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Although I generally frown upon going this far to be frugal/cheap, I'll admit to being guilty of it on occasion.
I was in Macau.. didn't have any intentions of gambling or staying overnight at a hotel (was gonna take the ferries to and from HK for a day trip.) Got off the ferries and looked for transportation into the city. Took one of their "free" shuttles to a Casino/Hotel which included several excellent views of the cityline and beaches. Got off at the casino and promptly boarded another "free" bus to the city center.
If you were the only ones to ride, you would have been taking advantage a little bit. But assuming you got on with several other people who WERE going to do business at the casino they aren't out anything for your using the service.
My bank, which is in the lobby of the supermarket, always has their coffee pot out. I take a free cup of coffee every time I go to the store. I have an account there, so some way or another, the clients are paying for the coffee. But even if I didn't have an account, I'd help myself to a cup of coffee.
In Katmandu, there are hotel touts at the airport, who offer to drive you in to their hotel and show it to you, with the understanding that if it is not to your liking, you are under no obligation. They will tell you the expected hotel rate before you get in their car. There is nothing shady or deceptive about the practice, the hotel always quotes you the rate the tout quoted, and if you walk away, everyone just shrugs.
Las Vegas casinos always used to have incredibly cheap buffets (now harder to find), because they didn't want their captive gamblers going out in the street to look for dinner. It's part of the cost of doing business, and the same price applies even if you never even put a nickel in the slot.
My bank, which is in the lobby of the supermarket, always has their coffee pot out. I take a free cup of coffee every time I go to the store. I have an account there, so some way or another, the clients are paying for the coffee. But even if I didn't have an account, I'd help myself to a cup of coffee.
There is a line between frugal and stealing. Just because no one is watching, doesn't mean you are justified in things like this.
If the casino had a deal where you could get a ride by calling and they'd send a free cab just for you, I'd say that would be taking advantage. But a shuttle bus that goes back and forth all day is just a public service they offer that benefits them.
I don't think taking a cup of coffee they leave out for the public is stealing. Its not like he walked into the manager's pffice and got a cup.
I went to a football game Saturday. An insurance company had a booth set up giving away a t-shirt if you filled out a form with your name, number, etc. I did it and took the shirt even though I have no plans to buy a policy from them. The phone number I put down was my landline number I had disconnected two years ago. The e-mail was the address I use for signing up for places like city-data and never use for anything else.
I did give my real home address, but junk mail just goes straight into the trash, so that's no big deal.
I went to the timeshare sales pitch at DisneyWorld even though I knew that we were not interested in a timeshare. The reason? I was curious what the condos looked like. Also, they gave $100 to anyone willing to listen to their sales pitch. Do I feel guilty? No, I was honest with them right from the getgo and they wanted me to listen to the pitch anyway.
Sometimes service people offer a "free evaluation" of various problem areas in my house. I don't trust this, since I fear that during this inspection they might create a problem so they can then convince me to fix something didn't even exist before the guy showed up.
OTOH I have no problem with getting free evaluations from doctors, chiropractors, etc. They offer them as a way to attract new patients and sometimes I've become a patient after a successful visit. I definitely take advantage of free blood pressure tests, etc. I'm a little leery of free "mole" inspections, however--I wonder if the doctors will try to use this free evaluation to convince me that a healthy mole needs to be removed.
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