A small kindness

Went to the bank today and got $ 100 out for some walk-around money.
(5) Twenties. When I get home tonight I'll give two 20's to my wife.

On the way back to the store dropped by Wendy's to grab a drink and was
sitting there in the dining area when a Hispanic Lady came in with her
son who looked about 12 years old. Clearly she was not used to going to
Wendys and had trouble with the menu. When they finally figured it out,
she gave the guy a One Hundred Dollar Bill to pay for it.

"We don't accept Fifties and Hundred's, Ma'am."

"That's all I have" she said, as the food was up on the counter.

"The sign is right on the door" says order-taker-man. "Can you
pay with a credit card?"

"No, I only have cash" she says.

"I can't complete your order then, sorry" says the idiot at the
counter. Now, how stupid is that? Her order is ready and on the
counter - and they will have to throw it away. They could either give
her the food or take the hundred dollar bill rather then put the food in
the trash! But no....not going to happen.

She is disappointed and told her son 'sorry' and is headed out the door.

I said "I have change for your hundred." And gave her my five twenties
for her single large bill. She was very grateful.

Now I have to go back to the bank this evening and get it changed down
on the way home, I can't even change that at the store....but what the heck.

Spread a little cheer when you can- 'tis the season.

Good for you, Duane. Isn't it actually illegally to reject legal currency?

Anyway, here's a "little cheer," put together by the students at the college where I work. Aren't they cute?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=854oZgIC8WU

P.S. Watch it "full screen." :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by organic_smallhome

Good for you, Duane. Isn't it actually illegally to reject legal currency?

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I have heard that all federal reserve bank notes must be accepted by retailers, but there must be some sort of limit or legal precedent or else a major chain like this wouldn't risk it... Would they?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by organic_smallhome

Isn't it actually illegally to reject legal currency?

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That only applies to creditors. Creditors have to accept any legal tender for the repayment of debts. There's no legal requirement for a merchant to accept any particular kind of payment (they're perfectly within their rights to deny currency altogether). A merchant could refuse to accept anything other than 1950's stamps and that would be perfectly legal.

I think most merchants refuse large bills for both security (they can limit the amount of cash they have in their registers and put most of it in safes that the employees can't access) and for anti-counterfeiting. I think the $100 bill is the most highly counterfeited bill in the US. It may seem anti-consumer, but a large company like Wendy's really has no choice but to have a blanket refusal of the bills. The normal person working the register at a Wendy's isn't qualified to decide whether or not a bill is counterfeit.

I disagree, to an extent. The manner of payment is something that can be modified based upon contract or the terms of a transaction. I am not aware of any successful legal challenges to "no cash" policies - and some merchants and creditors have very good reasons for not wanting to handle cash or deal with customer or borrower claims that "I sent you an envelope full of (untraceable) cash and it's not my fault if somebody who works for you lost or stole it."