Perhaps more suited to P/R, but who cares. We've now reached a point where the government is more efficient and responsive than the private sector as often as not. When I got my DL renewed I was in the office for less than 15 minutes (and the previous renewal was done online). You make an appointment, show up during your block, and they're ready for you. "Sign here. Read the top line. Put your thumb there. -CLICK- That'll be $37. Have a nice day." This morning I transferred a title and registered a car in my name. I was in the building less than 15 minutes (and five of that was because I fucked up), and everything was very streamlined. The people were also reasonably pleasant for civil servants.
I'm shopping for my next electricity plan, and it took 30 minutes "chatting" with Ana H, who's real name is almost certainly Fatima Ali, just trying to get actual pricing for an offer
THEY MAILED ME! These are people trying to sell me something, and they've made it a tedious experience. I left the tax office quite pleased this morning. I finished with Ana H highly annoyed.
Seriously, dealing with the government is far easier than trying to buy something now if it has to involve a real person. I've spent longer trying to mash the right buttons just to get a real person to take my money than I did titling my car.
The only thing that makes shopping for energy even doable is that the government mandates that they provide an
Electricity Facts Label that puts the most important bits on a single page, and I guarantee you that the companies and libertarians alike both threw a giant fit about blatant governmental interference.
And in the end it all comes down to a simple axiom. The house always wins. The more they try to convince you a plan is going to save you money the more you're going to bleed from the ass once it's all said and done. Everything is a variation on the same theme. In the sample EFL I provided they simply triple the energy cost and give you a quarter of the month "free." I've read hundreds of EFLs, and I've got a spreadsheet that does the number crunching for me, and that one is probably the worst I've seen in terms of ripping off suckers.
Capitalism! Fuck Yeah!