Duckbilled Plattypus.I went into a Cumberland Farms mini-mart gas station in Florence, Mass in Western Mass. I bought a chocolate bar, and the clerk announced my change as $9.43. Then he casually handed me $9.40 saying "We don't have pennies." I was dumbfounded. I look for any sign announcing their coin shortage, and there was none. Shocked, I said "Repeat the change I'm due." He stumbled a bit and said "Uh. Well, there's a penny shortage. $9.43 So, you got $9.40 because we don't have pennies." Irritated, I said "So you don't have pennies and you steal three cents from me? That's not right" A man behind me pipes "Yeah, they've done it to me a bunch of times" . Other guys say "Yeah, me, too." I said " No. You don't get to charge me more than the price." The clerk, seeing a disapproving line, said "Okay. Then. Here's a nickel."
In what universe does a billion dollar corporation force me or others to pay more than their listed price because they choose to price products they way they do or refuse to properly stock appropriate coins.
Cents here and there for hundreds of thousands of small transactions = profit through cheating their customers.If they don't stock the correct coins, the corporation should bear the loss.
Karen Conlin@pattykimura @wgbhnews @edmarkey @elizabethwarren lots of stores around here (rural northern IL) have signs at the checkout stating they have no pennies. When the US stopped minting them, the signs went up. No new ones available, period.
What happened to you is happening all over, as I understand it. They can't give exact change anymore, so of course they short the customer. Of course.