So, Andy and I have decided to buy a car. We want something that gets better gas mileage and might be new enough to have some warranty left on it. Since the boys and I had a little time to kill in Greenville yesterday afternoon, I thought I would stop in to our local Volkswagen dealer and see what they had on the lot. I should’ve known it was a mistake from the beginning. We’ve been less than impressed with Joe Pecheles dealers’ high-pressure sales tactics in the past. I don’t know why, but I honestly thought with all of Volkswagen’s talk about customer service oriented dealerships, that maybe they had changed. Nope.

I drove through the lot, really didn’t see anything that was in our price range and was about to drive off the lot when I was approached by a salesman. I told him about the deal I had recently seen at another dealership. I knew there was no way they could touch it, so I was looking for an older car. He assured me that since it was the last day of the month that they would be really willing to come down on price. He asked me to give him a minute to get a set of keys, that he actually had a car that was in our price range that he could deal on. I should have driven away…..I should have.

The crappiest part about having a budget? The drive to try to get as much for that budget as you can. So I stuck around to see if they really wanted to make a deal.

I loved the inside of the car, but I knew that before I ever sat in it (I like Passats, that’s why I’m looking for one). I asked him how much. He fed me some line about how they don’t tell people the price of a car until they drive it. What? Sign number two that I should have left. Problem with this one, I had the “getting the most for my money” thing going in my head…and I had had enough of my beautiful boys and saw a chance for a break. My mom was across the street shopping and I thought she might watch them for a few minutes. So I kept telling myself, “Why not?”. Ma agreed to watch the boys for a few minutes and I drove back across the street to drive the stupid car.

It was great to drive, no surprise…..The salesman then had to take me inside to sit me down to get all of this information just to give me the price of the stupid car?!?

Turns out it was a pretty good deal….but a little more than we were going to spend. Car dealer man said he was desperate to sell the car and asked me what it would take to sell the car today….I told him, straight up and honest. I knew exactly how much I was going to finance, had it taken care of with my bank and I had my truck in trade….if he could work that, I’d leave with the car. Period.

Well, that, of course, led to several more discussions with sales managers. He brought me back about 4 different lease options for a new car. No, I told you when I first arrived, I don’t want a new car. He comes back and asks for the keys to my truck. He walks out with me, looks it over, starts it up, etc….We go back inside…..another trip to the sales manager. By this point I have to go get the kids from my mom. I’m not going to leave her with two insane little guys in Barnes and Nobles but for so long.

Car salesman informs me that his mechanic needs to look at the truck…..fine. I’ll be back with my boys in a few minutes. At this point, I’m getting pissed, it’s been about an hour and a half. So I go pick the boys back up, bring them in the showroom, hand over my keys, and resume waiting for 2, that’s right 2, more trips to the sales manager. The result of these trips were financing options from the dealership for the used Passat, and then for a new Jetta, which I wasn’t interested in, had never mentioned and is too small. Oh, and did I mention that this clown brought more lease payments in this time, too?

Finally he goes in for the last meeting with his “sales manager” and some other individual I recognize as the dealership owner, Brian. He comes back….after 2 hours of wasting my afternoon….with the MSRP on the Passat and insult of a trade for my truck.

That’s right, it took these sleazy car dealers 2 hours to just come back and say no. Haven’t we reached a point where these games aren’t necessary? I was upfront and honest from the beginning about what I could afford and this land shark of a car dealer didn’t have enough respect for the customer to just say he couldn’t do that….instead he screwed me around all afternoon.

So I guess there will be no Volkswagen for our family. My husband has had 7 of them and he was so excited that I would finally get one…..but now, there’s no way. We’re going to get one new enough that it has some warranty left. To get that warranty work done, I would have to see the exact same folks that toyed with me all day yesterday. Nope. Guess I’ll get a Honda.

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We all know fast food is bad for us, but occasionally it’s a treat or a necessity. I took my boys to Hardee’s in Washington this afternoon for a Valentines’ treat. I brought them home and unpacked their kid’s meals to find this….

It’s kind of hard to capture with the camera I have on hand, but THAT IS GRAPHITE. It’s commonly used in machinery as a lubricant, but let me tell you, it has no place on our FOOD! That’s right, the same stuff that forms pencil leads and that lubes molds in the steel making process. Those bastards were trying to feed it to my 3 year old.

I took the burger back to the restaurant and asked for the manager. According to her name tag, I was addressed by the General Manager. When I told her that I didn’t think that graphite was an acceptable condiment, she said, “it’s just the grease from the chain on the grill. It won’t hurt nothin’.”. She offered me another cheeseburger or some chicken strips. Um, no. She refunded my money for the kid’s meal. I could give a crap about the $3.50 right now. What else have these people put in my kids’ food that they thought wouldn’t “hurt nothin’”? What was on the hamburger patty that I couldn’t see? The fact she thought it was OK that there was grease (and not the kind you cook the fries in) on my child’s cheeseburger is extremely disturbing. Then she swept it all off of the counter and into a trash can. Nope. I made her dig it back out. I wanted my receipt for my son’s graphite burger and a picture to prove it.

Graphite is a carbon allotrope and is used heavily in industrial settings. Hell, it’s even in between the gears on my coveted stand mixer……but I don’t feed it to my children. I don’t let them eat pencil lead or suck on steel castings, so I’m damn sure not going to let some fast food restaurant feed it to them.

I’ve put in a call to Hardee’s corporate headquarters. Wonder what they’ll have to say…..

Wonder what the Health Department would have to say?

Update:

I spoke with an area Rep for Hardees’, who was on his way to Beaufort County. While I appreciate their quick response, I don’t appreciate the BS he fed me. He visited the restaurant and called me back to inform me that it was burnt butter on the hamburger bun. I didn’t get into an argument with him, because it just isn’t worth it at this point, BUT…….I’ve burned plenty of butter in my lifetime and I’ve never seen it have a metallic sheen to it. I’ve also seen plenty of graphite from the inside of my stand mixer while cleaning it and I’m pretty certain that’s what’s on our bun. Burnt butter doesn’t usually have flecks of silver in it.

Oh well, guess there’s a lot to be said for cooking for my boys at home whenever possible. Eventually they’ll get old enough to see past the commercial crap and the toy that comes with the food to realize that my cheeseburgers taste better anyway. They’re damn lucky I’m a good cook. I only hope I can learn to market myself as well as McDonalds’ or Burger King.

Posted in Rant, Food | No Comments »