Marks and Spencers asking for your small coins?

gerrykiddy

Seems like and amazing offer from M and S. At checkout they are offering to round down your change, keeping your 1c and 2c coins. I asked if they round up by giving you 5c if your bill ends with 3 or 4c but no. They also defended their position by saying that other stores were not even asking. Surely the first thing to do would be to drop the "99c" price system. I know some charities are hoping to take advantage but M and S were not connected with any. Opinions?

Rackstar

You're thinking way too much about this.

kneemos

Are they asking or taking?

gerrykiddy

Rackstar wrote: »

You're thinking way too much about this.

If they are right (M and S) about other stores are doing this and they use a pricing system that means you are unlikely to have a receipt ending in 0 or 5. The amount of transactions is massive but will it be in their accounts as overcharged? Remember the coins have not yet been withdrawn

Menas

If you can afford to be shopping in Marks and Spencers you can afford not to worry about the pennies!

gerrykiddy

kneemos wrote: »

Are they asking or taking?

They are asking (and yes I know I can refuse) but why are they asking customers for extra money without saying what they are doing with it. They told me that it was because of the government, oddly the same answer Dunne's give when they say they don't have a 22c carrier bags.

whatismyname

This makes no cents.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Their food tastes sh1te anyway.

eternal

What's the charity to donate your coins to anyone?

kneemos

eternal wrote: »

What's the charity to donate your coins to anyone?

Marks and Pencers.

PARlance

eternal wrote: »

What's the charity to donate your coins to anyone?

Peoplewithroundingdowndifficulties.org

eternal

Scoff all you will.

kneemos

They're rounding down like other shops but instead of keeping it they're asking if you want to give it to charity.
Is that it?

La Fenetre

The whole thing is just another ruse to eventually round up retail prices permanently by 2-3% when the 2 and 1 cents are gone, and eventually move to a "cashless" and more controlled society. Its certainly not in the ordinary persons interest, that's for sure.

danjo-xx

eternal wrote:

What's the charity to donate your coins to anyone?

Boi and aib r collecting them for charities but would u trust them!

sonny.knowles

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Their food tastes sh1te anyway.

Bollocks.

Valetta

La Fenetre wrote: »

The whole thing is just another ruse to eventually round up retail prices permanently by 2-3% when the 2 and 1 cents are gone, and eventually move to a "cashless" and more controlled society. Its certainly not in the ordinary persons interest, that's for sure.

2-3%?

Can you show you're calculations and relate this to the rounding of the total bill?

Also, what does an ordinary person look like?

Thanks.

gerrykiddy

kneemos wrote: »

They're rounding down like other shops but instead of keeping it they're asking if you want to give it to charity.
Is that it?

If they were I would be promoting it. The staff don't know if its for charity, they are just asking if they can keep it.

They do round down. I've been in there a few times in the past week or so and they round to the nearest 5cent, so sometimes you win sometimes you lose but they ask you first. So yeh, not really anything to be getting in a tizzy about.

lazeedaisy

Working in retail,

This is what the central bank told us


Rounding of Cash Transactions

The rollout of Rounding has been confirmed for Wednesday 28 October 2015. The Central Bank has assumed responsibility for the project, at the request of the Department of Finance. 

The key features of Rounding are:

Rounding will be conducted on a voluntary basis
1c and 2c coins will remain legal tender
Rounding will apply only to cash payments
The total amount of any bill will be rounded down or up to the nearest 5c.
The bill can be rounded up or down, as follows:

a transaction costing €10.21 or €10.22 would be rounded to €10.20
a transaction costing €10.23 or €10.24 would be rounded to €10.25
a transaction costing €10.26 or €10.27 would be rounded to €10.25
a transaction costing €10.28 or €10.29 would be rounded to €10.30
Two individual items priced at €10.99 and €3.49 respectively would remain at these prices, although the change on the total bill (€14.48), if €15.00 was tendered would be rounded down from 52c to 50c.

Three individual items priced at €2.99, €4.49 and €8.13 respectively would remain at these prices, although though the change on the total bill (€15.61), if €20.00 was tendered, would be rounded up from €4.39 to €4.40.

As at 12 June 2015 1,096,853,216 2c coins have been issued into circulation in Ireland amounting to €21,937,064.32.  1,384,491,236 1c coins have been issued into circulation in Ireland amounting to €13,844,912.36.

A 1 cent coin costs 1.65c to produce while 2 cent coin costs 1.94c.  

Six EU Member States have already adopted a symmetrical rounding policy; The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Hungary and Belgium. 

An infographic on the number of 1 cent and 2 cent coins produced in Ireland is available here.

The report on the Wexford Rounding Trial is available here.

If you have any questions about Rounding, please contact us at rounding@centralbank.ie

 

Rounding for Retailers

On Wednesday 28 October 2015 'rounding' of cash transactions will be rolled out nationally. This initiative arose because 1c and 2c coins are not used actively by consumers and are expensive to mint. This text and the attached documents give you, the retailer, a brief overview of what Rounding is, and how the Central Bank will support retailers in applying it from October onwards.  

So what is Rounding? Where a total bill is being paid in cash and the number of cent to be paid does not end in zero or five - so requiring either the customer to use 1 and 2 cent coins in payment or the retailer to use such coins in giving change - the amount of change paid will be rounded to the nearest five or ten cent:  

1 and 2 would be rounded down to zero
3 and 4 would be rounded up to 5
6 and 7 would be rounded down to 5 
8 and 9 would be rounded up to 10
For Rounding to happen, both the retailer and the customer must accept it; both will have the right to use exact change. Rounding only takes place on the total bill, not on individual prices, so existing price points (for example items priced at 0.99c) will remain unchanged. Rounding will not apply when bills are paid electronically, such as by debit card, credit card or by store card. Where a retailer is applying Rounding they can apply it automatically without asking the consumer – it will be up to the consumer to say if they don’t want Rounding applied.

The Central Bank will co-ordinate a national consumer education campaign in advance of the launch date. Retailers should indicate that they are applying rounding through appropriate in-store signage. This could include, for example, a notice on entrance-doors or at the till. The Central Bank will be making suitable signage available to retailers, free of charge, in advance of the rollout on 28 October.

c_man

Never trust the Brits OP. First the small change, next they'll have us interned.

kneemos

kneemos wrote: »

They're rounding down like other shops but instead of keeping it they're asking if you want to give it to charity.
Is that it?

But it's really easy to beat the system. All it takes is a little bit of neck and a lot of patience.

The system is voluntary. So every time a shop rounds your bill down, accept it. But every time a shop rounds your bill up, refuse.

Each time you say yes to rounding down, you're saving either 1 or 2 cents.

Each time you say no to rounding up, you're also saving either 1 or 2 cents.

So the only times you don't save are when your bill ends in 5 or 0.

Now, trust me on this bit, because I don't want to waste your time laying out the maths, but this means that after 66 or at most 67 trips to the shops, you'll have saved 79 cents.

If you put the money aside each time, you'll have 79 cents to spare that you don't need for anything else.

With that money, you can go to Tesco and buy one of these:

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=263780018

To save you clicking the link, it's a Tesco own brand 300mm x 10m tinfoil.

Just think how many hats you could make with that. Then they'll never get you. AMIRITE? :P

La Fenetre

Valetta wrote: »

2-3%?

Can you show you're calculations and relate this to the rounding of the total bill?

Also, what does an ordinary person look like?

Thanks.

Sure, one little example, in the real world, once these coins have been successfully wiped out, anything that ended in 97-99 cent will end in a €1 amount, and if you've never met an ordinary person, and everyone to you is extra-ordinary, maybe you should get out more ?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Just think how many hats you could make with that. Then they'll never get you. AMIRITE? :P

Thanks for the thanks, y'all, but the person who could make best use of the suggestion just isn't getting the hint.

the groutch

gerrykiddy wrote: »

If they were I would be promoting it. The staff don't know if its for charity, they are just asking if they can keep it.

I'd assume that the ones they keep they'll use to give the extra 1 or 2 cent to other people, or yourself next time you're in and yours is due to be rounded in your favour.

In relation to the asking, they're hardly going to need to ask you is it ok if they give you extra money.

sonny.knowles

danjo-xx wrote: »

Boi and aib r collecting them for charities but would u trust them!

It's no coincidence that AIB are talking about starting repaying bailout costs.

Annasopra

La Fenetre wrote: »

The whole thing is just another ruse to eventually round up retail prices permanently by 2-3% when the 2 and 1 cents are gone, and eventually move to a "cashless" and more controlled society. Its certainly not in the ordinary persons interest, that's for sure.

Was there a prices rise when rounding happened in otherplaces?

TheChizler

La Fenetre wrote: »

Sure, one little example, in the real world, once these coins have been successfully wiped out, anything that ended in 97-99 cent will end in a €1 amount, and if you've never met an ordinary person, and everyone to you is extra-ordinary, maybe you should get out more ?

Why would they necessarily do this? You're proposing that they're going to to design their pricing structure based on people going into shops and buying individual items?

La Fenetre

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Was there a prices rise when rounding happened in otherplaces?

Well when decimalisation came in the prices were all rounded up despite the promises they wouldn't be, and then I witnessed it all again when the euro came in and we were assured prices would not be rounded up, and yet they were.

the groutch

La Fenetre wrote: »

and then I witnessed it all again when the euro came in and we were assured prices would not be rounded up, and yet they were.

where did you witness this (and not "pound shops")

ohnonotgmail

La Fenetre wrote: »

Sure, one little example, in the real world, once these coins have been successfully wiped out, anything that ended in 97-99 cent will end in a €1 amount, and if you've never met an ordinary person, and everyone to you is extra-ordinary, maybe you should get out more ?

you really dont understand how this rounding thing works do you? You do realise that they are rounding, both up and down, on the total amount not on individual items?

La Fenetre

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

you really dont understand how this rounding thing works do you? You do realise that they are rounding, both up and down, on the total amount not on individual items?

Or rather you don't get that "rounding down" is same old PR spin that I've heard all before, and in reality when the hype and spin has died away, rounding up will be the order of the day, as it was with decimialisation and the euro, despite all the spin to the contrary at the time.

ohnonotgmail

La Fenetre wrote: »

Or rather you don't get that "rounding down" is same old PR spin that I've heard all before, and in reality when the hype and spin has died away, rounding up will be the order of the day, as it was with decimialisation and the euro, despite all the spin to the contrary at the time.

:rolleyes:

La Fenetre

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Joeytheparrot

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Was there a prices rise when rounding happened in otherplaces?

Of course there wasn't.

That's part of the plan, to lull us into a false sense of security. :pac:

enda1

All this rounding ha has been happening at the petrol pump for years and no one seems to have a problem with it there.

ohnonotgmail

enda1 wrote: »

All this rounding ha has been happening at the petrol pump for years and no one seems to have a problem with it there.

what rounding happens at petrol pumps?

looksee

How many people would bother to pick up a 1c or 2c coin if they saw one on the ground?

murpho999

La Fenetre wrote: »

The whole thing is just another ruse to eventually round up retail prices permanently by 2-3% when the 2 and 1 cents are gone, and eventually move to a "cashless" and more controlled society. Its certainly not in the ordinary persons interest, that's for sure.

You do realise that the most rounding up will be 2ct on total transactions and not individual items.

So for example if you do a weekly supermarket shop and you but 40 items and your bill comes €99.98 then you will pay €100.00 which is 0.02% but it could just as easily by €99.97 and you would only be charged €99.95.

Hysteria and misunderstanding of the rounding system is rampant.

fleet_admiral

'This is not just a poo. This is a 3 day matured dark ale and chicken vindaloo poo'

They should stick that in one of their ads

looksee

looksee wrote: »

How many people would bother to pick up a 1c or 2c coin if they saw one on the ground?

My dad has me picking up pennies, he told me once as a kid that you should "never pass your luck by". I don't believe in superstition in any way shape or form, but it will bother me if I pass a penny on the ground and my Dad's voice will eat away at me :rolleyes:

ScumLord

La Fenetre wrote: »

Or rather you don't get that "rounding down" is same old PR spin that I've heard all before, and in reality when the hype and spin has died away, rounding up will be the order of the day, as it was with decimialisation and the euro, despite all the spin to the contrary at the time.

That would work great if markets just stopped operating, and all the things shops have to buy stayed the same price, and there was only one shop.

But competition will mean this change is nothing more than a headache for most shops. They may put the price up today and do a sale next week, or the cost to them could go down and they pass that saving on to undercut their competitors.

I don't think too many supermarket chains would be chasing 1 or 2c on every other transaction.

alchemist33

Menas wrote: »

If you can afford to be shopping in Marks and Spencers you can afford not to worry about the pennies!

Maybe he can afford to shop in M&S BECAUSE he worried about the pennies.....

enda1

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

what rounding happens at petrol pumps?

Petrol is priced to the 0.1c / litre. So it's always rounded.
All weighed goods too are rounded to the nearest gramme / 5 grammes / kilo depending on the scale. It's not that alien a concept really.

asherbassad

kneemos wrote: »

Marks and Pencers.

As in Deutsch-Marks and Pencers?

ohnonotgmail

enda1 wrote: »

Petrol is priced to the 0.1c / litre. So it's always rounded.
All weighed goods too are rounded to the nearest gramme / 5 grammes / kilo depending on the scale. It's not that alien a concept really.

that is nothing to do with the rounding of 1c and 2c that we are discussing.

enda1

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

that is nothing to do with the rounding of 1c and 2c that we are discussing.

It shows how rounding is currently happening anyway. Feel free to ignore if it offends you so.

ohnonotgmail

enda1 wrote: »

It shows how rounding is currently happening anyway. Feel free to ignore if it offends you so.

you dont really understand what this rounding this is about do you? there seems to be a lot of that going around.

enda1

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

you dont really understand what this rounding this is about do you? there seems to be a lot of that going around.

Have a go at rereading it and you might understand. I'm not here to spoonfeed you.

ohnonotgmail

enda1 wrote: »

Have a go at rereading it and you might understand. I'm not here to spoonfeed you.

there is nothing to understand. your petrol example is totally irrelevant.

carltonleon

So next time you are getting petrol put €20.02 into the tank instead of €20 ...

This time next year Rodney .... We'll be ...