Cashiers refusing Change for cash

[taheen74]

Oddly enough, I used to own gumball machines, and I'd have hundreds of dollars in rolls of quarters. Since I'm not generally an obnoxious dick, I did my best to get to the bank to exchange them, but occasionally I'd find myself making purchases with rolls of quarters. I always found it absolutely bizarre how many cashiers seemed to be personally affronted by the idea that I was handing them rolls of quarters. Some insisted they be counted out - OK, I'll do that, but I'm pretty fucking good at rolling them, so it's going to be right and we're just wasting time. I even had a couple people outright try to refuse to take them, but when informed that they can't refuse US legal tender they gave in.

I'm normally not confrontational and try to be as friendly as possible. I have no idea what it is about rolls of coins that brings out the worst.

(I realize this isn't exactly the topic, but it popped to my mind, and it's close enough.)

When I worked cashier work in San Diego, we would have a busy time of the month on the first and the fifteenth of the month- literally would have a line out the door. During that time, we could not take 56 dollars worth of change from a customer because we would have to count it out. First and fifteenth of the month was about getting folks in and out in a timely manner.

A lot of businesses I have done cashier work do not like taking mass amounts of change for a purchase because they do have to count out the change before putting it in the drawer (to ensure they are getting the correct amount). This includes rolled up change (to ensure there are no fake coins in that roll).

That's why you run into this in businesses. It's nothing personal.

[Afrospinach]

Most stores exchange cash for change yet on the other hand a majority of them do not. I never understood why some cashiers refuse change in exchange for cash. In the end you are getting the same thing. Not sure if the store just prefers cash over change (which everybody does) or it's just a policy. What are you're guys thoughts?

There is usually a common denomination people carry around with them(whatever your atms like to spit out usually), here in NZ it's 20s, 20s and more 20s. Stores only carry so much change with them and generally only get 20s(or your countries favoured note) in return throughout the day. You start giving out your change to anyone for the asking you are doing it for free for a start(which may or may not be an issue depending on how busy you are) and then you are going to be running to and from the bank all day getting change. Something like a supermarket would probably be ok with as they probably have a hell of a lot of it on hand and better security. When I worked at a gas station many years ago I made people buy something or no deal unless I was swimming in change, but on the weekend when banks are closed, forget it. IIRC that was actually store policy as I am sure it is for most small businesses but they were not so hot on formal training there, mystery solved?

Oddly enough, I used to own gumball machines, and I'd have hundreds of dollars in rolls of quarters. Since I'm not generally an obnoxious dick, I did my best to get to the bank to exchange them, but occasionally I'd find myself making purchases with rolls of quarters.

I am surprised they did not have one of those spiffy weighing machines, they can even weigh paper money 100% accurately. Take 5 seconds to count your superfluous quarter stash.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

Most stores exchange cash for change yet on the other hand a majority of them do not. I never understood why some cashiers refuse change in exchange for cash. In the end you are getting the same thing. Not sure if the store just prefers cash over change (which everybody does) or it's just a policy. What are you're guys thoughts?

Stop trying to get drug money!

Ok, really, cashiers don't usually have a fuckton of change to give you for your money, so if you went in with anything over a $5 you'd probably get denied unless you were lucky. A lot of stores also have a really stupid policy of limiting no sales. Too many can get you into trouble. They're basically afraid you're stealing, yet everything you do is on camera and where I work the till is checked each time it is opened and closed.

If you're talking about giving change for paper money, lots of people don't like counting that shit.

Oddly enough, I used to own gumball machines, and I'd have hundreds of dollars in rolls of quarters. Since I'm not generally an obnoxious dick, I did my best to get to the bank to exchange them, but occasionally I'd find myself making purchases with rolls of quarters. I always found it absolutely bizarre how many cashiers seemed to be personally affronted by the idea that I was handing them rolls of quarters. Some insisted they be counted out - OK, I'll do that, but I'm pretty fucking good at rolling them, so it's going to be right and we're just wasting time. I even had a couple people outright try to refuse to take them, but when informed that they can't refuse US legal tender they gave in.

I'm normally not confrontational and try to be as friendly as possible. I have no idea what it is about rolls of coins that brings out the worst.

(I realize this isn't exactly the topic, but it popped to my mind, and it's close enough.)

They actually can refuse them. Otherwise, 7-11 would be in a lot of trouble on a daily basis. They can refuse them because legal tender for debts means that they are acceptable for use in payment in a situation where debt is owed in a set monetary amount. In other words, if you have a rent contract that states that you owe $1000 a month, you can use them for that purpose. If the situation becomes absurd, however, you can get into trouble because it could be considered harassment to lug in 4000 quarters to try to pay off your rent. If you tried to pay them in, say, $5s or something and they refused, saying they only take $20s for rent, you could take them to court on that. For a store, you aren't incurring debt, you are purchasing something. It is a trade, not a promise. Even if it was for purchases and the amount was reasonable, they could still refuse you on the grounds that they can refuse service arbitrarily.

As for rolls of quarters, if you have a paper roll, I'd never refuse it unless you were handing more than $40 at a time. With a paper roll, you can tell if it is right just by looking at and feeling the roll itself. As for more than $40, that's because there's the potential that you're giving me slugs topped with quarters as well as the fact that I don't want to deal with $40 in quarters in my till.

[Deleted]

It depends on the situation really. If I have loads of the desire change in the box i'll normally accept the change, though I generally don't exchange bills higher than 500DKK (roughly 90$). The 1000DKK bill has no value to me as I can never give that back as change to someone else, and it's the bill most criminals try to scam you with. I even check watermarks and paper quality when people pay with these for non-gas stuff and get a lot of money in return, just to make them feel guilty for paying with such a huge bill. Thankfully like 75% of the customers at the gas station I work at pay with cards. Also we're forced to run with a low cash deposit (1000-2000DKK including coins) to avoid robbers so exchanging money for people is not something we want to do unless it's beneficial for us. This also means if two people come in after each other and buy something for 10DKK with a 1000DKK bill the second guy is not going to be able to purchase or he is going to get told to wait for someone to buy something with cash, most customers just give up and go somewhere else.

[BelziBhaal]

If I need to break a $5 into $2, $2, $1, I will go into a Subway store or something, as they usually have a good amount of gold coins. If I need to break a note, I will ask politely, but if they say they need the notes, then so be it. Most stores don't feel feel bad about saying no, as we know they need to have certain amounts of notes on hand for paying customers.

[Amsden]

Well When I worked a till I was always running out of coins. Usually dimes...

[Choptimus]

It's not a bank it's a shop.

[Deleted]

I can't remember the last time I needed to ask for change without buying anything.

If anything I rarely use cash at all. I keep a small amount of cash at home just in case I really really need it but for just about everything I just use my VISA card. The only people I've known in the last ten years or so who insisted on using cash were the tinfoil hat types and people on welfare who were trying to avoid getting screwed by the system (for example, you've been really good at holding on to your money one month and lend SEK 500 to a friend at the end of the month, this is money that would normally have been in your "food budget", beginning of next month your friend pays you back, if your friend deposits this money in your bank account then it counts as "income" and is deducted from the money you get from the government for food and rent that month, so people in situations like that one who aren't complete idiots tend to prefer dealing with cash).

[skrump]

As someone who has worked in retail my entire life I can tell you cashiers generally do not want to touch money more than what is required as if their is a mistake at the end of the day it is harder to locate and the finger is pointed at them.

Furthermore
#1 Don't pay with $100 bills unless you will be getting less than $20 change back (We cannot function if we lack the smaller denominations)
#2 Nickles/dimes/quarters are in short supply for us yet required in 95% of transactions
#3 Please don't pay with a credit/debit card then ask for change "were not a bank and we need to keep a certain balance of our denominations)
#4 if you are paying with change chances are the time spent wasted on you cost my employer more than what you spent.
#5 If your talking on a smartphone while paying with and EBT Card/food stamps please go play in traffic.
#6 if your in any retail outlet after 10pm with a child under 12yo please do us all a favor and report yourself to Cps as an unfit parent.

[Deleted]

i think its mostly bcoz cash is easier to counterfiet?

[Purlina]

What if the cashier gave you $20 of change in coins? Not so fun is it.

Why don't you just go to a bank???

[Spectral]

When I worked cashier work in San Diego, we would have a busy time of the month on the first and the fifteenth of the month- literally would have a line out the door. During that time, we could not take 56 dollars worth of change from a customer because we would have to count it out. First and fifteenth of the month was about getting folks in and out in a timely manner.

A lot of businesses I have done cashier work do not like taking mass amounts of change for a purchase because they do have to count out the change before putting it in the drawer (to ensure they are getting the correct amount). This includes rolled up change (to ensure there are no fake coins in that roll).

That's why you run into this in businesses. It's nothing personal.

That makes sufficient sense, but I'm telling you, sometimes it sure seemed personal. I guess that's probably just people having shitty days, and I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

[Deleted]

Why would a cashier give you change? they need it for actual customers. Stop being a laz git and go to the bank yourself.


If you refer to paying and people refusing large demoninations....well thats a bit more dodgy, if they cant make change, tough, but if they can they are obliged to accept legal tender.

[Spectral]

I am surprised they did not have one of those spiffy weighing machines, they can even weigh paper money 100% accurately. Take 5 seconds to count your superfluous quarter stash.

The bank wanted them rolled anyway, so knowing the value without having rolled them wouldn't have really done me any good. I think rolling ~$300 in quarters took me maybe about 10 minutes after I got decent at it. The machines always seemed to jam or something, it was easier to just have the little plastic thing for it.

---------- Post added 2012-12-05 at 08:47 AM ----------

They actually can refuse them. Otherwise, 7-11 would be in a lot of trouble on a daily basis. They can refuse them because legal tender for debts means that they are acceptable for use in payment in a situation where debt is owed in a set monetary amount. In other words, if you have a rent contract that states that you owe $1000 a month, you can use them for that purpose. If the situation becomes absurd, however, you can get into trouble because it could be considered harassment to lug in 4000 quarters to try to pay off your rent. If you tried to pay them in, say, $5s or something and they refused, saying they only take $20s for rent, you could take them to court on that. For a store, you aren't incurring debt, you are purchasing something. It is a trade, not a promise. Even if it was for purchases and the amount was reasonable, they could still refuse you on the grounds that they can refuse service arbitrarily.

That's true, I'd forgotten that there's legal cases to this effect. I'm under the impression (and I could be wrong) that this wouldn't apply to small transactions. Also, I don't think the arbitrary refusal of service excuse works after someone's explicitly stated that it's because they don't like the form of currency being used.

As for rolls of quarters, if you have a paper roll, I'd never refuse it unless you were handing more than $40 at a time. With a paper roll, you can tell if it is right just by looking at and feeling the roll itself. As for more than $40, that's because there's the potential that you're giving me slugs topped with quarters as well as the fact that I don't want to deal with $40 in quarters in my till.

I had them in paper rolls with my phone number written on them. Granted, someone could put a fraudulent number on them, but it's not real likely. I don't think I ever bought anything larger than ~$20 with change, as I realize it becomes a dick move at some point. This is more along the lines of being on the way home and getting gas, getting a sub, or other minor purchases.

[sheffield]

sorry to go a little off-topic here, but this thread reminds me of the scene in that Michael Douglas movie 'Falling Down', where he needs a quarter to make a phone call but the store owner makes him buy something to get change.. and then well.. I don't want to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it

[Yunru]

Just do it like me. Twice a year i count the change and i put 100 same coins in a bag and then i put a stamp on it. 100 coins for 0.50 cents is 50 euros.
I make a bag for 10 cents 20 cents 1 cent 2 cents and so on. It saves time too the cashier and i usualy make a purchase on the way.

[Riekul]

In high school I worked at a Subway that just happened to be located right next to a coin-operated laundromat. Naturally, we had a lot of requests for either quarters, or to exchange large bills to smaller bills (for the quarter machine next door). Since the same man owned both establishments, we tried to accommodate people as best we could, but there were plenty of occasions where we flat out refused to give someone a roll of quarters. As has been said, we were not a bank.

Speaking of banks, I also worked as a teller for a couple years, and I did have a 'fast-talker' customer try to scam me once when getting change. He was pretty good, and since banks are actually supposed to give you change, I couldn't exactly refuse him. At my bank our training was good, and each request he made I handled as a separate transaction, so I never handed him any money until I had entered it in the computer and counted it at least twice. After experiencing that I can definitely understand why retail establishments would not want their employees subjected to that.

[sleepinglamia]

I can see how people would get upset for higher amounts, but when I go to Walmart to get singles for a 5 dollar bill and they refuse me, it gets me mad. All I want to do is play the damn crane machine!!

Or I just buy something cheap and ask for singles/fives/whatevers.

[Masark]

The Currency Act in Canada actually sets standards for the maximum value of change you can be required to accept as payment.

No more than 25 cents in pennies
No more than $5 in nickels
No more than $10 in dimes or quarters
No more than $25 in loonies
No more than $40 in toonies or five-dollar bills.

Go above those limits, and they can freely tell you to fuck off and pay them in currency of sensible denominations.

[Kathandira]

Not sure if this has been mentioned. I know Dollar Bills read:

This Note is Legal Tender For All Debts, Public and Private

Which means it is illegal to refuse to take it as payment. Coins on the other hand do not have this statement printed on them. I do not know if it means the rules are different, or if they just couldn't fit the statement on the coin.

Just food for thought.