Doesn't ANYONE know HOW to count change back anymore?

[BarefootMom]

is that really what this electronic world has came too?

I don't use debit cards and rarely use credit cards. I do cash or checks but mostly cash when I shop. Yesterday I went into K-Mart to get some school supplies and my total was $24.87- I handed the girl a $100 dollar bill and she punched it in and just handed me my cash back. I couldn't believe she didn't count it back. I asked her to count it back and she said here is 75.13 and that was it. I asked her again if she could count it back and she looked at me like I was crazy. So I said fine, and started to count it back to myself in front of her- and lo and behold I was $5 short! And to top it all off she gave $30 in ones! Said she isn't allowed much cash in her drawer. I can see why now!

I learned how to count change back at a very young age. I don't know how old I was but it was way before I got my first job.




and I am only 25 years old...

 

[redhen]

Didnt she have to count it out in the first place to get it out of the register?

 

[FarmCoe]

Something very similar happened to my mother just recently.... But the machine broke and the cashier had to count it on her phone. And it was only a three dollar and something cent difference!

 

[Amyable]

My mom taught me to count back change when I was 12. It should be taught in schools, along with a bunch of other basic, common sense tasks.

 

[sourland]

Feigning counting as they take change from the register, folding it, and handing it to you while saying, "Here is your change, $xxx"

is a con frequently used to shortchange the customer. If you don't count the change and ask for the correction, the excess goes ito their pocket. Had this scam tried on me.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Too true! We have a lady at our local bank that has tried this on us TWICE now...
We SAW her count out our money and put aside something on counter.(we were in drive-through)...
So she hands us the envelope.. we count the money back and sure enough we were short a $100...
We told her...
and ooh how convient, she" forgot" to put that $100 in the envelope....it was sitting right there on her counter...oopsie..

If we didnt catch that "mistake", we would have most likely been out $100!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Agreed, and how to balance a checkbook. I had a checking account (my mom co-signed so I could get it) at 16. She showed me how to balance it and told me if I ever bounced a check it would be closed immediately.

I spent years in banking when I was just out of high school - you have to be really good at counting change or you won't have a job long. (seems like ages ago now) We use cash for a lot of things now - we got really into debt when we were young and when we got ourselves out, we started living within our means and cash helps us budget. (you always know how much you have left) I hate using credit/debit cards.

It continues to amaze me how many people (of all ages) cannot count change. They rely on the computer to tell them how much change to give. One guy at a store was so terrible, that I actually told him if he can't count change, he shouldn't be behind a cash register.

My 8 year old son can count change better than most of the adults we encounter at stores. A young girl once gave my DH too much change, not alot, but more than he should have received (she was so horrible, he wasn't going to waste the time arguing with her) - so he pocketed it and called it the stupid tax.

 

[cassie]

Here's one for you. I stopped at the local mini mart the other day to get a pound of cheese. The little sweetie behind the counter told me she couldn't sell me a pound of cheese because all she had were 8 oz. packages. She got all huffy when I put two packages of cheese on the counter and politely told her two 8 oz. packages equaled sixteen ounces, and sixteen ounces equaled a pound. And no, I am not making that up.

 

[Widget]

My parents taught me how to count back change at a young age. They ran their own business so all the kids learned that skill almost from day one. I still have one of the cash registers they used. No fancy electronics telling the cashier how much change to give back.

I worked retail for way too many years but I was very proud of being a great cashier. I was fast, accurate and counted back the change every single time. If I had to train someone that was the first thing they learned. I had more than one customer tell me how nice it was to have cashiers who could and would count back change to them.

I was also the only supervisor who could cash out the registers without the use of a calculator. I would use pen and paper to keep a running tally but never a calculator. The nights I closed out the registers were the most accurate when compared to the nights other supervisors worked.

Yesterday I was picking up my dinner from a nearby deli. The cashier was the young daughter of the owner. She was, at the most, seven years old. Her older sister looked on but this youngster rang up the order, politely told me the total and then had to figure out the change. Granted the register did tally it for her but she managed to hand me the correct amount. She didn't count it back to me but for someone that young she did a great job. She had to give me $1.65. I was handed a dollar bill, two quarters, one dime and five pennies. But she counted it out all by herself. If she keeps it up she will be running the place by next summer.

 

[secuono]

Is this about actually counting back the change or is this about math? Cus I couldn't do the math or if you gave me more than owed just to get a dime instead of some pennies. Everything today has to be fast, I won't sit in line waiting for someone to do the math and all that crap. I see no issue in using a calculator for the math, but for the cashier not to count the change back, they gotta.

As for the bank clerk, I would of demanded to speak to the manager and then for them to watch the security film. Get that clerk suspended or fired. Who knows how much they have been stealing!