Pet Peeve – Counting Back Change

Isn't there anyone left that knows how to count change back to the customer? How many times have you had your change given to you with the bills on the bottom and the loose change on the top?

Here's a typical scenario:

I have my wallet open before the cashier rings up the total. Once everything is rung up, the cashier says "Your total is $26.53". I grab a $20 bill and a $10 bill from my wallet and hand it to the cashier.

The cashier takes the change out of the register, tears the receipt, and places everything on my palm like this:

The cashier places the receipt in my palm first, then three $1 bills on top of the receipt, and finally 47¢ on top of the $1 bills. Then the cashier tells me how much change she just put in my hand.

This is so annoying!

Now, she's waiting for me to leave, but I've got three things I need to separate.

• All of the loose change goes into the zippered part of my wallet.
• The bills have to go inside my wallet
• The receipt is supposed to go into a separate section within my wallet, or I need to have it ready to show the person at the door for proof of purchase.

All of this could probably be avoided if I had pockets in every skirt, dress, or pair of pants I own, but I don't.

So here I am, trying to rush out of the checkout line, fumbling with what goes where, and I end up leaving with everything still in my hand and having to push the shopping cart at the same time. I know I'll have to pull over to the side to get this all straightened out, hoping I don't drop any change while I've got all this stuff in my hand.

I pull over to the side, making sure I won't be in anyone's way (also a pet peeve – when someone leaves the checkout, takes two or three steps into traffic area and stops). I'm lucky if I don't drop any change onto the floor while trying to slide the change into my wallet. 

Counting back change is not that hard to do. It's also a courtesy to the customer, as well as a safeguard to the cashier to prevent mistakes.

Let me use the transaction above as an example of how to count back change.

Example:  $26.53 out of $30.00

Start by counting out enough change to get to the next coin or bill size.

counting out pennies:  $26.54… $26.55…

counting out dimes $26.65…  $26.75

counting out quarters $26.75… $27.00…

continue counting back the change by using dollar bills and counting out the dollars as you go along like this:  $28.00… $29.00… $30.00 

Personally, I'd rather you didn't actually count up to that first dollar – too time consuming. Just place the loose change in my hand – we know that's up to the first dollar – then continue counting from there, until you've reached the amount I gave you to pay for my stuff.

I searched for a quick video to show it in action and all I could find were home school tutoring videos. That goes to show how simple this is – first graders are learning how to do this. My ten year old knows how to do this!

Why don't more cashiers know how to do this?! Why aren't employers teaching their employees how to do this anymore?!

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