Question: Was I right to refuse this, or was I being a cheap Jew?

[Dan Druff]

Situation:

I know someone, I'll call him "Jason", who came to me with an offer to buy some of my Caesars Total Rewards credits. Jason is what I would call a "friendly acquaintance". I generally like him, but we are not close friends by any means, and I wouldn't even say he's really a friend.

Jason wanted to buy some tickets to a certain show at a Caesar's property, which would add up to around $400. It wasn't exactly $400, but it was very close, so we'll say it was $400 for the sake of simplicity.

At first, Jason thought he was doing me a favor, as I can't exchange my Rewards Credits directly for cash, and exchanging them for freeplay comes with a fee. At the same time, he thought he could save himself money.

Jason came to me and offered $300 cash for my $400 in Rewards Credits.

When I said no, he was very surprised.

"What?! I thought that was fair," he said. "How much do you want for them, then?"

I told him I wanted $350.

He got pissed. "$350?! For $400 in RCs? That doesn't sound fair at all."

I then explained the following to him:

1) I can, at any time, exchange my RCs at a 1.25:1 ratio for freeplay. Freeplay is just as good as cash for me, since I would otherwise be inserting cash when playing at Caesar's properties. So using that calculation, I could get $320 in freeplay for $400 in RCs at any time. Therefore, selling him this for $300 would actually cost me $20!

2) I can't just easily transfer him the RCs (or otherwise I'd do it for $320). I have to either go with him to the Total Rewards desk to transfer RCs to him, or go with him to the box office when he buys his tickets. So there's a pain-in-the-ass factor for me, as well as a good deal of my time wasted, especially when accounting for Vegas strip area traffic.

3) I didn't say this part to him, but he's not a close friend of mine, so if I sold him the RCs for $320 (the minimum I could do without losing money), then I would be putting myself through all of the hassle and time of going down to the casino just so he could save $80 himself. While I would do this for a close friend, I am not going to waste my time with this crap for the average dude who just wants to use me in order to save money.

So, basically, I was willing to do it for $350, where I would get $30 profit out of it, and he would get $50 savings out of it -- splitting the savings, except he gets a greater share of the savings than I.

Jason was noticeably pissed at me when I wouldn't go lower than $350, finally muttering, "Whatever dude, just keep the points and forget I asked."

Was I right or wrong here?

[shortbuspoker]

2) I can't just easily transfer him the RCs (or otherwise I'd do it for $320). I have to either go with him to the Total Rewards desk to transfer RCs to him, or go with him to the box office when he buys his tickets. So there's a pain-in-the-ass factor for me, as well as a good deal of my time wasted, especially when accounting for Vegas strip area traffic.

Will they not allow you to buy the tickets with your credits and let him pick them up at will call the night of the show?

[vegas1369]

Right.

Fuck Jason.

His plan is a complete inconvenience to you just so he can save a hundred bucks or so. If he offered to take you and your girl to dinner at a Caesar's property and then hit up the cage to transfer the points, sure, that's reasonable, but he's not. He wants you to go completely out of your way so he can save some cash. I agree with you, just going up to the strip to do something like this is a giant pain in the ass. Sounds like a one way street named Jason.

Tell that cheap asshole to hit up one of the many Tickets For Tonight around town and stop bothering you with this bullshit.

[rickastley]

cliffs: jason should not get so uptight. you were offered the credits for 350, take it or leave it and cut out the attitude fag.

[Dan Druff]

2) I can't just easily transfer him the RCs (or otherwise I'd do it for $320). I have to either go with him to the Total Rewards desk to transfer RCs to him, or go with him to the box office when he buys his tickets. So there's a pain-in-the-ass factor for me, as well as a good deal of my time wasted, especially when accounting for Vegas strip area traffic.

Will they not allow you to buy the tickets with your credits and let him pick them up at will call the night of the show?

I don't think I can use my RCs over the phone, and even if I could, Jason wouldn't want that because he wants to see the tickets he's buying (which is understandable).

That part is fine, but for him to want me to do this and either lose money or break even (while he saves $80) is LOL, considering the hassle involved.

[Hockey Guy]

You're totally in the right here. Why should anybody be expected to take a loss of $20 especially after you explained it to him.

Don't really get why he wouldn't take your deal for $350, he's still saving money &, like you said, he's not a close friend or relative. Don't lose any sleep over this one.

[BetCheckBet]

Has nothing to do with being cheap. You are entitled to sell your credit at whatever you value it to be worth.

[shortbuspoker]

I don't think I can use my RCs over the phone, and even if I could, Jason wouldn't want that because he wants to see the tickets he's buying (which is understandable).

That part is fine, but for him to want me to do this and either lose money or break even (while he saves $80) is LOL, considering the hassle involved.

I probably wouldn't make a special trip down there either.

[PLOL]

You're definitely in the right here, Druff. And $350 seems totally reasonable to me

[Dan Druff]

You're totally in the right here. Why should anybody be expected to take a loss of $20 especially after you explained it to him.

Don't really get why he wouldn't take your deal for $350, he's still saving money &, like you said, he's not a close friend or relative. Don't lose any sleep over this one.

I wondered that, too. I came up with two reasons:

1) Pride. He felt I was gouging him, so even though he would have saved money, he told me to forget the whole thing just for his warped principles on the matter.

2) Misplaced understanding of "comps". Many people see casino comps as an endless source of free money that should be shared with the world. I have had so many people come up to me and ask, "Hey, can you get me a free buffet at Caesars?", and when I answer that I would have to pay with comps that could otherwise be exchanged for freeplay, they kind of give me a look like I'm being cheap and selfish. Sadly, a lot of them feel, "If you got it for free, then you should give it away to everyone else for free, too." Not only do they misunderstand that I earned these points, but that anything you receive free is still your property, and nobody else has a right to expect you forward it on to them. So I believe Jason went into this with the belief that he was doing me some kind of favor taking "free comps" off my hands and giving me $300 for it, and when I explained the truth, he kinda blocked it out and all he could see was that I wanted to make money off of the situation, ignoring the fact that he was trying to make money by using me!

Or, simply put, people get an idea in their head what each "comp dollar" is worth in cash, and if you come back with verifiable information that they're wrong, they still stick to their old belief and get pissed when you don't sell it to them based upon their initial assessment.

I actually had something like this happen when I tried to sell one of my cars. A guy e-mailed me a super-lowball offer. I e-mailed back that he wasn't even close (I should have just ignored him), and that I could bring it down to Carmax right now and instantly get $2000 above what he offered. He ignored that and responded back, "You don't realize that with the economy this bad, nobody is buying cars. I'm trying to do you a favor by taking it off your hands. So where can I meet you and I'll pay in cash?" I stopped responding to him at that point.

[Steve-O]

you're totally right on every point. he's not doing you a favor so why should you take a hit?

[tigerpiper]

Time is money. Fuck him

[unchainedghost]

Am I on drugs or did my comment get deleted?

[RichardBrodiesCombover.]

Am I on drugs or did my comment get deleted?

Did you post in a different Druff/cheap Jew thread?

[BeerAndPoker]

Druff's offer seems fair. I wouldn't under sell it as long as I would use the perks but if it was an offer expiring soon which I couldn't take advantage of then I'd consider meeting the guy in the middle.

www.cheapjewtips.com is available. Druff should snap that up asap.

[fluffer]

''Question: Was I right to refuse this, or was I being a cheap Jew?''

you obviously feel like a fat cheap balding pre diabetic jew, otherwise you wouldnt have created a poll hoping for some validation, ok

[GrenadaRoger]

''Question: Was I right to refuse this, or was I being a cheap Jew?''

you obviously feel like a fat cheap balding pre diabetic jew, otherwise you wouldnt have created a poll hoping for some validation, ok

well said sir...i too was struck by the emotional neediness of the poll question

[fluffer]

''Question: Was I right to refuse this, or was I being a cheap Jew?''

you obviously feel like a fat cheap balding pre diabetic jew, otherwise you wouldnt have created a poll hoping for some validation, ok

maybe i was a bit harsh about the

 

''jew'' part

[4Dragons]

meh, it's a sellers market if you don't want to get rid of the points. If you were a broke-ass, you probably would have taken the deal. I see this as situational. My counter offer would have been $300 and since we have to meet up, i'll buy dinner. Then take you to a nice buffet paid out of comps, you know, like a cheap jew.

[Belly Buster]

:druffbutfair