Thanks!
(I actually have a question, but don’t want to derail the thread about this oft-discussed subject. Sorry for the digression.)
Why not just display final prices and put up a sign at the counter stating ‘Tax is applied to non-food items at x%’, or whatever the rule is? All the information you could want, and no nasty surprises at the checkout.
I don’t understand. To which US citizen are you referring? Are you referring to yourself? It’s very difficult for me to answer your question because:
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I do not know to whom you are referring when you say, “some Americans have a sense of entitlement different from elsewhere”. If you don’t explain how that American was treated or if you don’t post a link to the example to which you refer, then I don’t know how to answer you.
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I don’t understand what you mean when you refer to the “E.G.” If you mean “exempli gratia”, then I don’t understand how to make sense of that.
Do you mean by “sense of entitlement” that the Customs Agents felt they had a right to steal pages out of my diary?
For a person who grew up here (like most of the 330 million Americans), there are no “nasty surprises at the checkout” as it’s assumed that the price doesn’t include sales tax.
My point is that super-friendly and attentive service is a noticable thing in America.
Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on the observer, of course.
It sort of makes sense because technically the consumer is responsible for paying the sales tax to the state, even if the merchant doesn’t collect it. Also, some items, such as groceries, have no sale tax. Itemizing the tax on the receipt proves that the consumer paid the taxes, and only the taxes due. Then it becomes the merchant’s problem passing the money along to the state, saving the consumer some effort.
I suppose that it could still be built into the price on display, and still itemized afterwards, but I guess we’re used to it being done this way, and it would be confusing to switch
That is strange, and you have only the market’s word that the price displayed is the actual wholesale price they paid for it. I wonder how they handle vender-stocked items such as sodas.
That the Americans not only don’t know know how to queue, they don’t know how to organise a queue. A two-hour wait at the NY Museum of Natural History in a queue that seemingly folded space was a harrowing experience for my British sensibilities.
That’s because we don’t have queues here. We stand in lines. 
It’s actually rather difficult. Let’s say you’re S-Mart. You want to sell a set of towels for $15.99, and you have 3 locations in the area. Each location has a different local sales tax, which means you need to print 3 different price tags, and have 3 different sets of flyers to be mailed out, each of which may mis-inform your customer as they may choose to go to a different location than you expect.
Under the current methodology, you can set prices regionally, or even nationally, and have no issues with local sales tax, other than needing to collect the money and pass along the correct amount.
Our sales tax structure is a hilarious hodge-podge of different state and local requirements, which makes inclusive pricing very difficult for anyone but a local mom & pop, who will avoid doing it, since it makes their prices look higher.
That it’s customary to leave a buck or two each day for the room service people when you’re staying for a few days in a hotel/motel.
Honestly I didn’t know that. I hate to think of the number of room service people who cleaned my room and thought "fuckin’ Limey cheapskate.
:smack:
It’s not only “OK” but in many cases it’s the law, and it’s a Good law. The issue is rounding. If the tax is 7%, and you have multiple items under $1USD, and they round up on each one, the retailer can make a bundle.
Not to mention the fact that sales taxes differ by county, as Cheesesteak sez.
Yeah, this “fuckin’ Canuck cheapskate” didn’t know that until a few years ago either, when I read it on here.
The first time I tried leaving a five dollar note housekeeping didn’t take it. From what I understand now, I should have left a note with it, or perhaps placed it on the pillow or something.
Regarding sales tax: items are usually centrally distributed to end stores with the price tag already attached. The distributor doesn’t know where the goods will ultimately end up, and therefore has no idea what the tax implications will be. Besides, why would it be the retailer’s responsibility to inform you how much extra money the various levels of government will be charging on an item? If there was only one level of taxation, and all retailers agreed or were mandated to show the price accordingly there wouldn’t be an issue, but as mentioned there can be many different levels of taxation, depending upon where the item is ultimately sold. Tagging items at a central distribution hub is impossible. As an informed consumer you eventually figure all this out.
I had no idea this was a custom in the US and I travel all the time. 
I didn’t know it until this thread and I’m FROM the US. Not that it matters, since I am a fuckin’ cheapskate.
In NY, it’s “on line”. (God I hate that expression)
That would drive me crazy. I’m used to paying tax at the till, but the prices on the shelves not being the pre-tax price? Too confusing.
With the notable exception of buying gas. For some reason, gas prices are always listed with the taxes included in.
On the other hand, when I’ve visited down South, I find that no one asks, “What do you do?” (I.e., where do you work?) Here in Washington, DC, by contrast, that’s basically how we say “good morning” to a stranger.
Plus there are the fifty different State Houses of Pancakes.
On the Walt Disney World message board I frequent, I’ve seen some foreign travelers being caught off-guard by Florida’s seemingly Byzantine child-safety-restraint regulations and the zeal with which local law enforcement enforces them.
Also on the child-rearing subject, I’ve read that it’s not uncommon in some European cities to see dozens of strollers (tots still in them) parked outside of an establishment while their parent(s) are inside eating/drinking. American Dopers can only imagine how well that would go over here!
Only 49. People always forget that Delaware does everything DIFFERENTLY.