Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's not the cashier no doubt thought you were trying to scam her and I don't blame her a bit -what a ridiculous azz backward bizarre request- I had to read this several times to even comprehend wtf you were trying to accomplish-(and I'm still not sure). Hey bub- got 2 10's for a 5? how bout if I give you this $1 you give me a $5- she was probably trying to figure out how to reconcile it in her register so some doof wouldn't have to cope with a bit of jingle in his pockets. Geezus- it's like this guy ahead of me in line at a fast food place trying to make the kid do all this weird stuff with his order and giving him grief like it was a freakin 5 star gourmet restaurant, ................people.................
trying to maximize your quarters......................lol.......you can't make this stuff up.
It's basic math. Not at all difficult. The problem is when it's not explained in detail to the cashier. It has come to the point where you actually have to explain the math behind your request because they cannot do the math.
The dumbing-down of America continues unabated.
My pet peeve (it was mentioned earlier) is when I get bills first then change on top. Really? What numbskull trains people to do this? Every time this happens to me I explain to them why they should give coins first. Some actually seem to listen. A lesser number seem to comprehend what I'm telling them.
People were getting confused because of your own confusion over how this system is supposed to work. You're only supposed to give extra coins when you don't have exact change and don't want to get nearly a dollar's worth of change back. For example, if something rings up as $3.02 and all you have is a $10 Bill, you give the $10 Bill plus a nickel, dime or quarter so you're not getting back 98 cents in change.
You're not supposed to be giving extra change for the reasons you're doing it. That's not why people came up with this system and if cashiers were getting confused it was because you were completely throwing them off with your own muddled take on it.
But the new "registers" should handle it automatically. The cashier inputs the amount given and it spits out the correct change. (per the OP example) Are you saying they're too dumb to figure out even that simple task?
Two jobs everyone ought to have in life. Cashier and waiter/waitress. ONLY then does that give anyone the "right" to judge others who do these "jobs". I watch people struggle at using the self-checkouts. That is always fun to observe. We are in a different tech age and things that we were used to back in the day are gone. That would include counting out change. For the record, I have done both of the jobs in my younger days. Stinks!!!! Only takes one jerk to ruin your shift and there is always one of those.
I'd end up chunking things: 12 + 8 = 20, 2.25+2.75 = 5, so now I am at 25. 1+15+23.65= ~40. Now it is 65 + 8.50. $73.50 + 8% tax? so 10% is 7.35 and 2% tax is ~.15 so the tax is ~7.
Total is about $80.
That's how I'd handle a shopping trip, it would be a good enough estimate. I think about tax in 1%, 5%, and 10% increments and add and subtract to get to where I need to go.
...you just calculated 2% of $7.35 when you were supposed to calculate 2% of $73.50. "When did basic math get so hard for people?"
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.
Most of my customers are gems, and make my job very enjoyable.
Every now and then there's one that goes off in such a way that I
momentarily wonder if we've been transported onto the set of Jerry
Springer. Got one of those adorable peeps just today. Such a treat,
they were!
Fortunately, those kinds of customers rarely return. Not that I blame
them; if I had behaved that way, I wouldn't either... I'd be too
ashamed of myself to show my face there again...
-
You have a great attitude. One of my local Lowe's cashiers is like that. She is smiling and upbeat every time I go in. DH and I walked in yesterday and she was petting someone's puppy, she looked up and said "hi you two it's good to see you." We complimented her the first time we met her and she said "I love my job and I need the customers so I have my job" I don't really understand the slow and grumpy workers(I'm not talking about someone having a bad day). Make the best of it, be friendly and your day will go better.
One of the good practices I got from my parents as a kid - we always had to estimate/add up the items in the cart. Whoever was closest (between my sister and I) would "win" but I do not remember any prizes. I won most of the time - I was faster at math than my sister.
I didn't think about this then, but it was a fun game, and pretty helpful in life.
This was easiest when we lived in a state with 5% tax. When tax is let's say 8.25% it is much harder to do the math. Now our local tax is basically 10% which is a lot easier to calculate.
I will admit I am pretty good at mental arithmetic, but I am very rusty these days. I used to be great. Now I just estimate, and I don't get mad if I am off by a few dollars. I used to be able to get things within a dollar.
I have a lot of tricks. For example, I am much better at multiplying (or dividing) by 4s and 5s than 3s, so I'll round stuff to put it in chunks of 4s or 5s. So if there is a restaurant bill for $74, and 4 people, I'll round up to $80. Then divide 80/4 for 20. 6/4 is $1.50, so then I'll subtract $1.50 from $20 to get the final cost of $18.50. It is a super roundabout way to handle the transaction, but breaking it out into chunks makes it easier for me. That's how I think about change as well.
So back to your shopping example. The way I always thought about it was like so. Let's pretend the 8 items I have were the following costs:
$1
$15
$8.50
$2.25
$2.75
$23.65
$8
$12
I'd end up chunking things: 12 + 8 = 20, 2.25+2.75 = 5, so now I am at 25. 1+15+23.65= ~40. Now it is 65 + 8.50. $73.50 + 8% tax? so 10% is 7.35 and 2% tax is ~.15 so the tax is ~7.
Total is about $80.
That's how I'd handle a shopping trip, it would be a good enough estimate. I think about tax in 1%, 5%, and 10% increments and add and subtract to get to where I need to go.
I feel like my head is going to explode. This seems all over the place. How is this one mental, two intuitive, and three works out? Rounding and round off work but most times you would need to round up due to .07, .08, .09 being the average end cent so often this will raise your cost. Intuitively, this is all over the place to add $20, have to remember that and compute another number. I have a really good long-term memory but with a lot of things going on, my short-term isnt always the best so jumping like that, i would need pad and paper. But the real one that gets me is the tax.The 2% tax I think was computed wrong. Shouldn't it be 2% of the total, not 2% of the 10% tax? Making your tax under $6.00? Now yes, i would likely round the $79 to $80, but the fact you did 2% of the 10% is flawed beyond belief.
It's basic math. Not at all difficult. The problem is when it's not explained in detail to the cashier. It has come to the point where you actually have to explain the math behind your request because they cannot do the math.
The dumbing-down of America continues unabated.
My pet peeve (it was mentioned earlier) is when I get bills first then change on top. Really? What numbskull trains people to do this? Every time this happens to me I explain to them why they should give coins first. Some actually seem to listen. A lesser number seem to comprehend what I'm telling them.
That is because of what most people try and do. Now I'm not gonna be mean and claim that "People are trying to scam cashiers" I think there is some of that out there like say 10% of the population. The issue is the 90% who have their mental quirks yet imagine some machine jockey to understand their numerical reasoning when they may never have met them before and may not see them again.
Now should the OP done what she did in my last post where she priced out the tax, she should have realized at a $4.60 purchase, I'll get $4.95 after tax, but I don't want singles clogging up my purse so why don't I ask the cashier/customer service rep to ad my two dimes so I get quarters. However, this wasn't communicated to the cashier which is needed, especially on returns. I have done a few returns in my time as a cashier, let me tell you, the system I used would not let us input customer change so unless I knew what the customer wanted, it would break my concentration of making the $4.95 refund due.
Now yes, I didn't include the "Well it is easy math" component, which you got to remember may not be the other person. As I said before numerical reasoning makes sense to the customer but only to that customer. You can't assume others know what you mean, even with communication. I see this at my customer service job where even if I do clearly say it, people don't get things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tek_Freek
But the new "registers" should handle it automatically. The cashier inputs the amount given and it spits out the correct change. (per the OP example) Are you saying they're too dumb to figure out even that simple task?
As I stated before, most registers aren't good to do returns with a cash exchange of what the customer is giving the cashier to get their desired change.
There's that power thing people were just talking about.
This is not about education, but technology. It's a natural progression, and it's happening in multiple areas of society, not just cash registers and rusty math. It's not that we don't know HOW to do this math, but we don't NEED to do it as often as people used to, so we've gotten rusty. If registers that count for us went away, all cashiers would need to learn how to count change quickly just like they used to. Debit cards are also a thing now, and many people don't even use cash very often, let alone fumble with change.
This thread reminds me of a story by Isaac Asimov back in 1958. It was called “The Feeling of Power” and described a society which had forgotten arithmetic because it relied on computers. Then one person rediscovered it and the society then had a great advantage over others.
Wow, just because you were lucky... trust me it has more to do with the area and the clientele than it does with the cashiers. Take it from a veteran of nearly two dozen retail locations in all sorts of neighborhoods and income brackets. There is a huuuuuge difference in the way the cashiers are treated from one place to another.
Methinks the poster does exaggerate a bit. She claims she was called b**ch every day, several times a day, they all yelled at her and were constantly trying to pull scams. That's hard to believe, even if she was cashiering in the State Pen. Sure, there are occasional rude customers! Nobody said there weren't. But her story doesn't mesh with reality. Most people just want to pay for their stuff and get out. If you are being called names all day long by customers, you need to ask yourself what you are doing wrong. I've worked with people who make up stuff or exaggerate stories about customers simply because they are frustrated with their jobs. I don't have to believe everything I hear.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
