Nice deal on 18" 80v chainsaw at Costco

Nice deal on 18" 80v chainsaw at Costco

I have been trying to figure out whether to keep some 80v Kobalt tools that I acquired without any batteries/chargers (see my other post about this if curious).

I see that Costco has an 80v chainsaw, only one battery but two chains, on sale right now. https://www.costco.com/p/-/greenworks-80v-18-25kw-chainsaw/4000228387?langId=-1

Lowes has a 16" 2.5ah Kobalt version and both 16" and 20" 4ah Greenworks versions, but those are either far more expensive (20") or no extra chain (16").

Given that it's from Costco, with its great return policy and 8-year battery warranty (but must be sure to register the purchase), and that I am quite willing to do a rail-ectomy on my 2025 Kobalt 80V hedge trimmer and 2018 weed trimmer bodies (rails appear identical to me), this seems like a no-brainer to me.

If I like the chainsaw, then I also gain the use of those other two tools. If I don't like the chainsaw, or if I have trouble modding the Kobalt tools to use the GW battery , then I have the return option at Costco. I also get the 8yr battery warranty from Costco instead of the 3yr/4yr warranty from Lowe's.

I will probably dull the full-chisel chain on the first weekend, but I'll have the backup and my chain file to lessen the trauma :-)

Do you see holes in my logic here? Experiences with this chainsaw that I need to know about?

u/Xyzzy_plugh — 9 days ago

Circular problem, PP customer service says they can't handle it.

I have had PPS through my CSR card for a long time. I have no issues with it, and use it several times each year, in the USA and abroad.

My wife has a CSR-B card, which also has PPS membership. However, as we usually travel together, we have never entered on her account but only on mine.

Until now.

She is travelling on wed. this week, and we are trying to get her activated on the PP+ app on her phone Apparently, Chase customers in particular no longer have any online browser access to their PPS account, and absolutely positively must use the mobile app.

We called PP, the rep asked for her full number (which the initial voice greeting says will absolutely NEVER be asked), and he brought up her account. He says that it does not show him the username or if there is a username, but that we can use the "forgot my username" button on the app.

Here's the circular problem. He says that the account info also shows no Email address tied to her account. The "forgot my username" button will only send the username to the Email address on file with the account. But there is no Email address on file with the account info. He says that Chase also has access to this PPS user info database and that CHASE must add the Email address to it.

It is late at night, so we sent a Secure Message to Chase. I do not have high hopes for that, as even when the Secure Message team is able to solve a problem, it usually takes 2 or 3 message round trips to get it done.

My guess is that if we call Chase tomorrow, we will be shunted off to the Benefits Administrator and that the Benefits Administrator will not have access to fix the Chase/PPS database. Hopefully I am wrong, though, and they can fix it. And hopefully we will never ever ever ever have to deal with a PP phone rep again.

Is anyone here familiar with this process? Does this sound correct to you?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 17 days ago

Flagship and AC lounges at DFW - sticklers for the rules?

My wife and I both have nearly-simultaneous flights out of DFW next week, hers is domestic and mine is to the U.K. (via LGA/JFK). I am Plat Pro, she does not have any AA status.

As I read the lounge rules, although I can use the Flagship lounge and the AC lounges, she can not be my guest because she would need to separately meet the eligibility requirements (because we are not ticketed together).

Are these lounges at DFW sticklers for the guest rules? Or will we need to be content with The Club (Priority Pass) ?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 23 days ago

Using my last Boundless SUB FNA; help me out, please.

I want to take my wife for a day (mid-week, next week) in Dallas and a nice dinner and then stay overnight near DFW airport to get her to an early flight the next morning. (rather than make another 2.5 hour RT)

I still have one 50K FNA (almost ready to expire) and that will get us a decent room in most if not all of the Marriott-family hotels near the airport, and a few miles to kick in if needed.

What I am looking for, ideally, is a property with a reliable airport shuttle to take us to the airport (5:30 or 6:00am) so I can leave the car at the hotel, and likely to give me late checkout so I don't have to rush so much to get back from the airport.

An alternate might be if the hotel would allow me to go ahead and checkout early in the morning, shuttle to/from the airport, then collect my car at the hotel.

It looks like there are Marriott, Fairfield, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, and several other brands all near the airport. I will call to ask/verify shuttle info, late checkout, etc. but I am hoping that some folks here can give me personal-experience info (The best kind).

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 23 days ago
▲ 5 r/KobaltTools+1 crossposts

A gift that is not a gift?

A neighbor moved far away to a house that has no outdoor plants/grass, so he gave me his no-longer-needed Kobalt yard tools:

80V string trimmer

80V hedge trimmer

40V pole saw

24V chainsaw

However, he kept all his batteries and chargers to use with other tools (I can't blame him) :-(

I have no other Kobalt/Greenworks/compatible tools.

I am mostly Ryobi One+ for shop and yard tools, and have a One+ pole saw and chain saw (18V). I use them for limb trimming on my yard full of cottonwoods (constantly shedding limbs, those things). I have a One+ string trimmer but rarely use it (not much need, as the mower does well enough, we're not such "detail people").

I might could use the monster hedge trimmer around a pool-sized pond for safety (don't want to use my corded hedge trimmer next to the water).

So, I have no great need to invest battery/charger $$ in 3 different Kobalt battery platforms, and only a little need to do it at all.

I did, however, see that Lowe's has a GW 20" 80V chainsaw on sale ($359 vs $499, (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-20-in-3kW-Chainsaw-4Ah-4A-Charger/5014837963) but still, ouch!). I usually take down about one 30'-50' tree each year and my gas chainsaws need major attention, so maybe the GW would be a reasonable way to get a large chainsaw and also get use (after battery mods) out of the Kobalt 80V hedge and grass trimmer. I can still function without a big chainsaw, though. The joke at our house is that we have enough experience now that we just take the trees down with a dull spoon :-)

Decisions, decisions ...

I am curious what you folks would do or recommend.

u/Xyzzy_plugh — 23 days ago
▲ 34 r/sapphirereserve+1 crossposts

Sub is full of AF complaints, but nobody mentions Pay Yourself Back

Why do I never see the 20% effective reduction in AF on these cards that we get by using the 1.25X special rate for Pay Yourself Back on the AF transaction? Am I just not seeing those posts? Or is almost nobody using this perk?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 1 month ago

DD checkout is confusing about sales tax when partner discounts are involved

I order 4 DD orders each month, to use a Chase credit card perk. I always order the same thing, and there is always a merchant special involved as well.

$24 order - $8 merchant-special discount - $10 Chase discount per order = $6.00 + $0.50 sales tax (.0825 x $6) = $6.50

The checkout screen just prior to finally committing the order shows it this way, with the sales tax applied to the final discounted subtotal.

However, when the order actually processes, the total rises to $7.32 (instead of $6.50). That $1.32 tax ($7.32 final - $6 subtotal) is 0.825 x $16, meaning that DD in the end is not applying the sales tax rate to the the merchant's special discount, but *IS* applying it to the Chase discount.

They know enough at the previous screen to get it correct, so why don't they do that? Based on my career experience, it has to be just sloppy programming. But it's frustrating because I don't always remember that they are going to change it in this way so I expect one result but get another. It is only an $0.82 difference, but it is annoying.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 2 months ago

It is so frustrating to get conflicting information.

I just booked an AA flight for myself and my wife, using a Companion Certificate I got from Barclays last year. I wanted to pay the bulk of the cost with my AA Citi card, and a token amount with my Chase CSR to get the Chase travel coverage. I have done this in the past, but not with a Companion Certificate. Frequent-flyer sites around the web indicate this is fine, since you have to do the Companion Cert booking over the phone anyway. But the phone agent told me that it not only can't be done for the Cert, it can't be done at all for any AA booking (even over the phone).

I don't know if this is a change from the past, or is just a Companion Cert rule that she wrongly assumed was universal.

She also gave me a different answer about a flight on hold w.r.t. booking with the Cert. I called in last night to try to book it then (had to do it today instead b/c I needed to plan around blackout dates). The agent last night actually asked me at the start of the call if I already had a flight on hold that I wanted to use. Tonight, when I told the agent that I had a flight on hold she told me that it didn't matter because she was not able to use that held booking. Either one of the two agents gave me wrong info, or the answer is a lot more complicated than she explained.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 2 months ago

Deadline for Nationwide cat-claim depreciation recovery?

I have an open homeowners' claim (hail, roof replacement) with Nationwide. HO-B policy, RCV coverage.

The date of loss was 3/25/2025.

The date of claim filing was 3/19/2026.

Due to a rookie adjuster / claim-handler, there have been several corrections/supplements to the claim, but they appear to all be fixed now.

The date of the last claim correction by Nationwide was 5/22/2026. (because I had to get the state Department of Insurance to lean on them)

I know I can ask the claim handler, but they still have the same lady assigned and it is like pulling hen's teeth to get useful information from her. At this point, I would prefer to have only one more interaction with Nationwide on this claim, and that is when I request the release of depreciation after the repairs are done.

I would like to hold off on the roof replacement until the end of summer when the temperatures cool down. The reason for the wait is that we are in Texas and the hot days don't play well with asphalt shingles (scuffs and boot prints in soft Class 4 asphalt is not a good look).

I have been told many different and conflicting things about the the deadline for claiming depreciation, including that the clock starts when the claim settlement report is finalized, mean that it restarts whenever there is an adjustment to the claim. I don't know if this is true.

Can anyone provide a solid answer re. the deadline (specifically w.r.t. Nationwide, in Texas)? Or am I going to have to bite the bullet and deal with this nightmare of a claim handler again?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 2 months ago

"Gap coverage" ??

Does anyone have any info or experience with this? It supposedly covers deductibles and ACV-only policies.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 2 months ago

Giftcards error - "This item could not be added"

I bought a gift card through GiftCards.com (reservebusiness.giftcards.com) back in the fall, and now would like to do another. When I try to add my (Chili's) card to the cart, I get the

"This item could not be added" error message. The same happens if I try to select various other gift cards as well. Is this a general problem for everyone, or am I the problem? :-)

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 2 months ago
▲ 12 r/uber

So tired of Uber tacking on extra charges after a ride is done

This was just the latest, but it is the one that irks me the most.

My wife and I needed rides to and from our one-night hotel stay in Athens (Greece) from the ATH airport. From the airport to hotel, we took Uber. (on the return, we took Lyft) The reason we opted for that Uber ride was that I had some Euros in my wallet that I needed to use up, and the Cash-pay option was 45 Euro (which I had). We arrived at the hotel, and I paid the driver with cash including a tip. The app estimated the ride at about 12 minutes, but it actually took over 20 minutes. Generally, though, all good.

Two days later, a charge hits my credit card (default payment method on my wife's Uber account) for an additional 9 Euros. We accepted a ride from a specified origin to a specified destination, for 45 Euros. The route would have been known to Uber the moment the ride request was entered. So, my wife requested a refund for the unexpected, not-agreed charges.

When she inquired, she was given 3 different explanations in 3 separate responses.

First, " some account activity that conflicts with our safety guidelines., so we can't refund". No idea what this about, and no explanation offered. We just opened the app, entered our ride info, and accepted the offered cash ride.

Second, "unable to approve a refund at this moment due to some policy inconsistencies we spotted." Again, we've no idea what this means and no further explanation has been given.

When we were able to see the itemized detail for the charge, it shows:

4.30 Meter fare

2.50 Booking fee

0.05 Rounding

2.55 Tolls Attiki Odos - Koropi (Airport)

Cash: 9.40

------------------

If they intended to charge us extra for all of these things, they should have made it known in the ride price up front, or at least a really close estimate.

This really, really, really, ticks me off. To make it worse, as far as we can gather from the Uber messages, there is no way to actually talk to a person about this. We just have to chat in the app with an entity that I am not convinced is a person.

Arrrrrgggghhh!

Is this the normal way things are done with Uber? Are we just ignorant country bumpkins here?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 3 months ago

Not advertising local fees and taxes is bad practice

My wife and I stayed at the Moxy in Athens (Greece) on an FNA during a long layover between flights. Everything was fine, 1 comp'd drink each at checkin, room was clean and very comfortable, stopped off at the desk on the way out to be sure we were all good.

Nobody ever mentioned the 5 Euro per night local "climate impact" tax that later got charged to my credit card. Now, 5 Euros isn't going to break the bank, but I never saw any mention of this charge (I could have overlooked it, of course) and nobody mentioned it at reservation time, checkin time, or checkout time.

Why be tight-lipped with this information? It is silly. Almost like Uber wrote the manual for them.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 3 months ago

Lounge options at AMS layover, USA to UAE, AA in, Etihad out, Emerald/Plat-Pro, PP Select, USA passports

I have never been to the AMS airport, and have only used PP lounges (have PP Select via Chase CSR card) at other airports. (for int'l, they have run good to great for me)

My wife and I have a 13 hour daytime layover (but will likely be too tired to go out of the airport), transferring from AA to Etihad, flying on award tickets booked through AA

The connection to Etihad in AMS is throwing me, as I don't know what arrival/departure airline requirements the various lounges impose.

I am thinking that I will (or will not) have access as follows:

Oneworld - Yes (both of us? Wife has AAdvantage #, but no status)

Flagship/Admirals-Club - No (bc, after a quick look, I think AMS doesn't have these lounges)

Etihad - No (not the right ticket, plus I am only Etihad Guest Silver, CSR access but only at IAD airport)

Sapphire - No, no int'l lounges (boo! hiss!!)

PP - Yes (definitely, but no experience with PP at AMS)

Any corrections or elucidations?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 3 months ago

How to see running balance on "statement", "last year", or "year to date" displays?

On my Citi online dashboards, for both my personal credit cards and my business credit card, "Running balance" is an optional column in the transaction list for the current period (since the last statement). However, if I switch to any statement period, or to "last year" or to [what I use most] "year to date", then there is no "Running balance" column.

Is there a way to turn on the Running balance column for these historical displays of transactions? I tried calling in to Citi, but the rep was of Zero help.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 3 months ago

I have been reading online, looking at EFL's, and chatting with Rhythm, and am still confused.

For their suite of "Power Shift" plans, there is a large period (2 windows, 17 hours total) of "Off Peak" billing. I have seen two different descriptions of the billing rates during this period:

A) Billed at TDU Delivery Charge rate only (approx. 5.7 cents/kWh). The Energy Charge is completely waived during Off Peak periods.

B ) Billed at TDU Delivery Charge *PLUS* a reduced Energy Charge (e.g. 5.4 cents/kWh, down from the Peak rate of, e.g. 13.2 cents.

So, in those examples, the difference between the two descriptions would be an Off Peak rate of either 5.4 cents or 11.1 cents.

Which is correct? Is anyone on one of these plans and can therefore verify how it is actually billed?

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u/Xyzzy_plugh — 4 months ago

My wife and I are flying (U.S. to Israel) in a couple of weeks, and Ethiad's consolidation of flights is resulting in an overnight layover at AUH for 13h50m . (7:10pm-9:00am)

After >18h of travel time (DFW-FRA-AUH), there is no way we're going to lounge hop overnight (although the AUH lounges are the best I've ever personally used). However, I do have some 50K-point free nights from my Boundless SUB last year, with 3 months to expiration so I figure I should use one for this.

The "W Abu Dhabi - Yas Island" is near the airport and other posts here have indicated it is a nice place. For a single night, the redeemable rooms (32K points, balcony) look fine to us. At only Silver Elite and with a points pay, I'm not expecting any upgrades, but a bed's a bed at that point.

Is there any reason to choose a different hotel? I'd like to stay near the airport so we can shower/sleep/breakfast more and schlep less. I don't know if they run an airport shuttle but that would be a win in my book.

We will have visa-on-arrival, but of course we will need to pick up bags and clear immigration if we leave the airport (chances of convincing my lovely wife to travel for 12 days out of a carry-on? Zero 😄 ).

Oh, if I am able to push our outbound flight by another day or two, and make back-to-back separate bookings, I think I could use multiple free night awards. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that possibility.

Thoughts / recommendations?

u/Xyzzy_plugh — 4 months ago