Card 'tards

In front of the credit card machine at work, there's a little sign that informs people that for a very good reason that I can't remember right now (only the sign has the reason on it), we have to charge 25p for every card transaction that comes to less than £5.

Who comes to a coffee shop, buys a £2 coffee and then pays on their card? I hear you ask.

There are customers that do exactly that: Buy something cheap, and then offer their credit card as payment. But hey, that's ok. I've done that before. You go out, you get thirsty, you pop into a coffee shop, make your order and... uh oh. No cash. Oh well, let's just put it on the card. It's easily done.

But then there are those people for whom Maths was never something applied to everyday life. Take this example:

Nicola: Hello, what can I get you?
Customer: Hi, I'll have a regular latte please.
N: Ok!
*makes coffee*
*places coffee cup on saucer and pushes it towards customer*
*rings 1 x regular latte through the till*
That'll be £2 then please.
C: *hands over credit card*
N: Ok... Just so you know, I'm gonna have to charge you an extra 25p because your purchase is less than £5, ok? *points to sign*
C: *face drops* Oh... how much under £5 am I?
N: *eyebrows raised in disbelief* ......your coffee is £2. You're £3 under.
C: Ok... *looks at the menu board and calculates* ...ok. Ok, I'll have a cheese toastie as well then please.
N: .............. *writes order, places it on the board, and rings the toastie through on the till* O..k. One regular latte and one cheese toastie comes to £5.15
C: Yes, yes that's better. *hands over card*

Seriously. This actually happens on a daily basis. The second you tell someone they're going to be charged extra, they try to make their bill up to £5. HELLO??? The charge is 25p. You're spending £3.15p to escape a 25p charge!?!

I despair. I really do.

8:31 AM - February 24, 2009 - post comment

Hahahaha, yeah, I see that all the time. It's awesome.

WelshPixie - 9:12 AM - February 24, 2009

Meheh. I can imagine the peoples' brains zizzing away, going, "WE MUST NOT PEH SEVNEH FIE PENCE FOR NUSINGU! WE MUST PEH ANYTHING AT ALL FOR AT LEAST SOMESINGS!"

gypsy - 11:04 AM - February 24, 2009

I, personally, think it's just an excuse to eat fatty goodies, but hey, some people might really not know how to add.....

slayerbarbie - 6:44 PM - February 24, 2009

Hmmmm! I do that all the time. Hadn't thought about it that way. I think we just hate paying a fee for anything

juancarlos - 7:58 PM - February 24, 2009

Congrats, juancarlos! You've just made my 2,400th comment. You win... a virtual hug.

*hugs*

Twist - 9:20 PM - February 24, 2009

*2,400th comment envy*

gypsy - 9:29 PM - February 24, 2009

I forgot about my 2,400th anniversary! :(

Gotta wait for the 4,800th now...

bebbet - 12:23 AM - February 25, 2009

wohoo!!!

It's good to be back :-)

juancarlos - 1:05 AM - February 25, 2009

LOL I can see people doing that. I'm discovering that I'm seldom surprised at the goofy things people do.

DeeJay - 3:09 AM - February 25, 2009

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