The Godfather of Manx House Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 ... the last three times I've been in shops and assisted with the change process (ie added some money to make the scenario easier), in all three cases I've been given WAY too much change back and had to point this out. I've had FIFTEEN pounds back too much at a local garage, ten pounds too much at a Co-Op and just had three pounds too much at a paper shop. Has the basic standard of maths fallen *that* badly in recent years ? And more pertinently just how much money could you make if you tried it in every shop in town ???!!! Baffling ... ...GOMH*... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulgarian Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Having worked as a shop assistant, it can be confusing when people (usually old women) think they're being helpful by giving you lots of bits of change including several coins from extinct currencies. "Now i'll give you 7 and you can give me 2... do you want the 12? Oh, hold on, i don't know if i've got it... well give me that back and i'll give you the 2. I've got some 5s here if you want them... can i swap that for 2 50s? "JUST GIVE ME THE TWENTY!" There was some kind of scam on the television the other week where the customer basically baffles the poor shop assistant out of £20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Godfather of Manx House Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 Having worked as a shop assistant, it can be confusing when people (usually old women) think they're being helpful by giving you lots of bits of change including several coins from extinct currencies. "Now i'll give you 7 and you can give me 2... do you want the 12? Oh, hold on, i don't know if i've got it... well give me that back and i'll give you the 2. I've got some 5s here if you want them... can i swap that for 2 50s? "JUST GIVE ME THE TWENTY!" There was some kind of scam on the television the other week where the customer basically baffles the poor shop assistant out of £20. Well I wasn't even trying but boy, is it effective ... ...GOMH*... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellyup Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Having worked as a shop assistant, it can be confusing when people (usually old women) think they're being helpful by giving you lots of bits of change including several coins from extinct currencies. "Now i'll give you 7 and you can give me 2... do you want the 12? Oh, hold on, i don't know if i've got it... well give me that back and i'll give you the 2. I've got some 5s here if you want them... can i swap that for 2 50s? "JUST GIVE ME THE TWENTY!" There was some kind of scam on the television the other week where the customer basically baffles the poor shop assistant out of £20. The old ladies probably had to do mental arithmetic when they were young unlike the todays shop assistants whose sad little brains are taxed if they cant get the bar code to register . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulgarian Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Mental arithmetic? Most of them can't remember when to go to the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Most of them can't remember when to go to the toilet. Maybe not in your family... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Having worked as a shop assistant, it can be confusing when people (usually old women) think they're being helpful by giving you lots of bits of change including several coins from extinct currencies. "Now i'll give you 7 and you can give me 2... do you want the 12? Oh, hold on, i don't know if i've got it... well give me that back and i'll give you the 2. I've got some 5s here if you want them... can i swap that for 2 50s? "JUST GIVE ME THE TWENTY!" There was some kind of scam on the television the other week where the customer basically baffles the poor shop assistant out of £20. The old ladies probably had to do mental arithmetic when they were young unlike the todays shop assistants whose sad little brains are taxed if they cant get the bar code to register . Yeah, in the olden days we were taught to calculate 'roughly' what a transaction would come to. These days they don't attempt that in their heads. So what comes up on the screen is what they accept. Giving the odd pence relies on understanding that the difference between say 72 pence and a pound is the same as the difference between 74 pence and £1.02 So the customer offers the odd 2 pence and gets back 30 pence. Or you could say you are paying the 2p separately and then take the 70 pence out of the pound. It is a way of avoiding lots of small coins in the change. But shop assistants prefer to give you handfuls of coins these days and avoid taxing their brains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ringwraith Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 But can they read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazir Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Boringly I've never had a problem with this. I assume you mean when say something costs say £5.10 and I only had a tenner and some change I would offer a tenner and a 10p coin so that I got a £5 note back rather than coins. I think it almost entirely depends on the till because in most modern places they will just enter £10.10 paid and get change = £5. I think you must be doing in a confusing way. Don't stop though, just keep the money instead of giving it back, you're on to a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Most tills these days tell the assistant the right change to give, including when someone has the additonal 12p or whatever. That change amount dissapears when they shut the till and have already taken out the change - so there's no excuse for it really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Its a symptom of our hugely successful economy I'm afraid. All those who used to work in shops are high up in banks, all those who used to work in banks are property speculators, and all those who would have previously totally fucked up their education and lived on benefits are behind the counters in shops. Its called social mobility. Unless of course they are Eastern European shop assistants and then they are friendly, numerate and pleasant. I have to say its actually embarrassing watching the dimwit in my local shop trying to subtract in units of ten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I know if I was a shop assistant I would find it difficult to engage my brain for a few seconds when in almost every other aspect of the role I am required to be unintelligent (i.e. tidying up shelves, rotating stock, greeting strangers, etc.). If you are almost always running on 'automatic' and on low pay then I really wouldn't want to break out of a necessary mentality for a few second to count change. I'd just look at the till. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bawden Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Ah, the three R's, they were the days. I have to agree with The Godfather of House, this giving out more has happened on numerous occasions to me and do as TGoH does and give it back to them and explain where their error occured. It's not the young 'uns faults though as they are taught maths always using a calculator or computer so what hope in the real world of them being able to deal with change given with a £10 note. And everything hboy has said I actually completely agree with, especially about the Eastern Europeans, it makes me feel ashamed to be British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudcheck Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I've had FIFTEEN pounds back too much at a local garage, ten pounds too much at a Co-Op and just had three pounds too much at a paper shop. I think it is in the public interest to name the establishments in question..................ermm, just incase they were to make the same mistake with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 And everything hboy has said I actually completely agree with, especially about the Eastern Europeans, it makes me feel ashamed to be British. Is it really true that Eastern European shop assistants are really more numerate than Manx shop assistants? Don't feel ashamed to be British - who cares about the pennies. Oh no, let us feel proud and glad that we have such eager and numerate Eastern Europeans working among us making sure your customer experience comes with smile...and the right change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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