0.4 stars, but had to settle for 1, because Yelp doesn't allow fractions, and this felt closer to zero.
I recently paid $2 for 5 gallons of water. I didn't question it. I filled my container inside, returned the cart, loaded the 5-gallon container into my car, and on my way out realized I had no idea what the posted price actually was.
So I looked.
No posters or signs with the price, and there are three machines outside. Two share a green digital display that currently shows what appears to be encrypted alien communication. The third machine clearly displays $1.25 for 5 gallons, but it is out of service. Through its transparent button, a piece of paper shows the price handwritten in pen -- like ancient pricing, very clear, but obviously out of date. So the only visible pricing anywhere on the property are relics of the past.
I went back inside and asked where the current price was posted. I was told to look at the machine outside. I had just done that. After several requests to be shown exactly where the price was, the gentleman reluctantly came out.
He stared at the same digital gibberish I had been staring at. There was a brief silence. It was a quiet victory.
Only after seeing it himself did he tell me I would need to insert money into the machine to see the price, dismissively insisted again and again that that's the only way I could see the price. Keep in mind: I had already paid and loaded my container into my car. I was not going to purchase a second time just to reveal the mystery.
I was told the owner was next door at the restaurant and that she was the only person there. While I was inside waiting, I observed a phone call from the water store to the restaurant before I was addressed. The woman assisting customers did not appear to be the owner and seemed uncertain when asked.
Eventually I was told the owner's name is Socorro, and that she was not there.
This wasn't about the amount charged. It was about the fact that the only visible pricing required decoding what looked like a Predator wrist-display, or interpreting ancient pricing clearly written in pen behind a transparent button. If customers need to translate alien technology and relics of the past to understand what they're being charged, something is off.
The experience felt complete in the way a four-fingered hand feels complete. It works. You just keep noticing what isn't there.
Clear pricing would solve most of this. read more
