Rounding off 1 & 2 Cents Rip off

NIMAN

Best thing done in a long time. Fair play to Ireland for being progressive in this.

I watched for a week or so when it started, and I would say I was rounded down as often as up.

It will all balance out, moaning about it is a bit OTT imho.

RCSATELLITES

NIMAN wrote: »

Best thing done in a long time. Fair play to Ireland for being progressive in this.

I watched for a week or so when it started, and I would say I was rounded down as often as up.

It will all balance out, moaning about it is a bit OTT imho.

Maybe you need to watch it for longer than a week.

Anyway how much do you want to bet that it will be in the newspapers next year that some shop made x amount of money cause it only rounded up.

Anyway I know the Irish are allergic to moaning hence why the government does what they choose.

I suppose you pay your water bill instead of moaning.

L1011

RCSATELLITES wrote: »

Anyway I know the Irish are allergic to moaning hence why the government does what they choose.

You don't know the Irish very well. Nation of moaners and gripers.

RCSATELLITES wrote: »

I suppose you pay your water bill instead of moaning.

I pay it because its a legally imposed charge that I'm legally required to - and you're veeringly wildly off topic.

NIMAN

RCSATELLITES wrote: »

Maybe you need to watch it for longer than a week.

Anyway how much do you want to bet that it will be in the newspapers next year that some shop made x amount of money cause it only rounded up.

Anyway I know the Irish are allergic to moaning hence why the government does what they choose.

I suppose you pay your water bill instead of moaning.

Its not a conspiracy, its down to luck.

If all the items in my shopping basket come to 11 or 12, they are rounded to 10, if they come to 13 or 14, they are rounded to 15. Its totally random, hit and miss. The shop won't round 11 or 12 to 15, so I think you need to forget about the fact that everyone is out to screw you.

And yes I do pay my water charge. I think €130 per year for a family of 5 is very good value. I guess you blindly refuse to pay any tax cos you're anti-everything? Do you agree with any tax at all?

Trev De rev

One of the local petrol station's in Mallow take the hit on the rounding down. And if it's rounded up they give the total to a local charity. Last time I say total it was €13 odd.

VandC

jack presley wrote:

I was surprised when this was introduced that they didn't get the big supermarkets to buy into this but up until a week ago a way, Dunnes Stores weren't rounding up/ down and Tesco weren't when I was there around Christmas either.

They wouldn't know what to fill their self service tills with for change if they participated

L1011

VandC wrote: »

They wouldn't know what to fill their self service tills with for change if they participated

The till software handles it; there's no issues there at all.

Tesco very much participate, always round down when suggested but also attempt to give the correct change if they have it. Twice recently I've been given the 1 or 2c applicable when the receipt had it rounded off.

EletricMan

Supervalu self checkout machines are the worst for this. They never give the correct change instead they tell you collect your change from the service station attendant. Most people don't collect it, as it seems cheap to be looking for your 2 or 3 cent. Over a day if most people don't collect it they must be making a tidy sum of money.

VandC

L1011 wrote:

Tesco very much participate, always round down when suggested but also attempt to give the correct change if they have it. Twice recently I've been given the 1 or 2c applicable when the receipt had it rounded off.

L1011 wrote:

The till software handles it; there's no issues there at all.

I was being sarcastic and commenting on the fact that their tills give out so much small change, ie five one cent coins instead of one five cent coin or four ten cent coins instead of two twenty cent coins, nearly all of the time. I wasn't commenting on their ability to be able to round or not.

animaal

If rounding works as prescribed, than it'll balance out more-or-less over the longer term. Maybe a slight advantage for the retailers, as they price so many things as 99.99.99, and the number of people purchasing a single item is probably higher than the number purchasing two items. The discrepancy would be very small though.

But it seems like an inelegant solution. If retailers didn't price everything as XX.99, there'd be far less use of coppers. What about if retailer priced individual items to the nearest 5c instead? On the one hand, it could be seen as a 1c price rise on almost every item. On the other hand, how likely is it that the retailer currently buys all items in bulk from a wholesaler, calculates the cost to him per item, adds on a percentage for costs & profit, and the total magically comes to XX.99? I'm guessing there's already a rounding to ensure many things come to XX.99. Pricing at an even amount (e.g. €1.00) seems to be avoided, so wouldn't the retailer be as likely to price at 0.95, particularly where the €1.00 was a rounding up in the first place?

I'm not a retailer, but I like the idea that the customer is charged the sum of what's on the price stickers. It's why I don't like the way sales tax gets added on in the USA. Or am I just OCD?

animaal

If rounding works as prescribed, than it'll balance out more-or-less over the longer term. Maybe a slight advantage for the retailers, as they price so many things as 99.99.99, and the number of people purchasing a single item is probably higher than the number purchasing two items. The discrepancy would be very small though.

But it seems like an inelegant solution. If retailers didn't price everything as XX.99, there'd be far less use of coppers. What about if retailer priced individual items to the nearest 5c instead? On the one hand, it could be seen as a 1c price rise on almost every item. On the other hand, how likely is it that the retailer currently buys all items in bulk from a wholesaler, calculates the cost to him per item, adds on a percentage for costs & profit, and the total magically comes to XX.99? I'm guessing there's already a rounding to ensure many things come to XX.99. Pricing at an even amount (e.g. €1.00) seems to be avoided, so wouldn't the retailer be as likely to price at 0.95, particularly where the €1.00 was a rounding up in the first place?

I'm not a retailer, but I like the idea that the customer is charged the sum of what's on the price stickers. It's why I don't like the way sales tax gets added on in the USA. Or am I just OCD?

RCSATELLITES

NIMAN wrote: »

Its not a conspiracy, its down to luck.

If all the items in my shopping basket come to 11 or 12, they are rounded to 10, if they come to 13 or 14, they are rounded to 15. Its totally random, hit and miss. The shop won't round 11 or 12 to 15, so I think you need to forget about the fact that everyone is out to screw you.

And yes I do pay my water charge. I think €130 per year for a family of 5 is very good value. I guess you blindly refuse to pay any tax cos you're anti-everything? Do you agree with any tax at all?

Your last comment sums it up.

"blindly refuse to pay any tax cos you're anti-everything? Do you agree with any tax at all?"

Who said anything about tax? The rounding off system is not a tax is it?
The water charges are not a tax are they? I thought the charge was for water no?

Get your facts right before you start talking.

RCSATELLITES

EletricMan wrote: »

Supervalu self checkout machines are the worst for this. They never give the correct change instead they tell you collect your change from the service station attendant. Most people don't collect it, as it seems cheap to be looking for your 2 or 3 cent. Over a day if most people don't collect it they must be making a tidy sum of money.

At last someone talking a bit of sense.

ectoraige

Out of curiosity I've kept track of the nett rounding on my purchases since it was introduced. To date I'm up five cents, I probably got the ones you lost OP!

LFCFan

MOD: Lads, keep it on topic and less abuse or I'll be closing the thread

And just to add my 2 cents (or would that now be 0 cents with the rounding), this is just like the plastic bag charge and the smoking ban and anything else that is introduced in Ireland. Some people moan about it at the start but eventually it's just the norm and nobody gives a toss any more. I for one have better and more important things to be thinking/worrying about than whether or not I'm up or down a grand total of approx. 50 cent over the space of a month. I've dropped more money on the ground or down the back of a sofa to really care about something so trivial.

LFCFan

MOD: Lads, keep it on topic and less abuse or I'll be closing the thread

And just to add my 2 cents (or would that now be 0 cents with the rounding), this is just like the plastic bag charge and the smoking ban and anything else that is introduced in Ireland. Some people moan about it at the start but eventually it's just the norm and nobody gives a toss any more. I for one have better and more important things to be thinking/worrying about than whether or not I'm up or down a grand total of approx. 50 cent over the space of a month. I've dropped more money on the ground or down the back of a sofa to really care about something so trivial.

RCSATELLITES

ectoraige wrote: »

Out of curiosity I've kept track of the nett rounding on my purchases since it was introduced. To date I'm up five cents, I probably got the ones you lost OP!

Hahahaa Probably.

All I want is the system to work properly. I just feel everything in Ireland is thrown in with out thought.

Its probably my fault for living in other countries and seeing how they are ran efficiently compared to this place.

RCSATELLITES

LFCFan wrote: »

MOD: Lads, keep it on topic and less abuse or I'll be closing the thread

And just to add my 2 cents (or would that now be 0 cents with the rounding), this is just like the plastic bag charge and the smoking ban and anything else that is introduced in Ireland. Some people moan about it at the start but eventually it's just the norm and nobody gives a toss any more. I for one have better and more important things to be thinking/worrying about than whether or not I'm up or down a grand total of approx. 50 cent over the space of a month. I've dropped more money on the ground or down the back of a sofa to really care about something so trivial.

After that comment, you might aswell close the thread. Sure we all have more important better things to be doing than writing on boards.

LFCFan

RCSATELLITES wrote: »

After that comment, you might aswell close the thread. Sure we all have more important better things to be doing than writing on boards.

You are obviously struggling with the concept of a 'discussion' forum. If you have nothing constructive to add then add nothing, otherwise you are just trolling

ohnonotgmail

I think we need to distinguish between problems with the idea of rounding as a concept and problems with how it is implemented by stores. As a concept i think its a great idea. gets rid of nuisance coins that are worth nothing and it is basically a zero-sum game for all involved. The implementation of it on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired. if a shop is not implementing it correctly they need to be told at the point of purchase. They might not even realise they are doing it incorrectly or staff might not have been trained correctly (or at all). Once it has had time to bed in i'm sure we will look back and wonder why we bothered with shrapnel in the first place.

RCSATELLITES

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I think we need to distinguish between problems with the idea of rounding as a concept and problems with how it is implemented by stores. As a concept i think its a great idea. gets rid of nuisance coins that are worth nothing and it is basically a zero-sum game for all involved. The implementation of it on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired. if a shop is not implementing it correctly they need to be told at the point of purchase. They might not even realise they are doing it incorrectly or staff might not have been trained correctly (or at all). Once it has had time to bed in i'm sure we will look back and wonder why we bothered with shrapnel in the first place.

What you are saying is right, but unfortunately people are ashamed to ask for 1 or 2 cents or why my change is wrong. So the shops get away with it and continue on given wrong change. It was brought in by the central bank and therefore they need to make sure it is implemented correctly. It should be worked out via the cash register, not the cashier.

Ciarrai76

There seems to be a huge confusion by both customers/general public & many retailers on this rounding.

I run a shop and basically it's nothing to do with rounding the prices nor is it to do with rounding the total due. The only thing that is meant to be rounded is the change due back to the customer. If you are due back 3c change for example, then your change is rounded up to 5c. If your change due back is 11c then it's 10c due back. this doesn't apply to any card transactions and if €5.99 is the total due & you are paying by card then €5.99 is what is to be charged to that card. If €5.99 is what the total of your goods are if paying by cash, then €5.99 is what's due, not €6!

I have queried all of this with rounding.ie and it was confirmed to me by them that it is any change due that is rounded up or down. It amazes me how many shops are not doing this & seem to have totally misinterpreted it. Retailers making these mistakes are causing too much confusion and making people think they are being ripped off. There wasn't enough training info sent out either, we received very little, which was why I had to query it so that we understood it in my shop.

If 1c is due back in Change to my customer I am also obliged to ask them if they would like their change! Oh and 1 & 2c coins are not going anywhere in the foreseeable future as also confirmed by the central bank. And the banks still give them to retailers for their coin float!

Hope that helps, but feel free to see www.rounding.ie if you don't believe me!

Azalea

Any shop I go to rounds it down to the benefit of the customer, if the total charge is one or two cent over.

liam650

When people get to the stage of arguing over a few cents it really is not a good sign, my experience of it in tesco is the change is rounded off to the nearest whole number, you only ever end up losing or gaining 2c max, I mean it really makes no difference and its more than likely to average out over a period of time so that you break even, if this is the future of this country complaining over this then I don't know how im going to make big money when everyone is sadly tight

L1011

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

Oh and 1 & 2c coins are not going anywhere in the foreseeable future as also confirmed by the central bank. And the banks still give them to retailers for their coin float!

The Central Bank is not minting them and is melting those returned. Unless your bank is willing to import them from the dwindling number of countries that mint them they'll be gone soon.

Ciarrai76

L1011 wrote: »

The Central Bank is not minting them and is melting those returned. Unless your bank is willing to import them from the dwindling number of countries that mint them they'll be gone soon.

Well I contacted the central bank and they said they aren't gong out of circulation anytime soon, they are merely reducing the quantities Of the 1&2c that are being produced, hence saving money.

L1011

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

Well I contacted the central bank and they said they aren't gong out of circulation anytime soon, they are merely reducing the quantities Of the 1&2c that are being produced, hence saving money.

You were told incorrect information - they have ceased producing them already.

Ciarrai76

L1011 wrote: »

You were told incorrect information - they have ceased producing them already.

Fair enough!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Wow... Are we really complaining about 2 or 3 cents? I understand that its principle, but it works both ways. If you are that worried about it then chose your shopping accordingly and make sure your bill reaches xx.x2 or xx.x1. It's also not an Irish thing, it's done in several European countries.

Rounding off shouldn't require an explanation as it's incredibly simple maths. Regardless, I have seen signs in shops and notifications with information on what is happening. Are you expecting somebody to come to your door and explain it in person?

RCSATELLITES

Dylan Famous Sister-in-law wrote: »

Wow... Are we really complaining about 2 or 3 cents? I understand that its principle, but it works both ways. If you are that worried about it then chose your shopping accordingly and make sure your bill reaches xx.x2 or xx.x1. It's also not an Irish thing, it's done in several European countries.

Rounding off shouldn't require an explanation as it's incredibly simple maths. Regardless, I have seen signs in shops and notifications with information on what is happening. Are you expecting somebody to come to your door and explain it in person?

Yes we know it is not an Irish thing, but it has the Irish efficiently on it which is ****.

And I know how to round off, but unfortunately I am not the one working behind the counter giving the wrong change.

Yes the cashiers do need to be taught how to do it, unfortunately not everybody is as smart as you, hence why they are cashiers.