What price convenience?

Remember the days when nothing was controlled wirelessly by remote control?


The current car that Gary & I share is a 2006 Pontiac G-6. We've had it for about two years now and will probably keep it for at least another two. Its nothing fancy but its functional (has gotten us from point A to point B fairly reliably and economically (given rising gas prices) so far). It has approx 50,000 kms on the odometer. Its alot more spacious (for family outings... drove it down to Maryland for Summer vacation last year, have taken it on a few camping trips and have a bicycle rack that fits on the trunk) than our last car (a BMW 325)-- tho admittedly not nearly as stylish.


The car came with two "keyless car entry" key fobs which are battery powered. I am not sure what the usual battery life is on the fobs but one of them (Gary's) quit working a few months back. Initially, I purchased a replacement battery at SDM and attempted to replace it myself. After prying the fob open at the seam, I removed the old battery and placed the new one in. It did not work. I re-opened it as well as the other one that was working to compare the battery placement. I re-placed the battery to match the good fob and closed them back up. After that, the fob appeared to be working. But not for long. The very next day after handing it back to Gary, he complained that it was still not working.



Since Gary uses the car more than I do, I eventually swapped key fobs with him. A few weeks ago Gary took our G6 in for servicing to a GM dealership (needed a brake job). He forgot to see if he could get the key fob replaced while he was there. (Since the total tab was over $750, perhaps they would have thrown in a free key fob battery replacement for that price.) In any case, tired of having to open / close the doors manually (which is a real pain when the weather or your arms are full carrying parcels), I finally got around to taking the key fob in to a repair shop for replacement. I took it to Fax Fix Jewellery and Watch Repair at the south end of the Eaton Centre on the subway (1 below) level. I was familiar with this shop from bringing watches in there for battery replacement before. They complete the replacement job while you shop (in 5 minutes) and offer a 5 year guarantee (replacement is free) in case the battery fails during that period.



Even allowing for the 5 year guarantee (the value of which, since we may replace the car in less than two years. is rather dubious) the pricetag for the battery replacement seemed rather steep to me.. $25.94, including tax! I guess that is the high price of convenience? It sure doesn't come cheaply! On the upside, at least I don't have to worry about looking like a fool by forgetting where I parked my car in a mall lot (the car flashes its lights and sounds it horn in reply to depressing a fob button within range, to help you locate it)... perhaps avoiding embarrassment is worth more than convenience? Also, I plan to charge Gary back for at least half the cost (since it was, after all, his fob that failed in the first instance)! So perhaps $12.97 is a fair price? I dunno.