tim.... wrote:
Never, ever try and pay by by trade card at one of these. I made the
mistake of going in to my local B & Q after the trade desk had
closed for the day. Not only do you get all the above problems but
you then are faced with a spotty oik who doesnt know how a trade
card works and, once he had it explained to him then announces he
'needs to go and find a pen'. Priceless

did he need a calculator to calculate 10%?

tim

10 % oh if only it were that simple. The B&Q trade discount system appears
to have been designed by the team that previously worked out the old British
Rail fare structure. Bletchley Park would have been stumped by this and Alan
Turing likely have opened a bicycle repair shop in frustration.

The basic premise is that under no circumstances should the customer be able
to work out what the discount will be. This is backed up by staff who don't
know either. Helpfully the till receipt is programmed to display discount as
0% - whatever the discount subsequently turns out to be. Not only does it
vary from line to line but also product to product and from month to month.
Added to this is the volume discount (the only transparent part of the
system and mischeviously included to give the false impression that someday
all will explained). A 'teaser' system also operates whereby specific
products will be stickered to the effect that 'cost with trade card is'.
Fate dictates that your needs will never coincide with one of these items.

Its like a Kafka play

Neil