Rounding bill when paying cash.

ll the resturants we ate at rounded the bill to the
nearest $1 when returning change for a cash payment


As I think about it, my guess is that a restaurant CAN'T legally
charge a customer more than the posted price (plus tax and any other
noted surcharges) unless this rounding-up practice is noted in writing
on the menu or at the restaurant's entrance.

If it's just a few pennies, then it falls into the "no big deal"
category, but if people are getting 30 or 40 cents less change than
they are due, and there is no prior notification, then I think the
practice is very questionable.

You might want to drop an e-mail to the city's mayor's office and ask
if this is indeed an accepted practice in their city. (Be sure to
mention the specific restaurants if you can.) I'd be curious to hear
what the mayor says.

Jim

On 06/14/2005 11:50 AM Doug while holding "court", exclaimed:

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.....




I was a grad student at the University of South Carolina - Columbia SC.
I lived off campus in West Columbia. In the years I lived in South
Carolina, I made several trips to Charleston, Sally, Irmo, St. Helena,
Greenwood and dined at everything from roadside farmer stands, Maurice's
Piggy Park and find French bistros. In all my dining experiences the
wait staff never rounded change given me on a cash payment.

I think you were being had by that particular waitress. I hope you
deducted the difference from her tip, or "pounded her out." This
doesn't imply and act of violence. In rural parts of the south when
folks didn't have a lot of cash they'd leave a pound of flour, corn
meal, grits or such on your porch step to say thanks intending it as a
form of payment. So, by pounding out your waitress, you could have left
a pound of something at her table: 1 lb kitty litter, 1 lb ice cubes
anything of questionable value would get the message across. ;-)

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

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

I am 43 and I have traveled fairly widely in the United States, but I
have never been to the Carolinas. I have never heard of rounding a bill
anywhere I have been on either coast or anywhere in between.

"Alan S" wrote in message
...
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

First, the math skill of the help these days (in my neck of the woods,
California) is so pathetic that they would be wholly baffled by the concept
of rounding. They can't make change as it stands unless they have a machine
telling them the answer to great questions like, if the bill is 6.02 and the
customer gives 21.02. how much do I give back. I see it over and over where
the help will try to return 13.98 or 14.00!
Second, it's my money, my choice. If the rounding is in my favor, I have no
grounds for complaint. If the rounding is in the establishment's favor,
they have no right to make that decision for me; it's not their money. To
some of us, a penny saved is a penny earned. To others, a penny is a
nuisance. The principle is that the choice is ours, the consumer, not
theirs, the vendor.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 12:11:04 GMT, "Marty"
wrote:


"Alan S" wrote in message
.. .
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

First, the math skill of the help these days (in my neck of the woods,
California) is so pathetic that they would be wholly baffled by the concept
of rounding. They can't make change as it stands unless they have a machine
telling them the answer to great questions like, if the bill is 6.02 and the
customer gives 21.02. how much do I give back. I see it over and over where
the help will try to return 13.98 or 14.00!
Second, it's my money, my choice. If the rounding is in my favor, I have no
grounds for complaint. If the rounding is in the establishment's favor,
they have no right to make that decision for me; it's not their money. To
some of us, a penny saved is a penny earned. To others, a penny is a
nuisance. The principle is that the choice is ours, the consumer, not
theirs, the vendor.



You're going to have some interesting discussions at the
checkout if you visit he-)

You won't win the arguments - it's the law here.

Cheers, Alan, Australia