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318 Comments
- 4cdawgs, on 09/27/2008, -6/+420Since when is money not money???????
- crapuccino, on 09/27/2008, -7/+263I'm sorry ... we don't accept legal tender.
Knobs. - basye, on 09/27/2008, -7/+243Only four ***** dollars?! That's *****.
- thechr0nic, on 09/27/2008, -1/+186this is pretty easy:
"This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private"
If you owe a debt, then you are allowed to pay with legal tender, which includes coin.
HOWEVER...
A retail store can refuse to accept coin as payment, as what you are buying may be a 'future' debt, not a current one.
Yes a store can refuse to accept coin, or any other form of payment for that matter if they 'really' want to, however, it seems like a policy that may cause some people to choose not to shop there. - inactive, on 09/27/2008, -6/+136What a retarded policy.
My guess is that the cashier couldn't count how many quarters add up to 4 dollars and decided to make up some ***** excuse to save his own skin. - peestandingup, on 09/27/2008, -15/+137OMFG! An underpaid, undereducated store clerk at some random retail store said something stupid. I am SHOCKED!
Down with *insert retail store name here*!! - kingofinternet, on 09/27/2008, -0/+71David Brent: In fact, a postage stamp is legal tender. A bus driver would have to accept that as currency.
Tim: Yeah, that'd happen.
Gareth: Well, if he doesn't, report him.
Tim: Yeah, I'll report him while I'm walking home. - Cglass, on 09/27/2008, -2/+68They obviously make no cents.
;) - ByteGuerilla, on 09/27/2008, -2/+56RudeTurnip "You don't have a choice but to accept legal US currency as payment for all debts, public and private."
The key word there is debts. If something is 'legal tender' then yes, you cannot refuse it as a means for a debtor to pay the debt. Buying something over the counter is not paying a debt off, though. Now, if it were a restaurant, where you order your food, consume it, and *then* pay for what you have already eaten, then you are paying off a debt as you owe the restaurant for what you have eaten. The restaurant cannot refuse legal tender for that debt. - whahaa, on 09/27/2008, -9/+59since the economy collapsed?
- boydrew, on 09/27/2008, -2/+48especially if its quarters. i can understand someone refusing to accept pennies, nickles or even dimes. but quarters are not hard to count and they are used so often in giving change to someone.
- loper, on 09/27/2008, -5/+48Please insert above comment into every consumerist story. Thank-you
- anagoge, on 09/27/2008, -0/+42Stamps are legal tender? I didn't know that. I doubt you'll find many shops who'd take them.
- omjeremy, on 09/27/2008, -6/+44I understand the problem, and it probably isn't the best policy... but something bothers me about The Consumerist and how the articles on it seem to make a big hissy fit about every little problem.
- AmyVernon, on 09/27/2008, -12/+50Next time I go to Michael's, I'm going to pay in stamps. Those are legal tender, too. I'd love to see what their reaction would be. lol (Actually, I've never been to Micheal's, but I just might try this now.)
- ShoggothDreams, on 09/27/2008, -3/+38Actually, as a retail store owner, the actual law is that we can only refuse more than 25 pennies. All other coinage must be accepted. There are MANY stores which seem to think that their "rules" supercede the law. Case in point: stores in NH are required to, without exception, make Gift Certificates fully redeemable for cash, but many stores try to bypass this law by setting contrary store policies. Does not work, but operates under the hope that folks will either be too lazy, or unaware of the law, to pursue it. Probably what this stores does when it comes to coins...
- TheLoneHoot, on 09/27/2008, -10/+43since it became backed by the magic of the Federal Reserve?
- inactive, on 09/27/2008, -4/+36They have a choice. Private businesses are allowed to refuse service to anyone for any reason.
- 4cdawgs, on 09/27/2008, -3/+34Seriously! See if I ever shop there again!
- fluffyturtle, on 09/27/2008, -1/+31It would then be one of the top stories on digg at that point because it would have involved tasers.
- tbredofsin, on 09/28/2008, -0/+26It doesn't even ***** make sense. I've worked retail and usually we want MORE quarters so we don't have to ask the boss to grab us another roll when we ran out later in the shift from giving change. Plus, it's like 16 coins. Big deal.
- Mononuclear, on 09/27/2008, -1/+22How would a restaurant work? If you had already eaten and then receive the bill would that count as debt and they would be forced to except your nickel collection?
- funkyloki, on 09/27/2008, -3/+24They're not called The Businessist.
- ivencente, on 09/27/2008, -8/+29this is so sad, michael's FAIL!
- aladrin, on 09/27/2008, -0/+19Yes, that is the case. Unless they have specifically signed a contract with your beforehand, or collect the money before you get your goods, they have to accept any and all legal tender. They can -also- accept other tender as well, though. (Checks, credit, pretty stones, whatever.)
- CobaltBlue, on 09/27/2008, -3/+22Stamps are not legal tender in the United States. Although they can be used as illegal tender with a little lsd on the backs.
- rft3rd, on 09/28/2008, -0/+19According to the "Legal Tender Statute" (section 5103 of title 31 of the U.S. Code), "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 means that all U.S. money, as identified above, when tendered to a creditor legally satisfies a debt to the extent of the amount (face value) tendered.
However, no federal law mandates that a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services not yet provided. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills.
Some movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations as a matter of policy may refuse to accept currency of a large denomination, such as notes above $20, and as long as notice is posted and a transaction giving rise to a debt has not already been completed, these organizations have not violated the legal tender law.
Yeah found this one with the help of Google. Check into it some time.. it's only been around for 10 years! - aptanalogy, on 09/27/2008, -0/+18The Audacity of Quarters:
They're change we can believe in! - Ajajadude, on 09/28/2008, -2/+19You, sir, are a dick for taking your frustrations over a failed service on the people who have the least to do with the shortcomings.
- inactive, on 09/27/2008, -16/+33Since Michael's Craft Store was a private business that could elect to accept or not accept any form of payment they chose?
What's that called, ah yes, always.
A business owner can accept payment exclusively in navel lint if they so choose. There is no law that requires anyone to agree to any form of payment at all. So if you show up with a roll of pennies they are fully within their rights to tell you to ***** off. - xptoast, on 09/27/2008, -4/+21Bank Teller: You need to put 5 dollars in your account to make the minimum balance.
Joe: *hands bank teller fist full of quarters, nickles, and pennies*
Bank Teller: We don't accept coins here. In fact we don't accept anything but tens today. You can pay with dollars tomorrow but not Thursday. Have a good day. - Ne007, on 09/27/2008, -10/+27In some states it is illegal not to accept legal tender money.
- vegx, on 09/28/2008, -1/+17The worst part is that every article is basically hearsay. I could make up a story about my local Wal-Mart and it'd be on Digg's front page within a few days.
- inactive, on 09/27/2008, -1/+17I like how these douchebags at consumerist follow up this nothing story with a video of a couple of Marine ***** being ***** to a nice waitress in Japan who is too polite to shove a fork in their eyeballs for being *****.
- RudeTurnip, on 09/27/2008, -26/+41You don't have a choice but to accept legal US currency as payment for all debts, public and private.
- CobaltBlue, on 09/27/2008, -1/+16Actually, we have both a $1 coin and a 50c coin.
- Richandler, on 09/27/2008, -6/+20They don't just throw a hissy fit about these problems either. They act like they have a god given right to be treated as a king. They never even for a second think on the side of the business.
- praisethelard, on 09/27/2008, -0/+14Not so. Read this:
Up until the late 19th century, pennies and nickels weren't legal tender at all. The Coinage Acts of 1873 and 1879 made them legal tender for debts up to 25 cents only, while the other fractional coins (dimes, quarters, and half dollars) were legal tender for amounts up to $10. This remained the law until the Coinage Act of 1965 specified that all U.S. coins are legal tender in any amount. However, even in cases where legal tender has been agreed to as a form of payment, private businesses are still free to specify which forms of legal tender they will accept. If a restaurant doesn't want to take any currency larger than $20 bills, or they don't want to take pennies at all, or they want to be paid in nothing but dimes, they're entitled to do so (but, as mentioned earlier, they should specify their payment policies before entering into transactions with buyers). Businesses are free to accept or reject pennies as they see fit; no law specifies that pennies cease to be considered legal tender when proffered in quantities over a particular amount.
from: http://www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp
Also, it was kinda annoying to disable Javascript so that I could copy and past from Snopes.
Also, feel free to post that XKCD cartoon. Yes, you. You there about to post it. I'm on to you! - FrankC10, on 09/28/2008, -0/+14Go in there and buy something, and when they try and give you change say "Oh no- I don't accept change!" Make them write you a check! :-)
- buddypriefert, on 09/27/2008, -4/+17Well what do you expect? This story took place in California but the picture is of Canadian coins.
- inactive, on 09/27/2008, -0/+13Not quite. I entirely agree with you all that Michael's refusal to accept money is ridiculous. I will not argue that. But from a legal POV, they can legally restrict forms of payment for service a priori. Legal tender is defined as "a coin declared by a government to be acceptable in the payment of all debts" (according to a few google searches). This means that whenever you have a debt, and you wish to pay it off in cash, the person that you owe MUST accept cash, no questions asked. But a merchant can refuse to provide a service or good before the transaction is performed if you do not provide a form of payment acceptable to the merchant.
- Ymeg, on 09/28/2008, -1/+14Rude, yes they can. As a business who is not in-debt to that kid, they can not accept his money for any reason.
- djholybolt, on 09/27/2008, -0/+12and that the guy counted the quarters FOR her.
- GorfTron, on 09/27/2008, -4/+16This is stupid and excessive. I mean, loose pennies is a pain in the ass but quarters?
- MAARRS, on 09/27/2008, -4/+16buried for the never ending gawker-spawn seeding
Consumerist, can't you all afford advertising? Why fill digg with your entire site???
Oh, and this is a non story. poor customer service at a craft shop?? come on people.... - Tenetri, on 09/28/2008, -1/+12great, lets punish some random clerk because some completely different employee wanted to avoid getting too much change...
That'll teach that employee who had nothing to do with it! - DiggzDE, on 09/28/2008, -1/+12rft3rd made a good additional point on top of restating what others have said already. And that is using the other end of the spectrum as an example. You don't seem to question the fact that many fast food restaurants and some stores refuse to accept large denomination notes, yet it falls under the very same idea of refusing legal tender to pay for something. Just on the other end.
Dugg up for that rft3rd. :)
The sad thing is Rude has had 17 positive diggs so far, which means there are at least 17 other people on Digg who are just as ignorant to the law as he is. - TwilightXaos, on 09/27/2008, -0/+11You obviously don't know how long it takes Adida to count. The boy in the article would have been there for hours.
- gavin422, on 09/27/2008, -0/+11This would only work if it was one of the first comments of the article.
Comment threads for Consumerist articles follow a pretty standard progression:
shocked and indignant (the top few comments) to contemplative and informative (the next few) to defensive of the store (the next several) to random jokes and trolls (the rest of the thread).
Anyone who breaks this progression gets dugg down. - Protonz, on 09/27/2008, -0/+11Although you are right, this seems like a retard cashier situation.
It is going to do far more damage to their image that the company would have intended. -
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