[Aces4]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm surprised that anyone uses cash anymore for anything. In fact sometimes it drives me a bit bonkers. I was in Publix last week to pick up a few things and I'm in the 10 items or less line. I was in a bit of a hurry because I was supposed to meet someone. I'm next in line so I take out my credit card and get ready to pay and get out. The cashier rings up about eight items for the woman in front of me. The woman looks at the amount on the screen, looks at her items and looks back at the amount. The she asks the cashier if the amount is correct, which is was. Then and only then she pulls her wallet out of her purse and opens it up. (Did she think that it was going to be free?) Then she starts fumbling around with bills handing over several bills one at at time to the cashier. I'm starting to get a bit upset watching this whole thing because, as I said, I had to be somewhere. So now, she pulls out, yes, one of those little rubber coin purses and starts counting out change and handing coins to the cashier, one at a time. The cashier then hands her the receipt and she looks at it for a bit and then begins putting her change purse back in to her wallet, her wallet back into her purse and finally, her items into the shopping cart, all while standing in front the payment machine. I looked behind me and there were now six people in line waiting. She finally leaves and I looked at the cashier who just shook her head at me. I inserted my card into the payment machine while she scanned my four items. I removed it seconds later, she handed me my bagged groceries and receipt. My transaction took less than a minute.

Why do people use cash. I do carry a bit because occasionally, I run into a situation where I need it, but 99.999% of the time I use my credit card and get between 2% and 5% back on purchases. If the people who are counting out their change from a rubber purse thought about that, maybe the would use cards as well.


I understand the point of the customer deciding to leave the change as a tip or the restaurant just taking it, but I'm interested in knowing exactly how much money we're talking about that would cause someone to post a warning about it.

I wonder when it became other people’s problem when some people start late and don’t plan properly. How people handle their money and pay their bills was still an American privilege last I heard. To insist everyone run around with a cc is ludicrous, some don’t even qualify for cc’s. Six people in a line at Publix isn’t unusual during peak times. Plan accordingly.

I agree with the OP, the change grab is wrong. I would no longer patronize those businesses operating that way. Everything now is soooo much work for everyone to handle. It all goes along with the dumbing of America.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by DAVES

Reality. As far a credit cards and 2% backs. Where do you think that money comes from. The retailer pays it and so adds it into the price so the consumer pays it.

The government is happy with credit cards. A friend who had a retail store when, I stated it is q cash business informed me that today their is little cash business.
Depending on their size a retailer can get hit with a fee on every transaction plus 1-2% of the gross sale. That is on the total sale not just the profit. If, the profit is a typical 20-30% gross, a credit card takes a huge bit out of the profit as the fees are on the total amount.

Yes, the Government is happy with credit cards, but so are the merchants. Without credit cards, they would go out of business. The only people who are not happy with credit cards are muggers.

[oneclickplus]

Originally Posted by Happinow

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.

They have learned from the government that your money is not yours.

[Marine1974]

I dont think you should belittle someone for questioning why
they didn’t get the proper amount back and not having a choice in what tip they want to leave to their server . We can only assume you must be a server and
steal from your customers too .

[Sherry8bal]

Originally Posted by Happinow

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!

I agree with you. I would never repeat a visit to any place of business that did this to me. There is no reason for a REAL business manager not to have enough change to run their daily business. This sounds like another excuse to not have to bother. I would never go back to Metro Diner or Chop House. Please report any other businesses that are doing this too.

[Sherry8bal]

Originally Posted by Joe C.

The "coin shortage" is a fabrication. It's a move that is supposed to drive us into "a cashless society".
Not giving the correct change in a business transaction is wrong. It's cheating, or stealing....whichever way you define it. It's inexcusable.
People who allow themselves to be shortchanged are sheeple.
Stand up for what's right.....no matter how "petty" it seems. Because if you let them take an inch, they'll eventually take a mile.
If something is mine, then it's MINE! Take it without permission, and you do so at your own peril.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!! It's another reason to get rid of cash.

[Cheryl Barrios]

I understand where you are coming from completely. I have trained wait staff in the past. There are several things regarding payment due in that training including:
1. NEVER ask a patron if they want their change back when paid with cash
2. ALWAYS give a patron back all of their change
3. NEVER PAD a check - ie - don't add extra drinks, don't charge for a premier drink, don't add extras (especially easy to do in big parties)
4. ALWAYS make sure the patron gets what they ordered - ie - don't forget to bring an appetizer but still charge for it

There were more.

Now why did I go through such specific training? Here are some reasons:
1. We want the patron to return
2. The wait staffs' behavior reflects on the restaurant
3. This may be the patrons monthly (or whatever) dinner out and they scrunch their pennies to be able to do so - (wait staff are not the only people who struggle with money COVID or not)
4. Doing any of the above not only affects the reputation of the server but of the restaurant AND as a result, the server will probably receive a smaller TIP (if any) and the restaurant a bad review.

There were more here too.

One thing I learned from a very wise man many years ago was this -
Live frugally...If you see change on the ground, pick it up and save it; Anytime you get change back, save it; It will accumulate quickly. You will be then always be able to give back because there will always be money for you at home.

Condoning the behavior of wait staff by either including the cents/dollars not returned by just taking it out of the tip you would have left or just adding it to the tip you were going to leave is not the right thing to do. Of course, you can do it if you want, that's fine. It is your choice or right to do so. BUT it is not the right of the wait staff to not give you your change back no matter how small. When people quit allowing others to do what they want, especially when in principle it is wrong, they will quit. I will guarantee you, at the end of the night, when the wait staff is checking out with the restaurant and paying their checks, if the total came to $XXXX.67, they are NOT going to round it up to $XXXX + $1, they will pay $XXXX.67. They will take from others, but not give it up when it comes to paying the restaurant. My sister still works as part of a wait staff. She brings home over $500 a night during the week and $800 to $1,000 a night on Fridays and Saturdays. She returns every bit of change to her customers, never cheats them, even a penny. She gets requests from patrons because they've been cheated by others. It certainly has paid off for her.

Originally Posted by Happinow

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!

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Marine1974

I dont think you should belittle someone for questioning why
they didn’t get the proper amount back and not having a choice in what tip they want to leave to their server . We can only assume you must be a server and
steal from your customers too .

Who?

[ChicagoNative]

Originally Posted by Cheryl Barrios

I understand where you are coming from completely. I have trained wait staff in the past. There are several things regarding payment due in that training including:
1. NEVER ask a patron if they want their change back when paid with cash
2. ALWAYS give a patron back all of their change
3. NEVER PAD a check - ie - don't add extra drinks, don't charge for a premier drink, don't add extras (especially easy to do in big parties)
4. ALWAYS make sure the patron gets what they ordered - ie - don't forget to bring an appetizer but still charge for it

There were more.

Now why did I go through such specific training? Here are some reasons:
1. We want the patron to return
2. The wait staffs' behavior reflects on the restaurant
3. This may be the patrons monthly (or whatever) dinner out and they scrunch their pennies to be able to do so - (wait staff are not the only people who struggle with money COVID or not)
4. Doing any of the above not only affects the reputation of the server but of the restaurant AND as a result, the server will probably receive a smaller TIP (if any) and the restaurant a bad review.

There were more here too.

One thing I learned from a very wise man many years ago was this -
Live frugally...If you see change on the ground, pick it up and save it; Anytime you get change back, save it; It will accumulate quickly. You will be then always be able to give back because there will always be money for you at home.

Condoning the behavior of wait staff by either including the cents/dollars not returned by just taking it out of the tip you would have left or just adding it to the tip you were going to leave is not the right thing to do. Of course, you can do it if you want, that's fine. It is your choice or right to do so. BUT it is not the right of the wait staff to not give you your change back no matter how small. When people quit allowing others to do what they want, especially when in principle it is wrong, they will quit. I will guarantee you, at the end of the night, when the wait staff is checking out with the restaurant and paying their checks, if the total came to $XXXX.67, they are NOT going to round it up to $XXXX + $1, they will pay $XXXX.67. They will take from others, but not give it up when it comes to paying the restaurant. My sister still works as part of a wait staff. She brings home over $500 a night during the week and $800 to $1,000 a night on Fridays and Saturdays. She returns every bit of change to her customers, never cheats them, even a penny. She gets requests from patrons because they've been cheated by others. It certainly has paid off for her.

Brava!👏👏👏👏👏

[swooner]

Originally Posted by Happinow

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!

If you have to be that concerned about a few coins you should probably eat at home.

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by Happinow

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.

me too

[jimlambert]

I cringe when I see people paying with cash. Pandemic aside, the points you can accumulate from credit card sign up bonuses and using them for normal spending can pay for fantastic trips! My wife and I have been on three European vacations to Italy, France/England and a cruise out of New Amsterdam. The points paid for nearly all of the airfare and all of the hotels. And we stayed in top notch hotels too. I paid for a Mediterranean cruise and a Baltic cruise. Other than paying for meals and trinkets the rest was free! Go to millionmilesecrets.com to start learning how.

[juddfl]

If you use a credit card instead of cash, be sure to reconcile your monthly credit card bill to your receipts. I've had the wait staff change my tip. A few years back at a restaurant I ordered a $12 salad and added a $3 tip for a total of $15. When I got my monthly statement, it was charged $18 instead of $15. That is a 50% tip. I went back to the restaurant and spoke to the manager and told him that maybe she hit the 8 key instead of the 5. He told me that this has been done before. When he left, a senior women that seats people told me that this will be the 5th person fired for doing this in the 2 1/2 years that she has worked there. She said, it is not the stealing that bothers her as much as what they say in the back kitchen. She overheard them say that the seniors that live here are too stupid or naive to compare their receipts with their monthly bills. They laugh and then show the others how to do it. I've caught a few wrong amounts on my bill and it is not just restaurants. Be careful !

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm surprised that anyone uses cash anymore for anything. In fact sometimes it drives me a bit bonkers. I was in Publix last week to pick up a few things and I'm in the 10 items or less line. I was in a bit of a hurry because I was supposed to meet someone. I'm next in line so I take out my credit card and get ready to pay and get out. The cashier rings up about eight items for the woman in front of me. The woman looks at the amount on the screen, looks at her items and looks back at the amount. The she asks the cashier if the amount is correct, which is was. Then and only then she pulls her wallet out of her purse and opens it up. (Did she think that it was going to be free?) Then she starts fumbling around with bills handing over several bills one at at time to the cashier. I'm starting to get a bit upset watching this whole thing because, as I said, I had to be somewhere. So now, she pulls out, yes, one of those little rubber coin purses and starts counting out change and handing coins to the cashier, one at a time. The cashier then hands her the receipt and she looks at it for a bit and then begins putting her change purse back in to her wallet, her wallet back into her purse and finally, her items into the shopping cart, all while standing in front the payment machine. I looked behind me and there were now six people in line waiting. She finally leaves and I looked at the cashier who just shook her head at me. I inserted my card into the payment machine while she scanned my four items. I removed it seconds later, she handed me my bagged groceries and receipt. My transaction took less than a minute.

Why do people use cash. I do carry a bit because occasionally, I run into a situation where I need it, but 99.999% of the time I use my credit card and get between 2% and 5% back on purchases. If the people who are counting out their change from a rubber purse thought about that, maybe the would use cards as well.


I understand the point of the customer deciding to leave the change as a tip or the restaurant just taking it, but I'm interested in knowing exactly how much money we're talking about that would cause someone to post a warning about it.

That same lady is always in front of me in line. I'm glad that she is also picking on someone else. To answer your question about how much money we are talking about, I do about 70 transactions per month, mostly credit card. But, if every one were rounded up to the next dollar, it would average about 50 cents each, or about $35 per month, which I think is substantial enough for the OP to complain about.

[Carol - D.]

I've been overcharged many times - not just restaurants. Walmart, Aldis, etc. Gotta watch everyone.