Retail Business Theft - Silently Rounding Up Your Pennies

Pennies More Added to Your Purchase

Canadians, we must not stand for this. This ‘rounding up’ gambit by retail corporations is an outrage! So much more than morally wrong. 

We, the cash buyers of Canada have to speak out. We are being overcharged. Maybe not by much. That old adage saying 'every penny counts' seems very apt here.

You start adding it up. Just your own purchases. Whether you pay by card or cash, watch the pennies and remember that we, who pay cash, pay extra every time the penny amount hits three or eight.

Pennies are still legal tender. Canada might not make new ones anymore. But we’ve, citizens of Canada, all have lots of them. 

I carry pennies. I probably always will. Because this practice of rounding up offends me greatly.

Ever since our government decided to phase out making new pennies, we, the cash consumer, are getting ripped off by stores. No, not every store. There are a few stores who don’t round up.

I'm talking about every store rounding those penny purchases up to an even amount.

Ever notice just how few times the purchase comes to, say 1 or 2 cents over nickel, dime or quarter?

Stores are raking in thousands of our hard earned money every day with this new method. Sure it’s only a penny or two from your wallet. And hers. And his. Ever minute, every hour, every day. Try adding just a few of the customers you see in line, add their pennies up. Just in the few minutes you spend in line, I’ll bet you see over 50 cents. That’s just one till, a few minutes of that hour.

You think corporate head offices aren’t rubbing their hands in glee?

I think we, the complacent Canadian, forgot something very important. 

Every time you use your debit or credit card for a purchase, the store pays the bank / card company for the transaction. Probably just pennies per dollar. I recall when I ran a small store that the credit card company charged me 3%  - that's 3 cents on ever dollar you spent in my store on your credit card. I'm sure bigger businesses pay a little less. But still...

That amount adds up enough to keep those credit / debit companies in business. 

But every penny the store doesn’t get on a cash purchase, is a penny lost. To them.

So now the stores get even. They charge us those extra pennies! For not using our handy-dandy cards.

Retail corporations track us using data from our cards. They see where we spend our extra cash. They monitor our spending habits and develop sales to follow our trends. If they can, they’ll even send emails about their specials to help us choose their stores for our purchases, especially when you use the instore customer promotional card for extra savings.

Spending cash instead hurts their stats. Stats help businesses run a profit. 

I remember a time when stores mulled over the idea of giving cash purchasers discount for using cash. Oh the furor that raised. Debit and credit card companies raised such a fuss. Unfair business practices, newspapers’ headlines screamed.

Strange how silent newspapers have been about this rip off. We’re only the consumer. We don’t own any newspapers. Our screams are silent.

I refuse to be silent. I will carry pennies. Why not? I’ve got thousands of them just sitting around at home waiting to be rolled that someday that never came.

I made a purchase the other day at a dollar store. Came to a whole $10.33. Not a great amount. When I opened my change purse, the clerk immediately asked for $10.35. She didn’t ask if I had exact change. Nope. Immediately $10.35.

I handed her $10.33. Exactly. 

“No,” she explains. “Cash purchases are rounded up.”

I argued that my exact change met the purchase amount legally. But she refused, wanting those extra two cents.

The manager had to explain to her, after I got very upset, that my exact change would be accepted. He didn’t look happy about it either. He lost two cents on my transaction. He also lost his valuable time away from whatever he’d been doing. And all the other customers in line heard me, most agreeing with me.

The customer behind me, also a cash purchaser, searched for her pennies as I gathered my bag and put away my purse. I heard her sigh, so I pulled out my purse, counted out 3 pennies for her while gleefully smiling at the annoyed manager.

She thanked me, paid her bill and promised to always carry her own change purse full of pennies. From now on. She’d heard to my rant just moments before.

Think Canadians! Stand up for your rights. We shouldn’t be paying any more than that till amount. Ever! No matter what form of legal tender we use.

Round it down for cash customers, Businesses. Don't charge those of us who prefer to pay cash any more than your debit/credit card customers.

Don't steal from us any longer!