Sunday, July 22, 2007
Saying A Sad Goodbye To A Bubble Tea Joint I So Loved.
I got so upset today when I was having bubble tea at this place I have frequented so many times. I was more upset because this meant that I would never be coming back to this place that I have spent so much time in. It has memories for me but I have to say goodbye to them forever.
It was a stupid little thing actually. So stupid and dumb.
I had ordered two drinks and a plate of fishcakes they called 甜不辣. For the unenlightened, I do not eat chilli. NO. NONE. ZILCH. NADA. Get the idea?
I hadn't ordered this dish for some time, but previously when I ordered it, they always put the sauces (such as chilli) on the side. Today it was liberally poured onto the fish cakes. I asked the person serving the food :"Oh, so you guys now serve the chilli on the food?"
She asked the person next to her and told me :"Yes"
I was actually a little sheepish at this point because I did not ask them to NOT add chilli. I decided to ask them if they could remove the chilli for me. The person merely replied with:" Put already how to remove?"
I was getting miffed by that, but what started to get me ticked was the attitude. Coupled with the fact that she said:" It's not hot lah"
If I don't want to eat chilli, I DON'T WANT TO EAT CHILLI.
I cannot even begin to count how many times people have told me something is not spicy and I end up having to wash the darn stuff down with water.
If you can't do it, just tell me you can't do it. Don't give me this kind of stupid answer.
I sat for a while and steamed over it. I was so ticked that I dropped my spanking new NDS (yay NDS I love the NDS) into my bag and it hit the chair with a thud. I decided to return the plate of food to them and pay for it.
While I was returning the food, I placed it down rather roughly, which caused one of the fishcakes to fly out of the plate. I do admit that was rather rude of me.
Subsequently, one of the persons serving came up to me and asked me what the problem was and why I "threw the food down". I explained to her and her replies just started getting me angrier and angrier.
She said I could have talked about it nicely, that I did not have to be so rude as to throw the food onto the counter. Like DUH. I DID ask nicely, but what was the reply? I do agree that I had put the food down rudely. She does have a point on this part though, I fully agree.
I got so ticked that I decided to just pay for the whole bill and leave without finishing my food. She kept pushing the fact that they weren't wrong in serving the food with chilli. I then got irritated and pointed out the fact that the food was called 甜不辣 which literally means sweet not spicy and they did not say that chilli will be served on the food. She went on to say that I cannot use the way food is served at other places to evaluate the way the serve food here. I said that I had previously eaten this food here and they did not serve it like that and she actually challenged me by asking how long ago. Kaoz.
She said I had a bad attitude (which I admit) and I said :"Yes, but at least I pay for the food"
By saying that I meant that I wasn't going to weasle out of the bill, but she thought that I was using money to pressurise her. She proceed to shout at me as I was leaving the shop:"Got money very big is it?" To which I responded:"Of course!"
The above was conducted in mandarin so everything has been translated as accurately as I can.
What made me so mad till now is the fact that I will never be going back to that shop ever again. Not after all these years. Never. Food quality has dropped over the years. Service became so bad. I still went back but this is the absolute last straw.
Back in the day, the service staff was so nice. They'd even guess what my friends and I was ordering because we were such regular customers. They'd stop by to say a word or two with us.
It came to be that I felt that I should not let this incident go awy like that so I decided to go and try my luck at finding the boss. I went back later, about 3 hours later and most of the staff had changed over. The initial staff who told me that nothing could be done about the chilli was still there though. I told them that I wanted to apologise to the cashier and she was going on about how her colleague was right and stuff. Hello, you are digging a larger grave.
I am now going to look for their boss even if I have to go to other branches to do it!
Stupid little chilli incident. I don't pay good money to be insulted.
Anyway, the good thing that came out of this was that nw, I have found two more places to tuang in and they are both much cheaper than the bubble tea place.
I have to thank that really aggravating person for helping me save money in future. Maybe I should send her flowers.
1 Adorations
I got so upset today when I was having bubble tea at this place I have frequented so many times. I was more upset because this meant that I would never be coming back to this place that I have spent so much time in. It has memories for me but I have to say goodbye to them forever.
It was a stupid little thing actually. So stupid and dumb.
I had ordered two drinks and a plate of fishcakes they called 甜不辣. For the unenlightened, I do not eat chilli. NO. NONE. ZILCH. NADA. Get the idea?
I hadn't ordered this dish for some time, but previously when I ordered it, they always put the sauces (such as chilli) on the side. Today it was liberally poured onto the fish cakes. I asked the person serving the food :"Oh, so you guys now serve the chilli on the food?"
She asked the person next to her and told me :"Yes"
I was actually a little sheepish at this point because I did not ask them to NOT add chilli. I decided to ask them if they could remove the chilli for me. The person merely replied with:" Put already how to remove?"
I was getting miffed by that, but what started to get me ticked was the attitude. Coupled with the fact that she said:" It's not hot lah"
If I don't want to eat chilli, I DON'T WANT TO EAT CHILLI.
I cannot even begin to count how many times people have told me something is not spicy and I end up having to wash the darn stuff down with water.
If you can't do it, just tell me you can't do it. Don't give me this kind of stupid answer.
I sat for a while and steamed over it. I was so ticked that I dropped my spanking new NDS (yay NDS I love the NDS) into my bag and it hit the chair with a thud. I decided to return the plate of food to them and pay for it.
While I was returning the food, I placed it down rather roughly, which caused one of the fishcakes to fly out of the plate. I do admit that was rather rude of me.
Subsequently, one of the persons serving came up to me and asked me what the problem was and why I "threw the food down". I explained to her and her replies just started getting me angrier and angrier.
She said I could have talked about it nicely, that I did not have to be so rude as to throw the food onto the counter. Like DUH. I DID ask nicely, but what was the reply? I do agree that I had put the food down rudely. She does have a point on this part though, I fully agree.
I got so ticked that I decided to just pay for the whole bill and leave without finishing my food. She kept pushing the fact that they weren't wrong in serving the food with chilli. I then got irritated and pointed out the fact that the food was called 甜不辣 which literally means sweet not spicy and they did not say that chilli will be served on the food. She went on to say that I cannot use the way food is served at other places to evaluate the way the serve food here. I said that I had previously eaten this food here and they did not serve it like that and she actually challenged me by asking how long ago. Kaoz.
She said I had a bad attitude (which I admit) and I said :"Yes, but at least I pay for the food"
By saying that I meant that I wasn't going to weasle out of the bill, but she thought that I was using money to pressurise her. She proceed to shout at me as I was leaving the shop:"Got money very big is it?" To which I responded:"Of course!"
The above was conducted in mandarin so everything has been translated as accurately as I can.
What made me so mad till now is the fact that I will never be going back to that shop ever again. Not after all these years. Never. Food quality has dropped over the years. Service became so bad. I still went back but this is the absolute last straw.
Back in the day, the service staff was so nice. They'd even guess what my friends and I was ordering because we were such regular customers. They'd stop by to say a word or two with us.
It came to be that I felt that I should not let this incident go awy like that so I decided to go and try my luck at finding the boss. I went back later, about 3 hours later and most of the staff had changed over. The initial staff who told me that nothing could be done about the chilli was still there though. I told them that I wanted to apologise to the cashier and she was going on about how her colleague was right and stuff. Hello, you are digging a larger grave.
I am now going to look for their boss even if I have to go to other branches to do it!
Stupid little chilli incident. I don't pay good money to be insulted.
Anyway, the good thing that came out of this was that nw, I have found two more places to tuang in and they are both much cheaper than the bubble tea place.
I have to thank that really aggravating person for helping me save money in future. Maybe I should send her flowers.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Nintendo Dual Screen
I have gone and bought the Nintendo Dual Screen! I love it so much now. It is so interactive and is absolutely lots of fun. I can't imagine why anyone wants a PSP..... I have to buy a PSP though lol. Final Fantasy tells me to do it............
Buying an NDS will never get you wrong.
I got a white NDS with screen protectors and casing. I got the store people to help m apply the screen protectors. They are such nice and pleasant people. Definitely going to give them more business in future! They have a try till you happy then buy policy. No question asked.
0 Adorations
I have gone and bought the Nintendo Dual Screen! I love it so much now. It is so interactive and is absolutely lots of fun. I can't imagine why anyone wants a PSP..... I have to buy a PSP though lol. Final Fantasy tells me to do it............
Buying an NDS will never get you wrong.
I got a white NDS with screen protectors and casing. I got the store people to help m apply the screen protectors. They are such nice and pleasant people. Definitely going to give them more business in future! They have a try till you happy then buy policy. No question asked.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Epic Crisis
Ladies and Gentlemen, it saddens me that I have to make this announcement today.
I am right now standing at the brink of financial ruin. I have in my sights, the various targets codenamed as NDS, Wii, PSP and PS3. Each of these targets are enough to poke a minor hole in the pocket. Some huger than others. And I mean HUGER. Like THIS HUGE.
NDS, I have to buy because it's Nintendo and it has FF on it!
Wii, I am buying cos it's way cool! And I can play Crystal Chronicles on it! Which for the uneducated slovenly person who may be perusing my blog.... is a spin off from Final Fantasy.
PSP, I will have to buy though I don't really want to because they released FF XII on it.
PS3 I will have to buy in the future... because... yes you guessed it.... more Final Fantasy!!!
I'm listing approximate prices for the above sets, excluding PS3. I did not check PS3 out yet.
NDS : $235 + 55 (for stuff) = $295 (my friend has some deal for about $315 I think)
Wii : $659 (2 controllers and 2 games - 1 is Wii Sports)
PSP: $288 (Immediately fully deployable)
That brings my foreseeable damage count up to $1242.
OH
MY
GOODNESS
Man I need to pace these stuff out.
I might buy NDS and PSP together if I can get a good deal for them. trying to find people who want to buy NDS.. working on bulk deals leh... every penny saved is a penny towards the greater ideal of the Wii!
We want Wii!
2 Adorations
Ladies and Gentlemen, it saddens me that I have to make this announcement today.
I am right now standing at the brink of financial ruin. I have in my sights, the various targets codenamed as NDS, Wii, PSP and PS3. Each of these targets are enough to poke a minor hole in the pocket. Some huger than others. And I mean HUGER. Like THIS HUGE.
NDS, I have to buy because it's Nintendo and it has FF on it!
Wii, I am buying cos it's way cool! And I can play Crystal Chronicles on it! Which for the uneducated slovenly person who may be perusing my blog.... is a spin off from Final Fantasy.
PSP, I will have to buy though I don't really want to because they released FF XII on it.
PS3 I will have to buy in the future... because... yes you guessed it.... more Final Fantasy!!!
I'm listing approximate prices for the above sets, excluding PS3. I did not check PS3 out yet.
NDS : $235 + 55 (for stuff) = $295 (my friend has some deal for about $315 I think)
Wii : $659 (2 controllers and 2 games - 1 is Wii Sports)
PSP: $288 (Immediately fully deployable)
That brings my foreseeable damage count up to $1242.
OH
MY
GOODNESS
Man I need to pace these stuff out.
I might buy NDS and PSP together if I can get a good deal for them. trying to find people who want to buy NDS.. working on bulk deals leh... every penny saved is a penny towards the greater ideal of the Wii!
We want Wii!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Transformers, More Than Meets The Eye.
I went to watch transformers with a couple of my ex-colleagues. First off, we missed about 1-2 mins of the starting scene as they started the show on time. In fact it was probably started early.
Watching the show was a real rush! Man, childhood comes rushing back at ya! Surely the show can do no wrong... it's a Transformers show after all! You hear Optimus Prime's voice and you go "Awwwww"
I was glad that I went to watch the show, however, the things that I will make more mention of are not the good stuff but rather the bad stuff.
It is important not to fall into the "Emperor's New Clothes" mentality and fail to notice things just because it is labeled Transformers.
Good: The show was two hours long.
Bad: Actual Transformer screentime was maybe 45 mins?
Good: Great graphics
Bad: Contrary to what one of my friend says, I do not think that the fact that a real true blue Transformers *ought* to be able to differentiate who's fighting is an excuse for the messy cinematography. I didn't have a real beef with the fight scenes though, I think it was fast and action packed, but the scenes were seriously forgettable. The only scene I remembered was when Jazz got torn into 2 pieces. Unmemorable fight scenes.
Good: Updated designs for Transformers
Bad: I disliked half of the designs. What happened to Starscream... Like a giant bat. And I haven't even talked about Bumblebee and Jazz!!! I didn't really check out the designs before the show, cos more suspense what. I mistook Bumblebee for Jazz. Bumblebee is now a Chevrolet Camaro and the 2008 Camaro is so darn cool. It's just so not Bumblebee. Bumblebee looks like Jazz now. Jazz is a Pontiac omg.... from Porsche to Pontiac.... what a bummer.
The Decepticons got decidedly alien and evil looks. Megatron has teeth. Teeth. He needs to eat?
Good: There is a plot with humans.
Bad: The plot with humans is too long. I go to the theatres to watch a movie about Giant Transforming robots. I want to see Giant Transforming robots. I don't want to see some half baked love story yadda yadda. More Transformer action, less humans! We had what... 10 transformers?
I am however, willing to allow a concession on that this is a buildup to Transformers 2 & 3 and that there will be buttloads of Transformers in those!
I am currently not a fan of Michael Bay's directing of the Transformers Live Action Movie.
I'm kinda hoping that they make Bumblebee a VW Beetle and Jazz a Porsche again. I don't care if they have to put in stupid plots twists to do it.
7 Adorations
I went to watch transformers with a couple of my ex-colleagues. First off, we missed about 1-2 mins of the starting scene as they started the show on time. In fact it was probably started early.
Watching the show was a real rush! Man, childhood comes rushing back at ya! Surely the show can do no wrong... it's a Transformers show after all! You hear Optimus Prime's voice and you go "Awwwww"
I was glad that I went to watch the show, however, the things that I will make more mention of are not the good stuff but rather the bad stuff.
It is important not to fall into the "Emperor's New Clothes" mentality and fail to notice things just because it is labeled Transformers.
Good: The show was two hours long.
Bad: Actual Transformer screentime was maybe 45 mins?
Good: Great graphics
Bad: Contrary to what one of my friend says, I do not think that the fact that a real true blue Transformers *ought* to be able to differentiate who's fighting is an excuse for the messy cinematography. I didn't have a real beef with the fight scenes though, I think it was fast and action packed, but the scenes were seriously forgettable. The only scene I remembered was when Jazz got torn into 2 pieces. Unmemorable fight scenes.
Good: Updated designs for Transformers
Bad: I disliked half of the designs. What happened to Starscream... Like a giant bat. And I haven't even talked about Bumblebee and Jazz!!! I didn't really check out the designs before the show, cos more suspense what. I mistook Bumblebee for Jazz. Bumblebee is now a Chevrolet Camaro and the 2008 Camaro is so darn cool. It's just so not Bumblebee. Bumblebee looks like Jazz now. Jazz is a Pontiac omg.... from Porsche to Pontiac.... what a bummer.
The Decepticons got decidedly alien and evil looks. Megatron has teeth. Teeth. He needs to eat?
Good: There is a plot with humans.
Bad: The plot with humans is too long. I go to the theatres to watch a movie about Giant Transforming robots. I want to see Giant Transforming robots. I don't want to see some half baked love story yadda yadda. More Transformer action, less humans! We had what... 10 transformers?
I am however, willing to allow a concession on that this is a buildup to Transformers 2 & 3 and that there will be buttloads of Transformers in those!
I am currently not a fan of Michael Bay's directing of the Transformers Live Action Movie.
I'm kinda hoping that they make Bumblebee a VW Beetle and Jazz a Porsche again. I don't care if they have to put in stupid plots twists to do it.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
CCS vs NETS
Hokay... in the continuing NETS saga, it appears that Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) is taking a renewed interest in NETS.
In a previous post, I mentioned that NETS is now rumoured to be offering preferential rates to retailers who do not offer any other form of cashless payment methods. I also mentioned that I do not understand how that it is not 'anti competitive' and 'not abusing a dominant market position'
I feel that NETS is really testing the system. It's like a "Let's see what we can get away with attitude".
I would like to believe that the CCS is indeed taking a serious look into this issue and will address this accordingly.
However, let us think for a moment what may result of this.
1) CCS investigates and finds that the preferential rates were just a rumour.
2) CCS investigates and decides that the preferential rates are still not 'anti competitive' and not 'abusing a dominant market' as they deem that the affected merchants only offer NETS as a cashless payment anyway.
3) CCS investigates, decides that NETS is 'anti competitive' and 'abusing a dominant market position'. NETS then retracts the preferential rates. All retailers subject to 1.5% - 1.7% merchant fees.
In none of this suppositions is there a silver lining for the consumer.
Also, apparently there is an avenue of providing feedback on GST profiteering, I wonder what is the procedure for that?
Do the panadols that I bought fall under this category?
0 Adorations
Hokay... in the continuing NETS saga, it appears that Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) is taking a renewed interest in NETS.
In a previous post, I mentioned that NETS is now rumoured to be offering preferential rates to retailers who do not offer any other form of cashless payment methods. I also mentioned that I do not understand how that it is not 'anti competitive' and 'not abusing a dominant market position'
I feel that NETS is really testing the system. It's like a "Let's see what we can get away with attitude".
I would like to believe that the CCS is indeed taking a serious look into this issue and will address this accordingly.
However, let us think for a moment what may result of this.
1) CCS investigates and finds that the preferential rates were just a rumour.
2) CCS investigates and decides that the preferential rates are still not 'anti competitive' and not 'abusing a dominant market' as they deem that the affected merchants only offer NETS as a cashless payment anyway.
3) CCS investigates, decides that NETS is 'anti competitive' and 'abusing a dominant market position'. NETS then retracts the preferential rates. All retailers subject to 1.5% - 1.7% merchant fees.
In none of this suppositions is there a silver lining for the consumer.
Also, apparently there is an avenue of providing feedback on GST profiteering, I wonder what is the procedure for that?
Do the panadols that I bought fall under this category?
Monday, July 02, 2007
I got TAGGED.......
Never really could understand the concept of blog tagging. Anyway, I don't read other's blogs often. I just do a once off sweep every now and then. One shot read until I happy, so it takes me a while to be updated of what goes on in other blogs.
Anyway... here goes.
Rules of the game:Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks!
1) I'm a meatatarian.
2) For a limited period of time, I thought it'd be cool to work for Squaresoft (now Square Enix). Why? Aiyoh.. cos they created FF what!
3) I used to be the sole member of a club in Poly. Whole club only me.
4) I love music. I'm just too lazy to be a performing musician since I can't even get my practise times set up.
5) My favourite contemporary composer is Nobuo Uematsu.
6) I'd love to be able to compose epic music like the stuff in video games.
7) I've toyed with thoughts of writing a novel.
8) I actually do sing the National Anthem, say the Singapore and SAF Pledge.
9) I'd love to be able to speak multiple languages.
10) I love airplanes. Well, used to alot. Now not so much cos.... errr..... I flunked out of flying school. Incidentally, I used to want to be a pilot.
Combat Pilot.
The F-16 kind.
I'm not kidding so stop laughing.
I hate you.
It's hard to find 6 people who I think read my blog... so here it goes.
You got TAGGED!
1) Juangel
2) Alexis
3) Panda
4) Cornball
5) Pseudobeng (do you even remember what your blog address is?)
6) Beaver
3 Adorations
Never really could understand the concept of blog tagging. Anyway, I don't read other's blogs often. I just do a once off sweep every now and then. One shot read until I happy, so it takes me a while to be updated of what goes on in other blogs.
Anyway... here goes.
Rules of the game:Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks!
1) I'm a meatatarian.
2) For a limited period of time, I thought it'd be cool to work for Squaresoft (now Square Enix). Why? Aiyoh.. cos they created FF what!
3) I used to be the sole member of a club in Poly. Whole club only me.
4) I love music. I'm just too lazy to be a performing musician since I can't even get my practise times set up.
5) My favourite contemporary composer is Nobuo Uematsu.
6) I'd love to be able to compose epic music like the stuff in video games.
7) I've toyed with thoughts of writing a novel.
8) I actually do sing the National Anthem, say the Singapore and SAF Pledge.
9) I'd love to be able to speak multiple languages.
10) I love airplanes. Well, used to alot. Now not so much cos.... errr..... I flunked out of flying school. Incidentally, I used to want to be a pilot.
Combat Pilot.
The F-16 kind.
I'm not kidding so stop laughing.
I hate you.
It's hard to find 6 people who I think read my blog... so here it goes.
You got TAGGED!
1) Juangel
2) Alexis
3) Panda
4) Cornball
5) Pseudobeng (do you even remember what your blog address is?)
6) Beaver
Hooray for Preferential NETS Rates!
After all the hoohah over the increase in NETS merchant fees, there seems to be a silver lining after all! NETS will be offering preferential rates to retailers who do not have any other form of cashless payment facility.
The preferential rates could possibly be from 1.05% to 1.15%. There will also be a rebate of 25% until December 2007.
What this means:
1) The retailer must have NETS as their sole form of cashless payment to be eligible.
2) The retailer now incurs a mere fee increase of between 109% to 200% as opposed to the increase of 227.27% to 328.56% for retailers who do not receive the preferential rates.
If you, the astute reader, would remember, it was merely last week when the Competition Commision of Singapore decided that what NETS is doing is not anti competitive.
It goes on to say that:
And as my failed logic continues to falter, I cannot work my mind into fathoming how the current preferential rates being offered by NETS is not abusing it's dominant position.
The retailer is enticed into not using any other form of cashless payment, as such, people will be required to use NETS or lug truckloads of cash around.
I'm being positive about this whole thing. Totally. In fact I will show my support by using only positive words for my closing.
Yeah, right.
0 Adorations
After all the hoohah over the increase in NETS merchant fees, there seems to be a silver lining after all! NETS will be offering preferential rates to retailers who do not have any other form of cashless payment facility.
The preferential rates could possibly be from 1.05% to 1.15%. There will also be a rebate of 25% until December 2007.
What this means:
1) The retailer must have NETS as their sole form of cashless payment to be eligible.
2) The retailer now incurs a mere fee increase of between 109% to 200% as opposed to the increase of 227.27% to 328.56% for retailers who do not receive the preferential rates.
If you, the astute reader, would remember, it was merely last week when the Competition Commision of Singapore decided that what NETS is doing is not anti competitive.
It goes on to say that:
the Act is only relevant when a party acts in a manner that abuses its dominant position.I would like to draw the kind reader's attention to the following line
The Commission added that in this case, there are alternative payment methods such as credit, debit and EZ-Link cards that consumers can use.
Section 47 of the Competition Act prohibits firms with dominant market power from abusing it in ways that are anti-competitive and work against long-term economic efficiency.
The Commission added that in this case, there are alternative payment methods such as credit, debit and EZ-Link cards that consumers can use.Which when read in conjunction with THIS line:
Section 47 of the Competition Act prohibits firms with dominant market power from abusing it in ways that are anti-competitive and work against long-term economic efficiency.has misled me into thinking that as long as there are other forms of cashless payments available at the retailer, it is not considered an abuse of NETS dominant position.
And as my failed logic continues to falter, I cannot work my mind into fathoming how the current preferential rates being offered by NETS is not abusing it's dominant position.
The retailer is enticed into not using any other form of cashless payment, as such, people will be required to use NETS or lug truckloads of cash around.
I'm being positive about this whole thing. Totally. In fact I will show my support by using only positive words for my closing.
Yeah, right.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
7% GST, NETS Fee Increase And YOU
So today is the day where we all look up! Up at rising fees and taxes that is.
I went to Guardian to buy some meds and... whaddaya know, I thought I remembered the price of Panadol erroneously. I had thought they cost somewhere in the range of $3.30 for a 30 tabs pack..... now it's $4.30?? That's a 30% increase in price right there! Let's say I have rememebered a wrong figure, but I am sure that Panadols did not use to cost more than $4 (I remember the price started with a 3). So let's assume they used to cost $3.90. 10.25% increase even using $3.90 as baseline! Should have stocked up on stuff before the hikes. Yikes!
I guess what they say is true. Two things in life that cannot be avoided. Death and Taxes. So, there is seriously nothing that can be done with the recent increases.
All I can say is that I will avoid using NETS at all now. I have always been a low frequency user of NETS, but I will now consciously avoid using it.
It will not help me get cheaper prices, as any price increase will be tagged on for every single mode of transaction, but it's just that I'm doing what NETS says. There is competition out there, which is why NETS needs to raise their transactions fees. Therefore, I will help give them a run for their money.
The previous merchant charges that NETS charged merchants range from 0.35% to 0.55%. This is supposed to be increased in stages till 1.5% to 1.8% in September.
Let's take the lower end of the scale here and do some comparisons. Let's assume that all NETS transactions attract a flat 0.35% merchant fee.
Let us further assume that the daily transactions through NETS amounts to 1 million dollars (this is totally untrue, just a number I grabbed for easy calculation).
Pre-hike fees for NETS: 0.35 % of $1000000 = $3500
Post-hike fees for NETS: 1.5% of %1000000 = $15000
This is an increase of $11500 in merchant fees for every million dollars transacted based on the lowest merchant fee rate.
Now, if people were to start boycotting NETS, how large must the boycott be before there is a significant difference?
First, we need to find out under the new charges, how much money is required to be transacted in order to gain the fees.
$3500 / 1.5 * 100 = $233333.34
That's right. Where it used to take one million dollars, it now takes 233 thousand dollars. They can lose $766667 (76.6%) worth of transactions and it won't make a difference for them.
Now it's up to YOU to make sure we give them a run for their money since their reason for the current increase is competition from other cards. *guffaw*
2 Adorations
So today is the day where we all look up! Up at rising fees and taxes that is.
I went to Guardian to buy some meds and... whaddaya know, I thought I remembered the price of Panadol erroneously. I had thought they cost somewhere in the range of $3.30 for a 30 tabs pack..... now it's $4.30?? That's a 30% increase in price right there! Let's say I have rememebered a wrong figure, but I am sure that Panadols did not use to cost more than $4 (I remember the price started with a 3). So let's assume they used to cost $3.90. 10.25% increase even using $3.90 as baseline! Should have stocked up on stuff before the hikes. Yikes!
I guess what they say is true. Two things in life that cannot be avoided. Death and Taxes. So, there is seriously nothing that can be done with the recent increases.
All I can say is that I will avoid using NETS at all now. I have always been a low frequency user of NETS, but I will now consciously avoid using it.
It will not help me get cheaper prices, as any price increase will be tagged on for every single mode of transaction, but it's just that I'm doing what NETS says. There is competition out there, which is why NETS needs to raise their transactions fees. Therefore, I will help give them a run for their money.
The previous merchant charges that NETS charged merchants range from 0.35% to 0.55%. This is supposed to be increased in stages till 1.5% to 1.8% in September.
Let's take the lower end of the scale here and do some comparisons. Let's assume that all NETS transactions attract a flat 0.35% merchant fee.
Let us further assume that the daily transactions through NETS amounts to 1 million dollars (this is totally untrue, just a number I grabbed for easy calculation).
Pre-hike fees for NETS: 0.35 % of $1000000 = $3500
Post-hike fees for NETS: 1.5% of %1000000 = $15000
This is an increase of $11500 in merchant fees for every million dollars transacted based on the lowest merchant fee rate.
Now, if people were to start boycotting NETS, how large must the boycott be before there is a significant difference?
First, we need to find out under the new charges, how much money is required to be transacted in order to gain the fees.
$3500 / 1.5 * 100 = $233333.34
That's right. Where it used to take one million dollars, it now takes 233 thousand dollars. They can lose $766667 (76.6%) worth of transactions and it won't make a difference for them.
Now it's up to YOU to make sure we give them a run for their money since their reason for the current increase is competition from other cards. *guffaw*
