Been away for a few days break. Called in at Tim and Adrienne's house in St Fagan's to do a revamp of their garden - which led to another deeply embarrassing retail experience. I've commented before about my total incompatibility with the practice of shopping, and this incident has done absolutely nothing to bolster my confidence.
Called in at Wyevale Garden Centre, and decided to buy the entire sock of Astilia 'banksii', which amounted to three plants. No problem about that you'd have thought. But there was. The plants were priced at £12.99 each, or two for £20.00. Personally, I'd have paid the £32.99 to avoid a fuss - but Mrs D was with me, and she's a proper shopper. So we had Tony the Manager called to the till and after a bit of hooing and hahing he agreed that all three Astelias would be priced at £10 each. I then said that Mrs D had a 10% discount card from another Wyevale Garden Centre. The girl on the till, said that discount cards only apply on Tuesday. I saw no reason to challenge this and paid up. But then Mrs D arrived on the scene, and immediately challenged this judgement. She was right of course. "Oh, its one of those discount cards" was the reply. So Tony the Manager was called from his office again. He agreed that we should have the 10% discount.
But the till machine rejected the refund because it took 15 minutes for the transaction (now about 5 minutes old) to be registered. So Tony and I waited, and eventually, I was able to leave the Garden Centre with my 10% discount, and Tony was able to retreat to his office. And then, as we were loading up our purchases, Mrs D noticed that while we had been charged £10 for the third Astilia as agreed, but that we had been charged £12.99 each for the other two. At first I pretended not to hear, and started the car up ready to go - but No. She wasn't having it. No choice but to trudge back to the till, armed with my receipt, ready to prise Tony out of the Manager's office yet again.
The only satisfying aspect of this horror retail story is that we did have rather more discount than that to which we were entitled - because the 10% discount was taken off the full price of the Astilias, rather than off the discounted Price. 10% off £25.98 rather than off £20.00. So we finished up 60p to the good.
5 comments:
So we finished up 60p to the good.
So, naturally, as soon as you realised that a mistake had been made at the till, you returned the 60p, to which you were not entitled and dishonestly retained. Tony then thanked you for your honesty and wished that there were more people around like you....................
.........or alternatively, you drove away chuckling about your 'good fortune' hoping that their mistake wasn't realised before you made your getaway.
Absolute honesty is so hard to achieve. Maybe we should all try a little harder.
Honesty really is the best policy Glyn.
Why not face up to it, that 60p was dishonestly obtained.
Delete this if you like but it certainly won't be forgotten.
In fact, you may as well delete the whole posting as it clearly shows that you have a cavalier attitude towards honesty.
I wonder if Lembit reads your blog. You've certainly provided him with some useful ammunition.
Why don't you just go back to the Wyevale and return your ill-gotten gains.
You know it makes sense.
You say....
The only satisfying aspect of this horror retail story is that we did have rather more discount than that to which we were entitled -
So you find your dishonesty satisfying eh?
I'm sure that you'll feel right at home at Westminster.
BTW I've cut and pasted the original posting, just for the record you understand.
anon - Actually, I have returned the 60p, (I guessed there would be one like you out there) but to add that would have spoilt the post.
Glyn.
I'm happy to hear that you have returned the 60p to the Wyevale. I'm quite sure that they appreciate your somewhat delayed honesty. I certainly do.
You say: (I guessed there would be one like you out there).
What exactly do you mean by that?
Do you object to my criticism of your dishonesty?
You curt response certainly appears to indicate this.
Have I annoyed you in some way? If so, kindly accept my apologies. It was not my intention. I merely sought to remind you that your action in obtaining a pecuniary advantage was dishonest and consequently unlawful. Hardly an appropriate stance for a prospective Parliamentary candidate, I'm sure you will agree.
You were obviously unable to appreciate the dishonesty of your action. This is borne out by your original posting wherein you appeared to find the whole affair "satisfying" in that you had obtained more discount than you were entitled to.
I sincerely hope that this matter can be a salutory lesson to us all that absolute honesty is so difficult to achieve but nevertheless is a goal that is worth striving for.
Kindly accept a few credibilty points for returning the 60p.
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