or should they have just given us a bag?

[Catsize]

So, naice farm shop in a garden centre...

I buy two large homemade(ish) cottage pies and wave my partner in the direction of the till with the cottage pies and my credit card whilst I wait with the ferry double buggy and sleeping children.

She pays for the stuff and is then asked if she would like a bag as the till person forgot to ask.

"Yes please"
"Well, I'll have to charge you 5p"
"But I only have this credit card"
''I still have to charge you 5p"

So, rather than my partner just carrying the things back to us lot and putting them in the probably slightly unhygienic basket bit under the double buggy, the card is proffered and 5p put on a card.

MN jury, this was for a paper bag!!

I think that till person was bu for charging and partner was bu for putting 5p on a credit card, but I was wondering if a) you agree and b) whether we have broken a MN record for smallest credit card transaction ever...

[treaclesoda]

It depends where you are. Small shops aren't exempt in N Ireland.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Meant they should not be charging for paper bags.

[ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe]

Your accountant looks through every single of your receipts?

[Catsize]

Till is a general till, for plants, farm shop stuff, whatever.

[PeaceOfWildThings]

No, the charge is for plastic bags, not paper bags. Holland and Barratt, Wholefoods, many clothes stores (White Stuff etc.) do NOT charge for their paper bags.

[tibbawyrots]

Checkout woman in Asda charged me for a tiny bag which I had put 2 avocados in saying that avocados were pre-wrapped (as in the skin, no artificial wrapping)

I queried it with HO just out of curiosity and they said that she was wrong and I shouldn't have been charged; they also sent me a gift card as compensation (which was not my intent when I asked the question; it was just because I wasn't sure).

[treaclesoda]

Cross posted. Well, if the shop and or bag was exempt then it wouldn't have killed them to have just given you one. Although on the other hand, they probably get people all the time who say they don't need a bag then suddenly change their mind once the transaction is complete because they think that they can dodge the charge that way.

[Catsize]

No chardonnay, But credit card statements are submitted in support of other stuff. Don't think the 5p will really be spotted, but might circle it for posterity... And Guiness Book of Records submission.

[Mozfan1]

In h and m the bags are free because they are paper (England)

[acasualobserver]

I wait with the ferry double buggy

I didn't get this bit.

[treaclesoda]

Sirzy I'm in N Ireland and small shops and paper bags are not exempt here. I had assumed England was the same.

It sounds very complicated over there, who decides what counts as a big or a small business?

[Natsku]

YANBU, they should have just given the bag. They've charged for bags for years where I live but a few times I've only realised I needed an extra bag after paying and they always just let me take one because its silly otherwise.

Though I've used my card (debit though, not credit) to pay around 5 cents before as I was using a ticket from the recycling machine to pay (we get money back on returning empty cans and bottles) but was about 5 cents off the price of the bottle of wine I wanted to buy so had to cover the last bit with my card. Felt quite silly doing that!

[LikeTheShoes]

In Wales paper bags and small businesses are not exempt.

You gave 5p to charity. (Or at least, it is "expected" by the government that the 5ps from bag sales go to charity) It probably cost the shop near enough to 50p in transaction charges. If they didn't charge you and were being inspected they could be issued with a penalty between £200-£5000.

[treaclesoda]

Sorry, I expect HMRC decide, but what I meant was how is that easily translated to the customer? You can't really tell by looking at a shop how big the actual business is?

[Natsku]

YANBU, they should have just given the bag. They've charged for bags for years where I live but a few times I've only realised I needed an extra bag after paying and they always just let me take one because its silly otherwise.

Though I've used my card (debit though, not credit) to pay around 5 cents before as I was using a ticket from the recycling machine to pay (we get money back on returning empty cans and bottles) but was about 5 cents off the price of the bottle of wine I wanted to buy so had to cover the last bit with my card. Felt quite silly doing that!

[Natsku]

Oops double post

[Catsize]

casual it was busy in there and I couldn't be bothered to navigate through people and bowls of olives to a narrow till area where we would have just been in the way. We were then going to head on the opposite direction and partner is quite lean and nippy. ⛹

[PikachuSayBoo]

Primary don't charge for their paper bags I don't think?

Our local (small business) farm shop have charged for their paper bags since before the plastic bag charge became law. It's their business model as they say they're trying to be environmentally friendly.

[LikeTheShoes]

They work out your number of employees like this:
On the first day of the reporting year calculate how many full-time equivalent employees you have:
Work out how many hours a full-time employee would work in a year (eg 40 hours by 52 weeks is 2,080).
Multiply this by the amount of full-time workers there for the full year (eg 200 workers by 2,080 is 416,000).
Work out part-time and seasonal workers’ hours by multiplying their weekly hours by the weeks worked (eg 100 workers by 20 hours by 10 weeks, added to 100 workers by 40 hours by 25 weeks is 20,00 plus 100,000, giving 120,000).
Add the full-time and part-time or seasonal workers’ hours together (eg 416,000 plus 120,000 is 536,000).
Divide this by the amount of hours a full-time employee would work in a year (eg 536,000 divided by 2,080 is 257.7).
If this number is 250 or more then you must charge for bags.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

The answer of just to buy a few of those bags that fold up tiny and keep them in your bag at all times. Then this issue never arises. You'll find you use them even where the plastic bag would be free.

[Fairenuff]

Do you usually put all your shopping on the credit card? Don't you have a debit card?

[UntilTheCowsComeHome]

I work in a shop, lots of people decide after they've concluded their shopping that they suddenly need a bag so 5p transactions really aren't that unusual. I do about 2 a shift.

[Oysterbabe]

They were right to charge for the bag if that is their policy. They should have offered one before completing the transaction though.

[pudcat]

Cottage pies don't have raw meat in them. It is already cooked

[StealthPolarBear]

It's not the law surely