Watch your change
 

So hubby and I went to dinner at Metro Dinner Sunday evening. When it was time to pay our bill, we noticed that we only got dollars back and no change that was due to us. We counted our dollars thinking that the server had rounded up the change to give us only dollars back. This was not the case.

We called the manager over and told him that we did not get the proper change back. He asked who our server was and we pointed him out. We also asked the manager if they give change back. He kinda fumbled with his words and eventually said well we usually round up the dollar amount in the customers favor because we don’t have a way to make change here due to the “change shortage”. Our servers bring their own money from home to make change with. We told him that in our case our server did not round up the dollar amount. He went to our server who gave him the dollar to give to us.

This struck me as odd because a week ago, I was having lunch at Chop House with a friend who I hadn’t seen in 20 years. When she received her check she also did not receive the correct change. She did not receive her change, nor did they round up her amount t that they returned to her. They just kept the change......no explanation given. I told my friend to call our server back over and question why she did not receive her proper change. She refused.

My question is....with the “change shortage 🤣🤣) are the servers just keeping the change?? For me, this is unacceptable and is no different than stealing it. It’s my money and I’ll decide if I want them to keep the change.

You may want to count your change before you leave a restaurant. They are pulling a fast one on us!

There still is a change shortage but they seem to be handling it wrong. Of course I would probably say to them that you just chose your tip amount and call it a day. For me though I rarely have cash with me so everything goes on the card, that way there is no issue.

It's shocking that you don't carry a little rubber thing with coins for just these moments.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

C'mon. Less than a dollar. Just add it to the tip. Of course, if one is the type that does not believe in tipping, then I guess less than a dollar would keep one from being happy now, and later.

A lot of people are having trouble making money to feed their family. I am thankful that I am not one of them. My tips have been larger than normal for these last several months. I figure, if I can afford to eat out, I can afford to help someone.

Change
 

We’ve had two restaurants recently charge full price for drinks during happy hour, not sure if it’s restaurant management encouraging this practice or staff padding the bill for larger tip.
Buyer beware check those receipts.

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Just an all-around bad policy by the restaurant.

If the restaurant wants to round down to the nearest dollar - fine.

If the restaurant posts a conspicuous notice as to their policy to round up so that I can make a decision on how I want to pay - fine.

Not informing me and then keeping my change - not fine

Expecting/requiring the servers to bring a pocket of change so the restaurant doesn't need to deal with it - not fine.

Can customers choose to round down to the nearest dollar citing the change shortage as a valid reason?

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You’ve missed the point.....of course I would add it to the tip, and I did, however that has to be MY choice, not theirs. Other people don’t get to decide what I do with MY money, no matter how small the change was.

Maybe the restaurant you went to for happy hour only includes house brands for their happy hour prices.

I think it’s shocking that the SERVERS don’t carry a little rubber thing for coins just for these moments. It’s their responsibility to give the customer back the correct change.

It is all hanky panky

...

Like you, I prefer the single large bill at the end of the month. All my expenses in one place and easy to find. Plus, I'm one of those people who reconciles the credit card statement. Rounding up to the nearest dollar like you describe makes it easy to notice suspicious charges.