The Backlog

Lately, the Bank Negara Malaysia has announced that over-the-counter payments will be rounded to the nearest five sen. That means the 1 sen coin might cease to be legal tender very soon.

At first, I thought this could be a good move when amounts ending 1, 2, 6 or 7 will be given an instant discount to the nearest five sen. But as time went by, I noticed that whenever I went shopping or eat out at fast food restaurants, the amount of the bill would almost always result in a round-up rather than a round-down. This means spending an extra few sen everyday. While this could be a negligible amount to some, I believe that the extra few sen per day could snowball into hundreds or even thousands one day. I cannot afford to overspend that much of money due to my current financial status.

Do fast food restaurants adjust their prices so that customers would eventually pay more than they should? Somehow I believe this is true. McDonalds had adjusted their prices more than once in the past few months. The decline of the Ringgit might be a factor, shouldn’t it be enough for McDonalds to adjust their prices just once? Maybe they just want to increase their prices gradually in hope that the public doesn’t notice the leap.

Well, some of us did. A friend looked at the menu recently and went “Wah, this costs so much already ah?!”. He must be out of touch with fast food for at least 3 months. Not only the basic prices of the McValue Meals have increased, even the option to supersize costs more now. Back then it only costs 80 sen to upsize a McValue Meal, but now it has inflated to a full ringgit. The 20 sen increase is not as simple as it seems. McDonalds charges an extra 5% tax on top of the resultant amount that you have to pay. 5% of 1 ringgit is 5 sen, so if you choose to upsize, there will be another 5 sen charged upon you.

I went back to McDonalds a few days later, and pondered at the menu while munching on a Spicy Chicken Wrap. I listed down the prices of all McValue Meals and their prices after tax, and found out that most of the prices will result in a round-up. Here goes nothing!

McValue Meal 1: McChicken
Price: RM7.85 + 5% tax = RM 8.24 (This is a round-up)

McValue Meal 2: Chicken McNuggets
Price: RM7.95 + 5% tax = RM 8.34 (Another round-up)

McValue Meal 3: Fillet O’ Fish
Price: RM7.75 + 5% tax = RM 8.13 (Up!)

McValue Meal 4: Double Cheeseburger
Price: RM8.10 + 5% tax = RM8.50

McValue Meal 5: Big Mac
Price: RM8.50 + 5% tax = RM8.93 (Up!)

McValue Meal 6: Quarter Pounder
Price: RM8.30 + 5% tax = RM8.72 (OMG! Round-down!)

McValue Meal 7: Spicy Chicken McDeluxe
Price: RM9.45 + 5% tax = RM9.92 (Down! Down! Down!)

McValue Meal 8: Ayam Goreng McD (Regular/Spicy)
Price: RM8.95 + 5% tax = RM 9.40

McValue Meal 9 & 10: Chicken/Beef Foldovers
Price: RM9.45 + 5% tax = RM9.93 (Up again!)

So the conclusion is that if you go to McDonalds alone, order the regular sized Quarter Pounder set or the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe sets for a 2 sen discount. Don’t be proud of the 2 sen rebate though, McDonalds must have thought of this evil scheme of customers sticking to a strict QP or SCM diet so they increased the prices beforehand. Argh, I hate inflation.

Don’t tell me to quit McDonalds. It will be like telling a chain smoker to go cigarette-free. Yes, it’s that hard.