Woolies Wondering…
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Went shopping today. As we badly need some cereal bowls, I decided to look in Woolworths.
Found some bowls, but buying four or five of them looked a bit expensive. There were “50% reductions!” signs all over, but even at half-price, the cost was a bit steep (for me).
Then I came across a set of bowls and plate, 16 pieces in all. Now, we need some dinner plates as well – the ones we have are chipped, non-matching or both. And this set was marked as £13, down from £17.99.
That’s not a 50% reduction, I thought to myself, but it’s still a good price for a set. So I heaved it up to the checkout. The tinsel-bedecked lady behind the till smiled at me, waved her scanner at the box and said sunnily “That will be be £3.97!”
“Er, pardon…??”
Another big sunny smile. “£3.97 – that’s with a pound taken off, you know!” As though that explained the low price.
I did an extremely rapid calculation. 50% of £13, minus £1? (And why the pound off?) It still adds up to more than £3.97, even with the VAT cut. But – why argue? Pay the woman and vamoose with your prize! Before somebody notices! So that’s what I did.
On the way home, we discussed this; B remarked “How can these checkout people keep smiling when they’re losing their jobs in a couple of weeks?”
“By playing Santa Claus and giving customers enormous discounts?”
We drove home smiling…..