I think this is my first pit rant and it’s gonna be lame, but anyway…
Retail Workers, when you hand me my change it may seem sensible to you to put the notes into the palm of my hand and then place the coins on top but IT’S NOT, ok?
Coins first, then notes, OK?
See when you put the coins on top of the notes i have no way of grasping them without scrumpling up all the notes which i don’t want to do*. I have my other hand full so i can’t immediataly take the coins off with my other hand. You should know this, my other hand is full of the purchases i just made which i have picked up immediately so as to make way for the next customer**. The coins are thus left somewhat unrestrained and frequently slide off, sometimes this happens as a result of you simply trying to place them there in the first place.
By placing coins into my palm then notes on top i am easily able to (with one hand) fold the notes in half and place them in my breast pocket then place the coins in my other pocket where they belong. Instead of jamming the whole lot as one crumpled mess into whatever pocket i can reach.
OK?
That is all.
*This may sound petty but clearly based on the condition of notes i see in circulation this is pretty much SOP. Clearly most people treat their cash with some degree of reverance, folding it neatly in half instead of scrumpling it up any old way
*While i’m on the subject…Shoppers, move along will you? There is a huge queue behind waiting while you sort your coins into their different dominations, carefully fold and file your receipt alphabetically into the appropriate section of your purse/wallet before placing your loyalty card into the appropriate slot, then removing your umbrella form your handbag so you can replace the purse in the right place becoming distracted for a while because you realise there is a little handbag reorganistion that needs to be done before you replace your umbrella… Argggghhhh, FFS, just pick up your shit and move will ya?
Gah! I thought I was the only one. This is especially bothersome in drive-throughs, where the hand is already turned in a contorted manner. I’ve gotten to the point where I just withdraw my hand when they push the paper money at me, and ask them to hand me the coins first. But I have felt like a lone wolf pissing in a hurricane. I’m glad it bothers someone else besides me.
It bothers me too, but we did this thread a few years ago. Some people would be upset if cashiers did it the other way around. In fact, I remember opinions being pretty split on this.
Personally, I hate being given the receipt as if it’s another bill. But that’s just me.
Add me to the list! Ugh. I don’t know why on earth people would like it the other way, my money has to go in my purse, so if the coins are on the btotom I can easily slip the bills in then drop the coins in the change slot. The other way around it’s much harder because the coins are sliding everywhere.
This is a pet peeve of mine, as well. I am old enough to remember when cashiers actually would count the change back to you, to show you that it was correct. They would always put the coins in your hand first, then the paper money, counting up from the total bill to the amount you gave them. It was great because 1) you knew you were getting the correct change, and 2), you always got the coins first, so you didn’t have to worry about them sliding around on the bills and getting dropped.
I’ve noticed this as well, come to think of it. Notes first, then coin. But, I still manage to slid the coins into the coin part of the wallet, and the notes stay unfolded because they fit better that way in the same wallet. I don’t really mind how the money reaches my hand, actually, as long as it gets there.
Now, how about the practice of not putting the money in your hand at all, but dumping it on the counter, so each indivudual coin has to be picked up? That’s a bit of a pain, more so than the coin on top of notes thing.
When a cashier hands me the bills first, I take them. And leave them standing there with the coins in their hand, waiting for me to put the bills in my wallet. Or, on occasion, leaving them to pick up the coins they just dropped on the counter when I moved my hand to put the bills away.
I pay with credit card for just about everything now (hello SkyMiles), but on the rare occasion that I pay with cash, I try to give the cashier exact change.
It’s definitely an age thing related to how you were taught to give out change. Used to be the cashier had to figure out the change without the help of the register.
Example for the youngsters:
Sale is $17.28, you hand the cashier a twenty.
Pick up 2 pennies: $.02 + $17.28 = 17.30
Pick up 2 dimes: .20 + $17.30 = 17.50
Pick up 2 quarters: .50 + $17.50 = $18.00
Pick up 2 dollars: $18.00 + $2.00 = $20.00
So the cashier would pick up the coins first and then the bills. Sometimes they’d even count it back to you but they’d always give you the coins first.
Nowdays, a cashier will just punch in $20 and see that the changes is $2.72. So he’ll pick up 2 dollars and then the change and pass it on to you in the same order.
In this day and age of being obsessed with hygiene, I was told that they give you the receipt first and then pile the notes on top, and the coins on top of the notes so that they can count the small change into your hand (on top of the notes) without having to touch your skin.
Makes sense about the coins going on the bottom. However,it is the counting the change back that makes me nuts. On the rare occasion that the change is counted back, it is counted to the amount the computer states is the change not in reverse. In other words, $3.00 total, $10.00 bill payment. $7.00 change would be counted back, nstead of $2.00 equal $5.00 plus $5.00 is $10.00. When I tried to point this out to a customer complaint message board I was told that is too hard and all people aren’t good at math! It isn’t math, it is counting to ten.
Cash register calculators are another thing just dumbing down these young people.
This bugs me, too. I pay for almost everything in cash (Yes, I know. Let the tarring and feathering begin.) and it’s quite irritating. Also, would it kill you to wait two seconds and hand me the receipt separately? I HATE getting a wadded clump of receipt, notes, and change. I don’t like to hold other people up, so I end up dumping it in the bottom of my purse to be sorted out at home.
And I actually look at the receipts, because I track pretty closely where my money goes, and how much things cost at different stores. So, y’know, try not to treat it like old newspaper that was used for packing.
I’m only in my early thirties, btw. And could you turn that awful music down already?
In fact, I stopped going to one place for lunch, because the cashier insists on putting the change on the bills, and then handing it to me, using the bills as a little “tray”.
I’m not particular about which way they give me change. I usually just put whatever cash and coins I get as change in my pants pocket so it doesn’t really matter if the coins are on the bills or under them.
Exactly…and I’m not sure it’s a hijack, because it is the exact reason that the bills are given to you first now, as tremorviolet points out. I was taught to make change way back when I was selling girl scout cookies. We were taught to do the change first, to round it up to the next dollar, then count the bills out, up to the amount of cash the customer gave. You would even tell the person what you were giving them as you handed it over…so if a box cost 2.50, and they gave you a fiver, you would say, “50 cents makes 3, and 2 dollars makes 5,” so as to show them that you were giving them the correct amount, and therefore, the change naturally went first. Now that the cash register tells you what amount to give, you read it from left to right…$2.50 would be two dollars + 50 cents, not the other way around.
I’ll bet 99.9% of cashiers these days wouldn’t know what the hell I was talking about if I explained that to them!!! Kids today!!!
Lord knows I find this annoying as hell, but I bet it’s mostly corporate’s fault. I know that Wal-Mart, at least, keeps track of how fast a cashier works. The higher your IMP (items per minute) the better. Also, I’m pretty sure they track their total time-per-transaction as well, so slowing down to count change the old fashioned way would probably get them fired.
Better customer service my ass. I hate dropping coins. But I figure it’s due to policies requiring (essentially) ill-trained cashiers.
