Does Harvey Norman Calculate % Discounts Correctly?

Forums › Off topic › Does Harvey Norman Calculate % Discounts Correctly?

wreck90

780 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 68101 14-Sep-2010 22:35

Our local HN had a sale on this evening.

I bought a picture frame, which was listed at $50, with a 25% discount.

I did a quick calc in my mind, and worked out that 25% of $50 is $12.50, so the sale price should be $37.50.

But, I was charged $40.00. I questioned this, and , she showed me her screen which showed their calculation - they are doing this calculation.....

$50 / 1.25 = $40.

I did not really want to argue, as it was only $2.50 and a long line was forming behind me so I just accepted the cashiers argument.

I however, think my calculation is correct, but Harvey normans have been applying this calculation to all of their discounts tonight.

Lucky it was not a big screen TV :)

1 | 2

22531 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

# 379905 14-Sep-2010 22:36

What is the exact wording of what they promise you?

Richard rich.ms

robbyp

1163 posts

Uber Geek

# 379921 14-Sep-2010 22:55

wreck90: Our local HN had a sale on this evening.

I bought a picture frame, which was listed at $50, with a 25% discount.

I did a quick calc in my mind, and worked out that 25% of $50 is $12.50, so the sale price should be $37.50.

But, I was charged $40.00. I questioned this, and , she showed me her screen which showed their calculation - they are doing this calculation.....

$50 / 1.25 = $40.

I did not really want to argue, as it was only $2.50 and a long line was forming behind me so I just accepted the cashiers argument.

I however, think my calculation is correct, but Harvey normans have been applying this calculation to all of their discounts tonight.

Lucky it was not a big screen TV :)

If it was $50 and they were to take 25% off the price, then they have made an error. Instead they have only discounted it by 20%

richms

22531 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

# 379923 14-Sep-2010 22:56

Unless the promise was to come in today otherwise you could pay 25% more next week, which is correct for what they have done.

Richard rich.ms

robbyp

1163 posts

Uber Geek

# 379953 14-Sep-2010 23:42

richms: Unless the promise was to come in today otherwise you could pay 25% more next week, which is correct for what they have done.

Yes that is correct, although I have not seen any discount marketed in that way.

Jarno

269 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 379958 14-Sep-2010 23:55

Did they type in this calculation manually, or was it done automatically by their checkout system?

You missed a chance to blow their minds by asking what a 50% discount and then a 100% discount would come out to.

wiredr

203 posts

Master Geek

# 379978 15-Sep-2010 06:00

wreck90: Our local HN had a sale on this evening.

I bought a picture frame, which was listed at $50, with a 25% discount.

I did a quick calc in my mind, and worked out that 25% of $50 is $12.50, so the sale price should be $37.50.

But, I was charged $40.00. I questioned this, and , she showed me her screen which showed their calculation - they are doing this calculation.....

$50 / 1.25 = $40.

I did not really want to argue, as it was only $2.50 and a long line was forming behind me so I just accepted the cashiers argument.

I however, think my calculation is correct, but Harvey normans have been applying this calculation to all of their discounts tonight.

Lucky it was not a big screen TV :)

$50 / 1.25 = $40. = 20% discount

$40 * 1.25 = $50 = 25% markup

clearly they are wrong .

sbiddle

28276 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

# 379979 15-Sep-2010 06:19

It's clearly wrong in this case but with it's not uncommon to find retailers who get discounts wrong. One common one is "we'll pay your GST" where retailers simply deduct 12.5% off the retail price which is infact incorrect.

wreck90

780 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 379983 15-Sep-2010 07:00

richms: Unless the promise was to come in today otherwise you could pay 25% more next week, which is correct for what they have done.

There was no complexity here, it just had a big red card, with 25% off written on it.

Yes, I should have asked here what a 50% discount would be. But, I was thinking, she would have been giving the wrong discount to everyone.

eracode

Overarching undertones
3848 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

# 379984 15-Sep-2010 07:02

This is something that should be reported or officially complained about by someone who has been affected - it's simply unacceptable, morally wrong, misleading etc etc.

They should not get away with it and I'm almost tempted to go and buy something (small) so that I am affected and could complain.

wreck90

780 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 379985 15-Sep-2010 07:07

Jarno: Did they type in this calculation manually, or was it done automatically by their checkout system?

You missed a chance to blow their minds by asking what a 50% discount and then a 100% discount would come out to.

I'm not actually sure - I didn't pay attention until the price was not what I expected.

She was adamant the price was right because her computer says it was so, and I did not want to hold up a line arguing over $2.50.

It reminds me a bit of the TV comedy Little Britain, and the hospital administrator who believes the computer is 100% correct :)

tardtasticx

2966 posts

Uber Geek

# 380012 15-Sep-2010 09:06

Why dont they do it easier like:

[price]-([price]x0.[percentage]) = Final sale price

in this case

50-(50x0.25) = $37.50

Always use methods like this in exams because it just seems easier on the eye when going over working.

Bachelor of Computing Systems (2015)

Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display (4GB/2.4GHz i5/128GB SSD) - HP DV6 (8GB/2.8GHz i7/120GB SSD + 750GB HDD)
iPhone 6S + (64GB/Gold/Vodafone NZ) - Xperia Z C6603 (16GB/White/Spark NZ)

Sam, Auckland

tardtasticx

2966 posts

Uber Geek

# 380013 15-Sep-2010 09:08

eracode: This is something that should be reported or officially complained about by someone who has been affected - it's simply unacceptable, morally wrong, misleading etc etc.

They should not get away with it and I'm almost tempted to go and buy something (small) so that I am affected and could complain.

Exactly. Imagine if they did this to every customer. They'd make a fortune with the amount of people going through those doors each day

Bachelor of Computing Systems (2015)

wellygary

4103 posts

Uber Geek

# 380037 15-Sep-2010 10:29

sbiddle: It's clearly wrong in this case but with it's not uncommon to find retailers who get discounts wrong. One common one is "we'll pay your GST" where retailers simply deduct 12.5% off the retail price which is infact incorrect.

Yes, but in that case you are actually getting a better deal than they advertise :), Tey are paying "your GST", and they are giving you an additional 1.388..% discount

6FIEND

774 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 380070 15-Sep-2010 11:31

wellygary:
sbiddle: It's clearly wrong in this case but with it's not uncommon to find retailers who get discounts wrong. One common one is "we'll pay your GST" where retailers simply deduct 12.5% off the retail price which is infact incorrect.

Yes, but in that case you are actually getting a better deal than they advertise :), Tey are paying "your GST", and they are giving you an additional 1.388..% discount

...And the same principle works in reverse with the GST increase. Retailers are saying 12.5% is going up to 15% so there will be a 2.5% price rise.

...but x + 15% is only 2.2% more expensive than x + 12.5%

bazzer

3304 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 380145 15-Sep-2010 14:12

I once heard at a conference that a study in Australia (ok, I know!) showed that 50% of the general population didn't understand what 50% meant. It's not that uncommon for this kind of thing to happen. I doubt it's intentional, just someone doesn't know what they're doing.

I would've queried it until I got them to understand and got the refund, but I doubt it would've made any difference to the rest of the customers. They would've reverted back to their calculation once you'd left. They're hardly going to do $50/1.33333 are they? Where the hell did the 1.33333 come from?!!? Trying to teach them $50 x (100% - discount) probably wouldn't fly either.

1 | 2