Wednesday, September 8, 2010

That "No Large Bills" Policies That Some Businesses Have

I've been in various stores with a policy that they would not accept any bills larger than $20. That was no big deal to me as I seldom, if ever, had any cause to carry around a large bill, such as a $50. (I usually deposited those in the bank.)

I've operated the register in both of the paid jobs I've ever held (a retail one and one at the Burger King that was in my current hometown at one time) as well as my current volunteer spot at one of the thrift stores in town. Sometimes, when a customer pays for whatever they bought/ordered, the difference between the cash they give and the actual cost of the purchase is big enough to cost the cashier a lot of the change in the drawer.

At the place I volunteer at, not only do large bills pose a problem as far as change is concerned, but the $20 bills do as well, if the overall cost comes nowhere near that. A couple of times, either I or somebody else had to go to a nearby bank to exchange any bills $20 or higher for "smaller" change, if we were lucky enough not to be the only person on duty. (I remember back when I was working the aforementioned retail job that one of my then co-workers said that sometimes she's had to "buy" change from someone and/or turn people away because of lack of change on her end.)

Hmm. I guess the next time I'm out shopping, I should have bills on hand that aren't much higher than what my total for xyz is if I can help it (which I can't always, I'm afraid, but it's worth thinking about).  After all, I'd hate to deprive the person on the other end of the register of too much of what's in the drawer.

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