The quiet disappearance of the cent - w/o government action

I wrote about this elsewhere, but figured it's worth breaking out into the main forum to continue the discussion w/o hijacking somebody else's thread...


Over the past couple months, I'm starting to see businesses (here in North Texas and also in Maine) quietly eliminate the cent. Oh, if you have exact change, they'll take it, but when making change, they don't bother.

They do this by rounding in the customers favor 100% of the time, so they aren't getting any pushback.

For example, I paid for lunch, $11.26 with a $20 and received $8.75 in change (the receipt says the correct 8.74).

And I've see cases where the $11.24 cost would have gotten me $8.80 in change, rather than break a roll of cents to give me the right $8.76...



Anybody else?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I mostly pay in cash and see this sometimes. But more often than not around here it's exact change.

I've noticed in the lunch vendors when they are very busy that they'll round up for change. Otherwise when not so busy it's exact change.

It's actually cheaper to pay by cash instead of debit/credit. I wonder, if at some point people will notice this and opt for cash payments instead. Cash also makes it cheaper for the vendor as they don't have to pay the debit/CC transaction fees so they are actually making more money even with rounding up.

 

I hardly ever pay cash, so don't see this.

 

Here in Calif, the bill is the same whether you pay in cash or with credit. Credit actually allows a penny-pincher like me to make interest by having the cash in my bank for the rest of the month. That's presuming the bill is paid at the end of the month of course.

 

I get 2% cashback on my card, so it is cheaper for me to do that.

 

I haven't witnessed this is my area of PA but I can tell you that if you owe $.01 to the government wants that cent and they'll spend thousands to get it.

 

I should have received 9.63 in change the other day and I got 9.55. (restaurant)
1. They can't do math.
2. The waiter pulls it out of his pocket and didn't have it, or didn't want to give me 9.65.
Usually I will say something, and I have had them roll their eyes at me.
(I am an above average tipper.)
But I was with a friend and treating, so I didn't make a fuss.

 

I've had this happen to me before, but once when I brought it to the attention of the waitress, she shrugged as if to say, "What do you want me to do about it?" So, I left a note indicating that I deducted the shortage from her tip.

Chris

 

Most folks who buy my surplus postage stamps do not want the cent in change. There are some who do not want any coins in change, which is sad and telling. Our coinage system is anachronistic.

 

I doubt it. 1-4 cents won't change anyone habits, plus that's generally less than the credit card rewards would be anyway barring a very small transaction

 

If you have a CC that gives "rewards".

None of my CC's have Rewards, but then I'm paying under 8.9% APY on them if I maintain a balance.

 

This.^^
Anybody go to mcdonalds or taco hell and actually end up walking away with food and more money than you went in with?

And when you pay for something with a $20 and also give another cent to round out the change, the look of horror on their faces is pricless

If you want to get around the $15 minimum wage thing, employers should pay in cash rather than check. They wont be able to count it anyways lol

 

A cashier at a rural, middle-of-nowhere gas station once took my money and then asked me how much change I should receive. It may or may not be related that the gas station is no longer in business.

 

i always pay cash and see this a lot and when it happens i just say "excuse me but i want my pennies"...

 

It's getting hard to find ANYWHERE where the amount ISN'T rounded to the nearest 5 cents in the customer's favor. The cent is obsolete. And no, @Collecting Nut, even tax remittances (PA40 and 1040) are rounded to the DOLLAR. No cents count.

 

I always use cash too, after a weekend I usually have a pocket full of change to check, this weekend I'll be hitting all the Chases (5 in close proximity) around where I live.

 

You forget, I work for the Post Office and yes, we want our penny (cent) or no stamps.

 

Rounding to the nearest nickel or dime is a common occurrence around here. 4 cents change (sometimes less) = a nickel. 8 or 9 cents change = a dime. Probably makes no difference to the business, and it's not bad for customer relations, either.

 

This is the beginning of the people taking matters into their own hands where their government is unable (or unwilling) to do so.

 

Ya, but they always make you round UP to the nearest dollar in THEIR favor. Bunch of thieves, lol