So is minus 4 lower than minus 5 celsius - scratchcard confusion

[OrlandoWoolf]

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cool-cash-card-confusion-1009701

Camelot have withdrawn a scratchcard where you had to find a temperature lower than the one on the card.

"Tina Farrell, from Levenshulme, called Camelot after failing to win with several cards.

The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.

"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it. "

I blame the teachers

[FraidyCat]

Let's hope she never has an overdraft, because that sort of confusion could end up expensive.

There was something in the news recently that something like a quarter of school leavers cannot tell from looking at bank statement whether the balance is what they have or what they owe.

[GodRestTEEMerryGenTEEmen]

I can totally see how numbers might be hard for you.

But why tell the world?!

[OrlandoWoolf]

I get people have difficulties with numbers. But I don't get why someone would go to the press

[diddl]

Even if you're a bit shit with negative numbers, I'm that anyone would think that -6 is colder than -8.

[ZingSweetPea]

I will actually totally agree with you on anything, just for the heck of it!

I wonder if there's a poster out there called actually

[farrowandbawlbauls]

Zing what her bank statements? Surely she doesn't think that DD's are putting money into her account?

[TotallyBursar]

Zing keeps me on my toes! And also, phew!

[ZingSweetPea]

More than anything else, I'd be worried about her freezer being set to -1C.

if she thinks that's colder than -21 she is creating a proper health hazard.
seriously, can anyone be that daft/ignorant/thick.....

[ZingSweetPea]

totally agree!

(I'm going to do this now every time I see you - tell me to stop if it annoys you! >

btw your spelling of dyscalculia is flawless!

[fiftyandfab]

jesus.....only read the original post....but to what new hellish lows do we need to descend......???

[manticlimactic]

I remember this. I was working on the Lottery terminal at work at the time of these cards were on sale. Loads of people couldn't grasp the fact that the higher the minus number, the lower the temperature. It drove me nuts!

[Sparklymommy]

Scary that someone could not know that. I am actually speechless. As someone else has said, does that mean she had some winners she threw away?

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Let's hope she never has an overdraft, because that sort of confusion could end up expensive.

[TotallyBursar]

It's the self awareness though.
I have dyscalculia (which amusingly I'm never sure I've spelled correctly). I am erratically terrible with numbers - although this is beyond the pale even for me - so if something like this were to happen I'd think 'wait, look again, it's probably you you turnip'.
I would Google it. Then I would feel a bit of a tit.

I would eat my own face before I broadcast my fuckwittery to everyone.
One of the reasons for that would be the fear that 6 years later people would still be gobsmacked by it!

[Onesleeptillwembley]

Not being mathematical is one thing, even to that extent. But advertising it all over the newspapers does take a special sort of stupid.

[ZingSweetPea]

I wonder if she "will be having it" when she thinks about it in terms of spending/money stolen/how many marbles she lost...

[AnyFuckersfrogslegs35]

Christ on a bike!! Really? :)

Orlando I'm wondering the same thing myself. I don't know which is worse :)

I'd love the answers to -
Why, after the 2nd time the checking machine said no, did she not A) realise she'd got it wrong? or B) go and frigging google it before buying another??

Also what was the shop assistant thinking? She's must feel a bit of a tit now and should feel lucky they've not named her.

[Bogeyface]

It seems that the main demographic that scratchcards are aimed at is people that can not (OK, or will not) work themselves into wealth. So they are the people most likely to have gaps in their education, which means that this sort of scratchcard is not necessarily as obvious to them as it is to me.

[Bogeyface]

To be fair, some people are not good with numbers. My dad was director level in a multinational when he retired but he would have probably have thought he had won, just because 6 is less than 8.

However, he would have cut his own face off rather than go to the papers and say "I am not having that!" . He would be embarrassed that he didnt understand it.

[PrincessFlirtyPants]

So is she pleased when the temperature "increases" from -8 degrees to minus -10 degrees as its getting warmer then?

[MrsCakesPremonition]

I wanted a photo of Tina doing her sad face.

[Trigglesx]

perhaps drawing a number line would've helped?

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

I would want to comment on a person lack of math skills, but it's simple just look on a thermometer -6 comes before -8

[LuciusMalfoyisSmokingHot]

That would mean she might have had a winner and chucked it.

[Caitlin17]

Oh dear. It's so bleedin' obvious that to be lower than -8 the numbers would have to be -9,-10 etcetera that I had to spend time trying to work out why Tina could possibly think -6 or -7 were lower.