I'm trying to get RID of my pennies, not get more!

[Dreamstalker]

Stopped to grab an iced coffee yesterday.

My total is $2.83, I pay with a $10 and three pennies. So I would get $7.20 back. This location loves me in that I always have a handful of pennies that I'm willing to hand over and they are happy to take it off my hands.

Cashier gives me back the pennies I just gave her, saying "Oh I don't need those." Proceeds to give me my change...including 7 cents in pennies which she had to open a new roll (which she had to get from another register) to give me

I'm just a bit baffled by the thought process there.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Some people just can't do the math. I worked with a girl who, no matter how many times we would explain it, would subtract the extra change handed her by a customer from the total change, not add it. (Ex. Customer's bill is $9.04, customer hands over a ten, cashier hits total button, customer then hands over five cents. Instead of $1.01 this cashier would hand over $0.91. Every time) Drove us all crazy.

Today I asked for a $20 back from my 13.01 purchase on debit. My cashier looked puzzled for a bit, then asked me 'So do I punch in $31.03?' No. No you don't.

Sometimes I think people should have to take a small math test before they get hired to work cash registers, you know these are the same people who are going to end up in big trouble for their register being off eventually.

[wolfie]

Was grocery shopping today, and the total came to $31.32 (in Canada, so cash purchases get rounded to nearest nickel). I handed the cashier a couple twenties and 3 dimes. Saw her digging through the quarters drawer, apparently losing count and restarting a couple times - I tendered a loonie, asking if that would help (she was apparently out of loonies and toonies). It's probably the decline in basic math skills that kept her from asking if I had a loonie. When someone's out of $1 and $2 coins, giving out $4 in change is going to put a BIG dent in their quarter supply.

[Dreamstalker]

I confess to having similar brainburps if a customer digs out the change after I've already tendered it, but I can usually figure it out (I tell them exactly what I'm giving back and why).

The cashier in this case gave me back my original pennies after I had told her "Here's ten and three cents", but totaled the order after this exchange. So there was no math to do really. Just weird that a) it even happened in the first place and b) I got 7 cents back in all pennies rather than the usual nickel and 2 pennies.

[Firecrackers Not Included]

Cashier gives me back the pennies I just gave her, saying "Oh I don't need those." Proceeds to give me my change...including 7 cents in pennies which she had to open a new roll

Finalize the transaction: "Thanks! Can I get a dime for these ten pennies?"

[Dreamstalker]

I tried that once (same chain, different location) and was told no. Some places absolutely can't open the drawer without a sale*. This cashier was new, and I didn't want to completely confuse her or get her in trouble.

* I did so once for a regular customer who needed quarters after the service desk had closed, I think that's why I got popped for an audit.

[Seanette]

Where I work, opening the drawer without a sale requires (as in the register won't open without it) a lead or supervisor OK (which they're usually nice about if there's a good reason).

I really don't understand the cashier in the OP, but then I can do basic math.

[Seshat]

I find that I'm losing my speed in arithmatic, though I can still do 'higher math' perfectly well. Boolean logic, three different kinds of calculus, algebra - no problem. Arithmatic, trigonometry, some geometry - slowly degrading.

Weird.


(propositional, predicate, and the one deriving the area under a curve, for those who are curious about the calculus I can do.)

[MelindaJoy77]

If the customer hands me the change before I hit the total, I just do it. There have been occasions where it didn't seem right and lo and behold, their math was incorrect. If the customer hands me coins after I hit the total, I can usually figure it out. I do tend to brain burp with math though, and I keep a little calculator with me at the register in case I need it - usually only for percentage discounts that we take manually.