My biggest pet peeve

[seeress_83]

For some reason, I've been getting a lot of customers that do this lately, and it drives me frigging INSANE.

Why in the name of whatever deity/tree/idol you worship, can people not grasp the concept of putting their money IN MY HAND!? I stand there, I tell them their total, I hold out my hand to accept their money, and they completely ignore it, to then throw their money in a pile on my counter. I mean, it would be different if I were making no effort to collect their money from them, but COME ON. I'll hold out my hand the whole time they're counting and throwing money in a messy pile, and they just look at my hand like they don't give a shit.

I've gotten to the point where I either continue to stand there with my hand out until they pick the money up and put it there, or if I pick the money up, I do the same thing with their change that they did with their money. It's amazing how long it takes some people to catch on to this concept. There's one guy who has been tossing money for MONTHS who has YET to catch on. I hold my hand out til he puts money in it, and I'll do that a few times and think "Oh, maybe he's got it now" but just as soon as I think that he'll come in and toss his money willy-nilly on the counter.

Ye gods, sometimes I hate humanity.

[MinimaMagistra]

This, in reverse, was the cause of a huge snit at my old coffeeplace. One of our semi-regular coustomers (prone to cause scenes anyway) gave her money to Dirk, the 50-some brit who worked there. I adored him, but he took no shit. Good thing, but pretty bad for coustomer service in a snooty artsy rich-person mall. He put the change (not threw) on the counter though her hand was extended because we were hella busy and he was listening to someone else's order at the same time. She threw a fit, and he wouldn't budge on the subject, 'cause he hadn't been ignoring her hand, just hadn't seen it. Manager2 (I went through three, in my two years there) eventually had to come out, apologize to her, and put her change in her hand.

I sympathize with your thing, getting that occasionally. Be glad of this, though: Yours may be dense, but they don't fight back.

[aurelemsrealm]

Thank you for bringing that up! That may be a small point of courtesy, but it drives me insane, too, especially if they happen to toss it hard enough that it rolls off the counter. Some will offer a half-assed apology, but some don't even bother to apologize. They just act as if it's no big deal. Yet, these same jerks always seem to expect you to reach to put it nicely in their hand. My solution is to give it back to them as they gave it to me. A lot of people really don't even think about it, but I think some of them do it as some sort of power trip to try and boost their egos.

I've only had one old fart (a real self-important 10-cent millionaire) insist that I pick it up and hand it to him. It was in a nice, neat pile on the counter. He got huffy and told me that I had an attitude problem when I refused and walked off. I responded that I had an attitude, but it was his problem because I was just fine with it. A customer standing behind him busted out laughing. The guy grabbed his change and left with a scowl on his face, muttering those famous words about us losing his business because he's never coming back. My response, "Yeah, good riddance, don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you." The customer behind him was roaring with laughter by the time it was his turn to get to the counter.

On a side note, this crabby old fart has been back several times. Oh yay, goodie! He now sets his money on the counter, but gets noticeably irritated if he realizes that he doesn't have exact change after digging through his pockets for change. I guess he figures that I can't stick it to him that way. I only gathered that after he one time insisted on going back across the parking lot to his car to get some change. He didn't count on me voiding his transaction and moving on to other customers rather than waiting for him to tie up the register. He didn't like waiting in line for a second time either. It's really quite comical to watch as he grudgingly digs for the dollar to cover the odd change. He got huffy the other day because there were no pennies in the penny tray. He stuck his hand out, and I carefully sat his nickel in change on the counter and told him to have a nice day. (Dance, puppet, dance!)

[GayleShy]

The only thing I don't like about working at the hospital are the days I have to work the cash register in the cafe. It's too much like working retail.

I had one nurse get very snotty when I held out my hand for her money, because she put it on her food tray and tried to make me go after it. Unsanitary for several reasons, the main one being that my hands, which were not clean after handling money, would be too near her food. She rolled her eyes, picked up the money and put it in my hand, but left with a sigh and a "what is it about cashiers making me put it in their hands?" Yes, my hands are dirty and I can understand not wanting to touch me, but guess what, I'm not too fond of touching them either, and I rarely do, unless bring their hand too close.

[Sableonblonde]

It doesn't bother me so much, because I'll just take my sweeeeeeeeet time picking the money up off of the counter, arranging it in my hand, and then fiddle around a little bit inside the cash drawer, maybe take a few moments to break open some new rolls of quarters, etc.

Same goes for the people who hand me their bills all rolled up into little wads or balls. (Although usually this applies to kids). Same as above...I'll take my sweet time unfolding the money. If you want to make my job a little bit harder, well then you can just stand there a little longer.

I've yet to have anybody throw money at me...I don't even know how I'd respond to that. But I have some ideas

[angelicafire]

aurelemsrealm's post reminded me of something that happened this weekend. I hope this doesn't hijack the thread. My roommate and I went to this mall in a part of town we don't usually shop in, just to check it out. It was pretty hoity-toity, a two-story outdoor mall with shops like Crate and Barrel and Soak!, things like that. Well, we saw a Starbucks, and decided to feed our addiction to sweet frozen things.

We were standing in a pretty long line, they had two registers open, and they had 6 or 7 baristas shoulder to shoulder behind the counter slinging drinks. The guy in front of me got an iced Americano with room (I'm not a stalker, I just remember random things) and goes to pay, I think it was $4.04 or something.

Dude reaches into the tip jar to get change.

He's not a poor looking fellow, and it was kind of like those Visa checkcard commercials where everything stops because the person had to write a check. The barista said "Um, sir, that's our tip jar."

He says, "I know."

WTF!? The barista stared him down until he took his hand out of the jar and reached into his pocket for another dollar.

So now it's ok to flat out steal in front of people? Good job.

[blas]

I always wanted to say "I'm not a stripper or a musician on the street!" when customers threw money at me.

Not just cash, but they flopped their credit cards and they bounced like frogs onto the counter.

Some people have no class and no manners at all. I wish I could have thrown it right back at them.

[Fraggle]

Dude reaches into the tip jar to get change.

OMG

In what situation would that ever be ok??
What is the matter with people

[MystyGlyttyr]

That reminds me of something that happened at a gas station once. I was in there buying something to snack on for the way home, and took a second to stuff some things back in my wallet, so I set my five on the counter just for a second, and then after I finished, without really thinking about, reached down and picked it up and held it out to the cashier.

She visibly reacted. "Oh, wow, you're actually handing me your money? No one's ever done that!"

I just sort of blinked at her, then we both laughed. While she was running the register, she added "Sorry, I didn't mean to blurt that out, but you have no idea how many different places people just fling their money around in here. It's so nice not to have to clean it up!"

It was just kind of funny that something that I never really thought about, just did, would get such a reaction.

[MadMike]

Back in my wife's retail days, some bitchy woman threw her money at her. My wife was never one to take crap from people, so she threw her change right back at her. It almost escalated into a physical fight, until her manager, who must be the coolest manager in the world, sent my wife on break to cool down, and sent the customer out of the store permanently.

[blas]

Come to think of it, I DID get to hurl a pack of cigarettes at a customer once. So I guess I did get my little "revenge" I've always wanted. Gotta love a pack of cigarettes to the face when you've pissed off the wrong gas station clerk who needs to close the store NOW and you can't make up your mind what cigarettes you want and you start to call her "stupid" because of it.

[aurelemsrealm]

The comment about digging into the tip jar is about as bad as the guy who expected me to loan him 75 cents out of my own pocket for the air machine. I try not to categorize or stereotype people, but he and his skanky herd had sleazy lowlife white trash written all over them. He had just made a purchase, and so I knew he had money because he made a big show of his stash as he fumbled through it and put it back in his pocket.

So, they were roaming around the store. The assistant manager was also working, and she had whispered a comment about walking around to make sure they didn't steal anything. So, she pretended to be cleaning shelves as she followed them casually around the store while I waited on this white trash lowlife.

So, he pays for his stuff then takes it outside. He comes back in and asks to get change for the air machine. I would have changed a dollar or two since he just did make a purchase even though I was thinking that he should have thought about it while I had the drawer open earlier. He stood there empty-handed and looked at me expectantly. I looked at him waiting for him to hand me a dollar bill or some other money. I finally just asked if he changed his mind about getting change. He responded that he was waiting on me to give him some change, "as a loan between friends."

I gave him one of those go to hell looks. "I don't loan money to anyone. Besides, you still have cash in your pocket. I saw it while ago."

"Yeah, but I'm saving it....."

"Well, I'm saving my money, too."

He went back to his friends, and made some snide remark as they headed for the door. By this time, the AM had made her way back to the register. I made a comment so that they could hear it to her about what had just happened, "F-ing mooch! He can go bum from someone else. I'm not a bank or ATM." She nodded agreement.

[Bagga]

There was a thread like this here a few months ago, and there are some people who post here that really hate having the money placed in their hands, so it's a matter of opinion.

TBH, seeing some of the people I have watched buying stuff in wine stores and gas stations, I would prefer them to put the money on the counter, so I could sort through the cash with the tip of a ball-point pen, pushing the really filthy coins and notes to one side, then refuse to accept them on environmental health grounds, and then throw the pen away.

[AFpheonix]

I don't really care if they set it on the counter or in my hand. Operative word being "Set", though. I will get peeved if you skip your credit card across the counter like a stone.
I will also take my time to face the bills if the person drops a wad of folded/mangled bills on the counter.

I will put the money back in their hand, though, unless they make me stand there entirely too long, and then I'll set it on the counter until they're ready to pick it up.

[blas]

It's about respect.

The money I give them back is just as filthy.

It's about treating me like a human being and handing me money or gently placing it on the counter. Not throwing bills at me or flopping credit cards at me. That is rude, digusting, and a shame.