birdynumnum

Yes & lets hope anyone whose in a hot pickle here manages sort it

yes of course

jeez
i dont fancy a frenchie with a camel thats losing its hair





get well soon arkon.

ive heard camels dont like lemsip breath

BadgeIsBack

I spent a year here as a backpacker but also a fair bit of time with a family and 3 screaming kids so got to see it all first hand.

Most backpackers won't see the real Australia probably, to say nothing of the holidaymakers.

I met backpackers that were over it after 6 months.

kiwi_child

Indeed, cos being in a bind (or a pickle) ain't a hell of a lot of fun!

Fat Bloke

That would take a little longer than a minute and I am not sure if you would understand some of the content.

birdynumnum

Damn, I was trying to get you back onto talking about relishes

MartinLuther

Actually Aus does not have chip and pin. Aus has had EFTPOS (which is a bit like chip and pin) longer than the UK's equivalent, but it still does not have chip and pin. Chip and pin relates to credit cards and Aus still works on signatures. You can get a pin number for your credit card and you can type it in but you will still be asked to sign; so you may as well just press the OK button and sign anyway.

I wonder how this affects arkon's theory on why a country HAS to introduce chip and pin I suspect that there'll be a new theory in the offing

arkon

Obvious! Eftpos was introduced to combat 'Assistant fiver palming". Much harder to steel money from a customer if cash has been eliminated.

MartinLuther

Wow - that was quick.

And why did the UK have to introduce chip and pin before Aus?

arkon

Obvious, the huge influx of Australian bar people into the country in search of a better life.

MartinLuther

It's amazing how easy it is to miss the obvious explanations.

birdynumnum

Fair point, but as a backpacker you'd get a better idea than as a holidaymaker.

arkon

I'll give this country one thing though. Since being here my simple maths skills have improved no end, I now work out the cost of my shopping and the change I expect as I hand the money over. Means I can scan the change quickly to see if it's right without doing an obvious count of the money, which I find embarrising to do.

Some places never attempt to short change me though, Mc Donalds being one of the safest places to pay with cash IMO.

kiwi_child

Speaking of scans and scams; I always pay very close attention to the prices as they show up on the monitor when being scanned. Sometimes an advertised special will scan at original price and you can then mention it and get the item free. Even if you don't see the error till you get home, go back as soon as you can with your receipt, for the cash refund. Also goods with reduced price stickers sometimes still get scanned wrong. I also check my docket once done as soemtimes you might get charged twice for an item. I have had all of these scenarios occur!

Check the scanning policy of the store, but I know woolies and coles apply a code of practice for this.

Fat Bloke

I agree. I have been short changed lots of times in Australia, it happens regularly, I am now paranoid about it and always do a quick check of the change in my palm to make sure it is somewhere near what I expect it to be.

The only place in the UK where this would ever happen to me are in the corner shops run by members of the Pakistani community.