# Why do cashiers have such a problem rounding up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964 "2014-06-17T05:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/21 "2014-06-17T13:57:36Z")
As someone who worked as a cashier for a very long time it’s just because you’re throwing them off. On top of that, if they’re young and new they’re already nervous (just in general, they haven’t even considered that you might be tricking them) and you’re doing something different. It may be the first time they’ve seen someone do this. So, if my total (as a customer) is $5.15 and I give the cashier $10.25 and they say ‘you gave me too much’ I usually just say “I know, that’s so I get a five dollar bill back”, if they’re still confused I say “just punch in ten twenty five, you’ll see” and then they usually say ‘ooooh’ and I can say “If I just gave you $10, I’d get four dollars and a bunch of change”. They probably still won’t get it, yet, but over the next few weeks it’ll make sense as more and more people do the exact same thing. If you really want to confuse them, give them $11 when your total is $5.15 and watch them keep trying to give you the single back. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/22 "2014-06-17T13:59:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Here’s Penn and Teller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8lsSPshxJ4) showing one example of a quick-change scam: basically you keep the cashier confused by changing the amount of money involved in the transaction at key points, and it’s very easy for even a smart cashier to give the wrong amount of change. This was the first thing that came to mind. Way, way back when I was trained as a cashier, they basically taught us that we should be on our guard \*any \*time a customer tried to give us a different amount from what the register requested. So if someone was attempting to round up, my initial reaction would be, “Wait, is what they’re doing a legitimate transaction?” And of course, there’s always the possibility that the customer did _their_ math wrong. If they’re handing me a bunch of bills and coins, saying, “This will make my change a $20,” I didn’t want to just take their word for it. So I would always go through the math very carefully, sometimes a couple of times, just to be certain that they weren’t shorting me, either intentionally or accidentally. Then, there’s also the fact that, while this isn’t _that_ uncommon, it’s certainly less common than it used to be. I, like a lot of people, hardly ever use cash anymore, and haven’t for many years. On the rare occasions when I do, I’ve probably gotten the cash expressly for this purchase, so I’m unlikely to be carrying change around, and even less likely to have the right change to round up. So I can imagine that a cashier who mostly deals with people like me might well stand there with a blank stare the first time a person tries to round up. And - at least in the town where I worked - all the cashiers were high school students, and most of them actually weren’t all that good at math. And usually, that was fine, because most of the customers had gone to the same schools and weren’t any good at math, either, so they wouldn’t have known how to round up, themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/23 "2014-06-17T14:03:19Z")
Working cashier for way-too-many years, for me it just boils down to math. I hate math. I’m terrible at math. And the register does math for me, so when I’m presented with a problem that requires me to do mental math, I freeze a bit and have to actually DO the math vs having it just be instinct for me. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/24 "2014-06-17T14:38:34Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Working cashier for way-too-many years, for me it just boils down to math. > > I hate math. I’m terrible at math. And the register does math for me, so when I’m presented with a problem that requires me to do mental math, I freeze a bit and have to actually DO the math vs having it just be instinct for me. Also, you have a bunch of things going on at once. Customer wants his precious five dollar bill, instead of $4.99. Cuz change is _heavy!_ but, give it to me when you hand me your money, I punch it in. Huzzah! Everyone happy. Where I worked, change was dispensed in a separate machine. Now I have to collect that. Put it BACK in my til. And make sure you get your precious freaking 5 dollar bill. All the while, I have a line building and my cash register is on a timer. I get dinged if my transactions take too long, and it doesn’t matter to the corporation that I’m dealing with the fussy old man who digs out his coin purse and slowly analyzed every coin, sometimes even waxing eloquent on each as he sorts his change. Just hand me the money, take your change and move quickly and efficiently out of my line thankyewverymuch. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/25 "2014-06-17T14:39:09Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > I seems that younger cashiers don’t know how to “count back” change and rely solely on the cash register, so they get thrown off having to actually count. Speaking as a cashier, I can tell you that many younger customers do not know how to count change. Image the following scenario, which I’ve experienced quite a bit: Me: That’s $7.23. Customer hands over a ten dollar bill and shoves out a hand fill of change. Me: I’ll take two dimes and three pennies. That’s 23 cents. Customer: Okay Money is going to totally obsolete in about five to ten years. I’ve had young people put $1.06 on a debit card, cause they literally do not carry cash. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/26 "2014-06-17T15:32:35Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’ve had young people put $1.06 on a debit card, cause they literally do not carry cash. It’s not just young’uns, either. I’m comfortably sidling into middle age at almost 39, and I rarely have cash on me. I’ve probably made charges for under $2 over a hundred times, especially buying a single item off the McDonald’s dollar menu. I sometimes feel a little bad, but I just don’t have cash on me most of the time, or, if I do, it’s a big bill that I keep around for emergencies that I don’t want to break. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/27 "2014-06-17T15:37:14Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > Also, you have a bunch of things going on at once. Customer wants his precious five dollar bill, instead of $4.99. I find that cashiers generally prefer to give out the five-dollar bill instead of singles and a chunk of change, too. So much so, that it’s not unusual for the cashier to ask whether I have any change that will bring the total so the change is over $5. Then again, I live in a fairly blue-collar immigrant neighborhood where cash transactions are pretty common, so nobody seems to have any problem making change or know what I’m doing when I hand over $10.25 for a bill that totals $5.13, say. And sometimes the additional change happens after the amount $10 was punched into the cashier, and I ask “I got a quarter if you want it” and they don’t get flustered, but take the quarter and give me $5.12 in change. Now, granted, my sample size has been shrinking as, like I said, I don’t have cash on me very often anymore. But I still make a cash transaction a couple times a month–there are still some “cash only” places around here–and I haven’t noticed any confusion. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/28 "2014-06-17T17:36:40Z")
It’s not just that they don’t “get it”, but that they are sometimes amazed by it. “Hey, they came out a round number! How’d you know that was going to happen?” “It’s called ‘Math’”. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/29 "2014-06-17T18:13:47Z")
I immediately thought of [this Dilbert strip](http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1993-03-20/). ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/30 "2014-06-17T19:46:45Z")
Occasionally I’ll have one look confused for a moment before training takes over and they punch it into the register to let it do the hard work. There have been two memorable occasions though. Once, the cashier refused to take the extra change and accused me of trying to scam him. I suspect he had recently been taken by the quick change scam described by \*\*Left Hand of Dorkness \*\* upthread. The other time the total came out to 9.86 and I gave her 10.11. She gave me the confused look and tried to hand back the change. I told her to just punch it into the register. She did and then the look of amazement she gave me when she was handing me my quarter change and said, “You knew.” ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/31 "2014-06-17T19:46:47Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that it was ninety-five cents. Don’t sound so sure. It could have been ninety cents. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/32 "2014-06-17T20:36:57Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Am I that weird? Do most customers not do this? I don’t know if you are _that_ weird, but, no, **most** customers do not do this. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/33 "2014-06-17T21:09:00Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Wait, what? > > Why is it rude? And what is there to look out for? Someone else explained why it is a security risk. It’s rude, because you are basically putting them in an unusual situation. You are taught to be very careful after the drawer is opened. Anytime between the cashier entering the amount you tendered - and them shutting the drawer - you should not do anything that would distract a cashier. This might seem like I’m going overboard or something, but 99.9% of people didn’t interrupt me. Even people that gave me change - it is no problem - just give it before I type in the amount. Should people be able to do math - sure, but they have a system in place that works very well. They type in the amount - and they give you what it says back. I do not want to make mistakes - nor do I want anyone I train or that works for me to make mistakes. Let them use the cash register to figure out the money. The cashier is not doing any math whatsoever in their head. They are entering it into a computer. It is no less rude than if every time you bought something - someone said - “Quick - what’s $26.01 minus $15.76”. It is not within the job requirement of a cashier to be able to do this quickly and accurately. It isn’t nice to put people on the spot. If you want to get rid of extra change - I don’t think any decent cashier has a problem with it - in fact I liked it. But to break their work flow because you couldn’t remember you had and extra penny you wanted to get rid of - I think is rude. Remember - these are people that are supposed to be easily replaced and scalable. Whether or not a transaction is an ACTUAL security risk isn’t up for them to decide. They shouldn’t have to worry about it. They also shouldn’t have to do math on the spot - and then made to feel substandard if it is awkward for them to complete. And if you’ve done this - it doesn’t make you a bad person - on the scale of things it isn’t THAT rude - it falls more in the category of things that are rude that you might not be aware of - like leaving your wipers on in the drive tru (something that didn’t occur to me until I saw a sign in the last year or so). ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/34 "2014-06-17T21:38:20Z")
I’ve never had any real issue with this. My question: Why do most cashiers use the wrong method to hand you your money? Usually, they use the “change boat” method, with your coins riding on top of your bills. But that’s stupid, only convenient for people who are just going to stuff all the money, undifferentiated, into their pocket at once. Everyone else has to use two hands to separate the coins from the bills, then put the coins somewhere, then get their wallet/purse for the bills, etc. If the cashier drops the coins into the hand ahead of the bills, then the customer can hold the coins in the palm at the same time that he manipulates the bills with the fingers of the same hand, and the other hand can be used to grab wallets or purses. Who’s with me? ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/35 "2014-06-17T21:53:25Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > I’ve never had any real issue with this. > My question: Why do most cashiers use the wrong method to hand you your money? Usually, they use the “change boat” method, with your coins riding on top of your bills. But that’s stupid, only convenient for people who are just going to stuff all the money, undifferentiated, into their pocket at once. Everyone else has to use two hands to separate the coins from the bills, then put the coins somewhere, then get their wallet/purse for the bills, etc. If the cashier drops the coins into the hand ahead of the bills, then the customer can hold the coins in the palm at the same time that he manipulates the bills with the fingers of the same hand, and the other hand can be used to grab wallets or purses. > > Who’s with me? I’m with you - we’ve even had a thread on this relatively recently. I don’t like it, but it doesn’t seem to bother some people. Some people don’t even know what your talking about. I think those are the people that use the change boat method - as I don’t think most people that think about say “I’ve examined it from both sides and thing it is preferable to do it this way.” The reason they use the change boat method - is that they are just reading off their screen. If they see “$7.45” - they give you $7 and 45 cents. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/36 "2014-06-17T22:00:37Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > My question: Why do most cashiers use the wrong method to hand you your money? Usually, they use the “change boat” method, with your coins riding on top of your bills. But that’s stupid, only convenient for people who are just going to stuff all the money, undifferentiated, into their pocket at once. Everyone else has to use two hands to separate the coins from the bills, then put the coins somewhere, then get their wallet/purse for the bills, etc. If the cashier drops the coins into the hand ahead of the bills, then the customer can hold the coins in the palm at the same time that he manipulates the bills with the fingers of the same hand, and the other hand can be used to grab wallets or purses. > > Who’s with me? I was taught coins first. So it’s disappointed to go to the same chain now and get the bills first. Lot of other symptoms of lack of training go with it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/37 "2014-06-17T23:04:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Here’s Penn and Teller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8lsSPshxJ4) showing one example of a quick-change scam: basically you keep the cashier confused by changing the amount of money involved in the transaction at key points, and it’s very easy for even a smart cashier to give the wrong amount of change. Yep, that happened to me once when I was new – the guy made off with sixty bucks, and I got demoted to bagger for a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/38 "2014-06-18T00:08:15Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > If the cashier drops the coins into the hand ahead of the bills, then the customer can hold the coins in the palm at the same time that he manipulates the bills with the fingers of the same hand, and the other hand can be used to grab wallets or purses. It makes no difference to me. I can just cup and tilt my hand while holding the bills and separate the coins from the bills with one hand. For some reason, I prefer bills first, with change on top. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/39 "2014-06-18T00:08:28Z")
I pay for just about everything with my card these days. But I used to do something that would totally befuddle even experienced cashiers. I generally did what the OP does to get back whole dollars but barring that I’d give enough small change to get back only bills and quarters. So, for instance, for a transaction of $3.83, I’d give $5.08 (getting $1.25 in change). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964/40 "2014-06-18T00:14:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > As a former cashier lo these many years ago, it isn’t so much the guy who has a quarter. It’s the guy who gives you a quarter, three dimes, a nickel, and a Panamanian half dollar because he wants a two dollar bill and three potatoes back in change, and then he acts like you’re a moron if you don’t get it. I don’t know why it’s affecting me so, but that’s the funniest thing I’ve read all day! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-have-such-a-problem-rounding-up/690964.md?page=3)