Is it common sense to ...

[Dan Murphy]

No

 

[gmi3804]

No. I keep hearing talk of eliminating pennies and rounding up to and even 5 cents. If they do eliminate pennies, they better be rounding DOWN, not up.

There was recently a big brouhaha on Nextdoor in my area about a local restaurant that shorted someone .52 in change because they didn't have any quarters, instead of forgiving the .48 they didn't have. It's bad enough that many restaurants in the area charge 3% on a credit card charge. Not good.

 

[jimmymc]

If it's for charity, then sure, it's an easy way to get a lot of small donations.

Did Dollar General just want you to not get your change?

 

[tvguy]

We’ve not had pennies here for years now. Most transactions are digital so it really makes no difference. For cash, it rounds properly to the nearest 5 - up from 3 and down from 2. Didn’t anybody else here take grade 2 math?

That is what I remember learning, but many seem to suggest only rounding up with the elimination of pennies. You may have seen my posts on the cruise line forum, going to be back in Canada for the first time in 6 years and trying to plan to have Canadian currency with me for tips. Unfortunately U.S. banks only allow you to order paper currency, so I guess I will get a bunch of $5 bills, or if necessary, tip in U.S. dollars. I guess that is a U.S. mindset triggered by our refusal to use any 50 cent or $1 dollar coins.

 

[_19disnA]

"Common sense" to me is different from "common practice".

Have been at a few restaurants & grocery stores where they ASK you if you want to round up to the nearest dollar to donate to charity. Some casinos also give you that option when cashing out at one of their kiosks if you don't want to bother getting the coins. You have the option to say 'no' in all of the cases I have ever encountered.

I don't find it to be a 'common practice' if by that you mean it is something every business does. I have never been anywhere that automatically rounds up your total without asking your permission and likely that would be illegal. Much like charging you for something you didn't choose to purchase.

 

[citruscurtis]

If it's for charity, then sure, it's an easy way to get a lot of small donations.

Did Dollar General just want you to not get your change?

It was debit... that started the confusion on my part... I frequently round up at Goodwill if it 23 or lower as I do very well with my resale of their products...so I asked her as we were already conversing about the hello she greeted me with.at the door.. which I see as anti shop lifted deterrent ... fortunately the screen disappeared the sad part is the abuse she will take from disgruntled folks

 

[LuvOrlando]

That’s really bizarre. Can I ask what type of credit card this is? I use VISA & MC. Amounts charged at restaurants or pizza places only show up as the total amount. Tips never show separately. Did this happen at 1 place? Maybe they’re processing it as a separate charge which is why it’s coding that way?

It was my USAA Visa. I have only done the credit tip at the register at the one place the one time, I carry 5s and singles for tip money but left my purse in the car. I usually pay off my cards but this particular one I keep above zero because I figured out a hack for dealing with credit scores and travel expenses, but that is a different topic.

 

[MICKIMINI]

NOPE!

 

[MICKIMINI]

No I will not give it to a store or even to a charity a store tells me to give towards.

I will give it to a cashier and tell them to use it in case they are short or a customer is short. I will round up and tip restaurant workers with cash, I will give money at church and to people in need on the street.

Actually, I am rethinking tipping workers at the register and here is why. I just discovered that tips are treated as cash advances by my credit card so I am paying extra interest on that AND there is no way to clear that particular expense until the card is at zero for a while. Tough to figure out. I had a cash advance charge pop up on a card and I couldn't identify it and the credit card people couldn't identify it for a few months and it was stubborn because the card went to zero a day then I used it again and it still stayed there. It was plainly a small amount since the finance charges were only a few cents but stubbornly there month to month. They said it only comes from cash out and I could see the month it started and there was a pizza charge there and I remembered giving a tip on the card instead of cash. Credit card refunded the few cents. I made it zero again and left it at zero at least a week. It is easier to keep on carrying around cash, won't be doing that again.

I imagine the extra money to round up at stores is also a cash advance, be careful out there they get us at every angle:/

Outrageous! And many people are not looking at their bills as closely as you. DH and I will pay for another person's order occasionally. It seems more genuine. We are careful to watch so that it is done discretely.

 

[footballmouse]

Nope, don't round up. A couple of years ago, a few drive-thru workers would say "you want your penny back?" To which I would reply "You want your 4.99?"

 

[RedAngie]

No. I keep hearing talk of eliminating pennies and rounding up to and even 5 cents. If they do eliminate pennies, they better be rounding DOWN, not up.

I’d go a step further and eliminate nickels too for cash purchases. Round up or down to the nearest 10 cents. Electronic purchases would remain to the exact cent.

Actually I’d round all cash transactions UP to the next 10 cents, not down.

 

[tvguy]

I’d go a step further and eliminate nickels too for cash purchases. Round up or down to the nearest 10 cents. Electronic purchases would remain to the exact cent.

Actually I’d round all cash transactions UP to the next 10 cents, not down.

Not me, only round down. Can you tell my parents grew up in the Depression?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I will give it to a cashier and tell them to use it in case they are short or a customer is short.

FWIW when I worked at MaxRave (no longer exists) the company policy was your drawer could not be under or over $5. If it was you were put on a specific list that corporate keeps track of. Every time you stopped your cashiering duties for the shift your drawer was counted.

I'm sure that company was in the minority but just realize you don't know what a store's policy is and "keep the change" isn't unilaterally treated as a positive or even useful thing (coins aren't nearly as prevalent as they once were anyhow).

 

[kyton]

“We’ve not had pennies here for years now. Most transactions are digital so it really makes no difference. For cash, it rounds properly to the nearest 5 - up from 3 and down from 2.“

Same as Australia, anything ending 1 or 2 cents rounds down to zero, 3 or 4 up to five cents, 6 or 7 down to five cents, 8 or 9 up to the nearest ten cents.

 

[ronandannette]

That is what I remember learning, but many seem to suggest only rounding up with the elimination of pennies. You may have seen my posts on the cruise line forum, going to be back in Canada for the first time in 6 years and trying to plan to have Canadian currency with me for tips. Unfortunately U.S. banks only allow you to order paper currency, so I guess I will get a bunch of $5 bills, or if necessary, tip in U.S. dollars. I guess that is a U.S. mindset triggered by our refusal to use any 50 cent or $1 dollar coins.

Please don't tip in US cash - it will require the recipient to make a trip to the bank to exchange it and most Canadians really don't go to the bank too often.

 

[tvguy]

Please don't tip in US cash - it will require the recipient to make a trip to the bank to exchange it and most Canadians really don't go to the bank too often.

Like I said, I intend to get $5 CD bills from my bank before I go. HOWEVER these tips will be to excursion tour guides. I posted this on the Facebook group for my cruise and one of the tour operators responded that U.S. dollars are absolutely acceptable. About half the tips their staff get are in U.S. dollars. Sort of like servers I know here have to do, they still get a big chunk of their tips in cash, and while in U.S currency and in the U.S., just the nature of their job to have to go to the bank to deposit the cash.

 

[Dznypal]

Where I work I’ve been asked several times if I want my penny. Yes as a matter of fact I do. Not telling me where it was going to go
As far casinos go our local one has the kiosk but doesn’t give change either but doesn’t tell you where the change will go.
Or yiu can stand in line for a cashier. Which there’s 5 windows but usually only 1 open. And of course there’s the tip jar. Im
Supposed to tip you for giving me my money back. That’s not going to happen

 

[citruscurtis]

Where I work I’ve been asked several times if I want my penny. Yes as a matter of fact I do. Not telling me where it was going to go
As far casinos go our local one has the kiosk but doesn’t give change either but doesn’t tell you where the change will go.
Or yiu can stand in line for a cashier. Which there’s 5 windows but usually only 1 open. And of course there’s the tip jar. Im
Supposed to tip you for giving me my money back. That’s not going to happen

Ah ..the quandary... our casino kiosk gives us 4 choices for the coins to go... charities they are already supporting...so it is easy,, though I need the quarters to purchase water for house hold drinking

.... but yes... the tip jar at the cage... for me it is the solitary and confinement of the job and our casino has very poor customer service on the floor...so I would never give them tips like we did in Oregon

And yes, 5 windows....one open

 

[loves to dive]

Not very often. If I'm paying with a credit card, never. If I'm paying with cash and don't have the actual change on me, if the change back is less than say fifty cents, I'll sometimes tell the cashier to keep it. If I'm at a local fast food type place that has a tip jar, I'll put the change in the tip jar (plus a few dollar bills) if I'm paying with cash. If the store has a cup sitting out for people to throw change in and get change out of if needed, I'll throw my change in that.

 

[SteveH]

Last week at my Goodwill the girl asked me if I'd like to round up.
She explained what it was for & I chose to donate.

You might want to look at your area Goodwill. While they do good, many overly compensate their CEOs. Here is a look in a couple States near where I live.
Goodwill International $70m budget, CEO $2.9M Salary/Compensation
Goodwill Portland,OR $211m CEO Emeritus $819,184 + President $749,064 = $1.5m
Goodwill Eugene,OR $45m CEO $526,306
Goodwill Seattle,WA $141m CEO $494,248
Goodwill Tacoma,WA $93m, CEO $388,849
Goodwill Spokane,WA $47m CEO $352,406