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Sears Fails Third-Grade Math

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Quick, what's 2 x 15? Did you get 40? No? Then you're apparently overqualified to run Sears' website.

The always terrible retailer tried to charge reader Aaron an extra $10 for two run-of-the-mill rubber garden hoses. Sears fixed the problem without argument when Aaron called in the next day to point out the miscalculation.

"I guess Sears has a new way to generate more revenue," he mused.

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Comments:

32
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*points out the double 'overqualified' in the above article*

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You're apparently overqualified to be an editor at Consumerist...

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@Mknzybsofh That's what happens when you blog while listening to Duran Duran and Lisa Lisa.

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I wonder if Carey meant meant to do that?

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Don't forget Talk Talk, Bow Wow Wow, and Yah Yah Yah's.

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@ngc6027: +1 for making me laugh for the first time today.

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Mister Mister, Ting Tings, Go-Go's... this is fun. Does Snoop Doggy Dog count?

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@tc4b: Only if Tony Toni Tone does.

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The Goo Goo Dolls, or The The.

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If GooGoo Dolls count, then so does Hot Hot Heat

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@Mknzybsofh: Ha! that's pretty ironic in an article like this.

However, problems with the post should be reported to the author.

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To be fair to Sears, it wasn't $15.00, it was $14.99; that's a much tougher math problem.

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I actually was going to send this in last weekend but never got around to it. When they first put these on sale the page was the same (29.99 crossed out and 14.99 below it). Add it to your cart? Yep that will be $29.99. Checked again a couple hours later. Added same hose to cart? Yep that will be 19.99. Looks like they are still ringing up 19.99. So instead I ordered a hose from Lowes where they know how to do math.

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I don't think decimals were covered until 4th grade, if I remember.

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hmmmm...

var quantity
var subtotal
function CalculateSubtotal(price, quantity){
subtotal = price*quantity
}

That's easier than third grade math. The server does all the math for you. Granted that was psuedocode and only part of the problem but... yeah...

The oddest part is that the total they came up with is NOT the undiscounted plus the discounted, it's also NOT the discounted twice OR the undiscounted twice. I have no idea where their math came from.

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HI tere! I be sears wroker, i make price. math is be my good skill.

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They were probably changing shift for the people who punch all the website orders into an adding machine and give you the total, and someone pushed the wrong button. Happens all the time.

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Another group of math wizards run the federal government. Spending money they don't have. Whatever happened to a balanced budget? Oops.

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@ kwsventures:

Fiscal Conservatives got put in office.

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That's nothing. Ticketmaster can take 2 x $7.99 and make it $41.18 (true story).

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Verizon can take 35,896 KB at $0.00002/kb and charge you $71.80

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(for people too lazy to run a calculator app, 35,896*0.00002=0.72)

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@WiglyWorm:

well... on the surface, you are right. It is very simple code that can compare those two numbers. But I suspect there may be much more going on here than meets the eye. Chances are there is some other number coming into play here - perhaps a number on the database that wasnt updated, or was updated with an incorrect amount.

It is an exceptionally good chance it is not the code that is an issue, but the data itself.

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@MightyCow: lol @ thinking there are actually people adding it up. Seriously made me laugh.

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Aaaah!! Maaaath! *runs away crying*

I'm so bad at math I probably wouldn't have noticed.

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@gStein actually its 0.71792

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Sears must have hired some Target employees, This sounds like Target math

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@WiglyWorm: -1 for using global variables.

Kidding.

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@WiglyWorm:

I totally misread that as fecal conservatives, and couldn't for the life of me figure out where that thread was going...