Every morning on my way to work I stop by a gas station to buy something to eat or drink, I pay the cashier and instead of getting my change back (25 fils or 50 fils) they give me Chiclets. This is not a new phenomena, it’s been happening with me for the past 3 years in various gas stations across the country. Once they gave me even 4 gums (1 Dirham).
It’s not the quarter, it’s the principle. I will not allow ENOC and EPCO to make more money, using my well-earned quarters.
But have you ever thought about the reason behind this trend? When petrol prices were increased in UAE over 3 years ago and the cash-only policy was introduced, they also increased the prices of the products in the minimarts.
A chocolate bar which costs 1.5 dirhams is sold in the gas station at 2.25 dirhams. A pack of chips which should be 1 dirham is sold at 1.25 or even up to 1.75 dirhams. a gum (good gum) costs 2.25 … wait a minute, can you notice the .25s here and there? Because they decided to raise prices by 25 to 75 %, they ended up having to give out a lot of quarters, and you know there aren’t a lot of quarters usually. Now, they are substituting the quarters with 25 fils gum, which cost them maybe 15 fils and they make a good 60% profit on it.
How much is my croissant please?
Cashier: “It’s 2.75 sirrrrrrr” …
Sorry I don’t have that, but here you go, 11 Chiclets for you.I'm sure you need change.
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6 comments:
thats very perceptive and you are probably right
lol
the finale sentence was hilarious !
but u know what, i get really excited for some reason when the cashier is out of change and gives me gum instead.. think abt it.. what wuld i do with .25 fils? i'd rather get a gum..
if u go to Choitram, they usually give out "Batook" stick gums when they r out of change ;) lol
LOOOOOL
I baffle them cuz I always have change. And if an odd number comes up (like .45 or .63) I just tell them to keep the change.
I enjoyed it and it is very relevant as a place of business they should hav ethe correct change. But it seems that a worldwide trend is developing thar requires the customer to provide the correct change. Having said that I totally refuse to carry 25 and 50 Fils coins or Chiclets.
I always thought the gum-change is a funny thing about living here. never thought about how stuff are priced that way so they make profit out of the extra quarters! you really should pay them back in chiclets and see their reaction! if they want to play Monopoly we can play Monopoly back!
FX, Oussama, I also do not carry 25 fils or 50. Whenever I have change like that I simply drop it in the donation box. Now I have to drop gum in the donation box.
Secret Window, I wouldn't say they priced things like this in order to profit out of extra quarters. I think this was unintentional. Their mistake is simply increasing prices, when you increase prices by 25% to 75%, you end up with quarters all over the place.
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