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Because no one has ever explained the process of counting back change. It's not about the math it's about how they think about the problem. They are on the spot and thinking they are subtracting and you are adding in other things to think about when all they have to do is count back. No one has explained that to them and they've grown up with cash registers that give them the answer. I have no doubt that if it were properly explained, most could do the actual math. It's just not ever been taught.
If you're in a MW environment, you especially shouldn't expect everyone to know everything. It's more important that they're able to learn.
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For example, at a Sam's Club, a young lady at the customer service register had to be taught by her older supervisor the "proper way" to make change for a $20 in quarters.... 5 stacks of 4 quarters. Both sides nod off on that. Transaction done.
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I worked at a Kmart. My mother was surprised I still didn't know how to properly fold shirts. She nor my manager never taught me. She, and apparently my manager just assumed "I would know". Yet, she couldn't figure out how to work a flip phone even with me and her friends teaching her. BTW, her friends were her age and managed to figure it out on their own
So I went to a big box store for a return today. I had paid with my debit and they needed to give me cash back. It was $4 and some change. So I asked the cashier if I could just give her $1 so she could give me a $5 instead.
So she took my one. Then tried to hand it back to me with the change. So I said can you trade this for a $5? She had shut the drawer (and not yet handed me the coins). Then she had to get the drawer open again. Then she got the $5 and put the change back. And shut the drawer. Then finally she got someone to open it again and I got all my change.
Several years ago I stopped trying to maximize my quarters because people were just too confused when I gave the a dime with my bills when the total change was 85 cents.
When did basic math get so hard for people?
First off, when the goal is to get people through the line as quickly and
efficiently as possible, it's not the time to play Math Whiz, especially
since the register usually tells the cashier how much change to give.
Secondly, quick-change artists try to get all fancy with the change; that's
how they throw the cashier off balance and come away with more money
than they were owed. So it's best just not to go there. It carries the
potential of looking suspicious.
A good rule of thumb for the cashier is to give whatever change the
register says to give, once that drawer opens. Any attempts to change
things up (pardon the pun) on the customer's part after that will just have to wait.
After all, good math skills *also* involve customers knowing exactly what they're
going to give the cashier *before* the cashier enters it into the computer.
Meanwhile, many retail workers are wondering how reading got so
hard for people, given how often customers can't seem to read
signs. But that's another thread!
When I worked as a cashier at my first job, I would countback unless there was a huge line. Why, I didn't want to tie it up when not nessicary such as items not ringing up. In my second job at a gas station the way I did it with my first job "was wrong and too slow" even if the lines were only bad when groups of day-laborers came in at about 2/3 In the afternoon.
First off, when the goal is to get people through the line as quickly and
efficiently as possible, it's not the time to play Math Whiz, especially
since the register usually tells the cashier how much change to give.
Secondly, quick-change artists try to get all fancy with the change; that's
how they throw the cashier off balance and come away with more money
than they were owed. So it's best just not to go there. It carries the
potential of looking suspicious.
A good rule of thumb for the cashier is to give whatever change the
register says to give, once that drawer opens. Any attempts to change
things up (pardon the pun) on the customer's part after that will just have to wait.
After all, good math skills *also* involve customers knowing exactly what they're
going to give the cashier *before* the cashier enters it into the computer.
Meanwhile, many retail workers are wondering how reading got so
hard for people, given how often customers can't seem to read
signs. But that's another thread!
-
lol Good point. How about we talk about entitlement and other attitudes customers have? When signs right in front of their faces at the register window say "sorry we do NOT accept $100 bills" and they try to pay with a hundred and are surprised when told they can't?
This is just another "this generation today blah blah!" thread in disguise. Well, I have plenty of complaints about other generations and people in general. I don't work with cash registers anymore but because of the general public, I'm glad I got out when I did because I could barely stand it anymore.
That's just really sad. I wonder if that cashier thinks they should be paid $15 an hour. Learn some basic math then you'll be worth $15 an hour.
Love it! When I saw the OP, my answer was no. I have seen them pull out a calculator, unless the cash register automatically calculates, then I will say the amount of my change.
For example, at a Sam's Club, a young lady at the customer service register had to be taught by her older supervisor the "proper way" to make change for a $20 in quarters.... 5 stacks of 4 quarters. Both sides nod off on that. Transaction done.
That's only $5. Having a bad math day? I guess it's not just the cashiers.
This has been the case for probably 20-30 years. They don't have to do it anymore, so they aren't practiced at it. I'm of above average intelligence, but it would take me a moment to do it. That's just not how my brain works. At one time, I was a server and made all my own change. I haven't had to do it in 20 years.
Yep. I worked as a cashier for several years in high school and college and I was used to making change. But once everyone switched to electronic cash registers that did all the calculations, it became a lost skill. Why would you expect people to know how do do something that is no longer part of their job?
On a similar note, how many people memorize phone numbers anymore? Most everyone I know does not, because we all have cell phones which memorize the numbers for us, so it's mental effort that most people no longer bother with.
It's less about the math and more about people learning and remembering what they need in their everyday lives. Even for a cashier, doing the calculations to make change no longer falls into that category.
I don't understand how customers wouldn't want you to count back unless you're the slowest counter ever. Even when I had a line wrapped around my store, I always counted the cash back. I was the one who would get written up if the cash was off when I balkanced the till, not the customer. And it took me about 2 seconds to count back the cash anyway.
What really held up my line all the time were the people who just had to scrounge in their purses and pockets to get exact change. I used to finish the transaction and ask them to step aside until they found their change, then go on to the next customer. Sometimes I'd have three or more customers all standing at the counter digging for exact change.
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I don't work with cash registers anymore but because of the general public, I'm glad I got out when I did because I could barely stand it anymore.
