(Another) strange GC experience

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Cash can be skimmed and laundered and made to vanish in many other ways, and the card companies don't take a percentage of it. If a small merchant won't take cash in spite of all that, I really don't think it's because of anything other than the coin shortage.

I had a friend who owned a small pizza place. He caught the manager skimming some cash, and fired him. His gross income jumped 20% immediately.

Also agree with the folks who dispute the idea that paying cash significantly increases your privacy. Your phone company has a record of everywhere you make a call, and the numbers you call. Your bank has a record of all your checks. And there are lots of other bits of info that are stored everyday unless you are taking extreme measures regarding internet searches, apps on your phone, written responses to regular mail offers, etc.

I certainly support folks doing what they feel is best in regards to protecting privacy. But it is much more complicated than most of us imagine, and for the most part, privacy is one of those quaint notions from our childhood that has gone the way of the dinosaurs. IMO.

Unless you have gobs of money and can hire someone to do nothing but protect your privacy. You might also need to force folks to sign non-disclosure agreements, and/or be willing to threaten folks who do things you don’t like.

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

I went to Guitar Center yesterday to buy strings. I got two sets and proceeded to the checkout area to pay. The total, with tax, came to $21.18. I pulled out a twenty and two singles, anticipating my change. The guy said “because of a coin shortage issue we need to round everything up to the next dollar, so it’ll be $22 even, sir”.

I responded with “what did you say?” He repeated what he had said, and I said WHAT? Yeah, he mumbled it again...(with the mask on, the plexiglass shield, and the usual noise in the store, I was having a hard time understanding his exact words.). I said something about that being BS, and said “I’ll pay with a card”. That worked with him and I was out of there.

Once I got to the car I thought I should have told him if he couldn’t round it DOWN 18 cents, I’d find the strings someplace else. If truth, I wasn’t able to find them elsewhere and that’s why I was at GC in the first place.

Are these people trying to alienate customers???

Anyone else run into this at GC or anywhere else? BTW, I’m in southeast Michigan.

Originally Posted by llew

It seems no one wants to deal with cash anymore? At my local Lowe's Home Improvement store if you want to use the self checkout it's credit card only. They say the same thing about a "coin shortage"? The truth of the matter is I believe it's just an excuse not to service the machines and put change (bills and coin) in them? Either that or we really got to get all our jars of change to the banks and swap them out for some "folding" money! South Carolina here...

A lot of places have signs about exact change or use a card. Apparently, the banks are short with everyone staying home and the government seems a little slow getting coins in circulation.

[FLRon]

Every Goodwill store I've been in the past 3 or so years has asked "would you like to round up to $$ to support our mission"?
Even if it's like $8.07 they ask if I want to round up to $9.00. Never once heard of them offering to round down for me.
Now don't get me wrong, I donate my fair share to charitable causes. What I won't do however is support them in the manner Goodwill desires.

[AX17609]

GC recently filed for bankruptcy.

[Bug Guy]

I didn't read through all three pages of the thread--I'm just responding to the original post. Yes, there was a coin shortage reported by the Federal Reserve several months ago due to COVID-related complications. There's plenty of articles you can find using a simple Google search. I do most of my day-to-day purchases using a debit card linked to my personal checking account. I don't care if the "gub-ment" tracks them--they'll get bored pretty quickly. Now, for that weekend in Vegas with all the hookers and blow...yeah I'm paying cash...

[Silly Moustache]

Amazing responses. Yes the cashier in the shop was being an idiot, or "skimming".

I keep some £1 coins in my car for parking - it's been stolen twice. Why bother? Parking meters take cards now.

Retailers don't take cash? Of course not - there is a contact spread virus across the world.

You swipe cards - no contact.

To those that don't have debit/credit cards - how can you have a bank account without (at least) a debit card?

To those who don't like their purchases to "be tracked" - I'm wondering what it is you spend your untraceable cash on.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by JCave

Radio Shack tried to insist on name, address and etc. even if we paid cash. They sold the info. I always refused to play the game. If my cash wasn't good enough, I could go elsewhere.

I recall that policy at Radio Shack and found it more than a little annoying. Buying a can of aerosol electrical contact lube (for scratchy pots in some old guitars and amps), I placed $20 bill on the counter and said, "That's pretty intrusive for a cash sale."

In not so many words, the POS-jockey (POS=Point of Sale terminal) indicated that proceeding any further with my purchase hinged upon his collecting my name, address and phone number. So he got the best I could come up with on the fly:

Cash, Johnny Cash
5555 Graceland Drive
Memphis, TN 55555
(666) 867-5309
[last digit pronounced ni-eee-ine]

He didn't bat an eye as he wrote down what I gave him, but I heard snickers from others near the counter.

-----------------

Regarding GC's, and other retailers', policies to round up:

IMHO, plague-driven coin shortage or not, any merchant requiring employees to collect more than the purchase price of goods should post a prominent sign to that effect on the front door - and another at the POS station (maybe on the flying-snot-mist sneeze-barrier). If I owned/managed a retail business, the onus would be on ME to take responsibility for MY policy (or that of the chain), not a worker I'm paying wages to stand there and enforce it.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

I recall that policy at Radio Shack and found it more than a little annoying.

The staff at the three (yep 3) Radio Shacks near me all responded well to a simple "Nope!" They did ask for the info, but weren't about to lose a sale over it.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

The staff at the three (yep 3) Radio Shacks near me all responded well to a simple "Nope!" They did ask for the info, but weren't about to lose a sale over it.

"Nope" should've been sufficient. Maybe this guy was new/motivated to race up the lucrative Tandy corporate ladder.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

.....So he got the best I could come up with on the fly:

Cash, Johnny Cash
5555 Graceland Drive
Memphis, TN 55555
(666) 867-5309
[last digit pronounced ni-eee-ine]

He didn't bat an eye as he wrote down what I gave him, but I heard snickers from others near the counter.

Cool! I used to do something similar.
John Kennedy
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1111

The phone is the White House switchboard, but sometimes I just gave random numbers. No cashier ever caught what I was doing, even when the credit card did not match the name I gave. One time at Best Buy when they started with the data mining (on a CD purchase!!) the checkout was in plain sight of the front door where that store's phone number was displayed. So I let them input that number. They can robo-call themselves.

PS: Radio Shack has been out of business for how many years now? Three?

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

I went to Guitar Center yesterday to buy strings. I got two sets and proceeded to the checkout area to pay. The total, with tax, came to $21.18. I pulled out a twenty and two singles, anticipating my change. The guy said “because of a coin shortage issue we need to round everything up to the next dollar, so it’ll be $22 even, sir”.

I responded with “what did you say?” He repeated what he had said, and I said WHAT? Yeah, he mumbled it again...(with the mask on, the plexiglass shield, and the usual noise in the store, I was having a hard time understanding his exact words.). I said something about that being BS, and said “I’ll pay with a card”. That worked with him and I was out of there.

Once I got to the car I thought I should have told him if he couldn’t round it DOWN 18 cents, I’d find the strings someplace else. If truth, I wasn’t able to find them elsewhere and that’s why I was at GC in the first place.

Are these people trying to alienate customers???

Anyone else run into this at GC or anywhere else? BTW, I’m in southeast Michigan.

The real issue here IMHO is that if GC (and possibly other brick & mortars) knew anything about creating advocates to support their business(es) - instead of negatively impacting the customer experience... they could be trained to offer options , i,e,.. round down the .18 to an even $21.00 or offer $1.00 worth of picks or something at an even $22.00 ... let the few customers who pay cash choose..

Maybe even entertain making it an employee best practice and an expectation to express appreciation (IMO not an outdated concept in any business and for good reason) ...not a robotic script but something light and easy like .. "Thanks for coming in today", "We appreciate you shopping with us" , "We appreciate your business... Hope to see you again soon" ... or even "Thanks for understanding"... "Glad I could help"... Anything that doesn't alienate.. It may be true that no business is perfect and that not ALL customer requests are realistic but any business (and especially in brick & mortar retail) that puts its' name or marquee sign at the entrance is extending an invitation to people .. GC (and others) need us more now than ever .... not the other way around. Again IMO the last impression you make is the one your real customer remembers and may share - as evidenced in so many AGF posts alone describing instances of being made to feel uncomfortable, ignored, disrespected, etc...

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Slothead56

How do you expect them to get out of bankruptcy if they can’t bilk the customer for pocket change? I mean, you can only sell so many banged up low end guitars...

thank God there is some out out there at least as cynical as me,,
Phew, I thought I was the only one, (well,, maybe not me per say, but my wife sure thinks so... !LOL!)

[NormanKliman]

I agree about the concern over privacy. I rarely cooperate. If they insist, I’ll ask if they’re going to sell the data to third parties (20 years ago, that would always draw a funny look), and, if they still insist, I might give them the right information.

About being forced to use cards, if I’d never had one or if using one targeted me for abusive spam or telemarketing, I wouldn’t be happy if someone refused to accept cash.

Otherwise, this is a heck of a time to take a stand over chump change.

[rllink]

When it comes to privacy for some reason people think that there was more privacy in the old days, but that isn't true at all. I remember those good old days. We had six families on our party line. When I was nine my favorite pastime was listening to the neighbors talking on the phone, along with all the other kids my age. Everybody knew everybody, and anything you did or said got passed on over the party lines until everybody in the county knew what you were doing, when and where, how much you sold your corn for and how many head of cattle you were feeding out. Our social security numbers were on our checks. I wanted to buy a used car from the Chevy dealership back in 68 and the salesman called my bank and asked them how much money I had in my checking acvount, and they told him. No, it wasn't better.

[unimogbert]

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