Who Was Suckier? Me or Her?

[Nashida]

I'm serious here. I'm wondering if in some strange way this is somehow my fault, and I'm a sucky cashier.

Anyway, this morning not 2 seconds after we opened we were busy. I was ringing customers through and all of them used a credit card, which was good for me since I start with a small amount of money in the till for making change.

Then I get this lady who decides to pay for about $7 worth of pool toys for her kids for...wait for it...

a $100 bill.

I just knew I wasn't going to be able to make $90+ in change for her, I barely had $40 in bills. The rest of my till money was wrapped coins, and that wasn't even $5-10 on its own. I tell her this and immediately she jumps down my throat about not having enough money when we just opened up not more than a few moments ago (heck, I was stuck outside with her waiting to be let in- no such thing as an 'employee only' entrance here) and the $100 bill was all she had (which was bull; she had umpteen credit/debit cards in the wallet she pulled the bill out of; why didn't she just use those?) She gave up and left to go break it; she came back an hour later and paid with a $10 instead.

Now, am I in the wrong? The whole time this was happening my gut was crying "PHONY BILL!!" because people rarely pay for things with anything larger than a $50. And unlike my job at Big Yank, I don't have a marking pen that picks out fake bills. I'm wondering if maybe I should have gone through with it, but I know she would have whined because I've emptied my till this early and she still short $45 or so. Never mind the fact that I'd have to explain this to my manager and possibly be out of a job.

[Evil Queen]

What a jerk. The customer, not you. I don't believe you were sucky at all. Why would anyone break a $100 at the beginning of the day??

[SuperB]

The pen is useless, you know how to check them right? Hold the bill up to the light and look for the watermark. All of the new bills have a watermark on the right hand side that matches the face. A pen will show a fake as real if someone bleached a $5 and printed a $100 over it but the watermark wont match. (and for the old $100 bills look for the stripe)

As for who sucked, she may have been understandably irritated at the inconvenience but if you don't have the change you don't have the change and there is nothing that can be done. Don't let someone try to tell you 'it's the law' either. It ain't.

[Imprl59]

I don't see why you would feel sucky in this situation. You either have the money to make change or you don't. You didn't. End of story. No suck on your part. If you were hiding the change in your bloomers and wouldn't let her have any then you would be sucky. I'm not aware of many places that would have that kind of change in a starting till,

Steve B.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

You know what? You aren't a freaking bank.

I used to HATE that. And they always used to come buy first thing in the morning, too. I don't know what's up with that, but a hundred dollar bill first thing in the morning is NOT a reasonable request.

No, you didn't suck.

[aurelemsrealm]

It's not reasonable to expect change for a $100 bill on a small purchase. I hate people who get pissy over that because as someone mentioned earlier, the store is not a bank. Big bills just are not practical to pay for everyday purchases. My wife and I now receive our pay via direct deposit, but when I did receive a live paycheck, I would make the bank give me $20 bills or smaller unless I was planning to make a major cash purchase relatively soon. Then again, I try to think ahead and be practical when possible.

[Crazeyal]

You weren't sucky. Being a sucky cashier is GIVING IN to those morons and penalizing the people who honestly got a wallet full of $20 bills from the ATM. With the ease and reliability of debit cards, this should happen WAY less... but some people can't keep a steady stream of cash in an account, and some don't want to.

[Becks]

The customer, and the customer ONLY, was sucky.

[Luna Baby]

There has been the occasion or two that I have only had a $100 bill as the only cash in my wallet to pay for a small purchase. However, before the clerk has the opportunity to ring my purchase through, I always state up front that all I have is a $100 bill and can it be broken on a small order. If not, it's not suck on the clerk's part, I just use my debit card.

[dbblsanta]

I wouldn't have made the customer leave the line to get change, then get back in line. I would have called the manager over to take the bill to the cash office to break it, then proceed with the transaction. Yes, you might have had a long line, but that would have been the best way to handle the situation imo.

As for checking currency, the 10, 20, 50, and 100 with the large portraits have color- shifting ink in the bottom right-hand corner (the number 10, 20, 50, or 100 will change color if you tilt the bill). The 10, 20, 50, and 100 with the large portraits, as well as the new 5 with color, have a watermark on the right. (all of them are the same as the portrait, except the 5 which is a large 5.)

For the older, small-portrait bills (the ones most likely to be counterfeit), there is a security strip on the left side of the bill that can be seen when the bill is held to the light. On this strip, the denomination of the bill is printed so you can tell if someone bleached a one and printed a 100 on it. These strips are only on bills printed from 1990 onwards.

If you get a bill before series 1990, you pretty much have to go by feel alone. All U.S. currency has small blue and red threads imbedded in the paper as well, so you can check for these.

[XCashier]

And unlike my job at Big Yank, I don't have a marking pen that picks out fake bills.

The iodine pen is not the most reliable counterfeit test. It merely reacts with the starch (or lack of) in the note.

Learning the different design features is a much better way of detecting the difference between legit and counterfeit.

But it is still sucky to make a tiny purchase first thing in the morning with a $100 bill!

[the toy guy]

because people rarely pay for things with anything larger than a $50.

Depends on where you are, I guess. It isn't all that unusual to have a small purchase paid for with a 100 at my store. It's usually a particular type of customer that does it, though, so we can usually tell in advance when it's going to happen.

Of course, assuming that a store can break a 100, and getting mad when they can't, is definitely sucky.

[rerant]

You absolutely did not suck.
You only have what is available to you, and if you don't have change for $100 then sucks for the customer.

I don't understand why people even use $100 bills (unless it's for a really large purchase where smaller bills would be the bigger hassle) when we all know damn well they can be a serious pain in the butt.
When I'm at the bank and I'm asked if I would like my money in $100's I say no thank you. Why? Because they can rarely be broken.

Common sense isn't so common.

[VenomX]

The gas station up the road from the gas station I work at has stopped taking anything over a $20. The Burger King down the street from my work will NEVER take a $100, you are lucky if they take a $50.

[Grumpy]

You were in no way sucky, and your gut feeling of "phoney bill" was worth listening to.