The Personal Checksum

  • I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I just use the "casting out 9's" You know, you add the numbers across and when it hits 9, you start over. So for example

    41.85 = 0 (4+5 = 0, 8+1 = 0)

    2.41 = 7

    ------

    54.26 = 8

    So since 7 + 0 = 7, and the end result is 8, something's not right. There was only one time I had to ask for the menu again to verify that the waitperson had entered the incorrect amount, but I guess I'm just lucky.

  • I dunno ... it seems like an exercise not needed. Yes mistakes happen. Yes there are unscrupulous people out there. However I will not let the 0.02% of the time monopolize the remainder of my time (I just had to fabricate a number for this).

    This is definitely an instance of taking something very simple and uneccessarily making it complicated - this is a job best left to government bureaucrats (I do not care what country you live in - that is usually the case). Since the government has already complicated our lives immensely already why do we insist on adding to this burden and making even harder on ourselves !

    Call me a 'square peg in a round hole ...

    RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."

  • I use a simpler method: I just pay cash.

  • Bob Hoffman (11/2/2007)


    I have altered my first name or initial over time to see what slime sold my name to some junk mail list. Problem is, I need to keep better track of when I do that so I know where it came from.

    Filling out online forms in order to download a white paper or something are another pet peeve. I now just fill in the absolute minimum to get the information and then I use the wrong information as well. This helps to cut some spam or at least make me think it does.

    Agreed. Take note, vendors, that requiring detailed information from me just to get sales information about your product is a good way to get your literature ignored.

    ...

    -- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --

  • Last night, 8 of us went out to dinner. When it came time to pay the bill for my half, I thought about this thread as I signed the credit card receipt.

    It occurred to me right then, that the method I have been using for years works just as well and is simple.

    Just collect the receipt, add the tip and total you wrote on the merchant copy and stuff it in a drawer when you get home.

    Remember, it's up to the CC issuer to provide a copy of the receipt if you challenge it.

  • Ah, that works well but then you have to remember to look for it when you get the bill or you're not likely to remember if someone added $10 to the bill.

    The checksum takes a little practice, but it does let you quickly glance at a bill and determine if it's what you spent. Or at least, likely what you spent.

  • Maybe the CC users should demand that statements show the charges and gratuities separately on the line item? 🙂

    It's just not restaurants that can add charges but hotels or any other service related industry.

    Same goes for online purchases and shipping charges which are another area for fraud or overcharging that could go unnoticed.

  • related unrelated issue, heard on the radio this morning that Chipotle and several other restaurants have been rounding bills to the nearest nickel (some up, some down) to avoid dealing with pennies when giving change. Personally, I don't care if they don't want to deal with pennies, but the fact that they are intentionally overcharging people (even if just a few cents) sits wrong with me.

    ---------------------------------------------------------
    How best to post your question[/url]
    How to post performance problems[/url]
    Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]

    "stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."

  • Bob Hoffman-209065 (11/5/2007)


    Last night, 8 of us went out to dinner. When it came time to pay the bill for my half, I thought about this thread as I signed the credit card receipt.

    It occurred to me right then, that the method I have been using for years works just as well and is simple.

    Just collect the receipt, add the tip and total you wrote on the merchant copy and stuff it in a drawer when you get home.

    Remember, it's up to the CC issuer to provide a copy of the receipt if you challenge it.

    Exactly Bob, sounds like another no brainer to me again. Good editorial topics must be getting hard to find nowadays, so they got to dig these old gems up.. 😀

    "Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"

  • America's tipping culture rather scares me. I think a person should be paid to do a job, and tips are for excellence only. It's like saying, I produced an acceptable report, therefore I should be tipped, or worse, I produced a rubbish report for you, therefore I should be tipped.

    I had to investigate the minimum wage claim and found this...

    http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf

    Minimum Wage Problems:

    ? Where an employee does not receive sufficient tips to make up the difference between the direct (or cash) wage payment (which must be at least $2.13 per hour) and the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.

    A waiter will get minimum wage in America irrespective of how crappy they are at their job. Don't be afraid to not tip!

  • Steve,

    Are you testing us to see if we are really reading what you write or what?

    "but with this being a Friday, I needed a poll and here it is: "

    Is this really a Friday?

    Have a good whatever!

    M.

    Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

  • jcrawf02 (8/30/2012)


    related unrelated issue, heard on the radio this morning that Chipotle and several other restaurants have been rounding bills to the nearest nickel (some up, some down) to avoid dealing with pennies when giving change. Personally, I don't care if they don't want to deal with pennies, but the fact that they are intentionally overcharging people (even if just a few cents) sits wrong with me.

    This was done by the base exchange and other stores when I stationed in England many years ago. We were in fact told NOT to bring US pennies with us to England as they were too close to the English half-penny.

    This was also only done if you paid in cash. If you used a check or credit/debit card, the actual amount was charged.

  • I also worked in Food Service from 14 to 21 back in the 70's. And no one I ever knew would change a ticket. However I always remember what I spend, and check online the next day to verify the charges. Only once in my entire life has it been changed. I ordered delivery with my card and paid the Tip with cash only to find that an additional $2 was added to the charge as a tip. Don't know who added the charge, but I did call the restaurant and complain, got my money back.

  • This was done by the base exchange and other stores when I stationed in England many years ago. We were in fact told NOT to bring US pennies with us to England as they were too close to the English half-penny.

    That must have been very many years ago as the half penny has been withdrawn for many years!

    The British/European system where you are handed the electronic card machine to check the amount and enter your pin number and the transaction is then completed on-line to the bank surely removes the opportunity for this fraud - as long as you wear your reading glasses:-D

  • FYI.... In California, servers ARE paid at least minimum wage. Other states allow less than minimum as long as it's made up in tips.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 34 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply