Why I do not like anything for free or cheap

Let me show you a general issue on a practical example.

It’s all poop!

Excuse the pun. It’s about the vital supply of good kitty litter. Makes the cat happy but much more importantly: Makes the very myself  happy.

I went into the animal store to fill up the kitty litter box with new kitty litter. I noticed that the mix was rather grey whereas it used to be grey with quite a  bit of black activated coal bits – that avoids the smell of the kitty loo.

At the checkout I asked about the almost absence of the coal and got a raft of explanations of technical principles of mixing, variations, supplier specific things etc. And I replied that that was all understandable and cool but still the product was not as good as it used to be. The checkout lady then asked me whether I wanted the whole lot for free. I looked at her, smiling, and said that I am not after something free, but after the product that it used to be. And that there was not really much of an alternative. I asked her whether she could check with the supplier because less coal would mean more smell and that even having it for free would still not make the smell go away and was not a solution to the problem. And so I paid and the lady promised to follow up with the supplier.

Universal lesson

You have a problem and you are looking at a product to provide a solution. Even if you get something for cheap or free that does not solve the actual problem, what did you win? You still have an issue. You are much better off paying the price and give feedback for the product to be corrected. Only then we can all happily move on. (Of course I could have given feedback and take it for free, however I think it’s more credible to pay and give feedback).

So let’s see whether the kitty litter will get better again.