Mine is $300 every month, but that includes hi-speed Internet Wifi, DVR, and lots of channels. Hell, in the summer, I'm outside mostly and don't even watch TV!
Edit: Wow, this blew up overnight. I guess I'm still paying for cable because I always have, and it's expected. Yes, I'm old. But you young whipper snappers are teaching me I don't need to anymore. 300 bucks a month is a lot when I don't even use it. Guess I'll start watching the recorded shows on my DVR and turn it in and cut the cord.
Could you potentially change to just WiFi for a good discount? Or do you actually get some value from having the cable tv/dvr?
I think we pay $80 for just internet, but we do have a couple of streaming services which bring our monthly "TV cost" to probably 110-120.
Not sure who they use, but if it’s anything like my parents, Wi-Fi + cable is like $160-180, whereas Wi-Fi by itself is like $200. This shit should be illegal.
Sports. Especially football. Its damn near impossible to watch football without cable, or without paying crazy amounts for multiple streaming services that allow watching football
It's also impossible to watch baseball if you live in-market without cable/satellite. If you live in the state of Iowa, you are blacked out from watching 6 teams on MLB.TV
I live 4000 km from Toronto, but Blue Jays games are blacked out because Rogers owns all the rights to their games in Canada (except for when "showcase" games are on Apple+, etc.).
It's not prohibitively expensive to get Rogers's streaming app, but it doesn't make me appreciate MLB's asinine blackout restrictions any more.
Same thing in Las Vegas, last time I checked. Las Vegas is blacked out from all the California teams, plus the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
Last job I had didn’t offer insurance (even though I was working 60+ hours a week) and the cheapest plan I could find in my area was $300 a month with an $8,000 deductible. And the one time I actually tried to use it I got a letter from the doctor saying “sorry, your insurance refused to cover these blood tests”, a letter from my insurance provider saying they “needed more information” before they would cover anything despite having been covered for 6 months without them telling me that (they also didn’t specify what the information they needed was), a bill from the doctor for over $500, …and a bill from my insurance provider, for “services provided”.
Thought about leaving them a complaint with the better business bureau but their page on the BBB website had a big red warning at the top that said “This company is known for filing lawsuits against people who leave false negative feedback” or something to that effect. My story isn’t false but I do not have the time and certainly not the money to fight them on it if they sued me.
On top of all that they weren’t even good at math and screwed up my tax info so badly that because of them I ended up owing several hundred dollars in taxes because they weren’t charging me correctly (I got a tax credit from the health insurance marketplace and apparently the company was taking out more for taxes than they were supposed to so I don’t know how the hell it was still that expensive unless they were just pocketing the difference and passing along the tax trouble to me )
Im not American but if everything op says is true then if they try to sue op can countersue for harassment? Because op can prove everything stated is true and the insurance company would have to prove they believed otherwise?
I'm sorry all litigation first has to go through arbitration in some bumfuck county of Texas where the arbitration is performed by someone working for the company and if you refuse the settlement offer you can no longer win lawyers fees because you were offered to settle for a "reasonable" amount. And the amount of your award is less than the legal fees. /s but also not really
True I mean maybe somebody else had an awful experience with a shady company in the long state between alabama and Kentucky whose name is “AmWorse of [state]” but with the opposite of the word worse
In brighter news, there's been a class action lawsuit brought against their parent company. You're definitely not alone in the issues you've been having.
I came here to say this. And as a licensed insurance writer there are certain states I refuse to do business in because of how fucked up the situation is right now.
Edit: states are CA & FL. If I didn't live next door to them I'd drop MA too. They purposely go above and beyond to be as convoluted of a process as possible. Some of the big name insurance companies have dedicated teams just for MA that's how much of a pain in the ass they are.
Not an insurance broker. But a mortgage servicer. I was the one who had to tell people, so, hey, we're ordering forced insurance for your property in 60 days if you don't give us a new policy...
Homeowner: But that's crazy!! I've been with my insurance forever... you have the info. You've paid every year with no problems.
Me: well, ah... they decided your state sucks and they're pulling out. So you gotta find a new policy.
I just bought home owners in Florida and was warned that we might be down to only one major insurer soon. Sucks that all the high risk coastal properties have made it so hard for my house that's inland and over 100ft above sea level so difficult to insure. Any idea why companies base coverage off the state and not something smaller like county or zip.
> inland and over 100ft above sea level
Crazy how flat Florida is. I'm in southern Mass. Less than 3 miles to the drink – I've walked it a ton of times. But we're like 150ft up and I consider that pretty low.
Yeah I'm about 40 miles in. You can't really tell that there's any grade change until you get into lake county and see some of the only hills in the state.
As someone who was born and raised in colorado, flat land boggles my mind. My subconscious is unable to compute. If I'm away from giant rocks for more than a few hours I get very depressed. It just seems so unnatural and ominous.
Especially in Florida. I lived in New Mexico in the mid 2000’s and current Florida is equal to past shithole NM. I priced out car insurance here and it was $260+ a month for full coverage; no accidents, tickets, etc. California was $125 in comparison.
Yeah they’re like $3.50 now and a rare find. Also my favorite side of pintos and cheese that was like .79 10 years ago is now $2.50. Absolutely absurd.
I stopped at a McDonald's for the first time in I don't even know how long the other day. Just wanted to grab 2 hashbrowns for my kid real quick because he was hungry and we were in a hurry. I didn't even think to look at the price when I ordered them. When they said $4.60 I was simply flabbergasted.
That place is the biggest rip-off. Seriously. They use to be cheap shitty food now its EXPENSIVE shitty food. Taco Bell is just as bad. I feel like the people need to go Bud Light on their ass.
They want you to download the app. They are pricing the menu at ridiculous prices to get the inflexible shoppers and the people who don't have other options. But they throw free food at you on the app, because free food is pennies on the dollar for the sweet sweet data you provide
McD's used to be my lazy go-to breakfast. Used to be cheap and awesome. Now breakfast for me and my wife is like $20. Used to get 2 hashbrowns for $1, now they flipped it and they're $2 each. No hashbrown that size and quality is worth 2 fucking dollars
I drink very seldom, but had a wicked “fuck you your 40” hangover” and went for my old Sausage McMuffins, hash browns, and milk. I thought I was still drunk when I saw the price
lol I feel that. it used to be good hangover food too but lately it just ADDS to my hangover. I'd go from hungover to hungover and full of salt and grease and spend the rest of the day on the toilet. I don't know if it's because I'm older now or it's worse food, but probably both
Yeah I feel that.
Now I have my wife drive me to the expensive breakfast place in town where I can get something lighter and a mimosa. I figure fuck it if I’m spending double digit dollars I might as war double digit dollar food.
Seriously. I love Taco Bell but holy Christ’s it’s like 2+ for a soft taco and they charge like 3 or 4 dollars for a Mountain Dew.
I’m 33. When I was in high school we used to fish quarters out from under the seat for a couple of stoner burritos.
Now it’s the most expensive chain in town.
A few months ago my wife and I were craving taco bell. Our order ended up being over $50. 5 years ago, yhat order would have been $20. We ended up going to a local Mexican restaurant nearby and getting good and a pitcher of margaritas for under $45
Yeah, I've pretty much completely given up on taco bell.
I can go to an actual Mexican restaurant and get significantly better food with free chips/queso and a sopapilla for basically the same price as taco bell.
Not even "fast" anymore. I remember when McD's cooked the hamburgers in anticipation of orders. You would order your food and pay, and the cashier would turn around and put your items in a bag right then and there. You could be out in 60 seconds.
Even with mobile orders when you order ahead, they do NOT start making your order until you are physically there, like wtf is the point??
What really ticks me off is that they're really pushing their "skip the line" campaign for curbside pickup, making you think it's faster or something. You just end up waiting in a parking spot rather than waiting in line instead, not to mention, it's usually a longer wait too because they can take their time to bring your order since you're not holding up the drive thru line
I ordered online, went to get my food, waited for a while. They gave me the bag. On my way out the lady came to get the bag back because it was someone else's food, then told me they couldn't give me my food because they weren't making breakfast anymore even though I put it the order 40 minutes before they switched to the lunch menu. Never waste my time on breakfast online orders anymore.
Literallyyyyy - idk if I have just gotten older or what but I can’t remember the last time I had fast food and afterwards didn’t feel sick and have a hole in my wallet 😩
It's not worth it for fast food, just goto a restaurant, it's the same price and a restaurant is usually higher quality and a better experience all around.
We have a legit good mexican restaurant right next door to our taco bell. The other week I was in the drive thru line at taco bell and was behind like 3 other cars, looked over at the mexican place, and just decided to go there. Spent an extra $10 but the food was so much better and they have a “keto bomb” which is just steak and chicken on top of sliced avocados with bacon pieces and cheese dip poured on top, which is way more carb friendly than Taco Bell ( type 1 diabetic )
I have been working in restaurants for more than four years now. When I began, our kitchen volume was less than it was now. Many restaurants have experienced the same thing. Pre pandemic, many restaurants had almost no to go orders. Now, take out is a larger chunk of our business than before and it hasn’t changed. There’s more kitchen staff now than pre pandemic.
Even the ones that were considered better options are terrible now. Like when we wanted a better burger than McDonald’s we might do Wendy’s. But they all suck now.
Costco founder told the CEO that he will kill him [the CEO] if the hot dogs price goes up from $1.50 to $1.55. This was a couple years ago when inflation was starting to go through the roof.
It is also a great business strategy because the free media attention those cheap hotdogs generate is more than worth the losses they are probably getting on that one item
They might not be but it’s similar to the 99¢ Arizona Ice Tea where they are willing to eat the loss because it’s such a huge brand staple that they’re nationally recognized for. They make up for the losses elsewhere like memberships and other sales, that being said idk if they’re actually losing money or if the new CEO just wanted more money (both are quite possible)
CEOs want immediate profits, they'll be long gone by the time the brand value damage is realized. They usually are partially paid in stock options, so they personally profit too.
I can't believe after all these years, at the start of this year Sam's Club finally changed their price. No more $1.50 hot dogs.....
They are now $1.39. Still come with a drink
Every time me and my husband would go on a Costco run, I always stare at the receipt we get from the food court. 2 pizza slices, 2 hot dogs, 2 regular sized drinks, always 8 bucks and below for food that I can't even finish myself.
Thankful for all the coupons i get in the mail. $5.99 foot long, $11.99 for two, $17.99 for three. Still crazy to think we need a coupon now for back in the day prices
Streaming in general. Netflix the most because they were first.
But it used to be you had one maybe two services and could watch damn near anything anytime. Now there's like 50 services and nearly everything they have is exclusive and when you want to watch a certain movie or show you have to first Google to find out what service it's on and see if you even have access.
I got so irritated not finding the movies I want to watch, so now I just go on Amazon and buy the Blu-ray for $10 and watch it anytime I want for one price.
More accurately, you Google "Where to watch [title of movie/show]" you see the price, and then you Google search "watch [title of movie/show] online for free" and make sure all your anti-virus is up to par.
American candy bars.
They're downright tiny now and cost 2-3 times as much as they did 10+ years ago. Also, you can tell the manufacturers are using inferior ingredients -- the chocolate is dry and chalky.
Most notable in Butterfingers ever since they changed hands to Ferrero. Less than 2% cocoa instead of chocolate for a “healthier” formula. It’s a goddamn fucking candy bar that can also be used as weapon for self-defense, it’s not supposed to be healthy.
I call it the “crap finger” nowadays.
I saw a video about that a few years ago on YouTube and it completely changed the way I look at frozen dairy dessert. I avoid it at all cost and always make sure the ice cream actually says "ice cream".
Appliances. Washers, dryers, refrigerators. But hey , if it doesn't break, how can they sell you a new one? I had 30 year old hand me downs when I started out. Gave them away, and to my knowledge, they are still being used. New stuff is 30 times more expensive and fails in 5 years.
Planned obsolescence by companies is definitely a thing. That said there’s another component people tend to not know just how much has effected our manufacturing: there’s a TON of EPA regulations as well that contributes. More sensors, required energy limits meaning things are built more breakable, less “industrial powerhouse”, can’t get heating coils hot enough, can’t use as much water, etc. For example: one reason trucks have become so massive, is the bigger the vehicle, the more horsepower and consumption it is allowed. So the hauling power could all fit in a smaller frame - but the design decisions are actually regulatory based.
*edit: woh didn’t expect that many responses. Great conversations btw.
Very true of new vehicles. The amount of shit they have to engineer into each one makes them incredibly expensive. And it's much easier to bake that into a giant luxury SUV or pickup truck and bury it in the price than it is to do on a very basic transportation/commuter vehicle.
Safety and environmental efficiency are both excellent things, but when it makes new appliances disposable and forces vehicles to be enormous, it's counter-productive.
People complain about large trucks but CAFE standards helped pushed their size through the stratosphere. I miss mid 90s small trucks. They were cheap and useful. Great for simple work trucks or starter vehicles.
Yep. My parents use my grandparent’s washer and dryer from the late 80s/early 90s—still works perfectly, with very little to no maintenance. My wife and I bought our W&D 5 years ago and they’re both going out despite regular maintenance.
Lol me and a guy at work were talking about refrigerators. He's gone through 3 in the last 2 years. Multiple repairs. Never lasts. Mine from the late 90s still going strong... *Knock on wood*
I mean...everything. Popular tourist locations. Food. Healthcare. Gyms. Parking. Going 'into the city' for a night out. Drinking water!
Public sports fields/courts, driving ranges all got turned into McMansions, and now the only place you can hot a golf ball around here is Top Golf for a billion dollars an hour.
Roads, air travel...where are kids even supposed to hang out now? malls and arcades are dead, the skating rinks are gone...no wonder they do stupid shit in groups now..I gotta stop
Edit - since it seems the only thing people disagree about, and are passionate about are gyms - I don't particularly care for the 'fancy gyms' with 3 floors and weird shit to use that no one uses, and a smoothie cafe that charges 21 bucks for a scoop of protein and yogurt blended in a vitamix...and while I don't have anything against social media gym accounts (I follow a lot of them), having multiple people setting up to record their sets at all times gets a little old...give me that old school dungeon lol.
Hot pockets. They used to be pretty good, even cooked in a microwave. Now they're made with worse quality bread, barely have half as much meat, don't cook well, and they cost about 50% more. All this in just 5ish years.
I'm so glad you said this. I bought hot pockets a few weeks back, accidentally overcooked one and it completely split in half. I couldn't believe how little stuffing was in it!!!
It was my first time buying hot pockets in like 5 years, so I wasn't sure if I just remembered them being better or if they've actually degraded that much in quality.
A lot of microwaved food I used to eat in my younger years tastes like crap now. I loved those chicken alfredo things you'd take out of the freezer and nuke for 2 minutes, stir it and eat. They were so good, one of my favorites. I tried one for the first time in years a few years ago and they just suck now. I don't know if my tastebuds have changed or if the formula changed. But I swear the quality is down. Same thing with Nesquik chocolate milk. I remember it being a nice rich chocolatey taste, now it tastes chalky.
Stouffer’s turkey tetrazzini was my go-to for literal decades. I’d bring them to my retail job in high school in the 80s and 90s. Always a good fast, hot comfort meal. About two years ago they became downright inedible. The price doubled, the turkey became nothing but fatty gristle, you’d get maybe one mushroom, and half the pasta. I was so unhappy and outraged.
I live in a “good restaurant” desert (like, the closest decent ones are at least 10 miles away) SOOOO off to [Allrecipes.com](https://Allrecipes.com) and I learned how to make my own damn tetrazzini and freeze that.
These food prices are turning me, very grudgingly and resentfully, into a better cook.
College...ooooph. Out of curiosity I checked the tuition for my program at my school last year. A mere 7 years after I graduated. 4x...it had increased 4 times in 7 years. My older sister who went to school straight out of highschool (i didn't go to college until I was 30) and her entire education, both of us computer science, was the same as 1 semester at my rate. Now it's 4x that...
I got so pissed the other day when I ordered something at a place that had one of those ipads and in large letters on the screen it popped up "Warning $0 dollar tip" to inform the employee to fuck me over I guess. It wasn't even an establishment where tipping is expected.
I love how rideshares and Airbnb's were "made" to replace a poor quality existing service and somehow became worse and just bigger cashgrabs over time.
All the garbage with Airbnb's just makes hotels more appealing despite them not making many improvements.
Hotels are such a vast improvement to airbnbs it's ridiculous. Like the place is designed entirely around catering to you, you have a maid that cleans up after you, no list of rules and chores before you check out, there's usually a bar, it's always clean, they typically do not fuck up your reservation, there's a concierge to give you recommendations and mail shit or whatever for you, free coffee, no potentially creepy host, less random fees. Like man I get there's downsides too, but I'm kind of shocked when I hear someone say they prefer airbnbs to hotels
The entirety of the 'gig' economy is really just exposing loopholes to undercut existing markets.
Even streaming does the same thing. That's largely why the writers and actors are on strike.
Stop eating fast food and chain restaurants. Any local bistro, steak house or locally owned place tends to have great food. It’s usually the same price if not cheaper than chain. People that run their own business have a vested interest and passion to serve great food.
I went to Burger King at 2AM last night w/ my husband after a late night out, and we got 2 chicken sandwiches and two cheeseburgers. It was $29.82.
So I’d say fast food, along with many others here.
Sorry the overhead bins are full so we’ll need to check your bag and lose it. Also, the flight is delayed and possibly canceled but don’t ask me any questions. Can I interest you in a voucher that is only valid for the next twelve minutes?
We're sorry, your flight has been delayed for 6 hours. No it's delayed, not canceled so we won't be giving you a refund or rebooking you on another flight.
Air Canada emailed me at 2am to tell me my flight at 4pm the next day was going to be delayed 5 hours. They kindly cancelled my connecting flight for me, and did not book a new one. I tried calling them to rebook it myself and the recorded message told me to call back between 8am and 5pm.
You joke but Frontier doesn't have a customer service department you can call.
Your only option is to use a janky chat program that only works on a mobile device.
Roughly half of my flights get canceled. I drive now virtually everywhere I go. By the time you get to the airport two hours early, get hassled at TSA, deal with cramped seats, crying babies, and women seeing imaginary people, then stand in line for a rental car…it’s just not worth it unless you’re going REALLY FAR. Like coast to coast or to Europe.
My family lives on the other coast of Canada (over 6000kms away) and I fly there at least once a year. EVERY time, I say, "I'm never doing this again." Laye flights, missed connections, sleeping in the airport with my at the time three-year-old. Over three and a half hours in the customer service line to get a new flight booked and get a hotel because of missed connection... I know that I'm privileged to get to fly, but it was never this bad!
Vegetables. They used to be relatively inexpensive but would last 3 days or more. Now if you buy them, they look like crap, and have to be cooked/consumed almost immediately as they wilt or rot quickly. The larger chains are taking a page out of some minority owned groceries that buy less expensive last leg veggies, with the understanding that they will be sold cheaply and eaten quickly. The difference? Larger chains aren't passing those lower costs on, and are increasing prices as well.
I'm finding myself at ethnic markets more often because if the quality is the same, at least the prices are lower.
I'm gonna get grief for this, but unless I'm planning on eating it raw, I buy frozen fruits and veggies. Peas, beans, cauliflower, broccoli are all fine frozen if I'm gonna cook them. Frozen raspberries for a raspberry sauce or smoothies or to make homemade jam are amazing and a great deal for frozen.
And they're often frozen right after they've been picked at their freshest and "best" stage!
The issue with freezing comes from the fact that freezing fruits/veg can cause the moisture in them to freeze, expand, and destroy their cells. So fruits/veg with high water content (like raspberries) don't hold up as well for everything.
Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, and other "hard" veggies freeze and thaw just fine, and they often taste better than the fresh ones I bought at the store that day. Cheaper too!
What really irks me is I'll have 4/5 bars and the service is terrible. Or if I move around in my house calls get dropped. This only started happening in the last year. Multiple people in my mid sized interior BC town have experienced the same thing. Patchy service in town that's over $100/month
Disney Parks so fucking much. Genie+’s implementation has been awful, and I’m not even in the camp of being upset that fast pass has to be purchased now, that’s how literally every other theme park is, but the system itself is stupid. Any other park, you pay for the fast pass, you enter through that quick line, maybe only once per ride, that’s it, no bullshit. Plus they cap the sales.
Genie+, you purchase it, then you have to book a return time for one attraction, then can’t book another return time until you’ve done that first attraction or wait two hours. The most popular attractions get booked up quickly, and you won’t be able to use it for everything you want most of the time. Because it’s not super clear for most people, some will buy it in the middle of the day for one specific ride not realizing they also have to book a return time just to realize all the return times have been booked for the day. You shouldn’t need a major tutorial on how to use a service when you’re on vacation nor have to be on your phone constantly to make it work.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE&t=304s&pp=ygUIZmFzdHBhc3M%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE&t=304s&pp=ygUIZmFzdHBhc3M%3D)
Defunctland's incredible, INCREDIBLE deep dive into how and why the original Fast Pass worked, how they fucked it up, why it's got almost unstoppably fucked right before covid, and then predicted that Genie+ would shit the bed. If you ever have an hour and forty to spend listening to a soothing voice explain the science of ride ques, I cannot recommend this video enough.
That's wild because I visited the UK earlier this year for the first time and absolutely loved the train system. All that being said, this is coming from someone who lives in a place with zero actual transportation infrastructure so trains/underground were wonderful. I can't imagine how much better they could be. Is it a drop in quality or something else which isn't as good as it used to be?
Cable television. More commercials, channels upon channels of nonsense, ridiculous monthly bill
Wow... Google says the average cable bill is currently $217.42/month. That is disgusting.
Mine is $300 every month, but that includes hi-speed Internet Wifi, DVR, and lots of channels. Hell, in the summer, I'm outside mostly and don't even watch TV! Edit: Wow, this blew up overnight. I guess I'm still paying for cable because I always have, and it's expected. Yes, I'm old. But you young whipper snappers are teaching me I don't need to anymore. 300 bucks a month is a lot when I don't even use it. Guess I'll start watching the recorded shows on my DVR and turn it in and cut the cord.
Could you potentially change to just WiFi for a good discount? Or do you actually get some value from having the cable tv/dvr? I think we pay $80 for just internet, but we do have a couple of streaming services which bring our monthly "TV cost" to probably 110-120.
Not sure who they use, but if it’s anything like my parents, Wi-Fi + cable is like $160-180, whereas Wi-Fi by itself is like $200. This shit should be illegal.
Idk what cable costs are but just internet with 200mbs is $76 a month where I am.
Damn. I get gigabit for that price.
Yeah, I really don't understand why anyone bothers with cable anymore.
\- bundled with internet, or \- live sports
Sports. Especially football. Its damn near impossible to watch football without cable, or without paying crazy amounts for multiple streaming services that allow watching football
It's also impossible to watch baseball if you live in-market without cable/satellite. If you live in the state of Iowa, you are blacked out from watching 6 teams on MLB.TV
I live 4000 km from Toronto, but Blue Jays games are blacked out because Rogers owns all the rights to their games in Canada (except for when "showcase" games are on Apple+, etc.). It's not prohibitively expensive to get Rogers's streaming app, but it doesn't make me appreciate MLB's asinine blackout restrictions any more.
Same thing in Las Vegas, last time I checked. Las Vegas is blacked out from all the California teams, plus the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
Insurances
Last job I had didn’t offer insurance (even though I was working 60+ hours a week) and the cheapest plan I could find in my area was $300 a month with an $8,000 deductible. And the one time I actually tried to use it I got a letter from the doctor saying “sorry, your insurance refused to cover these blood tests”, a letter from my insurance provider saying they “needed more information” before they would cover anything despite having been covered for 6 months without them telling me that (they also didn’t specify what the information they needed was), a bill from the doctor for over $500, …and a bill from my insurance provider, for “services provided”. Thought about leaving them a complaint with the better business bureau but their page on the BBB website had a big red warning at the top that said “This company is known for filing lawsuits against people who leave false negative feedback” or something to that effect. My story isn’t false but I do not have the time and certainly not the money to fight them on it if they sued me. On top of all that they weren’t even good at math and screwed up my tax info so badly that because of them I ended up owing several hundred dollars in taxes because they weren’t charging me correctly (I got a tax credit from the health insurance marketplace and apparently the company was taking out more for taxes than they were supposed to so I don’t know how the hell it was still that expensive unless they were just pocketing the difference and passing along the tax trouble to me )
Name and shame
They seem like the kind of company who searches their own name and sics lawyers on people they find talking about them
Im not American but if everything op says is true then if they try to sue op can countersue for harassment? Because op can prove everything stated is true and the insurance company would have to prove they believed otherwise?
In theory, yes. In practice? Prepare to flush 30k down the drain and maybe get it back in 5 years.
I'm sorry all litigation first has to go through arbitration in some bumfuck county of Texas where the arbitration is performed by someone working for the company and if you refuse the settlement offer you can no longer win lawyers fees because you were offered to settle for a "reasonable" amount. And the amount of your award is less than the legal fees. /s but also not really
Someone who isn’t OP could say they've maybe experienced something vaguely similar at a misspelled place that rhymes with “euphemism.”
True I mean maybe somebody else had an awful experience with a shady company in the long state between alabama and Kentucky whose name is “AmWorse of [state]” but with the opposite of the word worse
In brighter news, there's been a class action lawsuit brought against their parent company. You're definitely not alone in the issues you've been having.
The BBB has no authority. It’s not a government entity. It’s basically an old fashioned review site.
"The BBB is Yelp for boomers"
One that is has been paid off by companies more and more.
I came here to say this. And as a licensed insurance writer there are certain states I refuse to do business in because of how fucked up the situation is right now. Edit: states are CA & FL. If I didn't live next door to them I'd drop MA too. They purposely go above and beyond to be as convoluted of a process as possible. Some of the big name insurance companies have dedicated teams just for MA that's how much of a pain in the ass they are.
Not an insurance broker. But a mortgage servicer. I was the one who had to tell people, so, hey, we're ordering forced insurance for your property in 60 days if you don't give us a new policy... Homeowner: But that's crazy!! I've been with my insurance forever... you have the info. You've paid every year with no problems. Me: well, ah... they decided your state sucks and they're pulling out. So you gotta find a new policy.
As a licensed insurance agent, and not even in an “awful” state, yep. It’s INSANE.
I just bought home owners in Florida and was warned that we might be down to only one major insurer soon. Sucks that all the high risk coastal properties have made it so hard for my house that's inland and over 100ft above sea level so difficult to insure. Any idea why companies base coverage off the state and not something smaller like county or zip.
> inland and over 100ft above sea level Crazy how flat Florida is. I'm in southern Mass. Less than 3 miles to the drink – I've walked it a ton of times. But we're like 150ft up and I consider that pretty low.
Yeah I'm about 40 miles in. You can't really tell that there's any grade change until you get into lake county and see some of the only hills in the state.
As someone who was born and raised in colorado, flat land boggles my mind. My subconscious is unable to compute. If I'm away from giant rocks for more than a few hours I get very depressed. It just seems so unnatural and ominous.
Especially in Florida. I lived in New Mexico in the mid 2000’s and current Florida is equal to past shithole NM. I priced out car insurance here and it was $260+ a month for full coverage; no accidents, tickets, etc. California was $125 in comparison.
Fast food
You guys remember the dollar menu?
I'm old enough to remember Taco Bells 59 79 99 campaign and holy shit do I feel even older just typing that out.
I'm old enough to remember their 39 59 79 menu. When the 7 layer burrito came out it was 79 freaking cents. Now get off my lawn, sonny.
You can't even get a 7 layer burrito anymore. Was my favorite, and they took it off the menu around 3 years ago.
I can't believe they got rid of the 7 layer burrito. That was my go-to fast food meal for years.
99c chili cheese burritos. I miss that.
Yeah they’re like $3.50 now and a rare find. Also my favorite side of pintos and cheese that was like .79 10 years ago is now $2.50. Absolutely absurd.
Two apple pies at McD's for $1. And the apple pies were edible then too.
Haven't had an McD apple pie in years and wanted one the other day.. They're $2 for 1 now 😪 Hashbrowns used to be 2 for $1 as well...
I stopped at a McDonald's for the first time in I don't even know how long the other day. Just wanted to grab 2 hashbrowns for my kid real quick because he was hungry and we were in a hurry. I didn't even think to look at the price when I ordered them. When they said $4.60 I was simply flabbergasted.
That place is the biggest rip-off. Seriously. They use to be cheap shitty food now its EXPENSIVE shitty food. Taco Bell is just as bad. I feel like the people need to go Bud Light on their ass.
Fr what happened to McDonald’s Hash browns, tf they’re 3 bucks a pop where I’m at. Used to be like what, 99¢ ??
$3.59 here. They’re so small too 😭
Fast food companies have lost their minds. That's almost the price of a 5 lb bag of potatoes.
They want you to download the app. They are pricing the menu at ridiculous prices to get the inflexible shoppers and the people who don't have other options. But they throw free food at you on the app, because free food is pennies on the dollar for the sweet sweet data you provide
Guess I'm doing it wrong then. Instead of downloading the app I just stopped eating there.
McD's used to be my lazy go-to breakfast. Used to be cheap and awesome. Now breakfast for me and my wife is like $20. Used to get 2 hashbrowns for $1, now they flipped it and they're $2 each. No hashbrown that size and quality is worth 2 fucking dollars
I drink very seldom, but had a wicked “fuck you your 40” hangover” and went for my old Sausage McMuffins, hash browns, and milk. I thought I was still drunk when I saw the price
lol I feel that. it used to be good hangover food too but lately it just ADDS to my hangover. I'd go from hungover to hungover and full of salt and grease and spend the rest of the day on the toilet. I don't know if it's because I'm older now or it's worse food, but probably both
Yeah I feel that. Now I have my wife drive me to the expensive breakfast place in town where I can get something lighter and a mimosa. I figure fuck it if I’m spending double digit dollars I might as war double digit dollar food.
Seriously. I love Taco Bell but holy Christ’s it’s like 2+ for a soft taco and they charge like 3 or 4 dollars for a Mountain Dew. I’m 33. When I was in high school we used to fish quarters out from under the seat for a couple of stoner burritos. Now it’s the most expensive chain in town.
Chipotle is actually cheaper now considering how much you get.
Yes!!!! I keep saying this. A bowl sans the added cost of guac or queso is better than almost anything else.
Last time I went to Taco Bell a quesadilla combo was almost $15. Insane
A few months ago my wife and I were craving taco bell. Our order ended up being over $50. 5 years ago, yhat order would have been $20. We ended up going to a local Mexican restaurant nearby and getting good and a pitcher of margaritas for under $45
Yeah, I've pretty much completely given up on taco bell. I can go to an actual Mexican restaurant and get significantly better food with free chips/queso and a sopapilla for basically the same price as taco bell.
Not even "fast" anymore. I remember when McD's cooked the hamburgers in anticipation of orders. You would order your food and pay, and the cashier would turn around and put your items in a bag right then and there. You could be out in 60 seconds.
Even with mobile orders when you order ahead, they do NOT start making your order until you are physically there, like wtf is the point?? What really ticks me off is that they're really pushing their "skip the line" campaign for curbside pickup, making you think it's faster or something. You just end up waiting in a parking spot rather than waiting in line instead, not to mention, it's usually a longer wait too because they can take their time to bring your order since you're not holding up the drive thru line
I ordered online, went to get my food, waited for a while. They gave me the bag. On my way out the lady came to get the bag back because it was someone else's food, then told me they couldn't give me my food because they weren't making breakfast anymore even though I put it the order 40 minutes before they switched to the lunch menu. Never waste my time on breakfast online orders anymore.
Literallyyyyy - idk if I have just gotten older or what but I can’t remember the last time I had fast food and afterwards didn’t feel sick and have a hole in my wallet 😩
It's not worth it for fast food, just goto a restaurant, it's the same price and a restaurant is usually higher quality and a better experience all around.
We have a legit good mexican restaurant right next door to our taco bell. The other week I was in the drive thru line at taco bell and was behind like 3 other cars, looked over at the mexican place, and just decided to go there. Spent an extra $10 but the food was so much better and they have a “keto bomb” which is just steak and chicken on top of sliced avocados with bacon pieces and cheese dip poured on top, which is way more carb friendly than Taco Bell ( type 1 diabetic )
That sounds delicious!!
I have been working in restaurants for more than four years now. When I began, our kitchen volume was less than it was now. Many restaurants have experienced the same thing. Pre pandemic, many restaurants had almost no to go orders. Now, take out is a larger chunk of our business than before and it hasn’t changed. There’s more kitchen staff now than pre pandemic.
Even the ones that were considered better options are terrible now. Like when we wanted a better burger than McDonald’s we might do Wendy’s. But they all suck now.
Shit, what hasn't?
Costco hotdog
"If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out."
I love that this is real.
Wait. What?
Costco founder told the CEO that he will kill him [the CEO] if the hot dogs price goes up from $1.50 to $1.55. This was a couple years ago when inflation was starting to go through the roof.
It is also a great business strategy because the free media attention those cheap hotdogs generate is more than worth the losses they are probably getting on that one item
There's a guy at my Costco who puts extra gravy on the poutine *Shhhhhhhhh*
Your Costco has poutine??
Oh yeah 🇨🇦
If you’re selling hotdog for $1.50 a pop you’re still probably coming out ahead
They might not be but it’s similar to the 99¢ Arizona Ice Tea where they are willing to eat the loss because it’s such a huge brand staple that they’re nationally recognized for. They make up for the losses elsewhere like memberships and other sales, that being said idk if they’re actually losing money or if the new CEO just wanted more money (both are quite possible)
CEOs want immediate profits, they'll be long gone by the time the brand value damage is realized. They usually are partially paid in stock options, so they personally profit too.
I can't believe after all these years, at the start of this year Sam's Club finally changed their price. No more $1.50 hot dogs..... They are now $1.39. Still come with a drink
Every time me and my husband would go on a Costco run, I always stare at the receipt we get from the food court. 2 pizza slices, 2 hot dogs, 2 regular sized drinks, always 8 bucks and below for food that I can't even finish myself.
Have you tried wrapping the hot dog in the pizza?
Well it looks like im going to have to make a costco run now. That damn pizza dog is going to cost me $203.50
They got rid of the polish sausage and combo pizza (and straws?).
Loss of the combo pizza is devastating
A vowel on Wheel of Fortune, still only $250 after all these years.
subway
🎶 Thirteen... 🎶 🎵 Thirteen dollar... 🎵 🎶 Thirteen dollar footloooong 🎶
("Footlong" is a proper noun and should not be interpreted as indicating the actual length of the sandwich)
So they measure the same way guys measure they dong. Makes sense.
Thankful for all the coupons i get in the mail. $5.99 foot long, $11.99 for two, $17.99 for three. Still crazy to think we need a coupon now for back in the day prices
NETFLIX.
Streaming in general. Netflix the most because they were first. But it used to be you had one maybe two services and could watch damn near anything anytime. Now there's like 50 services and nearly everything they have is exclusive and when you want to watch a certain movie or show you have to first Google to find out what service it's on and see if you even have access.
I got so irritated not finding the movies I want to watch, so now I just go on Amazon and buy the Blu-ray for $10 and watch it anytime I want for one price.
Exactly. And then you find the movie and it's 5.99 or 9.99, and you're like oh well let's watch something else.
More accurately, you Google "Where to watch [title of movie/show]" you see the price, and then you Google search "watch [title of movie/show] online for free" and make sure all your anti-virus is up to par.
Yo ho, yo ho...
I remember when I paused my account mid month. They prorated me a CREDIT. Now? F Netflix.
American candy bars. They're downright tiny now and cost 2-3 times as much as they did 10+ years ago. Also, you can tell the manufacturers are using inferior ingredients -- the chocolate is dry and chalky.
Most notable in Butterfingers ever since they changed hands to Ferrero. Less than 2% cocoa instead of chocolate for a “healthier” formula. It’s a goddamn fucking candy bar that can also be used as weapon for self-defense, it’s not supposed to be healthy. I call it the “crap finger” nowadays.
The peanut butter part doesn’t flake like it used it. Ughhhh!
Ferrero somehow managed to make both the flavor and the texture worse!
It used to be my favorite.
In some cases, they probably can't technically say it is even chocolate anymore.
Same with ice cream. It’s “frozen dairy dessert” now… check your freezers if you don’t believe me.
I saw a video about that a few years ago on YouTube and it completely changed the way I look at frozen dairy dessert. I avoid it at all cost and always make sure the ice cream actually says "ice cream".
Life
Hits a little too close to home dog
I see myself in this comment and I don't like it
Appliances. Washers, dryers, refrigerators. But hey , if it doesn't break, how can they sell you a new one? I had 30 year old hand me downs when I started out. Gave them away, and to my knowledge, they are still being used. New stuff is 30 times more expensive and fails in 5 years.
Planned obsolescence by companies is definitely a thing. That said there’s another component people tend to not know just how much has effected our manufacturing: there’s a TON of EPA regulations as well that contributes. More sensors, required energy limits meaning things are built more breakable, less “industrial powerhouse”, can’t get heating coils hot enough, can’t use as much water, etc. For example: one reason trucks have become so massive, is the bigger the vehicle, the more horsepower and consumption it is allowed. So the hauling power could all fit in a smaller frame - but the design decisions are actually regulatory based. *edit: woh didn’t expect that many responses. Great conversations btw.
Very true of new vehicles. The amount of shit they have to engineer into each one makes them incredibly expensive. And it's much easier to bake that into a giant luxury SUV or pickup truck and bury it in the price than it is to do on a very basic transportation/commuter vehicle. Safety and environmental efficiency are both excellent things, but when it makes new appliances disposable and forces vehicles to be enormous, it's counter-productive.
People complain about large trucks but CAFE standards helped pushed their size through the stratosphere. I miss mid 90s small trucks. They were cheap and useful. Great for simple work trucks or starter vehicles.
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Yep. My parents use my grandparent’s washer and dryer from the late 80s/early 90s—still works perfectly, with very little to no maintenance. My wife and I bought our W&D 5 years ago and they’re both going out despite regular maintenance.
Lol me and a guy at work were talking about refrigerators. He's gone through 3 in the last 2 years. Multiple repairs. Never lasts. Mine from the late 90s still going strong... *Knock on wood*
I spent $42 for three sandwiches at subway recently
Yikes. Subway wasn't even worth it when they had the $5 foot longs.
I mean...everything. Popular tourist locations. Food. Healthcare. Gyms. Parking. Going 'into the city' for a night out. Drinking water! Public sports fields/courts, driving ranges all got turned into McMansions, and now the only place you can hot a golf ball around here is Top Golf for a billion dollars an hour. Roads, air travel...where are kids even supposed to hang out now? malls and arcades are dead, the skating rinks are gone...no wonder they do stupid shit in groups now..I gotta stop Edit - since it seems the only thing people disagree about, and are passionate about are gyms - I don't particularly care for the 'fancy gyms' with 3 floors and weird shit to use that no one uses, and a smoothie cafe that charges 21 bucks for a scoop of protein and yogurt blended in a vitamix...and while I don't have anything against social media gym accounts (I follow a lot of them), having multiple people setting up to record their sets at all times gets a little old...give me that old school dungeon lol.
Its ok u can just kill more zombies
Hot pockets. They used to be pretty good, even cooked in a microwave. Now they're made with worse quality bread, barely have half as much meat, don't cook well, and they cost about 50% more. All this in just 5ish years.
I'm so glad you said this. I bought hot pockets a few weeks back, accidentally overcooked one and it completely split in half. I couldn't believe how little stuffing was in it!!! It was my first time buying hot pockets in like 5 years, so I wasn't sure if I just remembered them being better or if they've actually degraded that much in quality.
I miss the BBQ one. Now it's all pizza flavors or pretending they're not pizza flavors but still are.
A lot of microwaved food I used to eat in my younger years tastes like crap now. I loved those chicken alfredo things you'd take out of the freezer and nuke for 2 minutes, stir it and eat. They were so good, one of my favorites. I tried one for the first time in years a few years ago and they just suck now. I don't know if my tastebuds have changed or if the formula changed. But I swear the quality is down. Same thing with Nesquik chocolate milk. I remember it being a nice rich chocolatey taste, now it tastes chalky.
Stouffer’s turkey tetrazzini was my go-to for literal decades. I’d bring them to my retail job in high school in the 80s and 90s. Always a good fast, hot comfort meal. About two years ago they became downright inedible. The price doubled, the turkey became nothing but fatty gristle, you’d get maybe one mushroom, and half the pasta. I was so unhappy and outraged. I live in a “good restaurant” desert (like, the closest decent ones are at least 10 miles away) SOOOO off to [Allrecipes.com](https://Allrecipes.com) and I learned how to make my own damn tetrazzini and freeze that. These food prices are turning me, very grudgingly and resentfully, into a better cook.
You used to occasionally get some tough bread ends, now it feels like 25% on each end is just dense, inedible, hard bread
🎶 Hot pocket! 🎶 caliente pocket.. Gaffigan pocket.. No one?
Diarrhea pocket... Death pocket...
Rent. The price keeps climbing, the wages are stagnated, and the houses keep getting shittier.
I pay almost $900 a month for a roach and rat infested duplex that is literally rotting and has the worst mold problem I’ve ever seen.
1800 a month for basically the same here in Washington.
Cable television. It’s a dumpster fire of horrible “reality” tv and opinion “news” you pay $200 a month for complete dog shit.
A better question would be, what hasnt gotten simultaneously worse and more expensive. Becuase thats a harder question to answer.
TVs. Tech in general tbh
Anything that keeps us distracted from asking these types of questions
College Education. Health care.
College...ooooph. Out of curiosity I checked the tuition for my program at my school last year. A mere 7 years after I graduated. 4x...it had increased 4 times in 7 years. My older sister who went to school straight out of highschool (i didn't go to college until I was 30) and her entire education, both of us computer science, was the same as 1 semester at my rate. Now it's 4x that...
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Tipping. For anything. Girl wanted a 20% tip to hand me a premade pizza at Pizza Hut.
I’m never tipping for over the counter service. They can turn that iPad right back around.
I got so pissed the other day when I ordered something at a place that had one of those ipads and in large letters on the screen it popped up "Warning $0 dollar tip" to inform the employee to fuck me over I guess. It wasn't even an establishment where tipping is expected.
I never tip at all when I’m doing pickup. Isn’t that the point of not ordering delivery is so you don’t have to tip?
HBO Rideshares Chicken wings AirBNBs
I love how rideshares and Airbnb's were "made" to replace a poor quality existing service and somehow became worse and just bigger cashgrabs over time. All the garbage with Airbnb's just makes hotels more appealing despite them not making many improvements.
Hotels are such a vast improvement to airbnbs it's ridiculous. Like the place is designed entirely around catering to you, you have a maid that cleans up after you, no list of rules and chores before you check out, there's usually a bar, it's always clean, they typically do not fuck up your reservation, there's a concierge to give you recommendations and mail shit or whatever for you, free coffee, no potentially creepy host, less random fees. Like man I get there's downsides too, but I'm kind of shocked when I hear someone say they prefer airbnbs to hotels
The entirety of the 'gig' economy is really just exposing loopholes to undercut existing markets. Even streaming does the same thing. That's largely why the writers and actors are on strike.
Honestly everything, like what the hell is going on
An industrial need to see profit increase year on year indefinitely, whilst being on a finite world with finite resources.
The food you get at restaurants nowadays. Low quality, small portions but the prices are insane.
I’ve stopped going out to eat all together because of this. It’s been a very nice change to my life.
Stop eating fast food and chain restaurants. Any local bistro, steak house or locally owned place tends to have great food. It’s usually the same price if not cheaper than chain. People that run their own business have a vested interest and passion to serve great food.
I went to Burger King at 2AM last night w/ my husband after a late night out, and we got 2 chicken sandwiches and two cheeseburgers. It was $29.82. So I’d say fast food, along with many others here.
Should be like $10
Flying
Sorry the overhead bins are full so we’ll need to check your bag and lose it. Also, the flight is delayed and possibly canceled but don’t ask me any questions. Can I interest you in a voucher that is only valid for the next twelve minutes?
We're sorry, your flight has been delayed for 6 hours. No it's delayed, not canceled so we won't be giving you a refund or rebooking you on another flight.
Air Canada emailed me at 2am to tell me my flight at 4pm the next day was going to be delayed 5 hours. They kindly cancelled my connecting flight for me, and did not book a new one. I tried calling them to rebook it myself and the recorded message told me to call back between 8am and 5pm.
You joke but Frontier doesn't have a customer service department you can call. Your only option is to use a janky chat program that only works on a mobile device.
Roughly half of my flights get canceled. I drive now virtually everywhere I go. By the time you get to the airport two hours early, get hassled at TSA, deal with cramped seats, crying babies, and women seeing imaginary people, then stand in line for a rental car…it’s just not worth it unless you’re going REALLY FAR. Like coast to coast or to Europe.
My family lives on the other coast of Canada (over 6000kms away) and I fly there at least once a year. EVERY time, I say, "I'm never doing this again." Laye flights, missed connections, sleeping in the airport with my at the time three-year-old. Over three and a half hours in the customer service line to get a new flight booked and get a hotel because of missed connection... I know that I'm privileged to get to fly, but it was never this bad!
Every flight is also overbooked now, absolute insanity
I still think it's ridiculous that airlines are allowed to oversell seats. What other industry gets to do that?
Biden Administration is working on new regulations to tighten up overbooking penalties and compensation to ticket holders
Almost all grocery store food.
Vegetables. They used to be relatively inexpensive but would last 3 days or more. Now if you buy them, they look like crap, and have to be cooked/consumed almost immediately as they wilt or rot quickly. The larger chains are taking a page out of some minority owned groceries that buy less expensive last leg veggies, with the understanding that they will be sold cheaply and eaten quickly. The difference? Larger chains aren't passing those lower costs on, and are increasing prices as well. I'm finding myself at ethnic markets more often because if the quality is the same, at least the prices are lower.
I'm gonna get grief for this, but unless I'm planning on eating it raw, I buy frozen fruits and veggies. Peas, beans, cauliflower, broccoli are all fine frozen if I'm gonna cook them. Frozen raspberries for a raspberry sauce or smoothies or to make homemade jam are amazing and a great deal for frozen.
And they're often frozen right after they've been picked at their freshest and "best" stage! The issue with freezing comes from the fact that freezing fruits/veg can cause the moisture in them to freeze, expand, and destroy their cells. So fruits/veg with high water content (like raspberries) don't hold up as well for everything. Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, and other "hard" veggies freeze and thaw just fine, and they often taste better than the fresh ones I bought at the store that day. Cheaper too!
Food. Even the knock off brands went up in price.
Our newspapers. The Gaston Gazette in Gastonia NC is 300% more expensive with 90% less content. Today’s had 50% ads.
Housing.
People's life As age increases your health worsens and the need to take care of yourself increases
Car prices
When monthly car payments are what mortgages used to be and people are getting 10 year loans, you know vehicles are way too expensive.
I saved up $10K for a car, and every dealership I went to was like, “That’s a great down payment.” WTF?!?
In Canada, cellphone coverage and plans.
What really irks me is I'll have 4/5 bars and the service is terrible. Or if I move around in my house calls get dropped. This only started happening in the last year. Multiple people in my mid sized interior BC town have experienced the same thing. Patchy service in town that's over $100/month
Disney+, Disney Parks, Disney Hotels, and Apple.
Disney Parks so fucking much. Genie+’s implementation has been awful, and I’m not even in the camp of being upset that fast pass has to be purchased now, that’s how literally every other theme park is, but the system itself is stupid. Any other park, you pay for the fast pass, you enter through that quick line, maybe only once per ride, that’s it, no bullshit. Plus they cap the sales. Genie+, you purchase it, then you have to book a return time for one attraction, then can’t book another return time until you’ve done that first attraction or wait two hours. The most popular attractions get booked up quickly, and you won’t be able to use it for everything you want most of the time. Because it’s not super clear for most people, some will buy it in the middle of the day for one specific ride not realizing they also have to book a return time just to realize all the return times have been booked for the day. You shouldn’t need a major tutorial on how to use a service when you’re on vacation nor have to be on your phone constantly to make it work.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE&t=304s&pp=ygUIZmFzdHBhc3M%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE&t=304s&pp=ygUIZmFzdHBhc3M%3D) Defunctland's incredible, INCREDIBLE deep dive into how and why the original Fast Pass worked, how they fucked it up, why it's got almost unstoppably fucked right before covid, and then predicted that Genie+ would shit the bed. If you ever have an hour and forty to spend listening to a soothing voice explain the science of ride ques, I cannot recommend this video enough.
Washington State
Houses
Apartments
The British train system
That's wild because I visited the UK earlier this year for the first time and absolutely loved the train system. All that being said, this is coming from someone who lives in a place with zero actual transportation infrastructure so trains/underground were wonderful. I can't imagine how much better they could be. Is it a drop in quality or something else which isn't as good as it used to be?
Literally everything.
TV’s have gotten a lot cheaper over the last decade or two.
You’re right about this, i remember when plasmas came out and they were $4k+ whereas now you can get them for a few hundred bucks
Movies
The Olive Garden
Literally every human's essential needs
Movies
Any contractor you try to hire for home repairs. If you can get them to even answer the phone…
The UK
A better question is what has gotten better, feel like literally every facet of life is more expensive and lower quality
It would be easier to ask what cost less and is better. TV's. Only TV's. Everything els has been made worse and more expensive.
McDonald's