Is anybody in the odd position of having an extra AIM DirecTV satellite meter charger on hand? Its output is 14 some-odd volts at 4.5 amps, truly an unusual item.

The manufacturer sells these for $30.95 plus tax, plus EIGHTEEN DOLLARS shipping and handling. When I commented that $18 sounds like a lot for a one pound package, the lady I was speaking with commented that it was going to go all the way to California from all the way in Indianapolis.

This reminds me of the saxophones you can get from China on ebay for $200, plus $600 shipping!

I've got a variac, some diodes and some capacitors, so I'll probably top up my AIM meter with a home-brew for now. Meanwhile, a complete cleaning of the work area will probably turn up the supply....

Assuming you're part of a business entity, buy it, add it to the list of itemized deductions for this year and get on with your life. Saving $18 by doing it yourself will not work unless you know where all of the parts are and it only takes a few minutes.

Also, 'shipping' isn't just the shipping cost, it includes their cost for an employee to get one, put it in a box, attempt to add packing, tape it shut and generate a shipping label. That's called 'handling' and it's not free.

18 bucks? Sounds normal but exspensive. I just mailed an envelope within state. Cost 2 bucks. Had it weighed with a magazine in it and sent postage along with envelope. 4 bucks to mail a magazine in an envelope.

I needed spring clips for the filters in a Broan range hood. The didn't charge for the clips, but the postage was $6, from Beaver Dam, WI to the Milwaukee area. The weight was a few ounces.

I mean, assuming you're not a robot (and i know you are), it took $18 in labor to type that out.

Ermie's posts make me pray for fast food chains and big box stores to decide labor is too high and replace humans with machines so I can further reduce my interaction with morons.

According to what you're saying, you can reduce interaction with morons by no longer responding to my posts. But you won't stop. You don't mean it. You actually enjoy it.

That's "morans" and don't you forget it...

I just ordered DIN rail connectors (25) from a company on the others side of the state.Didn't even weigh a pound and was ($17.00). Just the cost of doing business.
Still cheaper than me getting in my truck for an hour round trip to the local electrical distributor.

Tell them to make the invoice for charger as follows.......

Charger $38.95
Shipping $10.00

Problem solved!!!! You're welcome

"Like"

Had a job years ago and needed to make some RS-232 cables. Ordered 100 pins from Amp and told them I needed them FedEx overnight. Next day I get two shipments. One overnight box has 8 pins in it. The other overnight box has 92 pins in it. I check my invoice and I am charged for two overnight shipments. Charge of 45 per shipment.

I call Amp and say WTF. They say that the computer ordered it from the first warehouse and they only had 8 pins so the computer then ordered it from the second warehouse the other 92.

I complain and they said that there was nothing that they could do about it. It must be nice to be a giant company and be able to piss on all the little customers that need to do business with you.

I would have climbed up the food chain for that.

No, it didn't. I volunteer my time here so my time is priceless.

Besides, isn't it worth discussing the theory of things, or pointing out issues that we should pay attention to? That post about paying $45 to ship eight pins really got me. I would also have gone up the chain for a refund of one shipping charge.

The fact that your computer is programmed in a way that screws clients should not be met with "we can't do anything about it." It should be met with a refund and an apology. The software should be corrected so it won't do that, which is beyond what most companies can afford to do, but they should be made to reimburse stupidity like that.

The world asks, please stop with your charitable contributions.