I've noticed at several stores with computerized cash registers that they only display the "change due to the customer" on the monitor for a very short time ... not long enough to actually still be displayed when the change is handed to the customer. Why is that? I could see maybe killing the display when the till drawer is closed, but it doesn't display the change amount even that long. For sure, that's true at Villa Market, and I'm pretty sure it's true at Tesco. All I know is that it is predictable that when the cashier hands me the change, I instinctively look at the monitor, and it's too late. (At Tesco, it may be when the till drawer is closed, but if so, then don't close the bloody drawer until the customer has his change. That way, when there's a mistake, it can be corrected without a major hassle of getting a supervisor or waiting until the next customer's purchases have been rung up and the till drawer opens again.)
At 7-11 I regularly buy 1-litre bottles of tea. However, I've learned that if you buy more than one, there is a small discount taken when the cashier presses the final Total key on the register. As each item is scanned, it shows the item price and the running total. Today for three bottles it showed B90 as the clerk waited for me to hand her the money. Then -- only after handing her my money -- she presses the final Total and the total changes to B82. Why in the blue blazes don't they press the Total key BEFORE waiting for the customer to dig out the money? I usually strive to give exact change, and EVERY SINGLE TIME, I would fumble to reassemble the proper coins. It took me several times to figure out why the total due amount changed at the last minute. Now, I routinely just give them the displayed amount of say, B154, and let them give me change for the reduced total due of B146.
CASHIERS & CHANGE:
Now, for the real puzzler. How/why do cashiers determine the denominations of bills/coins to give the customer? A few examples:
Just home from Villa Market, and my change due was B653. She gave me a B500 note, 3x B50 and the coins. Those were her last three B50 notes AND there was a stack of B100 notes in the drawer. Why 3x B50, and not 1x B100 + 1x B50. Why exhaust the supply of B50 notes?
(When I asked to change 2x B50 for 1x B100 while the till drawer was open, she gave me an angry look that could kill. Then she put everything back in the drawer except the B500 and started counting again. Because she couldn't see the change due on her monitor -- see above -- she abruptly snatched the receipt so she could squint at the printout. Goodness. Just put back 2x B50 in the drawer, and pull out 1x B100.)
This afternoon at the 7-11, my change was B65. I received 6x 10B + 1x 5B coins, when there were plenty of B50 and B20 notes in the till.
Is there some superstition involved with not giving large bills/coins? (If so, why not just give the change in all B1 coins?
) I've been noticing this practice more and more, so it's not just an occasional, accidental mistake. There must be a reason for it. I wonder if it's like how hospitals give out bags of medicines after each visit so the patient doesn't feel cheated. (That's how I've heard that explained.) Do Thais somehow feel they have more money if they have more bills and coins in their pocket?
Pete 