Short-changing

Consumers hardly notice this but ako, hindi ko ito pinapalampas. I'm not a stingy person but what I'm fighting for is the principle of your money's worth. Yesterday, I bought meals at Mexicali. The cashier short-changed me 69 centavos. I called her attention. She re-counted the bills and coins she gave me - wondering what the hell I was talking about. Finally, it dawned upon her that I was waiting for the 69 centavos. She gave me 50 centavos. I insisted that it's still short. And she handed over another 25 centavos. Then, my Gabriela in me took over. I told her that she shouldn't short-change the customers and she doesn't need to be told to provide exact or above the amount. She is short-changing deliberately which pissed me off. Why am I pissed off? Last week, I was in Mexicali for meals. My total bill had a butal of 35 centavos. I gave the cashier an exact amount minus the 35 centavos. She told me, if I had 50 centavos (which made me wonder, bakit 50 centavos ang hinihingi?). So, I gave her 25 centavos. Sabi niya, "Ma'm kulang pa ito." Fine, I handed over 10 centavos. End of transaction.

My point is this - some establishments deliberately short-change the customers BUT customers have no right to do that. Customers must provide exact or a little above the amount. Pero, wala naman silang panukli. You might think that it's only a few centavos. Pabayaan ko na lang. No. At the end of the day, just think of the number of people they have short-changed - it amounts to thousands of pesos. Multiply it by 30 days, then 12 months. Voila! Additional income for them. In accounting terms, miscellaneous income ata yun. Pambili rin yun ng inventory, di ba? At the customer's expense! So, who's the winner here?

This is my personal advocate. I encountered the same with SM grocery stores, Wendy's, and other establishments who do not round off their retail prices to multiples of 25 centavos. That's why I carry a lot of 5 and 10 centavo coins. Nakakapagod din pagsabihan sila e. Kaya, ako na lang ang gumawa ng paraan.