Does This Tactic I Did Overseas Make Me an OzBargainer Guru or Would You Feel Too Embarrassed to Do It?

GOCAT9 on 04/09/2017 - 18:00
Last edited 04/09/2017 - 20:06 by 1 other user

OK, here's my story. I was in Cuba a couple of weeks ago. I was in a small town (Vinales) and decided to hire a motorcycle for the day. The cost was US$25 for the day plus US$10 for the full tank of petrol (in Asia you normally can rent a motorcycle for only $5/day!). Hiring cars is very expensive in Cuba, bet on US$60-$80/day!

Anyway I used the motorcycle all day and noticed that my fuel gauge showed nearly full before I had to return it (it was working!!). I felt that I did not get value in the cost I paid for fuel (local price was about AUD$0.90 per litre). Since I had paid for the fuel I felt that it was mine and so why should I give it back for free to the owner. So I decided to recoup my costs and sell my fuel to somebody who wanted it at a 50% discount.

So I went to the only gas station in town since that is where people would go if they needed fuel, right? When I arrived I found out that the gas station had run out of fuel (this happens most days in Cuba). So I thought this would make it easier for me to sell my fuel. It only took a few minutes when I met another motorcyclist who had come to buy fuel. He was told there was no fuel in the gas station so I approached him and offered him my fuel at half price! He said yes (of course!). I then asked if he had a hose siphon and a bottle to measure the petrol. He said he had one at his house just a short distance away. So we set off to his house down a dirt road as it started to pour down with rain. Just as we were about half way to his house (about 1km away), he ran out of fuel for his motorcycle! (lolololo). So he ended up pushing his motorcycle by hand that last few hundred meters.

After a short time, we arrived, he found a bottle and hose and then we siphoned out all my petrol leaving just enough for me to return the bike immediately after. The gauge then showed empty!

So, I got my US$5 back which I otherwise would have 'lost' giving it back to the owner and it was a win/win situation for the guy who was able to get petrol for his bike and at 50% discount and for me who got some of my unused petrol money back.

Does that earn me a gold star in the extreme OZBARGAINER category? Would you feel too embarrassed to do this also?

Travel

Comments

  • djmm on 06/09/2017 - 20:31
    +9

    Meanwhile in Cubabargain forum:

    Guys I just met this stupid aussie tourist he sold me fuel for half price and drove all the way to my house to deliver the fuel. bargin!

  • Matslurpee on 06/09/2017 - 21:38
    +1

    A real OzBargainer would have charged him full price, because you were the only one with fuel.

  • martriv on 06/09/2017 - 21:41

    That is sad - you might as well give it for free there would be more value to help a person who is not even making what you earn in a day over a month.

  • frostman on 06/09/2017 - 22:19
    +1

    Does This Tactic I Did Overseas Make Me an OzBargainer

    I think that makes you an OzIdiot.

    For $5, that's low

  • PAOK11 on 06/09/2017 - 22:48

    Haha thanks for sharing this is a proper laugh. At any point during the ride to the guys house were you thinking wtf am I doing ?

  • myfuturej on 06/09/2017 - 23:28
    +1

    It's the type of story that you could repeatedly tell your grandkids, who will in turn tell their grand kids.

  • edwardcr on 07/09/2017 - 10:28

    "Does that earn me a gold star in the extreme OZBARGAINER category?"

    For being an a**e, yes!

    I suppose if you're happy to rip off people in Cuba who already live a pretty miserable, poverty-stricken life - good luck to you.

    I wouldn't be boasting about it though.

  • tik tok on 07/09/2017 - 10:39

    If the servo was out of petrol, shouldn't have you been selling yours for a premium ?

  • Gershom on 07/09/2017 - 10:58

    I don't believe it. If it is true I feel very sad for you.

  • RolandWaites on 07/09/2017 - 11:55

    Legend.

  • ozeebee on 07/09/2017 - 12:06
    +1

    There are different levels of cheapness. You sir is Grade A bottom of the barrel type of cheap.

  • AlienC on 07/09/2017 - 14:33

    I have done more for less. Good Job OP you Ozbargained a pizza that is a win in my books.

  • nickj on 07/09/2017 - 16:27
    +2

    What I find amusing is that some of the people think OP should have give it away (i.e. charged nothing), and some are diametrically opposed and think he should have charged more! By my count, as at the time of writing:

    16 people said: Not worth it for $5 / should have given it away for free / donated it to charity
    5 people said: Should have charged more than $5

    So I think that makes the OP cheaper than the average OzBargainer, but not the cheapest. I want more stories from the cheaper people, because they amuse me.

  • icejester on 16/09/2017 - 00:42

    Good story
    but not really worth it for more than $5 lol

    your ingenuity may be used one day for $5 million

  • pj228 on 17/09/2017 - 08:04
    +1

    To be honest, considering the harsh poverty socialism has inflicted on the cubans, it seems extremely petty that someone who can afford a vacation on the other side of the world would go through that effort to deprive a local business of $5.
    Id be ashamed if I were you.

  • GOCAT9 on 18/09/2017 - 10:47

    Nah, you missed the point matey!! No business was deprived of $5 because the gas station had RUN OUT OF FUEL!! Secondly, I helped a local because I saved him money by giving him the fuel at half price!!

    It's totally moot to say "well , you could have given him the fuel for free". Well you could say that but you could equally well say "well you would have helped him even more if you gave him a million dollars"!!

    Good grief man, see it for what it was: The Cuban got fuel that he needed and could not have got it from anywhere else for HALF PRICE!!

  • Snatcher on 18/09/2017 - 13:02

    I just find the whole story and the effort involved silly, sry.
    Would have rather saved the time and enjoyed myself considering the time which was involved.

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