Rude Crusty Throws Tantrum Over Two Pennies, Gets Told By Manager

From: Burger Bitch

Canada has ended the penny. Mostly places are rounding the totals now, my company however, is going another few weeks, just to get rid of the pennies we have. So here's the story.

A guy came through DT today, his total was $6.07. He gave me $11.05.

I thought that amount was weird so I said "Ok, $6.07 from $11.05?"

He nods and I carry on to get him his $4.98 change.

Him: "This isn't the right change."

Me: "Your total was $6.07... you gave me $11.05. Your change is $4.98."

Him: "No, it should be five dollars even."

Me: "No, sir, the total was six, oh, SEVEN. You gave me eleven, oh, FIVE."

Him: "Yeah, but the seven cents means I get five dollars back! Do you even understand your fucking job!?"

Since I had other customers to serve, I simply said "If two cents means THAT much to you, I feel sorry for you, give me back the change and I'll give you a five, because I have others to serve."

That's when he demands to speak to my manager. So grabbed my manager and told her what happened, she even looked at my cash and was like "The fuck is he talking about? You gave him the right change...

So she talks to him anyways.

Her: "Can I help you?"

Him: "She gave me the wrong change!"

Her: "You gave her $11.05?"

Him: "YES!"

Her: "... Your total was $6.07. She gave you the right change."

Him: "Uhm. NO. You're supposed to ROUND the total!"

Her: "Only a few places have implemented that, we're still using pennies, as told to us by head office."

Him: "I do NOT accept your apology!"

Her: "Good, considering I didn't apologize."

And that's why I love her.

--Burger Bitch

Comments

[Bored at the Bookstore]

I realize what went on in this case was that the customer was already rounding (down, to his advantage), while the store wasn't, yet. Maybe they need a sign saying "We still use exact change, with pennies".

I keep wondering... They're saying to just round off (the U.S. is trying to get rid of pennies, too) - so how does one keep everyone happy? If it's $6.07 do we round down to $6.05 so the drawer is off? Or round up so the customer pays three cents more and is unhappy? And the drawer is off. And don't tell me it'll all balance out in the end, because I'm willing to bet it won't. And the IRS seems so insistent on exact figures... *shudder* I have enough trouble mathing without extra added interference! *g*

I'll be watching events in Canada to see how it works for them!

[Bored at the Bookstore]

P.S. - good for the manager, BTW...

[Blackout]

I'm guessing that they'll implement what some places I see here have done, which is to make the price a number that comes out to a nickel value when tax is added.

[NC Tony]

Like I said on the RB page. I'd like to do what Magneto did to Sebastian Shaw at the end of X-Men first class.

[Karebear]

Get rid of the penny, and then the nickel will become useless...May be easier for a while, but I'm sure the nickel will become the new penny then. (Or whatever it is in Canada. I'm in US.)

[Spritzy]

I agree with Blackout...they'll likely configure prices to come out to a 5 cent fraction in one way or another. Honestly I think that should be done first...alter prices so that pennies aren't needed...then stop circulating them...that way there's no awkward transition period when people still might use them.

[Retail Kiwi]

You don't need to alter prices, they work just fine, we have prices ending in .55,.77,.9 9 etc, and we (New Zealand) have dropped the 1 cent coin decades ago, and about 5 years or so ago we dropped the 5cent coin as well so our smallest denomination is 10c so prices that end in 5cents or lower get rounded to 0 and above that to the higher amount. The tills do this automatically and so the drawers will still be accurate. And obviously they don't round for EFTPOS or credit

[CoG]

YAY, Manager!

[Bored at the Bookstore]

Doesn't matter what the price is (although we go by a percentage of the price decreed by the publisher, in the book business) - when the state makes us calculate and add on a sales tax of 6.25% - it's darn-near impossible to make THAT come out even! And Massachusetts also says we're not allowed to have prices that, in the end, include the tax - it must be added on separately.

And to make our antiquated register round up/down/sideways? Nope. We'd have to spend thousands (well, at least one) to buy a new POS - which we can't afford. And to make it smart enough NOT to round if it's a charge/debit (something we often don't know until we announce the total)? Yikes. It would be simpler, cheaper, and easier to go back to an adding machine and a cigar box under the counter. That's progress, yessir. *g*

I hate pennies, but I love exact change. No confusion.or at least, no more than usual.

[Sadie The Cleaning Lady]

In Australia the penny's been gone for almost 50 years and there is now debate about getting rid of our 5 cent coin as well. As we've been without the penny for so long, cash registers are programmed to account for rounding to keep cash drawers accurate. With the rounding, in general it's 1-3 and 6 cents round down and 4, 7-9 round up.

[Daisy]

I am all for getting rid of the penny (the nickel too, eventually!) but our software doesn't account for that. Heck, it's an American program and still yells at us every single freaking time we enter a six-digit postal code. No way it is going to be fixed to round off transactions for us. So our drawer is never going to match our transaction print-off. If all prices just went to one decimal place, and all tills only had one decimal place, I think that would be awesome. But as is, I am not at all looking forward to running out of pennies, which will probably happen in the next week or two.

I work front desk at a hotel, so almost all of our transactions are credit, but every once in a while, someone pays cash. Our most common room type is 94.50, which, with tax, comes out to... $103.01. Fan-freaking-tastic.

[Nomnom]

If the penny has been gone in Australia for 50 years then you guys likely did not run into the problem of having to replace all the software in everything. It would have just been programmed like that to begin with.

Honestly the rounding sounds like a complete nightmare to have to code too.