Money is money, right?

One of my cashiers tonight was verbally accosted by a customer who apparently didn't like the way she received her change. She paid with a $100 bill, and this cashier had recently started her shift. She didn't have much cash in her drawer, especially larger bills, so the change included a rather large quantity of $5 bills. This angered customer lady.

"Well, can I pay with debit instead?" - NO, the transaction has already been cashed out
"Why didn't you tell me that you only had $5's?" - Because you are talking on your damn cell phone

Of course, the cashier didn't use these repsonses, she was a polite as one could possibly expect.

The whole point is, naturally... Money is money, right? If you visit another retail location later and your total is $10, are they going to turn you down because you pay with two 5's instead of a 10? Yeah, your wallet ends up a little fuller... but is that such a bad thing? Let's say your change is $60. Is 12 five dollar bills that much heavier than 3 twenties? Yes, 4 times more. But at approximately 1 gram a piece... It shouldn't be a problem.

I once had a customer pay with $112 all in ones. That was a little annoying, but hey, money is money.

When you visit a retail establishment... They are not a bank. We don't keep a huge amount of cash on hand. We are given a limited amount of cash to start our day with (even if our "day" starts at 5pm). While we are on the topic of not being a bank, NO I cannot open my drawer to give you change for a dollar.

First of First

So, I am jumping on the blogosphere bandwagon. I fear this blog will mostly be rantings on dealing with the general public at large, so I have named it thusly. Working in retail, I get to meet a large variety of people. They are not always pleasant.

Of course, at my store (or at any store really), we mostly complain to each other about the hazards and headaches of working in this environment. So I have decided to share with the world a collection of these little stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry (maybe not), or just cringe at the incredulity of it all.

Maybe I will include other musings as well... But since work is obviously such a big part of my life, that'll probably be the meat of it. We'll see how this works out.