Quarter Customer

[VenomX]

Even when trying to break a 20 into a 10 and two 5's.

I tell customers I can't break bills all the time. Even if I can I don't do it. Sorry but thats what banks are for. Yes I lie right to their face, even if they see I have a ton of $5's and $10's I simply say, "Sorry I don't have it."

If they b*tch about it I have two come backs.

"Sorry this is NOT a bank."
"Sorry thats what your bank is for."

If they tell me thats what the bank gave them.. I tell them then they should have asked for smaller bills.

Nine out of ten are only looking to break a $20 for their drugs, if they don't trust their dealer to give them change back that's not my problem. The ones looking for rolls of quarters are coming from next door which is a laundry mat. I send them off to the business 2 doors over that owns the laundry mat. They can sell it to them since its their laundry mat and they should fill up the change machines.

[Brightglaive]

All the banks in my area started charging area businesses to buy change after a certain amount about 10 years ago. I think it's anything more than $100-$150 that they start charging an administrative fee that is a percentage of the amount of change being purchased. So if you burn through more than $60 of quarters, $25 of dimes, $10 of nickels and $5 in pennies in a day then you're going to be paying between $3 and $10 (or more) for your change in admin fees.

$10 a day for change would certainly prompt me to cut down the amount of change that is going out from my business on a daily basis.

The banks in my area basically reacted to that whole situation. There were too many people buying rolls of quarters etc. from the area businesses which prompted the area businesses to buy more change from the banks on a regular basis. That in turn tied up more of the bank's money in metal assets (change) as opposed to paper assets (cash), thus costing the banks money. (i.e they couldn't loan that money out because it was all tied up in change being given to local businesses.)

In most cases your average bank patron can buy $10-$50 worth of quarters or other change with no fee. And sometimes even non-bank patrons can as well (depending on the bank's policy).

That's a bit harsh, especially since he explained the situation rather well.


Yeah sure, sometimes places can't, or won't do something, but it never hurts to ASK. Sometimes, asking nicely is all it takes.

You're right. It can't hurt to ask and it may be that the store will require the customer to buy something to provide quarters as change.

BUT..... is it harsh to ask someone to plan ahead and have everything they need for a project? I don't think so. If they are doing their laundry they need to use the changers at the laundromat or they need to have planned ahead and purchased several rolls of quarters from their bank BEFORE the weekend. ( To be fair... some banks are open on the weekend so concievably they could go to those banks for change. Call the admin fee an "I was stupid and didn't plan ahead" fee and pay it like a responsible adult would knowing it was their own fault for not planning ahead.) There are also other venues at which they could get change. Self-serve car washes anyone? vending machines, some arcades, etc.

The other option is to "roll your own". There are cheap change sorting machines out there that allow you to drop your pocket change in and it will drop it into a roll for you. This only works, of course, if you have a LOT of change during the week. But it's still an option.


Lying to customers is a whole 'nother topic that has been covered on this board before.

Sorry to hear about your microcenter experience ebonyknight. It was sucky customer service and was possibly compounded by a lying employee.

[PepperElf]

"missing cd" issue reminds me of how some stores... they open the package, remove the CD, and only let you have the CD once you buy the product.

obviously it stops people from stealing the CDs, but... on the other side, it means the employees can often see the online registration code, and they might use that code for themselves, thus selling you a "used" product.


and most banks i know will charge you for cashing a check, but i wouldnt be surprised if some banks had a deal worked out with companies that are right next door, etc. if anything... that company might have an account with them, so they know the money is valid on the payroll check.

[Dreamstalker]

The Microcenter near me doesn't seem to require returns/exchanges to be authorized by a manager if you have the receipt and the product is sealed (I exchanged a DS game yesterday; just went over to the game department, picked out the one I wanted, brought both to the returns desk with the original receipt, receipt was scanned and done). Returns/exchanges are handled at the service dept. counter so the procedure may be different.

The exact circumstance (sealed product missing the CD) may have been unusual enough to raise a small flag or two.

[drmike]

My boss FORBIDS us to sell any change at all.
Why? The banks in this town now CHARGE you for "buying" rolls of change.

I tell the customers this and they call me a liar.

Agreed. We finally put a copy of the bank's fee schedule with that line highlighted by the register. Saw many raised eyebrows after that.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Going to have to pay them for the oxygen you use while waiting in their bloody lines?

Someone opened an oxygen bar in downtown Asheville, and I'm sure there are others around here someplace (California and New York City springs to mind for some reason, Miami FL, too).

THEY will charge you for air (The Oxy-bar in Asheville charges a dollar a minute).

[Anthony K. S.]

I wanted to find out how a sealed game was sold with no CD in it and told them as much. I wasn't particularly mad, but I wanted to raise it to a manager's attention.

If a sealed computer game was missing a CD, wouldn't that be the fault of the manufacturer?

Now, I'm not familiar with Microcenter. Do they publish games, or do they only sell them?

If they actually manufactured the product, then I could understand why you would wish to speak to a manager about this issue.

But if they only sold it, then . . . Honestly, I'm not clear on what you hoped to accomplish by taking this up with one of Microcenter's managers.

They had nothing to do with it, and near as I can figure, they would have had no way of knowing that a sealed game they had received from the publisher was missing a CD.

The most that the manager could have done would be to say, "I'll contact the manufacturer and let them know about the problem."

And for that, you wouldn't really need to talk to the manager directly. Telling an employee and asking them to pass it on to the manager would have likely worked just as well.

In fact, the manager might very well have found out about it in any event. It wouldn't be all that uncommon for an employee to let a manager know, "We're sending this box back to the warehouse because it was missing a CD."


On the other hand . . .

At the store I work at, a manager or head cashier is required to authorize all returns and exchanges.

If Microcenter has such a rule as well, then I agree that you have a valid complaint.

It is a very bad business practice for a retail store to require a manager to authorize all returns or exchanges and then tie up both of the managers on duty with tasks that prevent them from getting out onto the floor for 40 minutes or more.

If not, however . . . Then I really think it would have been better to just do the exchange with an employee and ask them to pass word of this on up to the manager.

You had no way of knowing that you would wind up waiting for 40 minutes . . . But, then again, if the store didn't manufacture the product, then I really don't think there was any point in talking to the manager about it in the first place.

Just my

(If it's even worth that much.)


One more thing . . .

I ask him if he is a manager? He says yes. I look (very obviously) at his nametag which says associate.

. . .

Yeah I know I was sucky, but I REALLY hate being lied to.

Was the employee lying when he said he was a manager?

Probably, yes.

But it's not the only possibility.

As I said before, alternative explanations . . .

1. They ran out of nametags that say "Manager," and a manager had to make do with an associate's tag instead.

2. He was this store's equivalent of a Team Lead or a Department Lead. They aren't technically managers (which might be why he was wearing an associate's name tag), but in practice, the people in positions of authority (both the managers and the leads) are sometimes lumped in together and collectively referred to as "managers."

3. This store was just plain sloppy about handing out name tags.


Are any of these explanations likely? Not particularly.

Are they possible? I think so, yes.

And that was my whole point, really.


The fact is, this employee likely was lying when he said he was a manager.

But it seems to me that he probably did it because he could plainly see that if he said he wasn't a manager, then you would likely refuse to return to the store to complete the paperwork.

And the employee and possibly the whole store might have gotten into trouble for not having the proper paperwork filled out for an exchange.

No, he shouldn't have lied . . . but, honestly, I can kind of understand why he did.

<Sigh> . . . I think that this was one of those situations where everybody was wrong.

[Becks]

It's funny about banks charging different fees.

The bank across the street from my place of employment lets employees cash their paychecks there, no fee, even if they aren't members.

It works best if you're in your work uniform.

[ebonyknight]

This all reminds me of a letter that was posted on Planet Feedback some years ago. The letter writer had had a dispute with an employee in a department store, and asked to speak to the manager.

When the employee replied, "I am the manager," the letter writer pointed out that her name tag said "Assistant Manager." The letter writer said she didn't appreciate being lied to.

When her letter was posted on Planet Feedback, one commentor pointed out that retail stores, particularly large ones like department stores, typically have several people in positions of authority (the Store Manager, Assistant Store Managers, Department Managers, Team Leads), all of whom are collectively referred to as "managers."

Reminds me of one of the few times I turned SC. I had bought a computer game at a chain, I am sure few have heard of, Microcenter. I had gone after work to get it and went home. I get home and open the box (it has been store sealed) and it was missing the CD, but had everything else.

I was tad annoyed, and went back to the store. I asked if I could talk to a manager about an exchange. I wanted to find out how a sealed game was sold with no CD in it and told them as much. I wasn't particularly mad, but I wanted to raise it to a manager's attention. I was told that the two managers were busy and if I wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes. I said sure and waited for 20 minutes. I then let them know I was still waiting. Again, they told me a few more minutes. A total of 40 minutes later I am still waiting.

I lost my cool. Went into the store, got a replacement copy of the game came back and threw the "damaged" copy on the floor. I threw it just right so that it landed with a very loud thwack and said, here's the exchange.

I left the store and before I got to my car a guy approaches me and says that we need to process paperwork on that. I ask him if he is a manager? He says yes. I look (very obviously) at his nametag which says associate. I tell him, well. You've wasted 40 minutes of my time and now I am going to waste your time and left.

He took down my license tag (while dodging around making sure there was NO way I could back over him ) and left. Never heard anything.

Yeah I know I was sucky, but I REALLY hate being lied to.

[PepperElf]

wow. actually i was going to suggest going to a bank. but the one i use to go to didn't charge.
then again, they couldn't always give them out... can't remember if they stopped or not, because my own bank had opened up a branch closer to my apt so i started going there instead.

these days, i just use the vending machines on company property. the ones at work only takes 1s & 5s, but the ones at some of the shopping areas take 20s. but it's all loose change which can also be sucky

[Anthony K. S.]

I told her the girl at the desk was out of quarters and left as C headed to the service desk with some extra rolls of quarters. Wish I could have stuck around for that conversation.

I wish you had, too. Then we might actually know whether or not this girl had a legitimate reason for telling you that she was out of quarters.

As has been pointed out, she might have just meant that she was out of quarters "to give out."

It's also possible that she had set aside those quarters for some particular purpose - perhaps another customer had already asked her for change, and she was waiting to give them to him/her - and therefore wasn't able to give them to you.

And frankly, if I couldn't think of any possible legitimate reason for her to say that she was out of quarters, I would not necessarily conclude that she didn't have one.

I would not presume to think that a legitimate reason could not possibly exist, just because I couldn't think of one.


This all reminds me of a letter that was posted on Planet Feedback some years ago. The letter writer had had a dispute with an employee in a department store, and asked to speak to the manager.

When the employee replied, "I am the manager," the letter writer pointed out that her name tag said "Assistant Manager." The letter writer said she didn't appreciate being lied to.

When her letter was posted on Planet Feedback, one commentor pointed out that retail stores, particularly large ones like department stores, typically have several people in positions of authority (the Store Manager, Assistant Store Managers, Department Managers, Team Leads), all of whom are collectively referred to as "managers."

When she said, "I am the manager," the Assistant Manager in question may have simply meant that she was the manager in charge of the store on that particular day.

It was likely a simple misunderstanding. When she asked to speak to "the" manager, the letter writer had meant that she wanted to talk to the Store Manager, the person ultimately in charge of the department store. But the Assistant Manager didn't realize that. She had thought that the letter writer wanted to talk to whoever was in charge of the store at that time.

The letter writer hadn't known or thought of any of this until the commentor pointed it out to her. She had believed the Assistant Manager must have been deliberately lying to her, which simply wasn't the case.


Alternative explanations, folks. They don't exist in every case, but they do exist in some, and perhaps in yours. Please don't presume that there aren't any just because you can't think of one.


In any case, if an employee really is lying to you . . .

If you aren't allowed to do something, then have the decency to say so.

I find lying to be cowardly.

^-.-^

I don't particularly like being lied to, either.

But I choose to place the blame squarely where it belongs . . . or, to be more accurate, where I personally believe that it belongs . . . on the SCs that the employee has had to deal with in the past.

Many retail employees (not all, but a lot of them) will go through this at some point :

At first, they make a general practice of telling the customers the truth about policies, about what they can or cannot do.

Most customers will accept that, but the employee will inevitably get into frustrating arguments with the few SCs who refuse to accept it. That, in turn, leads to repeated calls for the manager to come down and deal with the SC.

All of which results not only in resentment and emotional stress, but also takes time away from the other work that the employee and manager have to do. Not to mention other customers as well.

It also slows everything in the store down, annoys other customers into leaving, delays the employees from finishing their tasks, results in later leaving times at the end of night . . . You all know the drill here.

Sooner or later, the employee will start to feel tempted to just tell a white lie to the customers to sidestep those arguments. And inevitably, some will give in to the temptation.

Again, I don't particularly like being lied to. But I can understand why employees sometimes do it. And rather than condemn them for it, I choose to place the blame on the people who created the situation in the first place - the SCs.

That's just how I look at it.

[Anriana]

Whenever we have maintenance outages, I can either tell customers it's a maintenance, get yelled at by each one and have to pass 50% of them off to a supervisor, or I can just say that it's an outage that should be resolved by <maintenance end time.>

[Andara Bledin]

That's a double edged sword. If they find out that you are lying, that might set them off far more. I don't know about anyone else, but nothing else pisses me off more than lying to my face.

That, right there, pisses me off to no end.

If you aren't allowed to do something, then have the decency to say so. Don't go pussy footing around and lie about not having something that happens to be in plain view.

I find lying to be cowardly.

^-.-^

[powerboy]

Gerrinson, you did not sound like a entitlement whore. I also hate it when people lie right to may face.

[Gerrinson]

It'd be harsh if the behavior wasn't totally out of line. Asking and demanding are two entirely different things. Re-read the post. It's dripping with entitlement. How does the poster know how many quarters the service desk uses a day? Or how many requests for rolls of quarters does the service desk get a day? The poster is presuming to know this information.

...

Sorry. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's usually a duck.

Sorry if I came across as an Entitlement Whore in my post. I worked at that specific grocery store for 5 years, 3 of them at the service desk where I handed out many, many rolls of quarters when the laundromat ran out of change. I also know that they are required to sell change unless the safe is running short, which does happen, and they have a sign they post when that is the case to (theoretically) fend off the SCs from the laundromat.

The sign wasn't posted, the girl actually had the quarters, and when I checked with the supervisors (who I worked with for those 5 years) they had plenty of quarters on hand. There was no reason for the girl not to give me change other than she personally doesn't like making change. Unfortunately, it's in the job description for working the service desk at that store. And, as I said previously, this specific girl even gives me a hard time about breaking a 20 when I need smaller bills for the laundromat's change machines.

I don't go all SC when they can't make change. It sucks, but I drive elsewhere to get the quarters. And it's not like I'm not a customer, either. I start my laundry, then buy the non-perishables while my laundry is running. I come back for the perishables when the laundry is done. So, honestly, I don't think I was an EW. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't see the problem with expecting a service desk employee to do their job.