I found a warehouse that sells direct. Pretty much anything you can think of. So I put an order in for a case of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, a case of Progresso clam chowder, a pallet of Charmin toilet paper, 2 boxes of steaks, and 40 pounds of avocados. The only drawback is you have to arrange for a trucking company to deliver the goods.
There are 2 Trucking companies in my town that are about the same price. I called one of them to arrange the pickup. I asked them how it worked. They said we use 1 truck per delivery, the warehouse loads the truck, and the customer unloads the truck. All we do is drive the goods from point A to Point B. I said that was fine because I have my own loading dock and forklift. I thought it was a little strange, so I called the other trucking company, and they do things exactly the same way.
I called the first trucking company back and asked them the price. They asked me what I was buying, and told me the truck size I would need and that it would cost $100. I said OK, that sounds fine. The stuff I was getting was a great deal, so it was totally worth it. I thought I was done, but then the guy on the phone said. “It will be an additional $20 for the Campbell's soup, another $40 for the toilet paper, and $50 for the steaks. I was shocked. I asked why it mattered what I got if I was already paying for the truck. He said, “Well, our owner is on the board of Progresso, so we charge more for their competitors products. The Avocado people made a deal to pay us extra if we charged more for shipping steak, and we charge more for the Charmin because we like Angel Soft better.
I decided to call the other trucking company. It was the same price for the truck, but in this case the steaks were no extra cost, but the avocados where an extra $60 bucks. The other stuff was the same. I asked if there was another trucking company in town. They said there was, but all they had were pickup trucks that only went 40MPH.
I asked, “How is this legal?” They said “it used to be illegal, but the trucking companies all got together and threw a bunch of money around to get the law changed, so they could gouge the customers. The customers could not do anything about it, because they were stuck with us.” I said I would not pay all of that money, and the trucking company said, “why don’t you order from our store? We own a more expensive warehouse with a much smaller selection. We only sell the products we have an interest in or that come from a supplier that pays us money under the table.” I asked if they had steaks. He said “no, the steak supplier was a small outfit that could not afford to bribe us, so they went under. Same for the Avocado place. But we don’t charge extra for shipping our products when you sign up for our introductory offer. The offer expires every 3-6 months, and then goes up by 50%. Sometimes if you call you can renegotiate, but you have to throw a fit and threaten to go with the other trucking company.”
I could not believe this bullshit. I pleaded “Why are you doing this”. His answer: “Fuck you, that’s why.”
So I punched him in the face, put in a garden, and bought some livestock.
And that is what happens when we get rid of net neutrality.