Wow, lot of stuff in this thread.
First of all, I guess I would say that folks would be better served by looking at the tool trucks as a service provider. The service they provide is a convenient way to get quality tools in a very timely manner. That carries a very high price tag, both in sales price and in interest rate for those who do not pay cash. If folks were just buying tools, they would be MUCH better off either taking out a loan (preferably secured so as to get a lower rate) if they can't pay cash, and to buy the industrial versions or less expensive brands. Yet they willingly pay for the tools, and from my experience it isn't just mechanics starting out. Two friends of mine have technical degrees (one and engineer, the other computer science), have been mechanics for 10-15 years, still buy tools off of the truck, and praise the option to finance. Not for me, but I don't turn wrenches for a living. Of course, I can see why after I got my daily driver half torn apart to change the spark plugs, only to find out the plugs are 12 point, and the bolts holding down the coils are freakin' female torx, so I had to go order another couple hundred dollars worth of tools which will delay the job by a week (end rant).
Certainly it is really easy to sit back and blame others for not reading the fine print. For not understanding how interest works. But then if we start asking WHY they do that, then it gets more complicated. In my opinion, one of the great failings of our education system is that it completely and totally fails to teach personal finance. This will have perhaps the greatest impact on the greatest number of people of any subject taught. I think most of the stuff that is taught is important, but that one is just ignored.
For some reason, our society has holistically decided that it would rather deal with the impact on the back end than on the front end. Rather than make as many of its citizens self reliant as it can, it puts out a bunch of people into society who invariably get themselves in unmanageable positions. And we deal with it by paying higher interest rates ourselves, drastically increasing the size and scope of government in our lives, and a tax structure that serves to transfer wealth.
Our society has been pushing increased college attendance for decades. At least back t othe days of automation in the 80's, when we'd say that we will still need workers, only they'll need to be more skilled (shoot, the whole Terminator thing was playing on the fear that robots would take over). That data is out there for anyone to see thanks to the wonders of Google. It is part of our culture, everyone wants for their kids to have better lives than they had. Our culture has embraced the notion that this means education. As a result, college enrollment figures now stand at close to 70% (high school grads that go to college - it was closer to 60% when I was at that point in the 90's). That invariably puts out graduates who aren't going to work in the field of their degree. And yes, tuition costs have skyrocketed, and there has been a huge increase in student loan debt, and the number of administrators per student has doubled in the past 20 years, and colleges are building more and more and more ameneties in an arms race to attract students. If you don't see this, then you need to go step foot on a college campus and see where dorms are now apartments, and student athletic complexes are way beyond just free weights and basketball courts, to where they now offer rock climbing walls and indoor Olympic size pools.
It is evident even in our military, where one now has to have a high school diploma to join. I have 3 degrees (two engineering and an MBA), yet my personal take on this is that our society in general has completely and totally lost its respect for skilled trades. I'm sorry, but we send WAY too many people to college. And while it used to take a college degree to have a chance to advance in the corporate world, now it takes an advanced degree. Just like the Air Force and vision - just a simple tool to weed out a section of the population to get the batch of candidates to a manageable level.
Anyway, like I said, it is easy to criticize folks who don't understand the impact of interest rates. But many people who understand the impact of some things have a conscience, and do something about it. Be it car salesmen who leave the profession (I've had 2 friends who did just that), or this particular tool truck guy who feels that his customers are his friends, and feels that he can't take advantage of their ignorance. I applaud the guy and wish him luck.
