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I don't know where this thread should go, so if it's in the wrong place mods (I thought it might be controversial), please relocate. I have noticed this happening over and over in my hometown of Houston, and wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this. My wife and I go out to sit down restaurants once or twice a week and frequently pay the bill in cash. For the past year or two, the server often brings us back the dollar bills and neglects the change. When they do this, they always short us on the change; they never round up to the next dollar as they should if they had no change available to give us. If we point out the problem, they act like they forgot to bring it to us.
This happened again yesterday after the server gave us crappy service throughout the entire meal, and he did not return our $0.40 in change. I had it happen at a bookstore, when the bookseller didn't give me my $0.20 in change. Starbucks has done this to me more than once. Over and over again it has happened. For those who think I am being petty, I disagree. It is not the store or server's money, it is mine.
If the item is $5.82, I deserve $0.18 returned to me, because the item did not cost $6.00. It is a form of overt thievery. And when store staff does this to customers repeatedly throughout the day, they can pocket a lot of customer money without the store knowing it. I'm sure many customers won't confront the employee or tell the store because they think they are being petty. What do you think?
I think they assume the customer want them to keep the change but I feel they should give the change to the customer first and then wait if you would offer the change... and more than likely, add to it.
Change? We're talking less than $1? I would have left that for the waitstaff, anyway. / shrug
We always tip very well if the service is good. My point is, staff should not automatically keep change for themselves. It's not theirs to keep. As for the bookseller, that was very odd. She owned the store and attempted to keep my change, so it wasn't even about tipping at all.
I don't know where this thread should go, so if it's in the wrong place mods (I thought it might be controversial), please relocate. I have noticed this happening over and over in my hometown of Houston, and wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this. My wife and I go out to sit down restaurants once or twice a week and frequently pay the bill in cash. For the past year or two, the server often brings us back the dollar bills and neglects the change. When they do this, they always short us on the change; they never round up to the next dollar as they should if they had no change available to give us. If we point out the problem, they act like they forgot to bring it to us.
This happened again yesterday after the server gave us crappy service throughout the entire meal, and he did not return our $0.40 in change. I had it happen at a bookstore, when the bookseller didn't give me my $0.20 in change. Starbucks has done this to me more than once. Over and over again it has happened. For those who think I am being petty, I disagree. It is not the store or server's money, it is mine.
If the item is $5.82, I deserve $0.18 returned to me, because the item did not cost $6.00. It is a form of overt thievery. And when store staff does this to customers repeatedly throughout the day, they can pocket a lot of customer money without the store knowing it. I'm sure many customers won't confront the employee or tell the store because they think they are being petty. What do you think?
I think that this is the Politics forum, not the 'I'm a cheapskate who likes to complain' forum.
In all seriousness, at a restaurant this should be no issue at all. There is almost no circumstance were the tip is going to be less than the loose change. So just count it towards the tip you were going to leave.
At Starbucks, it's a different story. They should definitely be giving you the change back, and I've never been to a similar establishment were they don't. The easy way around that is to get the app on your phone, or just use a Starbucks card. No change to worry about, and you get a ton of perks.
If you want to pursue it further, try to get proof that it's happening, try to get proof it's in more than one location, and find a lawyer who might want to claim that Starbucks knows, and make it a class action.
I live in Houston, and the rare times this happens, they round in my favor.
Do you act like someone who doesn't tip? Maybe the wait staff thinks you're going to completely stiff them and grab what little they think they can get away with.
What's much more common to me is not being charged for things like when my kids have a soda. I suppose I'm rewarding theft, but when I'm not charged $2 for a soda, I leave an EXTRA dollar on top of the tip they receive.
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