vendredi 14 mars 2008
In France there is a thing called "Tickets Resto". They are provided by some employers, to help their employees pay for meals. Companies are not required, as far as I can tell, to provide them. It is usually considered a benefit to working somewhere. My previous job, which had more employees, did not while my new job does. The employer pays a certain percentage (at least 50% I believe) of the cost of the coupon, and the employee pays the rest. Each ticket is currently worth 7.70€. This amount is adjusted on an annual basis, and what a surprise! the cost of meals in places that accept the tickets goes up accordingly. Many places, such as bakeries, will offer meals for 5.50€ or more that usually includes a sandwich, a drink, and a dessert. If you buy a meal that is less than 7.70€ some places will give you change back (up to one or two euros) while others will not, just depends. If the meal is more, you have to pay the difference.
The slightly bad thing is that sometimes you feel obligated to take more food than you really want/need. For example, there is a pasta place that offers a pasta dish, a small dessert, and a can of soda for 7€. For 50 cents more, you can get a larger soda or a medium-sized dessert. You can't get change back on your 7.70 ticket. Do you take the larger portion to "get your money's worth" or not?
You are only allowed one coupon for each day that you work, and they have to be used by January of the following year.
The good thing is that other places, such as grocery stores and butchers, accept them, but not all. It is indicated on the window usually, and you can also search online.
However, they vary as far as how many tickets they will accept at one time. When doing my grocery shopping last Friday (yay, my day off!) I asked at Casino if they will accept them. Yes, but only two at a time. So 15.50 was deducted from my total bill of 49 euros, and I paid the rest with my debit card. How silly of a rule is that? Well lady, I can either come through the line four times with approximately 15 euros worth of groceries at a time, which I don't think you nor the customers behind me will like, or you can accept more than one at a time. I guess I could go to the store every other day, but really, who has time for that? I asked at two other stores, ED and Franprix, and they don't even accept the tickets. They accept Ticket Service, which I am guessing (from my 30 second Google perusal, is kinda like foodstamps. Sigh. So I have a choice of going to those stores and paying all our own money, or being a nuisance at Casino. Hmm.
Sometimes real restaurants accept them, but they all make up their own rules- not on Sunday. Not at night. No more than two per meal. No more than one per person. Not if your hair is light brown. Not if you are wearing glasses. Not if you scratched your nose while ordering dessert.
All in all though, it is a good deal.
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4 commentaires:
Yeah for Tickets Restaurant!
Mine are only worth €7, lucky you.
I don't know the reason why a ticket limit in some places, but I'm pretty much sure it has originated from somebody trying to cheat one way or the other...
Yes, the amount of each ticket-restaurant is only determined by the employer and how much they are willing to shell out for each employee -- it's not a fixed amount. In my previous job we got tickets resto, but only worth 5 Euros!!! And this is in PARIS. In my current job, I don't even get them, so I guess I can't complain...
It is nice having them on hand to help out, but I couldn't imagine using them in the grocery stores -- wouldn't it be better to save them for situations where you might really need them, like pour "dépanner" when you can't use your CB? My boyfriend is terrible, because the poor thing can't seem to spend less than 10 € on a meal anyway (it's pretty hard not to in the city), so his tickets get used up REALLY QUICKLY... But on occasion we'll use them in a restaurant if it just so happens to be the beginning of the month...
Yes, the amount of each ticket-restaurant is only determined by the employer and how much they are willing to shell out for each employee -- it's not a fixed amount. In my previous job we got tickets resto, but only worth 5 Euros!!! And this is in PARIS. In my current job, I don't even get them, so I guess I can't complain...
It is nice having them on hand to help out, but I couldn't imagine using them in the grocery stores -- wouldn't it be better to save them for situations where you might really need them, like pour "dépanner" when you can't use your CB? My boyfriend is terrible, because the poor thing can't seem to spend less than 10 € on a meal anyway (it's pretty hard not to in the city), so his tickets get used up REALLY QUICKLY... But on occasion we'll use them in a restaurant if it just so happens to be the beginning of the month...
When I worked near Avenue Montaigne, our resto tickets were 10 Euros (well...9.78 to be exact). You still needed ONE to get A SANDWICH. Lord help me if you wanted something more substantial.
I had a colleague who brought her lunch in everyday, so she saved up her tickets and used them to buy groceries from the campground supermarket when she went camping every summer.