Rounding bill when paying cash.

Just returned from Charleston, SC. Found that all the resturants we ate at
rounded the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change for a cash payment.
We asked a wait person and was told that it was common though some round to
the nearest 25c. Did not find this in DC, how common is it?
Doug.
PS There was one with menue prices that came to even $'s when the tax was
added, cute.....

Doug wrote:
Just returned from Charleston, SC. Found that all the resturants we ate at
rounded the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change for a cash payment.
We asked a wait person and was told that it was common though some round to
the nearest 25c. Did not find this in DC, how common is it?
Doug.
PS There was one with menue prices that came to even $'s when the tax was
added, cute.....

Blame that on the dismal educational system. People can't even make
change anymore.

Found that all the resturants we ate at rounded
the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change
for a cash payment...

Do you mean rounding off in the customer's favor? Or do they also round
off in their favor sometimes (giving you less change than you're due)?

In Ohio, I've seen merchants round off in the customer's favor to
avoid using pennies. For example, if the bill is $5.03 and you hand
them a $5 bill, the clerk might say "close enough" or "don't bother
with the pennies". But I've never had a clerk do this if the
difference is more than a few cents.

Jim

That seems to hark back to the way it was 50-60 years ago. I still
recall that is the way almost all merchants used to be. Seems like a
good idea now as it was back then.

wrote:
Found that all the resturants we ate at rounded
the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change
for a cash payment...


Do you mean rounding off in the customer's favor? Or do they also round
off in their favor sometimes (giving you less change than you're due)?

In Ohio, I've seen merchants round off in the customer's favor to
avoid using pennies. For example, if the bill is $5.03 and you hand
them a $5 bill, the clerk might say "close enough" or "don't bother
with the pennies". But I've never had a clerk do this if the
difference is more than a few cents.

Jim

Yup, sometime you win, sometime they win. Pay cash if the change is above
50c, they will round down, credit card if it is below 50c, or you will not
get any change. That way you win all the time, dam nuisance though!

wrote in message
oups.com...
Found that all the resturants we ate at rounded
the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change
for a cash payment...

Do you mean rounding off in the customer's favor? Or do they also round
off in their favor sometimes (giving you less change than you're due)?

In article . net, Doug
wrote:

Just returned from Charleston, SC. Found that all the resturants we ate at
rounded the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change for a cash payment.
We asked a wait person and was told that it was common though some round to
the nearest 25c. Did not find this in DC, how common is it?

Rounding to the dollars, is not normal.

jay
Tue Jun 14, 2005



Doug.
PS There was one with menue prices that came to even $'s when the tax was
added, cute.....

"Doug" wrote in message
ink.net...
Just returned from Charleston, SC. Found that all the resturants we ate
at
rounded the bill to the nearest $1 when returning change for a cash
payment.


Been to 35 states (incl SC) and never ran into that before.

I decline to accept pennies. It is well worth it. 2 cents lost per
purchase, oh well. I'm rich.

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 07:45:14 -0400, Tim923
wrote:

I decline to accept pennies. It is well worth it. 2 cents lost per
purchase, oh well. I'm rich.

The OP was talking about rounding up to the next dollar;
possibly up to 99c - which is a bit much if not being
offered as a tip. I'd take the difference out of the tip:-)

In Oz, coins less than 5c were withdrawn decades ago. Bills
at the cash register are rounded to the nearest 5c, up or
down. So $6.42 - $6.40, and $6.43 - $6.45.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

It "ain't" poor education - it's laziness and/or not having enough
change in the register. Anyhow,...
1) I see plenty of rounding in the New York area, but it's only to the
extent that the cashier wishes to avoid making change with pennies and
only in cases where you pay the cashier direcetly. Where there is
table service for the bill, it's not as common, but I don't always pay
attention to the coins - 9 times out of 10 I leave the change as part
of the tip (except when I need quarters to do the laundry).

2) I can't say I'm all that surprised about change-making practices in
DC. For what it's worth, I don't remember cashiers rounding much in
California, either, but the "take a penny, leave a penny" trays were
more common and occasionally the cashier would give the rounded change
to the customer and take the penny or two from the tray to make up the
difference.

3) My experience has been that menu prices at many casual eateries in
the Northeast are often set such that the bill with tax comes out to a
round number or are set to rounded numbers that already include the
sales tax.