Exact same thing happened to me a few months ago. I went into a bank close to my office with about $100 in change that had been gathering in some jar, and they said they wouldn’t accept it unless I had an account there. After going round and round, I asked how much it cost to open a new account. The answer: special promotion, it’s free. I stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for it to dawn on her. It didn’t, so I said “I would like to open a new account, make one deposit, then close the account, please.” She took the change.
As for the OP, I always feel guilty when I don’t have enough cash and have to charge my measely $15 purchase. You’re all telling me that stores prefer that I do that? Fine by me.
Rooster in the henhouse? You sure you used that expression right, gato?
Anyway, FYI “Gato” means “cat” and “pescado” means “fish”, but “gatopescado” does not mean “catfish”. You translated your username wrong, the word you were looking for is “siluro”.
Dooku, no there is no problem whatsoever with charging $15!!! That’s a very normal charge amount! The credit companies only take 2% of each sale, and frankly I’d prefer people pay with credit cards just so there’s less cash in the till if something happens (one day when it was really busy someone managed to grab 1200 out of the register). It gets a little annoying when people want to charge .60, but I’ll do it. Anything over a dollar or two is fair game, though the lower it goes the weirder look you’re going to get.
I’ve broken 50’s and 100’s frequently at Taco Bell, for orders in the 5 to 10 dollar range and I’ve never had a problem. Actually, never in my life have I had a problem with anybody taking a large bill, I guess I’ve been lucky…
I was once at a WaWa gas station in NJ (where you can’t pump your own gas) It was about 2am and I waited 10 minutes for an attendant to come out. When the atendant failed to show I went into the WaWa to get one. I didn’t have any money on me, didn’t feel like using my debit card at the pump because I wanted money so I took out two 20’s. After the gas was pumped he said he didn’t have any change on him. (total was 16 and change) I said take the bill inside to where the register is and ask your friend who you were bullshitting with while I was waiting to break the bill for you. He did and I left.
I don’t ever try to pay for small items with large bills (‘large’ being 50’s and 100’s) - in fact I can’t even remember the last time I had a 50 in my wallet.
In this ATM world, however, when all you can ever get is 20’s, getting attitude form the coffee shop when you walk in and pay for $8.50 worth of coffee and pastries with a 20 isn’t appreciated.
I went to a shop one Sunday morning where they had actually posted a little hand written sign on the counter that said “we strongly discourage the use of 10’s and 20’s - please pay with the smallest bill possible.” OK, I try - but like I said, I just came from the ATM and all I have is 20’s. I buy two large mochas and a couple of pieces of coffee cake and the bill is about $9.75 - then I hand the nice person behind the counter a 20 and they actually verbally harassed me for ignoring the little sign.
I promptly (and politely, I might add) put my coffees and bag 'o pastries back on the counter, asked for my 20 back and left the store. I’ve never gone back - in other words, a few minutes of counter-person stress lost them a customer for good.
So while I understand the issue of difficulty in making change for a 2.00 purchase from a 50 or 100 - I can’t agree that making change for a nearly $10 purchase from a 20 should be a burden. In that case, I agree with the OP - KEEP SOME DAMNED CHANGE HANDY AND HAVE A METHOD FOR GETTING MORE QUICKLY. Guess what, when I’m out of cash and I’ve just stopped at the ATM first thing in the morning, guess where my next stop usually is - yep, your coffee shop!
On the other hand, maybe we need to petition the banks to start putting 5’s and 10’s back in the ATM’s
