Overheard at Work

[mustachepungoeshere]

I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

[LeRainDrop]

I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

How did you stop yourself from laughing out loud???

[marty998]

I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

How did you stop yourself from laughing out loud???

Oh my god...the mere mention of soup brings me to uncontrollable fits of laughter every single time:

"NO SOUP FOR YOU. FOR 1 YEAR!"

[LennStar]

I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

You can probably eat it tomorrow NEXT YEAR because of all the preservaties added. And I am not talking about gum based products here.

[Metric Mouse]

It's particularly prevalent in government, because such parties are easy targets for people outraged over government spending.  E.g.:

"look at these assholes spending my tax money to have a party!"

Although of course nobody will blink an eye if $100 of post-tax salary is used to pay for the party, which is also ultimately taxpayer money.

Interesting thought.

[jinga nation]

Unrelated to finances, but I am having fun listening to the people on the other side of the cube wall talk about this unknown symbol on some electrical drawing. The guy is saying that he doesn't recognize it, though it looks a bit like a capacitor but with a smiley face and a frown-y face on it. I'm not EE myself so I have no clue, but it is funny to listen to.

Depends if the drawing is to IEC, NEMA, or some other standard. Could be Circuit Breakers, Pressure Switches, Limit Switches, or something else. The first thing would be to check the CAD drawing for standard used, then use Google.

[former player]

I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

You can probably eat it tomorrow NEXT YEAR because of all the preservaties added. And I am not talking about gum based products here.

A funeral director friend told me once that bodies last a lot longer before decaying than they used to, because of preservatives in the food we eat.

[mtn]

Guy I worked with at my side gig this weekend told me he bought his house in 1994 for $101k. He owes $189k on it now and is thinking about taking out the equity again (probably about $50-$100k).

In fairness to him, he said that his kids will not have any student loans and he is usually (about 9 months of the year) able to pay his mortgage with the side gigs paycheck, but still...  His house probably could have been paid off by now...

[economista]

It's particularly prevalent in government, because such parties are easy targets for people outraged over government spending.  E.g.:

"look at these assholes spending my tax money to have a party!"

Although of course nobody will blink an eye if $100 of post-tax salary is used to pay for the party, which is also ultimately taxpayer money.

Interesting thought.

Yup, I work for the government and we have to pay our own way for our holiday party.  We aren't even allowed to make a calendar invite on our work calendars to remind everyone about it, because that could be construed as using work time to plan it, which also isn't allowed.  Anytime we do anything we have to think to ourselves "is there any possible way for FOX news to twist this into a waste of tax payer dollars?" 

[nobody123]

It's particularly prevalent in government, because such parties are easy targets for people outraged over government spending.  E.g.:

"look at these assholes spending my tax money to have a party!"

Although of course nobody will blink an eye if $100 of post-tax salary is used to pay for the party, which is also ultimately taxpayer money.

Interesting thought.

Yup, I work for the government and we have to pay our own way for our holiday party.  We aren't even allowed to make a calendar invite on our work calendars to remind everyone about it, because that could be construed as using work time to plan it, which also isn't allowed.  Anytime we do anything we have to think to ourselves "is there any possible way for FOX news to twist this into a waste of tax payer dollars?"

That's just stupid.  There needs to be some sort of employee retention efforts, which I would classify holiday parties as.  Now, if money is being spent to cater in lobster and an open bar, that's one thing, but orgainizing the annual pot luck is quite another.

[mm1970]

I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?

Yes.

I think it depends.

I haven't paid for a work Christmas party in years (unless you count the $70-90 in babysitting costs).

When I was in the military/ government, it was self-funded because: no taxpayer money spent on a party.
When I got into manufacturing our company was large (1000 employees).  Management found that if the party was free, they would have several hundred no-shows.  So they charged $10 a head, and that worked to cut down the no-shows.

Since then, the last 16-17 years, neither my husband's companies, nor mine, have required payment for attendance.

[Chris22]

Guy I worked with at my side gig this weekend told me he bought his house in 1994 for $101k. He owes $189k on it now and is thinking about taking out the equity again (probably about $50-$100k).

In fairness to him, he said that his kids will not have any student loans and he is usually (about 9 months of the year) able to pay his mortgage with the side gigs paycheck, but still...  His house probably could have been paid off by now...

Not enough information to judge. Would have to know about the rest of his finances, entirely possible he's using his house in order to borrow at a tax adjusted ~1% APR and saving lots elsewhere.  Also, using it to pay for college is about the only acceptable use of home equity IMO.

[mtn]

Guy I worked with at my side gig this weekend told me he bought his house in 1994 for $101k. He owes $189k on it now and is thinking about taking out the equity again (probably about $50-$100k).

In fairness to him, he said that his kids will not have any student loans and he is usually (about 9 months of the year) able to pay his mortgage with the side gigs paycheck, but still...  His house probably could have been paid off by now...

Not enough information to judge. Would have to know about the rest of his finances, entirely possible he's using his house in order to borrow at a tax adjusted ~1% APR and saving lots elsewhere.  Also, using it to pay for college is about the only acceptable use of home equity IMO.

You're correct, as usual. And as I mentioned, he does pay the mortgage with his side gig for most months.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Guy I worked with at my side gig this weekend told me he bought his house in 1994 for $101k. He owes $189k on it now and is thinking about taking out the equity again (probably about $50-$100k).

In fairness to him, he said that his kids will not have any student loans and he is usually (about 9 months of the year) able to pay his mortgage with the side gigs paycheck, but still...  His house probably could have been paid off by now...

Not enough information to judge. Would have to know about the rest of his finances, entirely possible he's using his house in order to borrow at a tax adjusted ~1% APR and saving lots elsewhere.  Also, using it to pay for college is about the only acceptable use of home equity IMO.

You're correct, as usual. And as I mentioned, he does pay the mortgage with his side gig for most months.

So then the question is, does he have the side gig because he needs the money to make his mortgage payment?

[EfficiencyNerd]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

[mtn]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

Water has to be super cheap for you though, being in Toronto--what is your time worth?

(basing it on having very cheap water in Chicago, due to proximity to that giant body of water we have)

[Chris22]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

Water has to be super cheap for you though, being in Toronto--what is your time worth?

(basing it on having very cheap water in Chicago, due to proximity to that giant body of water we have)

I find all of our utilities in Chicago cheap: water as mentioned, electricity is nuclear and cheap, and we have natural gas which is super cheap right now.  Frankly, trying to save money on any of these three seems laughable to me given how cheap they are here. 

[bebegirl]

One more story for you.

Met my former colleague last week for coffee to find out about her new job and how she was doing.
Obviously we are exchanging news and stories.

She is asking me about my colleague in my department:

--How is X doing? Is she retiring any time soon?
--Nothing that I heard about. She just turned 66 last month!
--Wow! Why would someone want to work that long?
--Exactly!
----ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!!-- shouted both of us at the same time!!

That was hilarious!

[dragoncar]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

You could dig a well

[gimp]

A funeral director friend told me once that bodies last a lot longer before decaying than they used to, because of preservatives in the food we eat.

That... doesn't sound right.

[EfficiencyNerd]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

Water has to be super cheap for you though, being in Toronto--what is your time worth?

(basing it on having very cheap water in Chicago, due to proximity to that giant body of water we have)

My time is worth way more than my water.

Actually, I have no idea how much water is worth here - my utilities are 100% included with the exception of internet. Even a Standard Definition VIP cable package is included in our apartment building here in Toronto, which is kind of awesome except that we don't watch much TV and I'd rather have the money in pocket and potentially get something cheaper for the stuff we'd actually watch (read: hockey). But hey, I guess it's cool to say we have 200+ channels available even if we only actually care about <5% of them.

[dragoncar]

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic

...

Pure awesomeness. I would totally consider doing that to power certain things if I lived alone and had certain utilities covered but not others. Sadly, my wife would likely (and rightly so) object.

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

Water has to be super cheap for you though, being in Toronto--what is your time worth?

(basing it on having very cheap water in Chicago, due to proximity to that giant body of water we have)

My time is worth way more than my water.

Actually, I have no idea how much water is worth here - my utilities are 100% included with the exception of internet. Even a Standard Definition VIP cable package is included in our apartment building here in Toronto, which is kind of awesome except that we don't watch much TV and I'd rather have the money in pocket and potentially get something cheaper for the stuff we'd actually watch (read: hockey). But hey, I guess it's cool to say we have 200+ channels available even if we only actually care about <5% of them.

Somehow you have to turn your showerhead into a free internet connection

[EfficiencyNerd]

The more difficult would be the opposite... free electricity but not water. Buy an electric heater and hold it up to the building sprinkler system to get free water?? Idk, I guess maybe that's pushing it.

You could dig a well

This is great suggestion, although when you factor in the fact that I live on the 12th floor of an apartment building it makes it somewhat difficult. Perhaps I could dig through from the bottom of my parking garage?

[EfficiencyNerd]

Somehow you have to turn your showerhead into a free internet connection

THIS. Genius.

Actually, Google sorta already did that with Google TiSP, you just flush an ethernet cable down your toilet, and the Plumbing Hardware Dispatchers (PHDs) plug the line in!

https://archive.google.com/tisp/install.html

[Debts_of_Despair]

Two coworkers discussing car payments, lamenting the high costs, etc.  Coworker A finishes the conversation by telling coworker B that as soon as his current car is paid off he will be upgrading to a pickup truck.

[Digital Dogma]

During a conversation with a co-worker, we were discussing credit utilization as it relates to one's credit score.

CW1: Yea credit utilization is a major part of your credit score, mine went down when I paid off some credit card debt. Whats your limit?

Me: I have 14,000 in credit over a few different cards, but I don't carry a balance.

CW1: I've got a 40,000 limit with a 14,000 dollar balance.

Me: (!!!...) Oh... was that before you paid it down?

CW1: No, after.


Holy cow. Thats like the cost of a new car, at credit card interest rates.

[Kitsune]

Two coworkers discussing car payments, lamenting the high costs, etc.  Coworker A finishes the conversation by telling coworker B that as soon as his current car is paid off he will be upgrading to a pickup truck.

This is like... the very DEFINITION of not getting the point.

And yeah, I agree that cars are overpriced and commuting is expensive and sucky. Which is why you buy a cheap compact car, maintain it well so it keeps running, and commute as little as possible (either by living close to work or by negotiating partial work-from-home arrangements), thus mitigating the cost. That's ADDRESSING the point.

During a conversation with a co-worker, we were discussing credit utilization as it relates to one's credit score.

CW1: Yea credit utilization is a major part of your credit score, mine went down when I paid off some credit card debt. Whats your limit?

Me: I have 14,000 in credit over a few different cards, but I don't carry a balance.

CW1: I've got a 40,000 limit with a 14,000 dollar balance.

Me: (!!!...) Oh... was that before you paid it down?

CW1: No, after.


Holy cow. Thats like the cost of a new car, at credit card interest rates.

*headdesk* OMFG. I can't even. 14K at credit card rates. WTF.

... Between my husband and I, we have 2 lines of credit and 2 credit cards. If we maxed everything out, we'd have over 80K worth of debt that we're approved for, no questions asked. We use... well, right now, about 2K, which is standard monthly expenses that go on the credit card and get paid off. The rest is free and clear.

And to be clear: I have no idea WHY we're approved for this much, because we'd be so screwed if we ever dug ourselves into that much debt. Thank god we have common sense.

[Papa Mustache]

Two coworkers discussing car payments, lamenting the high costs, etc.  Coworker A finishes the conversation by telling coworker B that as soon as his current car is paid off he will be upgrading to a pickup truck.

On a much lesser amount - I've heard people discuss cellphones this way. After I pay off this expensive phone i'm going to get rid of it and buy the new next big deal phone. Endless payments for a phone bought in the most expensive way possible.

[Shalamar]

I'm not sure if this qualifies - you be the judge.  I overheard one co-worker telling another "I keep telling my wife that home insurance is a rip-off.  Who cares if anyone steals our stuff?  We can just buy new stuff.  Plus, our house was built in the 60's.  Has it burned down ever?  No!  We could be saving more than $1000/year if we stopped buying insurance!"

The kicker?  WE WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY.

[Chris22]

Two coworkers discussing car payments, lamenting the high costs, etc.  Coworker A finishes the conversation by telling coworker B that as soon as his current car is paid off he will be upgrading to a pickup truck.

On a much lesser amount - I've heard people discuss cellphones this way. After I pay off this expensive phone i'm going to get rid of it and buy the new next big deal phone. Endless payments for a phone bought in the most expensive way possible.

I "financed" my cell phone, because it's the cheapest way.  Financing it (no interest, just spreading the cost across 24 months) means I can trade in my old phone for a $650 credit spread out over 24 months.

So, I could:  1) pay cash for the phone, ~$900, and sell my phone on craigslist and deal with the hassle, or 2) pay $0 for the phone (Actually think it was $25 activation fee or something), but pay $37.50/mo and receive a credit of $27.08/mo for a net cost per month of $10.

$10/mo wins. 

[dragoncar]

I'm not sure if this qualifies - you be the judge.  I overheard one co-worker telling another "I keep telling my wife that home insurance is a rip-off.  Who cares if anyone steals our stuff?  We can just buy new stuff.  Plus, our house was built in the 60's.  Has it burned down ever?  No!  We could be saving more than $1000/year if we stopped buying insurance!"

The kicker?  WE WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY.

Could be mustachian if he can afford to self-insure.  Could be anti-mustachian if a fire would ruin him. 

Most people can't self-insure for liability, though.

[Travis]

So I'm filling out my travel voucher at work today and saw a charge for $96 for "tolls" on my company credit card.  I look into it and two months ago I passed through a toll portion of a highway in North Carolina in a rental car.  It turns out that rather than just bill me for the tolls I incurred the rental company added an "administrative fee" of $15 per toll.  When I called the company that processes these claims for the rental agency they said if I had entered the toll agreement when I rented the car (which they never mentioned) the processing fees would have dropped to make it a $63 bill. I about snapped at the woman on the phone. Apparently the right answer is to go to the state's toll website and pay right away.  As a visitor to the state renting one of their cars this entire system (I say scam) wasn't listed anywhere at the rental office.  Lucky for me I'm not the one paying the bill, but it was very infuriating nonetheless. 

[rencelas]

Lucky for me I'm not the one paying the bill, but it was very infuriating nonetheless.

I got dinged for a $16 fee for a $2 toll in downtown Norfolk, VA. There was no cash lane or anything similar, so I had to drive through. Lame, but like you, work paid for it. I really dislike those style of tolls.

[gimp]

So I'm filling out my travel voucher at work today and saw a charge for $96 for "tolls" on my company credit card.  I look into it and two months ago I passed through a toll portion of a highway in North Carolina in a rental car.  It turns out that rather than just bill me for the tolls I incurred the rental company added an "administrative fee" of $15 per toll.  When I called the company that processes these claims for the rental agency they said if I had entered the toll agreement when I rented the car (which they never mentioned) the processing fees would have dropped to make it a $63 bill. I about snapped at the woman on the phone. Apparently the right answer is to go to the state's toll website and pay right away.  As a visitor to the state renting one of their cars this entire system (I say scam) wasn't listed anywhere at the rental office.  Lucky for me I'm not the one paying the bill, but it was very infuriating nonetheless.

Rental companies fucking love tolls. $2? That's $2 + $25. Per toll, not for all the tolls combined. Fuck You, that's why.

[englyn]

I finally have one to add!
Guy having a conversation standing near my desk: I can't rely on super. When I retire I'll have a house worth about 1.5M, I'll reverse mortgage it to the hilt, that'll be my cash cow.

Context: super is the Aus compulsary retirement account, the govt sometimes changes minimum withdrawal age or taxes on it, but it's the best legal tax dodge around, as additional voluntary contributions can be made pre-tax at less than half the usual income tax rate. This guy probably makes twice average salary. We've just finished a huge property boom and honestly I expect stagnant property prices for at least a decade. If you don't trust the govt 'changing the rules' with your super, why in hell you would trust a commercial bank with a (costly) reverse mortgage is mystifying. (To be honest I don't make additional voluntary contributions to super either, but in my case it's because I'll want to RE before I can access it at ~ age 65, so my >50% savings rate goes elsewhere...)

[theadvicist]

A funeral director friend told me once that bodies last a lot longer before decaying than they used to, because of preservatives in the food we eat.

That... doesn't sound right.

I've actually also heard something similar from a funeral director friend (presumably a different one, since this one is in the UK).

He said that bodies are 'lasting' longer, but instead of preservatives in food, he thought it was down to ingredients in skin care products. So I don't know if it is mainly the faces of female clients or what... but yeah, he's been in this game a while and he says decay is being delayed.

Ugh, sorry, that was gross.

[arebelspy]

A funeral director friend told me once that bodies last a lot longer before decaying than they used to, because of preservatives in the food we eat.

That... doesn't sound right.

I've actually also heard something similar from a funeral director friend (presumably a different one, since this one is in the UK).

He said that bodies are 'lasting' longer, but instead of preservatives in food, he thought it was down to ingredients in skin care products. So I don't know if it is mainly the faces of female clients or what... but yeah, he's been in this game a while and he says decay is being delayed.

Ugh, sorry, that was gross.

I'd need a citation on either before accepting, because they both sound like BS.

First hit on Google for "bodies decaying slower" was:
https://modernlegends.net/2012/07/17/preservatives-slow-down-the-decomposition-of-bodies/

The URL (domain, and page) probably tell you all you need to know.

The page says:

I contacted dr. György Dunai, research fellow of the National Forensic Medical Institute in Budapest.

According to Dunay, their institute performs an autopsy on 2500-2600 bodies – from a wide spectrum of causes and backgrounds – every year, but they have never encountered the above mentioned phenomenon.

It's specifically targeted at the preservatives rumor, which is way more prevalent, but also debunks the skin care one, because the fact is, bodies aren't decaying slower.

[theadvicist]

Good research ARS. It made sense to me because the things put in skincare products are to preserve the product, to stop it going off. Since decay is just a natural process, more anti-bacterial elements in skincare could result in slowing that natural process, because it's bacteria that undertake that process.

But I'd never cared enough to look into - it was just something I was told. Thanks for debunking. I'm seeing the guy for New Year, I'll challenge him on it!

[Primm]

I've worked in health care with close contacts in the funeral industry for 30 years. Anecdotally, from what I've seen, your friend is spinning you bullshit.

[merula]

I'm not sure if this qualifies - you be the judge.  I overheard one co-worker telling another "I keep telling my wife that home insurance is a rip-off.  Who cares if anyone steals our stuff?  We can just buy new stuff.  Plus, our house was built in the 60's.  Has it burned down ever?  No!  We could be saving more than $1000/year if we stopped buying insurance!"

The kicker?  WE WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY.

Plenty of people work for insurance companies and know jack about insurance. Source: I work for a property & casualty insurance company.

Obviously it's possible to be in HR or Finance or facilities in an insurance company without having any need to know anything about how insurance works. But just yesterday, I had to explain to an underwriter who has been here for 5+ years that the standard GL form pays defense costs outside of the limits.

Most people can't self-insure for liability, though.

The property is the expensive part of a homeowner's policy, though. Liability only would be on the order of 1/10th the cost.

[budgetjones]

So I'm filling out my travel voucher at work today and saw a charge for $96 for "tolls" on my company credit card.  I look into it and two months ago I passed through a toll portion of a highway in North Carolina in a rental car.  It turns out that rather than just bill me for the tolls I incurred the rental company added an "administrative fee" of $15 per toll.  When I called the company that processes these claims for the rental agency they said if I had entered the toll agreement when I rented the car (which they never mentioned) the processing fees would have dropped to make it a $63 bill. I about snapped at the woman on the phone. Apparently the right answer is to go to the state's toll website and pay right away.  As a visitor to the state renting one of their cars this entire system (I say scam) wasn't listed anywhere at the rental office.  Lucky for me I'm not the one paying the bill, but it was very infuriating nonetheless.

Rental companies fucking love tolls. $2? That's $2 + $25. Per toll, not for all the tolls combined. Fuck You, that's why.

I've had that happen to me in California, where I was paying for it myself. When renting a car in the UK earlier this year, at the desk the agent asked me if I wanted to upgrade to a gps with my car at 15 UKP a day. I declined and then went out to my car to find it had a gps built in.  At the end I was charged almost 200 UKP for a gash in a tire that I have no recollection of causing.  My most recent trip, I used uber and a local bus everytime I needed a car. Done with rental cars.

[I'm a red panda]

So I'm filling out my travel voucher at work today and saw a charge for $96 for "tolls" on my company credit card.  I look into it and two months ago I passed through a toll portion of a highway in North Carolina in a rental car.  It turns out that rather than just bill me for the tolls I incurred the rental company added an "administrative fee" of $15 per toll.  When I called the company that processes these claims for the rental agency they said if I had entered the toll agreement when I rented the car (which they never mentioned) the processing fees would have dropped to make it a $63 bill. I about snapped at the woman on the phone. Apparently the right answer is to go to the state's toll website and pay right away.  As a visitor to the state renting one of their cars this entire system (I say scam) wasn't listed anywhere at the rental office.  Lucky for me I'm not the one paying the bill, but it was very infuriating nonetheless.

This happened to us in Colorado. It was a $25 per toll fee, and one of those highways where it charges you tiny tolls all the freaking time instead of one big one at the entrance or exit.  We had $200 in fees (which I think was their daily 'cap'. It would have been even higher otherwise). 

They never mentioned this fee, and the rental agency gave us the directions (it was nearing midnight, and we just wanted to get to sleep; it had been a horrible day, so we didn't think to question their directions).  There was, of course, no option to pay the tolls in person- you had to use the provided toll tag.

On the way home, we figured out if we had gone about 5 minutes out of the way we could have gone toll free on another road, which we did on the way back.  We were pretty furious, but it was an all around horrible, and expensive, trip that we went out there for, so we just chalked it up to the universe hated us and everything sucked that week anyway.

[I'm a red panda]

Oh- and since we are talking tolls.  I work in a satellite office about 4 hours from Chicago.  It costs about $25 in tolls to make the trip; half that if you have an easy pass.  Since we don't live in a state with toll roads, no one has one. 

We've suggested getting one or two for the office, since people constantly make the trip to Chicago. Thus far, it has been a no-go.  They'd rather we pay the tolls individually, and then reimburse on an expense report. 

So the office is always paying double tolls.

This seems to be fine with the budget.

But if you want a black pen instead of the standard purple ones- that you'll need to write a business case for.

[mtn]

Oh- and since we are talking tolls.  I work in a satellite office about 4 hours from Chicago.  It costs about $25 in tolls to make the trip; half that if you have an easy pass.  Since we don't live in a state with toll roads, no one has one. 

We've suggested getting one or two for the office, since people constantly make the trip to Chicago. Thus far, it has been a no-go.  They'd rather we pay the tolls individually, and then reimburse on an expense report. 

So the office is always paying double tolls.

This seems to be fine with the budget.

But if you want a black pen instead of the standard purple ones- that you'll need to write a business case for.

Buy the ipass for yourself, then send in the reimburssment for the regular tolls and profit?

[ysette9]

The I-70 toll system around Denver also take a million years to charge your credit card. I rarely take the toll road because going I-25 to the airport usually is just as fast. For some reason I did though and the toll charges showed up on my corporate credit card something like three moths later. Not only that, the charge d'exemption had nothing to do with tolls and the location was some state on the east coast, so I thought it was a fraudulent charge. What a pain!

[MgoSam]

Oh- and since we are talking tolls.  I work in a satellite office about 4 hours from Chicago.  It costs about $25 in tolls to make the trip; half that if you have an easy pass.  Since we don't live in a state with toll roads, no one has one. 

We've suggested getting one or two for the office, since people constantly make the trip to Chicago. Thus far, it has been a no-go.  They'd rather we pay the tolls individually, and then reimburse on an expense report. 

So the office is always paying double tolls.

This seems to be fine with the budget.

But if you want a black pen instead of the standard purple ones- that you'll need to write a business case for.

Buy the ipass for yourself, then send in the reimburssment for the regular tolls and profit?

I drive to Chicago from MN about 6-8 times a year and use the Ipass. My predecessor didn't, he took an odd delight in ensuring that he had exact change for all the tolls and would always comment on how the attendants seemed to like him because he always had exact change, and he refused to consider the Ipass. Once I took over the drive I immediately got it, as it is half the price for tolls, saves me times in getting through them, and it's one less thing to fumble around for while driving.

[Cadman]

I was hit by similar charges last year for delinquent tolls on a rental for work. It seems the more popular rental car agencies include an iPass in an RF hardened box on the windshield whether you order it or not. The idea is you leave the box closed if you have your own iPass, which our department does. Despite the box being closed, I was still charged for several tolls (with lots of inflated 'processing fees') which took months to get through the rental's system and show up in expense reporting.

Rental agency pointed the finger at the Illinois tollway, IT pointed the finger back at the Rental agency. Lost way too much time on the phone and got nowhere. Without tying the rental license plate to the department iPass, there was no way to reconcile the time and date of the charges against the rental's iPass. If you do enter the rental's plate, you better be damn sure to pull it before turning the car back in.

[mtn]

I was hit by similar charges last year for delinquent tolls on a rental for work. It seems the more popular rental car agencies include an iPass in an RF hardened box on the windshield whether you order it or not. The idea is you leave the box closed if you have your own iPass, which our department does. Despite the box being closed, I was still charged for several tolls (with lots of inflated 'processing fees') which took months to get through the rental's system and show up in expense reporting.

Rental agency pointed the finger at the Illinois tollway, IT pointed the finger back at the Rental agency. Lost way too much time on the phone and got nowhere. Without tying the rental license plate to the department iPass, there was no way to reconcile the time and date of the charges against the rental's iPass. If you do enter the rental's plate, you better be damn sure to pull it before turning the car back in.

As someone who lives in Illinois,  I am very happy with the IPass system. I have never had an issue with the tolls, and I probably drive through them at least once a week. Plus, I don't even have to have the ipass in the car--as long as I have my plates linked up, I'm good to go. The only issue I've ever had was when my credit card expired and I forgot to get a new one in there. Somehow I was able to get out of the charges.

[dragoncar]

the charge d'exemption had nothing to do with tolls and the location was some state on the east coast, so I thought it was a fraudulent charge. What a pain!

Oh my, did you call the fraud l'partment?

[Cadman]

MTN, I agree! And this is clearly a case of H*rtz working the system, IMO.

I'm glad the tollway is finally replacing their (frequently burnt out) incandescent bulbs with LEDs at the off ramps around Chicago. Makes it a lot easier to see if it missed a read.