Don't you just hate getting lectures from people who are so ignorant they correct you on things you know far more about than they do?
I went shopping today, and parked in a multi-storey car park attached to the shopping centre (mall) by a pedestrian bridge.
Just as I was about to go back across to leave, I realised I didn't have any change for the ticket machine. I went to the cash desk in the store I was about to leave and asked if they could change a £5 note next time the till (cash register) was open, but everyone seemed to be paying with cards, so the cashier asked someone else (a supervisor?) if they could open a till and change the money for me.
No, she said, because the till would not then balance.
Of course it will, I said, I give you a £5 note, you give me 5 £1 coins, it's still the same amount of money.
No, she explained to the idiot who could not understand the simple principles of mathematics, it knows if you've taken £5 out.
Please don't talk rubbish to me, I replied. You will also have put £5 in, the till doesn't know if a customer has given you one £5 note or 5 £1 coins. Nor does it know if you gave change to a customer as a £5 note or five coins. She suggested getting someone who could explain her logic to this dolt customer.
Don't bother, I said, I'm now an ex-customer of this store. (For UK vixens, it was Debenhams in Bromley, a major store in a major shopping centre.)
Across the way a small one-off store changed my £5 with absolutely no problem, and I was able to get out of the car park without further ado.
I also made note of the fact that the machines in the car park can now give you change from notes...
I like it best when, say, your bill is £5.40 but you only have a £10 note,and the right amount of change, so you give them £10.40 so that they can give you a £5 note in change. Completely flummoxes most of 'em! I can't tell you how many times I've been told 'You've given me too much....' Yes, I KNOW, but then you can give me ONE note of currency instead of lots of change.
ReplyDeleteIt's a universal problem, I see. Another problem I've encountered is when the clerk gives me too much change. More than once, I've had an angered clerk tell me I'm wrong, so I smile at them sweetly and pocket the extra cash. So much for trying to do a good deed.
ReplyDeleteVal, you and I are so alike. After what you went through, I would be taking my business elsewhere, too.
Well as a mathematically challenged person, I could never make change at all, but swapping $5for 5 $1's is math I can even grasp!!
ReplyDeleteHow old was the supervisor? After having similar problems in shops I've come to the conclusion that although they may teach kids how to do algebra they don't teach them the basics well enough for it to stay with them beyond school...and I sound like my grandmother :-(
ReplyDeletesorta like a thermos; it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold...how does it know???
ReplyDeleteYikes! Dumb-Ass Alert!
ReplyDeleteThe math-challenged run rampant in the U.S., and I can so relate to Diane's story. Which is why almost all stores, etc., have cash registers that require the clerk to enter the amount received in cash, after the amount charged, so the clerk is not responsible for calculating change due back to the purchaser.
ReplyDelete