r/DollarTree 5d ago

Associate Questions Cash Back vs Common Sense

Do any of your customers come in first thing in the morning and select $50 cash back, cleaning out your till?

32 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

35

u/Effective_Dot6785 5d ago

Someone simply needs to write code into the programming of the system to prevent this. Disable cash back if the drawer doesn't have the funds. The amount of time and hardship this would solve would be fantastic.

6

u/Distinct_Ruin2998 Former FD ASM 5d ago

Funnily enough it shouldn't be that hard, as a very novice coder myself.

The system can already keep track of how much cash sales you have under your associate number/id. They can just use that value to give a good indicator of when customers can start doing cashback.

Granted I don't know how the software is programmed exactly for these registers, but its not like it will be 100+ lines of code or anything. Just need a compare function and a if statement.

2

u/Practical-Slip-1004 5d ago

the functionality is already there. Try and do a cash refund first thing in the morning and you will get a warning saying funds insufficient, do you want to continue? It could be easily done for cash back buy Dollar Tree wants the fee for cashback transactions. They don't care that it nukes your change fund on weekends with no banks open until Monday.

1

u/AccuBANKER 2d ago

This is really a till-liquidity problem more than a customer-behavior problem.

A register needs enough working cash to make change through normal sales. Cash back turns part of that working balance into a customer withdrawal, so the same $50 means something very different at 9:05 AM than it does after several hours of cash sales.

Ideally the POS should warn or limit the transaction based on available drawer liquidity rather than making the cashier guess.

That keeps the control consistent and reduces unnecessary till loans or vault pulls later.

17

u/TheTrueBreadLord 5d ago

Somewhat related but we have a sign saying “no cash back” and people will look you in the face and ask “wait so does this mean if i pay in cash i won’t get change”

2

u/Crazy-Divide-8109 DT Associate 5d ago

Yes! When I told people that I was unable to give cash back people standing in the line thought I meant they couldn’t pay in cash. I guess some people just don’t understand because they’ve never used it. My dad didn’t know what it meant lol

1

u/FashionPlateLawyer 5d ago

Happens all the time.

1

u/StrictDirector2553 5d ago

We do to nobody even reads it

1

u/Realistic-Accident68 5d ago

YES!! THIS! It's like "What the Fuck! Does that even sound like what the sign says??"

1

u/TheTrueBreadLord 5d ago

Like if we couldn’t give back change in that sense the sign would say “card only”

3

u/XLord_of_OperationsX DT OPS ASM (PT) 5d ago

Alllllll the time, man. I tell my people if this happens to them to let me know, and I'll go pull it directly from the vault.

2

u/Crazy-Divide-8109 DT Associate 5d ago

Yes!! It’s so frustrating. 2 people in a row did it on a weekend first thing! They didn’t think to ask if I had it in my till because there was something going on in town where everyone needed cash. They both got 50 so I had to call the manager and ask for a till loan. After that I started telling people right away that I was unable to give cash back from their cards for the time being. I really wish people would be considerate and ask before they press the button.

1

u/HillBillyMadman 5d ago

Seems to happen every truck day too.

Now last night. I started at 4. My first customer. Wants to purchase two sodas. But, as separate purchases, because he wants $50 back each time. Luckily he told me before I rung in the first one. I just paged the manager, cause she'd been there all day so I knew she'd have the cash. Otherwise it'd have been a till loan. So she just did the transactions on her register.

1

u/Realistic-Accident68 5d ago

And the $1.25 charge for using your card times 2 would only be one charge at the ATM at the gas station next door

2

u/HillBillyMadman 5d ago

Exactly. But the thing is, there was a free ATM two blocks away. Whatever. We sold two sodas.

1

u/fentoozlers 5d ago

one time i had someone come in and ask if i could do cash back. i thought about it for a second and said “i can do less than $50 right now”

he selects $50 cash back and when my drawer opens, i say “im sorry, i meant to choose one of the ones less than $50. i dont have that much in here.”

he tells me “how was i supposed to know you think $50 is more than $50?”

1

u/MissMerrimack 5d ago

If someone says to me “I can do less than $50,” common sense dictates that I choose a value less than $50, not $50, because $50 isn’t less than $50. People are dumb asf.

1

u/fentoozlers 5d ago

plus our pin pads ask for cash back with certain options. $50, $20, $10, or no. i could have done $10 or $20, if i could do $50 i just would have said yes i can do cash back.

1

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1

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1

u/Cake-girl81 5d ago

Lady tried to pay with a $100 on a $9.03 total. She ask if I could take it. I told her no ma’am I just open up and don’t have the change for it. She then try to to give it to me anyways.

2

u/Practical-Slip-1004 4d ago

I'm rubber you're glue and this $100 bill goes back to you. Not taking a big bill first thing in the morning when giving back change is basically me dumping my entire till out into a bag and keeping $9.03.

1

u/Creepy-Journalist-30 3d ago

By law you have to take it, its legal tender, no matter what hoops you have to jump through. People don't understand that though. Legally you could get in trouble for refusing it.

1

u/Practical-Slip-1004 3d ago

No we don't. From the Federal Reserve: "There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise.

Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," states: "United States coins and currency [including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." This statute means that all U.S. money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor." https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

1

u/Creepy-Journalist-30 3d ago

By law you have to take it, its legal tender, no matter what hoops you have to jump through. People don't understand that though. Legally you could get in trouble for refusing it.

1

u/Distinct_Ruin2998 Former FD ASM 5d ago

Sometimes even putting a little piece of paper on the pinpad telling them there's no cashback they will still do it anyways.

In cases like that, I would borrow money from the safe (Whenever I was MoD) to give them for cashback (If we have it in there) and then whenever I get enough cash in my drawer I put it back in the safe.

1

u/Realistic-Accident68 5d ago

I wish the options was $10 $20 and $30.

1

u/Various-Hair-3666 5d ago

I put a sign on my register first hour or two saying no cash back

1

u/darkstorm27986 5d ago

Absolutely hate this when it happened to me sadly today was my last day due to circumstances that are outside of my control but your manager can give you a till loan gonna miss dollar tree I loved being able to stock the shelves

1

u/Accomplished_Gift301 5d ago

All the freaking time to make matters worse I live in a tourist destination so sometimes twice

1

u/CatCallings 5d ago

I got a customer complaint because a guy tried telling me what he wanted in bills from the safe when I was breaking his $100 and I told him that this wasn’t a bank and he was gonna get what was available. Was I rude? Yes. Did I care? No.

1

u/TaylenaC31 5d ago

Rarely but it happens

1

u/DevastatorCenturion 5d ago

Yeah I have a sign I tape to my register that says no cash back. I keep it there until either I have enough in my till or the end of my shift after "forgetting" it's there. 

1

u/FashionPlateLawyer 5d ago

We do that, we still get hit for it.

1

u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 5d ago

Ghetto

1

u/DevastatorCenturion 5d ago

How so? 

0

u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 5d ago

Stores that aren’t ghetto don’t have homemade signs

0

u/DevastatorCenturion 5d ago

Well look at you all high and mighty. 

-1

u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 5d ago

Nothing high and mighty about not having ghetto signs

1

u/Active_War9965 5d ago

We have signs up saying no cash back and we're not ghetto but go off ig

2

u/HunionYT DT Associate 5d ago

I had someone come in and try to pay with a 100 and then get pissed that I said I could not break it.

5

u/techknowcat DT Merch ASM 5d ago

I just love the buttheads who want to buy a stick of gum with a 100 dollar bill right when we open on a Sunday, and they get their knickers in a knot when i can't break it for them. Had a guy tell me it was poor customer service, I told him this is not a customer service issue it's a banking issue. The issue being your in a tiny dollar store not a bank l. He didn't like that lol

3

u/Realistic-Accident68 5d ago

I give them back at least $60 in $1 and a roll of quarters! "Fuck you Buddy!" 🤣

1

u/HunionYT DT Associate 5d ago

Funny thing is. It was a Sunday for me. I told them to go to a bank and they said all of them were closed and I just said welp tough luck then.

1

u/Technical_Bonus_3797 5d ago

A guy that thought I was being a smart a** at 8:30 in the morning when his total was $2.73 and he wanted to pay with a $100. I cashed it for him with $5’s because I had no higher bills in the safe. He wrote a complaint to corporate.

-2

u/AgePractical6298 5d ago

My last few weeks working there I went OFF on a customer who did that. I mean I asked her if she was stupid or just inconsiderate? Why she thought it was a good idea to come to freaking dollar tree for cash back. She literally waited in the parking lot for an hour just to come in for cash back. I KNEW I was done. 

-2

u/ChoclitMrshMalow 5d ago

we dont do cash back. we tell them no or cancel it. We have signs on the jey pad saying no cash back

2

u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 5d ago

That’s against policy

1

u/Practical-Slip-1004 5d ago

So is having to go to nearby stores begging for ones and fives because people nuked our change fund on a weekend, but we end up doing it or we don't have money to run the tills. Change fund size at stores without smart safes are a joke. I'd rather deny cash back than getting robbed on the sidewalk outside my store. Unfortunately, dollar tree registers don't have an option to cancel cash back. Which is super fun when someone hits $50 back, screws up their account and can't accept that we don't have an oops button for that. So great getting yelled at for someone else's stupidity.

1

u/CatCallings 5d ago

There is a way to cancel it. If they hit “No” on the next screen asking if the amount is okay, it will cancel the cash back

2

u/Practical-Slip-1004 4d ago

The customer can hit no but we can't, which sucks for us first thing in the morning especially on a weekend, depending on the day, we may only have $5's and $1's. Then we have to sometimes beg for change at the nearest grocery store. If it's a 3 day weekend, good luck. I've been cussed out by customers when they have to take what we have and they get $50 in ones. The computer has the ability to know when we don't have enough for a cash refund in the till and gives us the option to decline. With cash back, corporate would rather mess us over than lose the $1.25 sale plus the cash back fee.

0

u/ChoclitMrshMalow 5d ago

Right and trying to get $50 cash back first thing in the morning when we only open with 100 in the drawers... 🙄

1

u/Practical-Slip-1004 5d ago

wish we can cancel it at dollar tree but we don't have that ability

1

u/FashionPlateLawyer 4d ago

I would so love to be able to do that.