So my consuegro Ricardo had a great side hustle -- car whisperer. For a fee, he did all the leg work of researching and either buying or leasing a car for you, and he was terrific.
When D2 and Jonathan returned to Miami from their carless NYC sabbatical, I looked into prices on Jeep Grand Cherokees -- Ricardo saved them over $100 per month on a lease. He got ME thousands back from Lexus when I turned in my girlie sedan early, and has done wonders for all of us on car transactions.
I referred him my banker friend Carole, who buys a new Benz every 20 years. A model she desired was nowhere to be found, until Ricardo found one in Detroit, and had it delivered to Miami for less than Carole thought she'd pay.
Unfortunately, Ricardo no longer does the business -- except for close family. The dealers stopped giving prices over the phone, and it's not practical for him to have to drive all over to do his work.
Still, last April, he did us another solid. After getting D1 a great deal on a Tesla SUV, we decided to buy her 2 year old Lexus SUV for Wifey -- it had low miles, and was like new. Ricardo got the many accidented older SUV sold for far more than I thought it was worth, and handled the purchase from JM Lexus, the dealership he used to lease the vehicle. It went seamless, as usual, as D1 and I and Little Man visited the dealership to sign the paperwork, and Little Man had a blast -- locking himself in one of the floor model cars and drawing laughter from all the staff. We got him out.
Anyway, I wanted to thank Ricardo, as I did when he did my other deals. Last year I got him a $400 gift certificate to The Palm, which sounds like a lot, but it essentially pays for 3 people to eat and have drinks. He and Jacqui and youngest son Alan loved it.
So this time I did the same, and sent him the e card. They went Saturday night.
Yesterday I asked how it went -- they had a great meal, but reported the restaurant said the card had expired! Being polite folks, they simply paid and left. Had it been me, I would have left the card, invited the manager to call the police, and walked out.
Ricardo sent me a picture of the card, and I was furious. How could the Palm do this? What if I was a big lawyer who had sent clients for dinner, and they had to pay? I was ready for the First World, Rich White Guy fight of the year --and called the Gift Card company.
The woman said that the card number showed it was bought in 2023, and had already been used. She suggested I call my credit card company to show I had bought a card in April of this year. I did -- AMEX Platinum has great service. The West Indian accented agent confirmed that indeed I bought a $400 card in April of THIS year! A ha! I had them.
But then I figured it out -- I had sent Ricardo the OLD card! I am a tech moron. I messed up. I had met the enemy, and he was me!
I called the company back and reported the 2024 card as missing, as it was, since I had deleted all my old emails in an attempt to not overuse my storage. No problem -- she sent it right away.
I Zelled Ricardo the money. So he had the gift, and now I had another reason to visit The Palm. I am happy I don't have to boycott them. I have to boycott my own tech abilities -- even simple ones.
So issue solved. The War on the Palm never happened. And it reminded me of a famous Miami case from the 80s -- involving Cafe Chauveron, a very classy French place near where the Ds now live.
It was owned by a German American guy. Probably 90% of their clientele were well off Jews, including one doctor, who went nearly every Saturday night. One evening, the doc didn't show for his 8pm reservation, and at 9 Hans, I think the owner's name was, gave away Dr. Rabinowitz (making up that name) table. Hans said it would be a small wait -- he would accommodate his great customer.
Dr. R, or whatever, was livid. He stormed out, and called everyone he knew -- telling them that Hans had yelled anti-semitic remarks to him, like "Get your dirty Jew ass out of here -- I don't need your dirty Jew money!"
Problem was, Hans never said any such thing, and the rich doc told all his friends. Within a month, the restaurant closed. Hans sued the doc for slander, and won -- big. I recall reading about the case in the late 80s. Serves the jerk doctor right.
Now -- I wouldn't have pulled THAT silliness with the Palm, but I would have told everyone if they had cheated my consuegros and me. Turns out they didn't -- I had sent my family with, essentially, counterfeit money!
Next time, I'll order an actual plastic card...
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