[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

It makes things cheaper than they would have been if inflation was still high.

That's like being the "tallest Little Person"... (can't use the "M Word" anymore...)

Sorry, but there is no "silver lining" to this...

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

That's like being the "tallest Little Person"... (can't use the "M Word" anymore...)

Sorry, but there is no "silver lining" to this...

Wasn't implying there was, simply trying to explain low inflation vs high inflation. But reality is, I prefer one over the other.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

It makes things cheaper than they would have been if inflation was still high.

You sound like a politician

[fdpaq0580]

Inflation has been around since humans first began trading.

[Sabella]

Originally Posted by Rich42

Inflation has been raging beyond the typical norms for the last three years. It is significantly affecting virtually all Americans. While businesses need to increase prices to cover legitimate rising costs, too many are just taking advantage of the upward spiral in prices to gouge the consumer. I encountered the epitome of this trend in The Villages yesterday. I have patronized the “Village Car Wash” in the La Plaza Grande shopping center in Spanish Springs for over 10 years. Admittedly I had not been there in quite some time with covid and all, and the last time I was there was a couple of years ago. At that time the price of the cheapest basic car wash (they call it Bronze) was $14.95. Of interest, also note the prices of the various levels of service were prominently posted when you entered their property. To just digress for a moment, I pass their location several times a week and had been noticing the normal long waiting line of cars—regardless of time of year or time of day—has been absent. The place has always appeared to be a gold mine! Well, not so for the last few months. I don’t know exactly when they raised their prices, but the basic Bronze wash (again the cheapest option) was $34! I only found this out when I went inside to pay because their prices were no longer publicly posted. That is an increase from the relatively recent price of 127%!!! No way have their costs gone up anywhere near that. I now understand why there are no longer any lines of people waiting to get their cars washed, and I will certainly no longer be a customer. That is pure greed that should not be supported by the community.

Don’t blame the owner of this business blame the people that patronize it mostly the villages. The reason why most of us senior citizens in the villages are getting totally ripped off when it comes to price not only in local businesses, but in services we have done on at our house is BECAUSE most people will pay the rip off excessive price.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Sabella

Don’t blame the owner of this business blame the people that patronize it mostly the villages. The reason why most of us senior citizens in the villages are getting totally ripped off when it comes to price not only in local businesses, but in services we have done on at our house is BECAUSE most people will pay the rip off excessive price.

So, your position is that inflation is a problem confined to The Villages, or senior communities in general??????

[jcreason5616]

Originally Posted by Philipd411

So why did they just become greedy? According to your train of thought, they could have raised their prices years ago to $34 and been greedy back then. Their cost has gone up, less people are shopping there. It not greed but business.

I agree that some/many business are taking advantage of the inflation headlines to justify the “greedy” increase in prices that would under other circumstances appear outrageous, but some go way too far.

[nn0wheremann]

Originally Posted by Rich42

Inflation has been raging beyond the typical norms for the last three years. It is significantly affecting virtually all Americans. While businesses need to increase prices to cover legitimate rising costs, too many are just taking advantage of the upward spiral in prices to gouge the consumer. I encountered the epitome of this trend in The Villages yesterday. I have patronized the “Village Car Wash” in the La Plaza Grande shopping center in Spanish Springs for over 10 years. Admittedly I had not been there in quite some time with covid and all, and the last time I was there was a couple of years ago. At that time the price of the cheapest basic car wash (they call it Bronze) was $14.95. Of interest, also note the prices of the various levels of service were prominently posted when you entered their property. To just digress for a moment, I pass their location several times a week and had been noticing the normal long waiting line of cars—regardless of time of year or time of day—has been absent. The place has always appeared to be a gold mine! Well, not so for the last few months. I don’t know exactly when they raised their prices, but the basic Bronze wash (again the cheapest option) was $34! I only found this out when I went inside to pay because their prices were no longer publicly posted. That is an increase from the relatively recent price of 127%!!! No way have their costs gone up anywhere near that. I now understand why there are no longer any lines of people waiting to get their cars washed, and I will certainly no longer be a customer. That is pure greed that should not be supported by the community.

What do you expect when the cheap labor has been run out of the state?

[MikeVillages]

Don't forget to vote.

[Marmaduke]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I have a different take on this topic. A business has the right to charge whatever they want for their product or service. That is capitalism. Price gouging only occurs when a business is taking advantage of people as a result of a special situation where the customer has no other choice but to pay an excessively high price for an essential product. Washing a car is not a special situation where price gouging applies. If you don't want to pay $34 for a car wash, then go somewhere else. But, it is not price gouging. The business has no obligation to charge based on their costs.

I agree with you 100%. Love American Capitalism and Free Enterprise. However, I can always tell when business owners know their target market and have their finger on the pulse.

If I rolled up to a car wash gate and learned of the New Unposted $$$ Price, I would wish them luck and pull away, but not before stating that I was ONCE a Loyal and Valuable customer and ask them how they feel about losing me.
Unfortunately, the worker would shrugg and NEVER tell the owner.
The Morale of my story is that I wouldn't REALLY say a word, I'd just roll down to 466a where there are 3 NEW , competitive car wash sites within a mile of one another and check their rates since I'm down there frequently.

[ithos]

Eventually those automatic brush car washes will strip away your clear coat and the paint. I found out the hard way. $500 to repair. Recommend do not use unless the vehicle isn't worth that much.

The brushless are not much better:

However, even touch-free car washes can damage a vehicle's clear coat and paint coat. Not only do these touch-free washes use aggressive acids to clean. Over time, overly acidic cleansers can deteriorate your car's protective coatings.Brushless car washes also utilize high-pressure hoses.

403 Forbidden

[hypart]

Originally Posted by Wilharm

The government does not include food or gasoline in the CPI. So if you don't eat or drive you have nothing to worry about.

The CPI does include food and energy. You are referring to CPI-U for All Items Less Food and Energy. This index is closely watched by many economic analysts and policymakers under the belief that food and energy prices are volatile and are subject to price shocks that cannot be damped through monetary policy.

[Marine1974]

$15 an hour is not a living wage due to poorly run economy and unfit leader , that some people voted for this and now we all have to suffer higher prices.

[Marine1974]

You hit the nail on the head . We have a leader clearly unfit to run our country and people who voted for this are in denial of what a bad choice they made so they call it price gouging not inflation .

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by hypart

The CPI does include food and energy. You are referring to CPI-U for All Items Less Food and Energy. This index is closely watched by many economic analysts and policymakers under the belief that food and energy prices are volatile and are subject to price shocks that cannot be damped through monetary policy.

I Googled it and here is what I got. Sounds like gobblegook to me.

"CPI and CPI-U are both measures of consumer price inflation, but they differ in their coverage and methodology. CPI-U stands for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and covers 93% of the U.S. population. CPI stands for Consumer Price Index and can refer to either CPI-W or C-CPI-U. CPI-W is a subset of CPI-U that covers urban wage earners and clerical workers, and is used for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. C-CPI-U is a chained price index that varies its expenditure weights each month and results in lower inflation estimates than CPI-U."

Why don't they spell it out in English?