Stingiest thing you've seen stingy people do

confuseddotcom

Cant think of any stories to tell, but I absolutely hate the way some shops and Bus-Drivers make you pay the exact amount if you hand in small change and are short 1/2 cent and end up having to break a large note as they refused to let you off 1/2 cents. The thing is sometimes when Shop Assistants or Bus-Drivers give you back your change and they leave you short 1/2 cents they know they will get away with it because a) you're too embarrassed to ask for it or b) you're rushing to leave the shop and don't notice they've left you short. I know it's just 1/2 cent, but it's just rather sly and underhand and un-fair that they know they'll get away with it simply because the Customer usually won't make an issue out it.

Victor

grindle wrote: »

I'm a retail manager. The fee is 16c per transaction for us, no matter the amount, so anything €1.50 or over is fine by us.
Maybe other shops have (much, much, much) worse deals going on with their fees, but seriously, it's about raising average spend in 99% of cases (why would our wealthy CEO/owner lie?).
Possibly credit and cigs are a good enough reason in other stores, but we don't sell them, so I can't know. But I doubt it.

The margin on phone credit and similar virtual products is as low as 3%. Some transaction fees are as high as 30c. It then doesn't make sense to do any transactions under €10.

veryangryman

AgileMyth wrote: »

grindle wrote: »

Just so you know, that €10 minimum is complete horseshiit designed to up a shop's average customer spend, nothing more.

edit:Ooh, except for cigs and credit, but that's part of the reason why shops brought in those 20-50c surcharges for credit.

Theres a charge to the business for each transaction.

Theres a 10 euro minimum where I work but the more senior staff can decide based on profit margins on what the customer is buying. You can get ****ed if you think we're going to make a loss on a transaction to save you walking ten metres to the ATM.

God love ya. I'll just make sure you make the loss by me shopping elsewhere next time so.

languagenerd

confuseddotcom wrote: »

Cant think of any stories to tell, but I absolutely hate the way some shops and Bus-Drivers make you pay the exact amount if you hand in small change and are short 1/2 cent and end up having to break a large note as they refused to let you off 1/2 cents.

The problem is, if you constantly let people off with small amounts, it adds up and then your till balance is out for the day. If you even let 50 people off 2c in a week, that's €52 a year (and that's one worker alone). And if your till is constantly not balanced, you'll be hauled up in front of a senior manager to find out what's going on. Unless it's the shop owner on the till, the counter staff can't be liberal with their employer's money - it's not their 2c they'd be giving away. They're just doing their job!

(I don't work in retail anymore but I did for a few years.)

Paddy Cow

Worked in a place where we had roughly 20 employees. When doing the wages, the head manager said to knock an hour off full time staff and half an hour off part time staff to reduce the wage bill. Most staff wouldn't notice it and if someone did, he'd say it was a mistake and add it back to them the following week. I refused point blank to do it. They were only getting minimum wage and worked hard enough to get it. I doubt he was the only boss who did that.

batistuta9

Paddy Cow wrote: »

Worked in a place where we had roughly 20 employees. When doing the wages, the head manager said to knock an hour off full time staff and half an hour off part time staff to reduce the wage bill. Most staff wouldn't notice it and if someone did, he'd say it was a mistake and add it back to them the following week. I refused point blank to do it. They were only getting minimum wage and worked hard enough to get it. I doubt he was the only boss who did that.

I heard one time that a hotel took the tips and divided them up amongst the staff, then took it away from their wage and only paid them the difference

^^mightn't be that clear so someone on €50 a day, makes €7 in tips (when divided up) the hotel then give them €43 + the €7 from the tips

this could be BS, an urban myth or i could even have read it here but stingy as fúck if true

Belle Morte

batistuta9 wrote: »

I heard one time that a hotel took the tips and divided them up amongst the staff, then took it away from their wage and only paid them the difference

^^mightn't be that clear so someone on €50 a day, makes €7 in tips (when divided up) the hotel then give them €43 + the €7 from the tips

this could be BS, an urban myth or i could even have read it here but stingy as fúck if true

That's terrible if true

grindle

Used to be true on a wide scale, but Ray D'Arcy had a massive fit and protested against it a few years ago for weeks or months on end, and it looked like most restaurants changed their policy after that, or maybe it just seemed that way.

dory

batistuta9 wrote: »

I heard one time that a hotel took the tips and divided them up amongst the staff, then took it away from their wage and only paid them the difference

^^mightn't be that clear so someone on €50 a day, makes €7 in tips (when divided up) the hotel then give them €43 + the €7 from the tips

this could be BS, an urban myth or i could even have read it here but stingy as fúck if true

When I worked in a sport shop (maybe shouldn't name it but twas the Champion of sports shops) they refused to give us a raise when the minimum wage went up (back in the good days). Said we'd make the difference in the commission we made. :rolleyes: And then they got rid of commission.

civis_liberalis

dory wrote: »

When I worked in a sport shop (maybe shouldn't name it but twas the Champion of sports shops) they refused to give us a raise when the minimum wage went up (back in the good days). Said we'd make the difference in the commission we made. :rolleyes: And then they got rid of commission.

Minimum wage was but a pipe dream in a few jobs I had.

fasttalkerchat

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Minimum wage was but a pipe dream in a few jobs I had.

I was asked to pay for a uniform in a minimum wage job. I was only there for a few quid and maybe learn something but I felt bad for the staff who had kids etc. I spoke to the owner about the legalities of it but nothing happened.

Mollyd90

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I was asked to pay for a uniform in a minimum wage job. I was only there for a few quid and maybe learn something but I felt bad for the staff who had kids etc. I spoke to the owner about the legalities of it but nothing happened.

staff in coast have to wear current season coast clothes to work. not sure how much of a discount they get but its not much. one girl I know is only a student that worked there part time, she didnt stay long having to pay a fortune for something to wear to work.

Elba101

batistuta9 wrote: »

I heard one time that a hotel took the tips and divided them up amongst the staff, then took it away from their wage and only paid them the difference

^^mightn't be that clear so someone on €50 a day, makes €7 in tips (when divided up) the hotel then give them €43 + the €7 from the tips

this could be BS, an urban myth or i could even have read it here but stingy as fúck if true

A very pricey restaurant in a well to do area in Dublin used to PAY their staff out of their tips. Don't know if they still do it, but the local newspaper was forever chasing them about it.

sunflower27

Mollyd90 wrote: »

staff in coast have to wear current season coast clothes to work. not sure how much of a discount they get but its not much. one girl I know is only a student that worked there part time, she didnt stay long having to pay a fortune for something to wear to work.

As far as I know the women get a set amount like €300-400 a season to spend on clothes on top of their discount. I know this as I know women that work in several different clothes shops. They all get a set amount to spend but the amount differs between chains.

Your story sounds a little dodgy to me.

Mollyd90

its places like that that give the hospitality industry such a bad name. i work in accounts in a hotel for the last 12 years and we wouldnt dream of messing with someones wages or tips

we have a carvery in the hotel and a couple came in with a voucher with only enough money for one main meal of it. so they asked for half a meal each and that was was exactly what was given to them. the man had the cheek to come up and ask for more potatoes coz he liked them so much, the chef didnt give any more to him. this was in the boom!

Mollyd90

sunflower27 wrote: »

As far as I know the women get a set amount like €300-400 a season to spend on clothes on top of their discount. I know this as I know women that work in several different clothes shops. They all get a set amount to spend but the amount differs between chains.

Your story sounds a little dodgy to me.

nothing dodgy, thats what my friend who worked in coast told me. so the info is from a person who actually worked in coast and not someone who worked in serveral different clothes shops

sunflower27

Mollyd90 wrote: »

nothing dodgy, thats what my friend who worked in coast told me. so the info is from a person who actually worked in coast and not someone who worked in serveral different clothes shops

Yes, so are the women I know - one is currently in Coast, another in Dorothy Perkins. They get an allowance - both of them. Your friend may want to check what she is entitled to if she is still there (not sure as you said 'worked') . And yes, the women I know both work part time.

sunflower27

Also the discount was 30% - and that was on top of any sales prices so not that bad at all.

ICANN

My friend works in French connection and she gets something like £300 per season to buy her work clothes but because their clothes are so expensive she always ends up buying stuff with her own money because otherwise she'd be wearing the same two things to work all week.

sunflower27

ICANN wrote: »

My friend works in French connection and she gets something like £300 per season to buy her work clothes but because their clothes are so expensive she always ends up buying stuff with her own money because otherwise she'd be wearing the same two things to work all week.

Yeah, it isn't loads and obviously if you are in Dorothy Perkins you can get a lot more for your money. FCUK is not cheap.

phasers

I have friends who work in Topshop and Miss Selfridge and they get a 60% discount to buy their uniforms every season but don't get any for free. Maybe it's something that management/permanent staff get? Nowadays they hire loads of part time staff and don't give them any perks like that.

sunflower27

phasers wrote: »

I have friends who work in Topshop and Miss Selfridge and they get a 60% discount to buy their uniforms every season but don't get any for free. Maybe it's something that management/permanent staff get? Nowadays they hire loads of part time staff and don't give them any perks like that.

It obviously depends on the store as the women I know are both part time and get the €300-€400.

Neither are in managerial roles.

bfocusd

Was getting lunch in superQuinn last week and the d4 school was out for lunch, 17 of them standing in the que and between them they bought 11 cocktail sausages and 3 chicken wings, they then decided to try share out them between them!

I was on the clock and in a hurry, I couldn't of been more irritated by their attitudes and penny pinching, it's obvious they were thought it by the parents, they're rich because they don't spend.

sunflower27

bfocusd wrote: »

Was getting lunch in superQuinn last week and the d4 school was out for lunch, 17 of them standing in the que and between them they bought 11 cocktail sausages and 3 chicken wings, they then decided to try share out them between them!

I was on the clock and in a hurry, I couldn't of been more irritated by their attitudes and penny pinching, it's obvious they were thought it by the parents, they're rich because they don't spend.

Something I notied the other week is a load of school boys (tenagers)buying a pack of chocolate chip Dunnes brand biscuits for 38c each. They are probably getting €4 for their lunch and are all saving the rest.

J Cheever Loophole

My sister is married and living in London. Her husband's sister and the sister's hubby, came to visit at Christmas Day, spending the full day and getting their dinner. The visitors brought a cheese board for one of the desserts. That evening, when the visitors were leaving, they asked for the remains of the cheese board back!!

emeraldstar

sunflower27 wrote: »

Something I notied the other week is a load of school boys (tenagers)buying a pack of chocolate chip Dunnes brand biscuits for 38c each. They are probably getting €4 for their lunch and are all saving the rest.

Or they've had their lunch and that's dessert?

sunflower27

emeraldstar wrote: »

Or they've had their lunch and that's dessert?

Maybe, but as they all queue in Dunnes and a few of them get sandwiches I would be guessing this is their lunches. They hang around the outside of the shop eating the whole packet.

They must be saving a fortune over time...

filmbuffboy

My mother has the habit of asking for extra ketchup, salt, vinegar sachets when at restaurants and bringing them home with her.

I suppose on one hand you could view it as being economical, but I juts think its stingy and cringeworthy!

cloud493

When I was in a short term boarding school(it was for 3 months while I was revising my GSCE's) when I was 16, they used to give us the ketchup in sachets, and I used to steal them all every lunch, and tea, and just keep them. Never used them, cos the ketchup went all squidy, just kept them. Bit weird when I think now.

batistuta9

sunflower27 wrote: »

Maybe, but as they all queue in Dunnes and a few of them get sandwiches I would be guessing this is their lunches. They hang around the outside of the shop eating the whole packet.

They must be saving a fortune over time...

they're probably keeping the money to go drinking or something rather than saving it