A tale of 44 cents
 

Yesterday the wife and I met for lunch at Hardee's. She is a serious coupon clipper and we had a coupon for a 1/3rd pound thickburger for $1.99, usually $4.39. I remeber when I could buy a burger, fries, and a drink at MacDonalds for 49 cents.

I order the thickburger, a small burger for her, senior soda and coffee. The bill came out to $7.66. The wife looks at the bill and goes back to the counter becasue they did not give us the coupon discount, which amounted to $2.40.

She got $2.40 back. I was surprized that she did not get the meals tax (10%) refunded, she told me it was not worth the trouble of trying to explain it to the staff. Of course they have to go through a ton of unnecessary crap to get the refund.

About a minute later another worker comes over to our table and asks if everything was OK with the transaction. By now I have finished MY burger.

Wrong question!

I tell the person that we were charged 89 cnets in tax on a less than $5 transaction. It's like I was talking to a redwood tree in the Sequoia National Forest.

"I only charged you 19 cents on the coupon burger"
No, you charged me 89 cents, see right here, 70 cents on the original transaction, which was incorrect, then another 19 cents on the corrected transaction, for a total of 89 cents, when it should have been 10% of the correct amount.
"I only charged you 19 cents on the coupon burger"

I guess repeating your mistake makes it not a mistake?

By now I was going to get my 44 cents back, just to get my "one up" on the wife.

I think the Hardee's Manager finally just gave up when she asked me how much did they still owe me. I told her it was 10% percent of the incorrect sale price of the burger,which was $4.39, os 44 cents.

She gives me 50 cents!

I gave her back 6 cents, she refused to accept it.

regards
Mech

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You shouldn't be surprised. They are most likely products of the "No Child Left Behind Act".

Wait till you see what the "Common Core State Standards Initiative" is going to do.

The transformation is nearly complete...

>

When corporate engineers things to keep its employees from having to think, employees end up not being able to think. Not being able to think for their job is a part of their job. An important part.

You, my friend, have put into words, more profoundly the story of my battles than I ever have read. I swear to all of you I will print this in large font and hang it over my desk today. Proof to follow.

many states/locales have sales tax on the coupon amount, the state doesn't care if you gave them a dollar or a coupon, go figure. I imagine there are tax benefits for the coupon provider in such a situation though (i.e. they can write them off).

The bumper sticker on one of my cars says:

I am convinced that both the Government (including both Left and Right political wings) and the Chamber of Commerce have a vested interest in maintaining a populace that is incapable of thinking and making responsible decisions.

Keep 'em dumb and make sure they just follow orders, unquestioningly. (Also make sure they keep consuming, and make sure they keep voting...)

And Common Core and the federal funding and control of higher education will insure it.

Ouch! I typed so hard into teh interwebs that something popped out on the other side!

Exactly. The store employee was in the right here: the burger was sold for $4.39, part of which was paid in cash, part with the coupon. It's no different than if you'd given them a check for $2.40 instead of cash.

I don't think the McCashier was "right," as such- any more than a stopped clock is "right" when the time of day coincides with the time the clock is showing.

And for this exemplary employee, businesses will soon be required to pay wages of $15/hr where I live!

Seattle's very big and very complex wage jump

Worth every penny!

I walk in to McDonald's and order a double-cheese burger and a small fry, to go. There are only 3 pieces of information for someone to remember given this order.

The employee says "I have a double-cheese burger, would you like anything else".

Me- "Yes, a small fry, and that is all".

"OK, a double-cheese burger and a small fry. Is this for here or to go?"

Me- "To go".

What a perfect example of being required to follow a script. This guy is less than worthless. Why don't they turn the order screens around and I can mash the picture of the item I wish to order myself?

Perhaps my meal could cost 25 cents less if they cut out the job of the brain-dead order taker.

I found your problem! :D

McDonald's also might taste better and be cheaper if homicidal robots made the orders.

One of my professors taught us Miller's Magic Number, that on average, humans can remember 7 ± 2 items. I e-mailed the professor that to completely disprove her theory:

She responded:

Regarding Seattle's minimum wage, I remember posting on here that my [then] girlfriend was a shift leader at a fast food place. I did the numbers on how much they made in a day, how much they paid in wages, and how much they would need to raise their prices.

As I recall, to increase the wage to $10 hourly (40%), they would need to raise their prices 7% to break even.

Then-girlfriend was always complaining about her high-school coworkers who stole, just did not show up for work, refused to do their duties, etc.

If five business expenses go up seven percent each, your total increases forty percent (1.07^5=1.40255). What other increases would you see as your suppliers, etc, also need to increase their wages?

2/.4 * 1.07 = 1.175; Double the wages and you need to raise your price 17.5%?

Some stores make you pay all the taxes even if you use a coupon. Many coupons say even the same. Usually its like you said. :thumbup:

No, it's usually state law that mandates whether sales tax is collectable on the full value of the item, even though the item might be "free" with a coupon. It depends upon which state you live in. In such states, the merchant is put upon to be the tax collector for the State.

Where the tax money goes after it is collected by the merchant is unclear. Both the State and the merchant get to try to get a piece of it, in one way or the other.

Both the merchant and the State usually don't care how they get it, as long as it can be demanded of the customer.

Sales tax, once collected, becomes slush fund money once it leaves your pocket.

"Common Core" picks up after where "No Child Left Behind" left off.

This is being done ALL for the CHILLDRENNNN. :rolleyes:

Looks like Washington (state) is getting serious about competing with Oregon to have the largest unemployment rate.

I see this outrageous minimum wage as a subsidy to the robotics industry.

I wonder why I haven't seen riots in the streets from those soon to be unemployed because they don't have the right to work for a price they have agreed to, that is below some arbitrary number. Shame on the government for taking away the right to freely negotiate the price to exchange ones own labor for.

here you go

http://im.rediff.com/money/2012/dec/...ds-facts12.jpg

That's only halfway there....

http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg...er-machine.jpg

Hamburger machine

This seems like a likely alternative to paying $15/hr for wages for unskilled labor.

Nailed it.

The rioting won't come because minimum wage earners typically don't have a rudimentary understanding of economics. There were huge demonstrations before this was passed that were primarily minimum wage earners wanting to get the minimum wage increased. Those that got on the news indicated that everything would be the same as they are now, just with higher wages.

This is only for the City of Seattle (as well as certain jobs in Sea-Tac from an earlier law that was passed) not all of Washington. I'm guessing a lot of these businesses will fail as people travel outside these areas to get the same services for less.

Some businesses have been adding on a "Living Wage Surcharge" to the receipt to make it very transparent. I think all affected businesses should show this so consumers really get an idea of the ramifications.

Seattle Area Biz Tacks 'Living Wage Surcharge' Onto Receipts In Response To $15/Hour Minimum Wage - Forbes

The MCD where I live has a machine that automatically picks a cup, fills it with ice and then with drink on a convey belt at the drive through window. :thumbup:

With a increase in minimum wage they will be increasing the obesity rate to match.

Half the reason everyone's not overweight in the States is because half the population is living on minimum wage and partially starved and looking fit n trim because of it.


I jest

Not to bring up a new controversial topic, but I heard of companies passing on increased healthcare costs in a similar fashion, but with very poor reception. I kept seeing comments that they were cheap and petty.

My father's business just failed. Going through his paperwork, I saw plenty of expenses that he simply could not afford to pay. To be honest, Mom worked for free, but she earned at least $15 hourly, plus benefits, and retirement.