Post #2008094

I have just had a bizarre retail experience. I went to a camping store to buy a jump-starter. For those of you who don't know what that is: it's just a lithium ion battery powerful enough to jumpstart your car if you have a flat battery. I got caught out in a remote campsite with a flat battery recently and the guy who helped had a jumpstart pack. They're like a bigger phone power pack but with cable connectors to do the job of a car battery. Anyway, it worked perfectly so I decided to buy my own. Much better idea than a pair of jumper cables because you don't need another car to connect to. I recommend them to everyone. For $AU80 they're easy to use and better than waiting for roadside assistance to turn up. My battery went flat because after returning to camp because I decided to play some music. That involved opening the rear door of the 4WD and turning the ignition key to accessory. I forgot that the car air con switch was still on. So while sitting around the fire, drinking a few beers and screaming "No way, get fucked, Fuck Off" to Doc Neeson's question of "Am I ever gunna see your face again?" my air con was draining the car battery. So, upon returning home, I went to this shop to buy the thing. I saw them on display for $75 so I grabbed one and took it to the counter. I was ready when the sales clerk tried to up sell an LED headlamp. I didn't really listen to his spiel, I just declined and repeated that I only wanted the jump starter. He then said that it would be cheaper if I took both. Finally he just went and got a headlamp and told me that both together were cheaper than the one single item. Effectively they were paying me $5 to take this bloody LED headlamp. I already have two at home. I pointed out that this business strategy seemed likely to end in bankruptcy but he shrugged because he was just an employee of a huge retail chain and DNGAF. #Camping #LED Maybe the purpose is to get the customer to take away excess stock. The headlamp itself requires an AA battery. It doesn't have any built in Li ion battery with USB. So it's probably not a big seller. Everything is Li ion with USB recharging these days. It reminds me of another interesting story of the time I had to go over to Shelby ville. I was wearing an onion in my belt which was the style at the time ...