It's seventy eight cents!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mnemjian]

Today I had some customers from Portland, a middle-aged couple. Now in Oregon they don't have sales tax for whatever reason, which is just super I guess. I can't tell you how many times I've heard Oregonians (Oregonites?) act surprised by the fact that we charge sales tax in California. But yeah, it _is_ a different state. So this couple I guess had been talking to my co-worker about how they don't have sales tax there blah blah blah. Luckily I get to help them check out. Yay!

Me: me
WAM: weird annoying man


WAM: (brings up a book marked $10 before tax) I don't want to pay the sales tax so can you make this book like $9.20 so it will come to ten dollars even? Har har har!
(yes he is joking, but in that stupid way where he is actually being completely serious.)
Me: (smiling) Heh...well sorry, but I have to charge the sales tax....
WAM: Aw but we don't have sales tax in Portland! Your friend there said we wouldn't have to pay the sales tax! Har har har!
Me: (smiling becomes harder to do) Um... well actually I bet he didn't really say that. In California we do have sales tax and we would get in trouble for not charging it....
WAM: Har har! I was just joking! Where's your sense of humor! So you can't give me a dollar off huh! Geez louise! I'm never coming back to this bookstore again! This is terrible!
(this was all really strange because the whole time he was saying these things he was actually smiling and laughing and so was his wife. So... he was joking. But in any other tone of voice he would have been calling the manager about me later.)
Me: Heh. Uh. I'm sorry about the tax. Do you still want this? It's $10.78.
WAM: I can't believe you won't give it to me for ten! Gee whillikers! Well alrighty wife, let's see what we have. (As he opens his wallet I see a stack of twenties He pulls out a ten and his wife starts digging for change)
WAM: We only have seventy-seven cents! Oh no! We can't buy it now! Har har har! She won't let us have it for any less! Har etc.
Me: (must...keep...smiling) Don't worry about the penny. BYE NOW!

I know they were just "joking" but it was really the worst "joke" ever. Just the way he was grinning hugely and kind of goading me for "not having a sense of humor" when it was pretty clear that he really really wanted that seventy eight cent discount. Unbelievable! They wandered around for a minute more and on the way out he asked "where's my sense of humor?" again. I wanted to punch his face so bad. Instead I gave him the biggest, fakest smile ever known to man. Hopefully he was telling the truth when he said he wouldn't come back again.

[Hobbs]

Someone from another country did that to me.
SFG=sucky foreign guy
me: well, duh...


SFG: "How much?"

me:"$10.80..."

sfg:"But, it says $9.99."

me:"Yeah, that's sales tax."

sfg:"Tax? but I'm not from this country."

me:"This is a sale, that's the sales tax..."

[PepperElf]

sfg:"Tax? but I'm not from this country."

so what? only time i've seen countries NOT charge tax to non-citizens was when I was in the Republic of South Africa.

And US Sales tax has nothing on them... 14% Value Added Tax.
but here's the kicker... foreigners still have to pay the tax - they only get a refund when they leave the country, at the air port, and to get to the refund area you have to be a ticket-holder

So in my case no refund for me cos I came in via boat, not airplane.

so ....waaaah.

[Shpepper]

I hate it when we get peoople from Oregon trying to tell me at the hotel that they don't have to pay sales tax on their stay. There are some things that they can get the sales tax taken off of but not hotel stays.

There is or used to be a way to take the sales tax off for durable goods that are purchased in a neighboring state.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I get that from the Tourists from Florida.

FL Tourist: Oh! You have sales tax on food! I didn't know that! We don't have sales tax on food in Florida!
RW: Welcome to North Carolina. At least you're not in my homestate.
FLT: And where would that be?
RW: Tennessee. Sales tax on food and merchandise is 8.5% and 9.5% receptively (last time I checked).
FLT: How can you stand that?!
RW: No income tax and I don't care either way.

Or even better, the idiots that say "I thought it was a dollar! Why is it $1.07?"

Because Uncle Sam gets his cut, too. Now pay the damned seven cents and get the hell outta my store, you say that shit every single time you come in. Jerkwad.

[iradney]

so what? only time i've seen countries NOT charge tax to non-citizens was when I was in the Republic of South Africa.

And US Sales tax has nothing on them... 14% Value Added Tax.
but here's the kicker... foreigners still have to pay the tax - they only get a refund when they leave the country, at the air port, and to get to the refund area you have to be a ticket-holder

So in my case no refund for me cos I came in via boat, not airplane.

so ....waaaah.

You've been to my country??? OMIGAWD!!!!!

Yeah, we have tax, but it's included in the shown price. AFAIK it's 14% flat across all states/provinces

[Fox One]

I get that from the Tourists from Florida.
FL Tourist: Oh! You have sales tax on food! I didn't know that! We don't have sales tax on food in Florida!

Well that's a damn lie. We pay it like everyone else. Someone's feedin' you a line.

[AirHostess]

They sound like a right pair of freaks.

[Lingering Grin]

Well that's a damn lie. We pay it like everyone else. Someone's feedin' you a line.

Actually... it's not.

It depends on what you buy. Usually there's no tax on Store-brand or basic food stuffs, however, I also bought a frozen pizza the other day and it actually cost me $5.99, so there was no tax on that either...

[Kyree]

Food is very weird. Some is taxable, some is not. I know stuff from the deli's hot case is taxable. Candy and pop are taxable. But most other things in the store aren't.

On topic: I haaate customers like that. They just don't get that they're not funny and all you want is for them to go away. Not sure which is worse, that type, or them actually being mad. At least with them really being mad, you know how to handle it.

[Yfandes]

That wasnt humor, that was bullying,

[PepperElf]

You've been to my country??? OMIGAWD!!!!!

Yeah I was in Durban and then Capetown back in... Jan 98.

Come to think of it, sis gave me a binder of some of the things I sent home from them and it includes some shots of Table Mountain. I'll send you a photo of the ship we came in on

but back on topic... even with the tax it didn't bother us much.

and wow... food tax? I'm in NY now and Grocery store foods, medicines, and (in some cities clothes) aren't taxed. But restaurant foods are

[Chromatix]

That's the big difference between VAT and "sales tax" - VAT is included in the sticker price, sales tax you have to add on yourself. I find VAT to be much less confusing.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Say it once, it's a (lame) joke. Keep harping on it, it's a lame attempt to get someone to break the law (or at least store policy, since he was suggesting you lower the price to compensate for the tax). There's no sales tax in Delaware, but luckily I'm not close enough to Delaware to have ever gotten customers from there on a regular basis.

In case anyone's wondering, sales taxes are assessed by every state except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. (And I used to get a woman from Alaska once in a while - I think she had family here she would visit a few times a year - and not once did she complain about paying sales tax. She also wrote checks and had no problem showing ID, which is how I knew she was from Alaska.)

Most packaged foods are not taxed (I'm in New Jersey, for the record - "necessities" like food and clothing are, in general, not taxed). Things like candy might be. Fresh-prepared foods usually are. Sort of like my discount at work. It's 30% off most things, but what they call "cafe consumables" are 50%. Meaning that if I buy a cup of coffee or a slice of cheesecake, it's 50%. If I buy a pound of coffee or a whole cheesecake, it's only 30%. It depends on whether it's for "immediate" consumption not. If I buy a frozen pizza or bread and deli meat at the grocery store, it's not taxed. If I get a pizza at the take-out place or a sandwich at the deli, it is.

[Sonoma]

Today I had some customers from Portland, a middle-aged couple. Now in Oregon they don't have sales tax for whatever reason, which is just super I guess. I can't tell you how many times I've heard Oregonians (Oregonites?) act surprised by the fact that we charge sales tax in California.

I sincerely apologize for the behavior of my fellow Oregonians. There's no excuse for that type of behavior, and rest assured, not all of us are like that.

Part of the confusion may be from the fact that sales tax on purchases in Washington can be waived if you fill out some information and show your Oregon drivers license. When I bought a truck up there, I sure used it, but it was more hassle than it was worth when I bought a box of crayons and they wanted to know if I was from Oregon. I said 'yes' before I realized why they were asking. I would gladly pay the few cents in tax for that small purchase.