You get what you pay for

A gallon jar of pickles from Walmart can be purchased for $4. Incredible!

This is one of the crowning achievement of the industrial economy: Stuff is cheap. Now more than ever.

But there are hidden costs for every gallon jar of pickles.

The service is lousy. The wait time to talk to a customer service rep is longer. The shopping cart wheels are falling off.

For stuff to get cheaper, companies need to find ways to shave a little here and little there. Until, one day, they don’t even recognize who they are or what they stand for.

If you are not happy with the service or the product, that is fine. No product or service is for everyone. But don’t complain when the checkout lines are long and the cashiers are not friendly. You are paying for that privilege.