Are they clueless, or do they think I am?

The mail brought the yearly upgrade offer for Quicken; normally, I rise to the bait (either by mail or in-store), but this year, from all that I’ve read, there’s not much new in the program, certainly not enough to warrent the upgrade price.

What is the price?  Well, that’s an interesting question.  If I were to accept Intuit’s “Preferred Customer” offer, I’d pay $59.95 plus $3.50 for shipping plus sales tax, minus a $20 Preferred Customer rebate (assuming I follow the simple instructions and they actually get the coupon).  On the other hand, I could go to Fry’s and pay $59.95 plus sales tax and take advantage of the advertised $20 rebate — hey, I come out $3.50 ahead that way!  And I think it’s even cheaper at Costco, though there’s always the danger of leaving there with an extra forty pounds of Cheerios or something like that.

So I wonder why Intuit feels the need to play these games — why isn’t the “Preferred Customer” price lower than the in-store price?  And why do they play the rebate game, especially for people buying directly from them?

Preparing for the Gala

Shir Hadash is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the 10th year for our current Rabbi.  As part of the celebration, there’s going to be a black-tie optional gala next month.  So last week, Diane went up to San Francisco with two of her friends to buy gowns for the gala — they were there all day, had late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (they did bring back dessert, and it was good) — all in all, it was a Major Shopping Event (and even then she had to take the gown to be shortened a little bit).  Today, I went to President Tuxedo next to the Japanese fast-food place, spent seven minutes picking out a tux, five minutes being measured, and we were on our way.  I think I like my end of the deal better.

Car Envy?

Diane Reese‘s family got their new Prius — it looks wonderful on the Web, and I look forward to seeing it (and probably not hearing it) next week. We’re beginning to think about replacing Diane’s car in the next year or so (it needs a ring job, at the very least), and the Prius seems like it might be a good car to consider.