I was undercharged again today - while in a cafe with Mrs H seeking coffee and a light lunch. That’s the third time it has happened to one of us in the
past month or so. In these days of contactless card payment I tend not to
notice exact amounts unless a discrepancy is obvious but it surprises me how often the
person behind the till doesn’t notice an undercharge until it is pointed out.
It’s the old mental arithmetic habit I suppose. One coffee, one
tea, two lunches – no that can’t be right. The error flag seems to pop up in my mind without conscious effort then the mental arithmetic clicks in and out jumps the error.
As a cafe owner once said to me - contactless isn't like spending money. For the young people behind many tills it probably isn't like receiving money either. I wonder if it ever goes the other way - overcharged without noticing? I should check but
the mental arithmetic habit would probably take care of that too. I hope so.
4 comments:
My mental arithmetic is probably not up to your standard, but unless you know the price of each item, or can see it on a board behind the cashier, it doesn't help much. In our local mini-supermarket, for example, I usually use contactless. It could be out by several pounds either way. Breadsticks, fresh basil, a big wrapped chunk of watermelon, and two magazines for the children. £7.94? £9.50? Just over £12? More? The thing goes "Beep", I wrestle the stuff into our little canvas bag (the big ones are for serious supermarkets), the teenager says "Enjoy your day" and thereby irritates me, and off I go...
Sam - I don't bother when buying barcoded groceries etc because I assume it will be correct although we've been undercharged that way too. "Enjoy your day" is certainly irritating, partly because how do you reply to someone stuck behind a till all day?
I prefer to pay in cash. But when handing over the banknote out of politeness like to assure the assistant that I know it is good because I printed it personally from my own computer.
Demetrius - the time may come when people believe you and think that is okay.
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