In these trying economic times, not knowing the hard price of anything in advance adds anxiety to cash transactions in NJ mom-and-pops.
There's too often the sense that prices are set out of thin air, as menus are posted without them. Even at places I frequent, there's no consistency: one day a soda is two fifteen and the next day, it's one ninety-five.1 The applicability of sales tax is hit-or-miss.2
The corner pizza shop is often the most guilty of ballpark pricing.
Moreover, there's an unwritten code of courtesy that the customer does not count change, at least not beyond a mere glance. Of course, the checker would never count change back to you ... it's counted as it's taken from the drawer. Why count it again?
A customer would only quibble if too much change has been received.
Just last week, the WaWa clerk shortchanged me 75 cents because her drawer had no quarters. She had asked her shift manager for a roll of quarters but she went ahead and handed me my change without them. I was a little shocked that her ADD was so acute. And I was shocked at my blasé acceptance.
I confessed to Jeff that I don't push back or barter with clerks on price. He said I should.
So, the next day, I pulled up to a Citgo on 33 that I had used only a couple of times before. As the attendant started pumping, I noticed the digit display price was erroneous, showing "03FF." I got the attendant's attention, scurrying out of my car to do so, and demanded to know whether the pump was working accurately. He said I would know for sure at the end of the sale, on the printed receipt, but I said that's already too late. Since gas was at $2.50 a gallon then, I did a little math myself as the tank was filling and determined the ppg was accurate. But God knows what they could be doing at the pump and most people are in too much of a hurry.
So, I suppose my question to my Christian readers (three or four of you) is whether one should speak up when being overcharged or shortchanged or whether one should accept it without complaint.
I tend to feel worse when I speak up, especially when I'm wrong.
1 I'm willing to concede that the lower price may apply to "frequent customers;" sometimes I'm so recognized and sometimes I ain't.
2 I visited a book fair with the kids at their school this afternoon. The art teacher was adding up our purchase on a calculator. She said proudly, "I'm using the 'tip' feature on this calculator to figure sales tax!" No wonder she overcharged me $5!
4 comments:
If you get shortchanged by someone you think is being generally careless, chances are they are doing it to multiple customers... So here's what you do.
Let them know the nature of their act, publicly while you at the counter. Say "you are committing a sin of omission against the virtue of justice. Yes it is venial because of the small amount but if you continue your negligence it will weaken your will later to resis tmore serious temptations."
the the change in their drawer will never go uncounted again because what you will have said will sound so odd to them they'll think about each time they make change, even if they think you are nuts. They will but who cares. And you will have performed a spiritual act of mercy.
chances are they are doing it to multiple customers
No, they are only doing it to me! ;-)
Yeah, that was my thought with the art teacher at the school book fair: she would make that same mistake with everyone - adding a tip percentage rather than sales tax - because she had systematized her improvisation. I suppose I should say something to her tomorrow.
Part of me is remembering how my father had regular restaurant customers who always paid exact change ... and how Dad didn't ring up those transactions. He said if he rang up every sale, he'd go out of business, which happened eventually anyway.
So, I see these Mom&Pops as potentially being in the same predicament; I don't want them going out of business.
WaWa is a different story and I really thought the checker had given me dimes instead ... but she didn't bother. That one really bothers me still because it was so flagrant.
I'll try to think of it in terms of justice and a spiritual act of mercy ('though I'll pick "instruct the ignorant" over "admonish the sinner," if it's alright with you).
I appreciate your comment and, actually, in the couple of cash transactions at the mall today, the checker of his/her own volition, recalculated the sale instead of overcharging me ... a gratuitous act that I completely appreciated.
I wasn't trying to be a cold hearted admonisher. In a situation like that I would assume their ignorance and consider it a teaching moment...if I actually got up the courage to give a catechism lesson in line at Wawa...hehe.
I miss the Wawa's from my college days near Philly. We are stuck with Sheetz here, which is a crazy neon lighted disco copy of Wawa.
We are stuck with Sheetz here
Yeah, the name "Sheetz" is an inside joke between my husband and me whenever we travel in PA, on two counts, (1) it calls to mind a mutual childhood friend who lives now in Sharon and whose favorite expression in high school was a self-deprecating "Sheesh!" and (2) another expression, "three sheets to the wind," simply reminds us that PA gas stations sell beer but Jersey ones don't.
Well, it takes two to tango, so I'm equally at fault for getting shortchanged, so I gotta start paying attention, being careful and making the most of every opportunity to help others do likewise.
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