Where should the type information be 191

rpl

That's clever. How does he know the price of loose goods like fruit and vegetables which are sold by weight, when the scales are part of the checkout station?

The problem is that you still have 1c coins. We abandoned them (and our 2c coins) some years ago, so if we pay in cash (which is rare at the supermarket, since everyone uses eftpos debit cards), the total is rounded to the nearest 5c. As a result, we tend not to get pocketsfull of small change. The other factor here is that our prices are almost always quoted including tax, so a $2 coffee costs $2, not $2.17, and we don't tip either. Consequently, about the only time I would think about simplifying the change would be when the lunch bill is say $10.50 and I don't have a $10 note, so I offer $20.50 (we have a 50c coin) to get $10 change instad of $9.50, which involves a minimum of 4 coins.

The NZ Govt has announced a further change to coinage next year where 5c coins will disappear (and the other sub-dollar coins will become smaller and lighter). With the lowest value coin at 10c (currently equivalent to about 7.2cUS) fair rounding becomed problematic. The fair rule about 5c is too hard for everyday checkout transactions, so I guess it will always be rounded up, and the customer will lose.

--brian

-- Brian Boutel Wellington, New Zealand