A penny for your thougts

[+ purplekow]

Last night i went food shopping at the chain grocery store at which I usually shop and my total bill was $100.01. I had several hundred dollar bills and I gave one to the cashier and then began looking in my pockets for change. While doing so, i asked the cashier if he would accept the $100 and he told me his register would not balance out if he did not collect the full amount. After about 30 seconds of searching, I found a nickel in my pocket. As fate would have it, the cash register did not have four pennies and he had to call the manager over to go to another register, open it and get my change. The manager had left his keys elsewhere and rather than going back to get them, he asked if I would just leave without the change.

 

Now i have worked cash registers in the past and I know they usually have rolls of each of the coins store in the drawer somewhere. So I was a bit perplexed as to why they did not have any pennies.

 

I am curious as to what action members of the forum would have taken.

 

My action was one of the following:

 

I returned one item and was able to receive the correct change.

I left the store and my groceries.

I let the store keep the extra pennies.

I asked the manager if they really counted the registers down to the penny and when he said yes, i asked him to have the store absorb the loss.

I asked for a store credit.

I undid the cash transaction and paid by credit card.

[adriano46]

As much as I prefer cash to debit card, this is why I pay with my debit card. But --- I still always keep a small bowl with loose change near my car keys, and another small packet for change in my car just for such cash emergencies.

[MsGuy]

You didn't give "I left the store with my groceries" as an alternative.

 

Being jacked around by idiots for twenty minutes or so should be worth at least a penny.

[sincitymix]

for some reason I don't like walking around with a pocketful of change. I would have given the nickel and told them to keep the change, with a suggestion that they give the extra pennies to others who might be 1 or 2 cents short.

 

on a tangent note, I heard the treasury is considering doing away with the penny.

[+ RyanDean]

I would (and have) left the pennies.

Though I admire the idea of requesting store credit.

[sincitymix]

I would (and have) left the pennies.

Though I admire the idea of requesting store credit.

 

Hmm I wonder how the next store cashier would have handled being handed a voucher for 4 cents.

That's one of those moments like owing the IRS $1.01

[+ MasssageGuy]

What a wacko store. Dare I ask the name of the chain?

 

If all this bull shit is for a penny and I were behind you in line, I would gladly offer you change.

 

I've often done this to help a fellow human being.

[bigvalboy]

I think you're shopping at the wrong store. 'Publix' would never have done that.

[whipped guy]

I think you're shopping at the wrong store. 'Publix' would never have done that.

You are correct. Publix would have never done that as they are always quite respectful of and helpful to their customers.. Now I often shop at Publix... but I do find that they can be a bit pricy... So that $100.01 would probably have ended up being more like $200.01!

 

Still, it is good to know that PK, like any good boyscout, is always prepared for a hookup by having "several" Ben Franklin's at his fingertips... Hey! Ya never know! So just in case! Why not!

[rvwnsd]

I typically pay with credit or debit card, but when I have paid in cash and been short a penny the cashier at my local VONS would tell me to forget the penny. I find it interesting that the store wanted their penny and then proposed that you leave without your four pennies. In this situation, I would have explained to the manager that he could choose one of the following options:

 

 

• Get his keys, my four pennies, and the name/phone of the district manager
  
• Absorb the one cent loss and get the name/phone number of the district manager
  
• Keep the groceries, return my $100 bill, and get the name/phone of the district manager
  

 

Although I think the store is being petty by insisting you pay the penny, I would not ask for a DM name/phone due to that. The DM's name and phone is so I could rat out the stupid manager who is too lazy to get his keys and expects you to cough up four cents because he doesn't want to lose one cent. Conventional supermarkets are hurting due to the competition from Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, etc. They can't afford to lose any additional business.

[+ Charlie]

I always have loose change in some pocket, except when I need it.

 

Could you have given him the $100 bill and charged the penny on a credit card?

[+ purplekow]

I always have loose change in some pocket, except when I need it.

 

Could you have given him the $100 bill and charged the penny on a credit card?

Charlie I really wish I had thought of that. The store was Stop and Shop. And for those of you playing along, i am the proud owner of a 4 cent credit. There was no one else in line at the time. I would never have spent that much time if it was inconveniencing anyone other than the store employees who were very short sighted.

[namchebaz]

When confronted with stupidity, I'm afraid I often succumb to the temptation to make the "big statement", which in this case would probably have me leaving all my groceries with the cashier over 1 penny, and walking out to my car to drive to...Publix? I can't wait to find out what you really did, PK!

[rvwnsd]

I always have loose change in some pocket, except when I need it.

 

Could you have given him the $100 bill and charged the penny on a credit card?

 

Charlie, that is a great idea! Like PK, I didn't think about that.

 

Charlie I really wish I had thought of that. The store was Stop and Shop. And for those of you playing along, i am the proud owner of a 4 cent credit. There was no one else in line at the time. I would never have spent that much time if it was inconveniencing anyone other than the store employees who were very short sighted.

 

Wow, they went through the trouble of issuing a four cent credit instead of fetching four pennies. Unbelievable. I think you should buy $100.01 in groceries and use one cent of the credit and repeat until it is all used up.

[justaguy]

Stop right there! I've been behind you people that take a small forever to make a purchase. Let them have the pennies and let the rest of us get out of the store.

[whipped guy]

Well apparently this penny business is nothimg new and almost two hundred years ago Beethoven said it best...

 

 

He called the piece Rondo e Capriccio the "capriccio" of which implies a whimsical, capricious, and foolish over-reaction to be raging over a single silly lost penny...

[+ purplekow]

Stop right there! I've been behind you people that take a small forever to make a purchase. Let them have the pennies and let the rest of us get out of the store.

I repeat that there was no one else in the store. I find that almost any sentence which includes the phrase "you people" sets my teeth on edge.

[justaguy]

Pk, I was attempting to be humorous. Perhaps I should have used an emoticon, but I thought the over-inflated reaction would be enough.

 

My initial reaction was simply to shake my head at the situation. I've have it happen to me a few times and the cashier has always told me not to worry about it. (I should add that I have always gone back later to pay.) Given that that didn't happen, you did the only reasonable thing.

[whipped guy]

... I find that almost any sentence which includes the phrase "you people" sets my teeth on edge.

No need to induce any unnecessary dental work in the form of cracked fillings, fractured teeth, and TMJ issues due to bruxism and gnashing of teeth!

 

Pk, I was attempting to be humorous. Perhaps I should have used an emoticon, but I thought the over-inflated reaction would be enough...

I think that was obvious... Funny how those who often post humorously often don't read humorously. . I prefer not to use emoticons, but have used them here "just in case"! After all we come here for a bit diversion.

[+ WilliamM]

My initial reaction was simply to shake my head at the situation. I've have it happen to me a few times and the cashier has always told me not to worry about it. (I should add that I have always gone back later to pay.) Given that that didn't happen' date=' you did the only reasonable thing.[/quote']

 

I worked as a cashier in a super market from age 16 through college. An experienced cashier would have just let it go, and added the penny himself/herself. As someone who currently shops almost every day in super markets, I pay for everything with a credit card, no matter how small the purchase. I also prefer escorts who take credit cards. The people in front of me in super market lines seldom pay with such large denominations of paper money. So I am not surprised that a new cashier would be flustered.

[+ purplekow]

No need to induce any unnecessary dental work in the form of cracked fillings, fractured teeth, and TMJ issues due to bruxism and gnashing of teeth!

 

I think that was obvious... Funny how those who often post humorously often don't read humorously. . I prefer not to use emoticons, but have used them here "just in case"! After all we come here for a bit diversion.

 

Whipped guy you know humor is a serious business. And I am sure you are well aware of the inverse (is inverse right, its not converse, and not opposite, well if it is not inverse I don't know what the fuck it is) being true as well. Seriousness is a humorous business. Pain in pleasure and pleasure in pain.

[+ WilliamM]

I need to apologize to PK. I asked a long-time cashier at Whole Foods about one hundred dollar bills. His response: "even on days when most of the purchases are credit card, I still get two or three hundred dollar bills a hour."

[rvwnsd]

I need to apologize to PK. I asked a long-time cashier at Whole Foods about one hundred dollar bills. His response: "even on days when most of the purchases are credit card, I still get two or three hundred dollar bills a hour."

 

 

I'm surprised they don't get that many home equity credit line checks.

[Guest]

Charlie I really wish I had thought of that. The store was Stop and Shop. And for those of you playing along, i am the proud owner of a 4 cent credit. There was no one else in line at the time. I would never have spent that much time if it was inconveniencing anyone other than the store employees who were very short sighted.

 

I feel a song coming on....

[video=youtube;pD8mzZun5wo]

 

If there had been someone behind you, I'm sure that person would have given you the penny. I'm not sure what the point is in paying in cash, unless you have undeclared income you're trying to hide. The only time I pay in cash is when I want to keep the expense private (i.e. pretty much just when paying escorts), or if the expense is around $10 or less. There are still some old ladies at the grocery store who pay by check. Really silly. If you regularly pay fairly large purchases (on the order of $100) with cash, you're losing out on free airline tickets or upgrades, hotel rooms in Europe, and so on. There's a reason they don't print bills over $100. That's because no one with a legitimate expenditure would ever use that size of a bill. Maybe they should have one of those "Take a penny, leave a penny" containers there. I almost always have enough change because I carry my change in a coin purse...

http://www.supplierlist.com/prod_img/giftleader/88388_Squeeze_Coin_Purse.jpg

[Guest]

Tommy Shaw then...

http://www.music-dvd-trading.de/files/downloads/tommy.montgomery.jpg

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lptmev2Uwn1qg7fqfo1_400.jpg

 

And now...

http://www.alamhof.org/files/cache/aa25aed8bb6b948d02ffe8051e7d549b.jpg