was
complaining because he couldn’t get it for $1.20.
THAT’S
JUST BEING cheap and petty. I still remember the hysterics he went into when I
refused to buy into his tightwad line of logic.
And
somehow, that same sentiment is popping into my head when I read the reports in
recent days about people complaining that a Subway Sandwich foot-long isn’t
really a foot-long.
It
seems somebody actually felt the need to take the tape measure to the completed
sandwich – and came up with an 11-inch measurement.
There
is now even a lawsuit pending in the Cook County Circuit Court, and attorneys
are trying to get as many people as possible to sign on to make it a class
action suit – in which Subway would ultimately have to pay out some huge sum
that would be split equally amongst the participants.
THE
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reported that an attorney actually believes customers are
owed a refund for the one inch of sandwich they did not receive.
So
for the $5 foot-long sandwich that Subway sells, that comes to about 42 cents
per inch.
It
sounds more like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch – a Subway executive being
forced to write out $0.42 checks to people to reimburse them for the inch of
sandwich they did not receive.
Or
$0.21 checks if all they had was a six-inch sandwich that was probably closer
to 5-1/2 inches long.
I
UNDERSTAND THE concept of “Truth in Advertising” as well as anyone else.
But
this seriously strikes me as somebody being excessively petty in the way they
approach life.
Besides,
anybody who paid attention during school ought to know about certain levels of
shrinkage – which is why that bag of potato chips often appears only
three-quarters full when you first open it.
And
why a loaf of freshly-baked bread is never going to come out to a precise
length – which, it seems, is the line of logic that the company is trying to
use to defend itself against this talk.
PERSONALLY,
THERE ARE other places I would go to if I wanted a fresh deli sandwich with all
the trimmings. I’m fortunate enough to live near a real nice Italian-themed
grocery store where I could get a good Italian-style sub, or an Italian beef,
sausage or meatball sandwich – if I so desire.
But
I actually worked in a Subway Sandwich franchise back when I was in high
school, and the product they put out is passable – a mass-produced sandwich
made to order.
With
relatively fresh bread; although I understand that most Subway franchises no
longer have someone doing what I did some three decades ago – standing in a
back room at the meat slicer turning logs of genoa salami or entire hams into
perfectly-thin slices for someone’s edible edification.
Still,
how much can one expect if the primary appeal of Subway is that they’re
promising you a $5 price above all else?
-30-
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