It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

YoungBlueEyes

I’ve done it a couple of times. One was a woman with two wee boys, she a few quid short so I gave the checkout girl a tenner to cover it. She had her two wee boys say “thank you, you’re our angel”.  I coulda cried! 

Second one was a young woman with a calculator in her hand who’d pick out the cheapest things in the store and was a couple of quid short. I wasn’t directly behind her (the other people in the queue were tutting and huffing) so I moved up to pay her extra. She kept saying “but I know I’m right” staring at her calculator. She was mortified. Checkout girl this time was particularly graceless about it.  I tried to give her The Look that daddy used to give us but either I didn’t pull it off or she didn’t damn well care. 

CKhalvashi

-taff said:

I'd assume they'd put them on the belt in order of essentialness [ not a word but ..]

Kudos to you @CKhalvashi

There was nothing there I wouldn't consider essential. The only rule I really have is that I won't buy tobacco or alcohol for someone in this situation and would seriously frown if there was either of those products there in what had been purchased.

It's quite obvious (or should be) to tell whether someone is genuinely in need or not from what is there.

Equally I've had my card decline when it shouldn't have done (I'd just booked flights with an airline I hadn't used before and which very few UK residents would have a reason to use with the payment being to a country deemed to have a high risk of fraud) and the CC issuer wanted to speak to me before allowing any more to be spent even with a PIN despite allowing that transaction to go through. The lady behind offered to pay for my shopping on the same basis, not realising it was for 3 households (1 of which had someone needing 24 hour care) and around £300. A quick call to the CC issuer and a visit to the Customer Service part later and the payment went through.

Floss

Just a cautionary word about paying for someone else's shopping... 

About 3 months ago I was in the checkout queue in Lidl when a youngish chap & 2 kids with baby food & packed lunch stuff was caught out by his card being declined. The other 2 people and I each put some cash towards his shopping so they could leave but afterwards the checkout woman said that it was a known scam using stolen cards, and advised not to offer to pay in future. I've been told the same in Asda too.

Woolsery

euronorris said:

Some people feel very overwhelmed at the thought of any type of math, even with a calculator. And similar for setting up access to the shop and scan option at various supermarkets. I think sometimes they are convinced they can't do it, so they don't try. Which is a real shame, as I agree it's a better way to do things on a very restricted budget.

It probably is, but I still go thorogh the 'normal' check outs because I want to preserve the operator's jobs and retain a bit of human contact in the shopping process. While I don't need the chat, a lot of lonely people do.

YoungBlueEyes

Jeez that’s one of the most depressing things I’ve ever heard. Worse than tags on the butter. 

Edit - that was after Floss’s post. My phone doesn’t like the quote thing!

CKhalvashi

Floss said:

Just a cautionary word about paying for someone else's shopping... 

About 3 months ago I was in the checkout queue in Lidl when a youngish chap & 2 kids with baby food & packed lunch stuff was caught out by his card being declined. The other 2 people and I each put some cash towards his shopping so they could leave but afterwards the checkout woman said that it was a known scam using stolen cards, and advised not to offer to pay in future. I've been told the same in Asda too.

I've almost never got any cash on me (with the exception I think of 20 Georgian Lari, about 100 Ukrainian Hrivna and 7000 Armenian Dram, which before anyone gets excited is worth less than £25 in total and all 3 are difficult to change in the UK at a decent rate), but would never pay with cash on the basis that items could be returned for cash back. It was well known that people would do this with large packs of nappies several years ago.

Tagging on £12 of shopping to mine and asking someone to wait while I packed mine and paid (naturally keeping the full receipt) I deem far less of a problem. If more was at stake there, naturally the situation may be different.

It has to come down to the risk of being 'scammed' against spending a relatively small amount to ensure someone can afford to eat until the end of the week.

YoungBlueEyes

Well they do say no good deed goes unpunished. Something I fall foul of quite often…

CKhalvashi

CKhalvashi said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

Bloody hell, in a public car park!  Did CCTV pick up the culprits?

Speaking of cars - a tip for drivers, a mechanic told me this years ago.
When you start your car don't drive off straight away. Let the engine warm up a wee bit first so the oil can get round the innards. It's to protect your engine, give it chance to do it's job.  Especially on cold frosty mornings.

Dealing with the car park owner will be tomorrow, but it should be under CCTV.

Quick update (I knew late last night), security at the shopping centre have confirmed they have 'static vehicle cameras' which may or may not hold something. I know the security manager there which may or may not speed up the process.

Father has confirmed he has acquired 2 new axle stands at no cost (which will be given to the police on request or to their owner on payment of the invoiced amount when it's repaired). Part of the cost (and part of the reason why the repair bill is so high) is that they've cut through the wires for some sensors and some electronics, so it's going to need partial seats/carpets out for the car to be road legal, effectively keeping it on the ramp for a full day instead of a few hours.

It's about the value of the car, but it's a car with all paperwork from new (including the original invoice in May 2004), of quite low mileage, decent specification and he knows the history of it, so in his mind worth doing as it should have 10+ more years in it yet, subject to remaining ULEZ complaint (which it currently is) if regulations are brought in locally.

tooldle

elsien said:

Not a great fan of Karrimor since they were taken over by Sports direct. The shoes are certainly poorer quality now they're back in the budget end of the scale. 

I definitely agree with this. I've tried quite a number of walking shoes and Karrimor for me offer less than 3months of walking, before the soles are worn through. 

Floss

tooldle said:

elsien said:

Not a great fan of Karrimor since they were taken over by Sports direct. The shoes are certainly poorer quality now they're back in the budget end of the scale. 

I definitely agree with this. I've tried quite a number of walking shoes and Karrimor for me offer less than 3months of walking, before the soles are worn through. 

Me too, I buy Salomon as they have a 2 year warranty 
ETA and while my current boots are 6 years old & had new inners, the outsole is still going strong