How greedy can they get?.

Originally Posted by poni

i agree with the most of your views. you may be/and sometimes are correct about economics/politics inflation /poverty etc but for a moment consider this --


we 4 people from bangalore went a nice little town in north-west karnataka, its a very calm town and it is untouched by the 'capitalism' or the city waves, which is why we visited in the first place.

There was this very nice bar which also served the very best local fare.obviously the best place in that very small town.

when we checked the prices on the menu we were shocked because the prices were unbelivably LOW compared to what we've been used to pay in bangalore without even thinking.

There was this small 'kid'(lets not get into the child labor thing) and a person of our age who were our waiters. They did an excellent job. they made us feel like kings. super fast service and excellent food.

when came the bill, we could not believe it either. After 2 hours of binging from the 4 of us. the bill was only 300 !!

I saw the people at the other tables who were paying at the max 10/20 for tips on huge bills.(like the people who came by group of >8/10) or paying very very little and still being unsatisfied with their service.

But one of my generous friend insisted we tip 200 rupee. just 50 rupee on each of us. because HE was very happy and this would have cost us more than 1000 inr in any 'normal' bangalore hotel and the waiters looked poor.
---

our group decide to tip 200, 100 of it secretly to the kid waiter- because I was sure, somebody would fleece the money off him, had anybody seen the kid receiving it.

Also ,am sure ,with the infrastructure available in the town and the avenues available to spend that money, i would only be sponsoring drinks/cig/pan masala and what-not to whoever got that tip and rest assured that they will pounce on you when you/or anybody like you arrive in the town next time.


i dont wish to name the place/town for i fear one more place would be destroyed due to senseless commerce and i would not enjoy going there anymore. but whether or not i do, i know someone else will or its already screwed when i go there next time.


[I also know many of you come here/ came here in search of peace /tranquility/ cheap party and what-not and today are the same complaining they dont get here anymore/its costly/ greed etc etc etc.]


no wonder, people and the govt look at foreigner/and today the It sector of bangalore like someone with fat pockets that come here to blow and screw up the place or at best, a means of making a lot of 'easy' money .

It would interesting to know how you and/or anybody that is complaining of 'greed' today would have behaved in that situation

Originally Posted by obione980

Step outside the 'market' - overpaying being one way of doing this; and you risk distorting the market.

Originally Posted by obione980

Quite agree skk; hence my use of italics and quotes with market!

Originally Posted by kmalik

To be clear, I do not dispute the escalation of prices that comes with the more generous (stupid, you name it) consumer entering the market. There is hardly any arguing with that; whether you can do anything about that is a different matter.

What I find appalling is that the pejorative like greedy gets applied with a lot greater ease to the relatively poor people trying to better their lot and not when it is done at bigger scale (e.g. the oil companies, the oil nations, etc.) or richer or more western folks. In this same thread, the oil price escalation by BP referred to as simple inflation by a poster who is positive that the taxi drivers in Goa are greedy. Look at the rising profits of BP and the earnings of its executives (just an example) and the lot of the taxi driver. Furthermore, no one bats an eye on the 50 euro / hr hourly wage in Germany for the cab driver, but if taxi driver in Goa, looking at the demand, tries to put a few more penny's in his pocket - it brings up all this. It is this hypocrisy is really the shame here.

Originally Posted by skk

Epistemologically ( or some other big word like that I've forgotten for the moment ), you can't step outside the market. The market is the universal set ( I'm better at describing it in math) - you can't distort it. It just is. We are all players in it - the whole world is a stage ( Shakespeare ) and all that.

Even when we are not "in" the market we are IN the market. For example, if you are worried about equities dropping and say to yourself I'm going to stay out of the market and go to real cold, hard cash - you've actually played your part IN the equities market by removing cash from it and played a part in the bond market by choosing a -ve rate of return but highly liquid instrument.

Back to greed and so on.

-skk

Originally Posted by moksha1

Okay, so "greed" is the issue? But, is the dual price structure not better described as "racist"?

It certainly would be in Europe, and everyone would be rushing off with their State funded Legal Aid to the European Court of Human Rights shouting "racial discrimination".

I am not referring to "negotiable" purchase situations such as food markets where haggling is the norm. But why should I, with a "wheatish Johnson & Johnson complexion" be charged a notional rip off amount well above M.R.P.at a fixed price outlet and when complaining be told to take my business elsewhere; "Go and f**k off", to be exact.Yes, I certainly have done, but two week tourists continue to be fleeced and unaware that they are, and people of a darker skin tone, or a known local person is charged less for the same goods.

There was a case a few years ago where a UK Estate Agent had been instructed by the owners of a property for whom he was selling agent that the sellers did not want to sell to anyone of "Asian/ethnic/mixed race" (whichever way they racistly defined it???).The agent acted as instructed by refusing an Indian couple the opportunity to view the property. The couple took legal action and got compensation to the amount that the entire business of this Estate Agent went bust.

How much I'd like to do that to Newton's, Lawande's, Luma, Snow White Laundry,Menezes; almost every shopkeeper retailer of fixed price goods.

Do we operate a skin tax in the West? Does a person (tourist, resident or citizen)of different race, ethnic background, language,skin colour, or wealth pay a higher amount at the check out than the next person in the queue? Not bloody likely!

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

Economic 'cheating' and East vs West.

Lets start with the World Bank and the IMF and WTO/subsidies, shall we,?

I like the way the folk in this forum assume Westerners means whites, btw. Look up the demographics in your home countries, please.


no supermarket or branded store charges more in India based on colour of skin or hat. And neither do any branded stores etc. Not one of them.


What you are talking about is mom and pop stores and services. Tourists get treated differently (and yes, ripped off too) based on skin colour everywhere in the world in these. I don't know why special mention should be made of India.

PS



The "ethnic people" don't charge you more for that here, either. Shop at any petrol pump or regular supermarket.

Problem is, many Goa regulars think that a couple of beaches in that well (Goa) is the ocean.

Originally Posted by Honey Bee

Excuse me, but Newtons and other supermarkets, try it on charging white people above the marked prices on the packets.