A CompUSA cashier summoned her manager and a security guard when Bud tried to pay for his purchases with cash. The promise of 40% discounts drew Bud to the Boisie, Idaho store, but he settled for a 10% discount on an iMac and several accessories.
I start counting out hundred dollar bills and the clerk goes nuts! “Sir, we don’t accept cash for this kind of purchase! You must use a credit card!” she says at the top of her lungs. (I see her also hit a button on the phone at the same time.)Instantly a man shows up, clearly the manager from his nametag and the rent-a-cop security guy. Both tell me the same thing, “NO CASH! You have to pay with a credit card!”
CompUSA’s corporate office defended the manager, saying that each store is free to set its own policies.
The manager’s actions are legal. 31 U.S.C. 5103 says that cash is legal tender for all debts, public and private. Creditors can’t refuse cash. CompUSA can.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they should.
I got a call back from a guy at CompUSA corporate, apologizing for what happened. He said that he would make sure that I was taken care of properly and that cash would be no problem. I told him I would think about it and call him back.So I called the store to see if the items I wanted were in stock, after I asked the guy about them he said, “I know who you are, your the guy that wanted to pay cash. My district manager & corporate called me and read me the riot act over this. Thanks for getting me in trouble!”
He then hung up on me!
And you wondered why they were going out of business.
No Cash At Compusa????? [Sprint Users]
Legal Tender Status [Department of the Treasury]
(Photo: Tyler Durden’s Imaginary Friend)
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Customer service has been killed by the same thing that has affected all levels of society–cheaper, bigger, faster–NOW! To provide cheaper prices and not impact levels of profit to executives and stockholders (sometimes!) operations has been impacted. As a result, you have workers and managers who are overworked, paid slave labor wages and deal with complete asses an the regular…
Fun with counterfeit detection markers: Those silly markers cashiers use to “detect” counterfeits are actually just iodine. The theory is that counterfeits are made with low quality paper with a high starch content (turns iodine black) as opposed to real cash being made of linen, with little starch content (iodine remains red).
So spray real cash with laundry starch and head out to your favorite clueless retailer. Any luck, and you’ll have a great lawsuit for your trouble!
That guy sounded more like a baby than a grown man. And not accepting cash is silly. As far as I’m concerned, money is still the standard.
I bet their return policy is to give a charge-back for credit card purchases and cash for cash purchases. This makes them vulnerable to return fraud on large cash purchases. A thief (or ring of thieves) could purchase an item for $1,000 cash, steal the same item, and then use the original receipt to get a cash refund. The scam would work the same with a credit card, but it would leave (potentially) identifying information and would not yield the same immediate value as cash (if you’re talking potential value on a credit card, you might as well steal one and cash it out–having $1,000 credit on a card isn’t worth much). It might also look worse to district or corporate management when a store manager pays out cash. They could have gotten hit with return fraud, paid out cash, and been read the riot act over it; then they implemented this stupid policy in a panicked effort to prevent it from happening again.
The real stupidity here is on the part of their loss prevention department, assuming they even have one.
I don’t understand why anyone would want a cashless society. Hello, anonymity? I don’t want everyone knowing everything that I buy. I’m not buying bomb kits or anything, it’s just none of anyone’s business. Go read The Handmaid’s Tale.
@ivealwaysgotmail10: Interesting that the stores who have coin star also have self pay checkout lanes with a little small hole for coins. You’d think they would have a coin dump to help people put coins in for self pay. I know I feed the slot with whatever coins I have and never go to coinstar. Actually somebody will probably design a little chute to help dump coins into the pay slot.
I’m in Evansville. The gas station was somewhere in between evansville, IN and owensboro KY out in BFE.
On the gas-station comments : As they let you pump before you pay – signs would end up irrelevant in court. If they gave you the gas up front with the understanding that would you pay after – that’s a debt, and refusing to accept cash to settle it wouldn’t stand up in court.
Buying a computer is not a debt. At that point they haven’t actually sold you the computer. They can still refuse the sale for whatever reason.
It would only be a debt if they had finalized the sale, you went home with the computer and they sent you a bill.
@Nerys:
Here’s a hint: don’t spend money you don’t have.
Having been in this store myself on several occasions, it seemed to be filled with colossal idiots and stereotypical salespeople who would try and take you for all you could get. If it was typical of CompUSA stores everywhere I’m stunned they didn’t die far earlier than they did.
@weave: Visit us in the upper midwest (aside from Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis) and you’ll find plenty of places where you can pump first and pay later. We’re good people. Heck, those Packers were even nice enough to give the Giants a chance to get whipped by New England. So nice. (Disclaimer: definitely not a GB fan)
@gokor: Guess that cashier career isn’t going so well eh?
@weave: I consider pump first, pay second the norm; if it’s a pay-first station, I generally assume I’m in a scary-ass part of town and made a bad gas station decision.
I mostly pay-at-pump anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. But once I’m outside the city limits, a lot of places even let you pump-then-pay at night!
@Eyebrows McGee: About two years ago, the Hillsborough County commission (Tampa,FL) decided that they didn’t want their sheriff’s deputies to have to bother with investigating drive-offs, so they ruled that all gas stations are now pre-pay only. I hear you on the feeling that it’s got to be a bad area if it’s pre-pay only.
Come to think of it, they’re correct — Tampa’s about 3-5x more dangerous than New York City. Maybe if they didn’t insist on using police officers for revenue collection (traffic tickets) and focus on fighting real crime, it might actually be safe to walk the streets at night here.
I’m working at CompUSA during the closing, and I’ve accepted quite a few large amounts of cash. I took $1500 for a computer the other day. We’re also doing quite well with selling stuff. Had about $70k in sales yesterday. About a quarter of the store shelves are bare. I really don’t see why though. Even with up to 40% off, most things are still costing more than elsewhere. The “no returns” thing is also causing quite a few problems too. Security had to remove 2 people on separate occasions yesterday for flipping out about it. It’s also amazing how most people don’t realize all sales are final, no checks accepted, WE’RE CLOSING, etc… when there’s dozens of signs everywhere. I’m just glad I’m only working here for a little while between jobs. I’d never work at CompUSA otherwise.
So I called the store to see if the items I wanted were in stock, after I asked the guy about them he said, “I know who you are, your the guy that wanted to pay cash. My district manager & corporate called me and read me the riot act over this. Thanks for getting me in trouble!”
So, that’s a no?
And isn’t the big news here that he managed 10% off on a Mac? Last I checked, Mac buyers were looking at a crisp 5% markdown. (See, now, if he wanted a PC, he could get a whole 7% discount.)
And people wonder why the CompUSA liquidation’s been a gigantic cluster…
It should be noted, though, that the guy not accepting cash was a dumb move, and I’d hope an aberration at even that one store. Sounds more and more like the service is just a crapshoot and the two CT stores have competent employees still on hand (one of them told me I was better off not buying a cell phone because he wasn’t sure what effects it’d have, and also that I’d be better off upgrading when I re-up my contract).
This is a story of why Capitalism is such a great system. Comp USA had high prices,salespeople with bad attitudes and is probably the poster child for “Why to never buy anything with a rebate attached”. Looks like I wasn’t the only knucklehead that got fed up. Watch for Capitalism to catch up with the likes of Office Depot, Sears, Kmart, Chrysler and Jiffy Lube. I love this country.
LEGAL tender. End of story.
@bonzombiekitty:
Not really true – the real question (as some has noted) is when a debt has occurred and this is governed by contract law. If you have a contract a consumer is obligated to pay $ and the business is obligated to provide the goods.
Generally the rule is that an advertisement is not an offer, but this is misread by some to say that this includes advertisements that may be more specific and in this case the advertisement is made more specific by the presence of the goods (the indeterminate factor) as well as the FTC laws on deceptive practices.
So you can say a contract is definitely formed when you have the the goods in your hand and say you want to buy the goods at the price that they offered (in otherwords is this for sale, how much, and ok I will take it.
While they could limit the sale at the very onset by stating that they only accept credit, fruit, or services, they did not. After you form a contract the time for dickering is over – a debt is incurred and $ is legal tender.
If this is not the case then you would have the same right to dicker by demanding more after you gave your $.
So they’re a business who refuses to accept money? Can someone explain this to me?
Usually, when I go shopping, the #1 preferred method is cash. They love it! You can even buy a mercedes with cash and they’ll charge you a lot less (Usually..) When people pay with credit card, the card company keeps a small percentage for themselves.
Sure it might be legal, but CompUsa has been shutting down all over the place. Maybe this is why?
I remember too. When CU was closing down in our area, they paid homeless people to stand on street corners with “x% Off!”. Over time, that number went from 10% to 60%. I stopped in a few times and it was all squalor. Everything was still more expensive then going up the road to say, Frys.
The stuff that CU hawks is cheaper and more abundant on the net anyway. I hope all these brick and mortar shops go under because of their business practices.
Have a nice week, everyone.
@Nerys– that’s a mouthful! lol. I didn’t read your entire spiel, but I just wanted to say that it all sounds very reasonable and helpful. Thanks for taking the time out to be so specific with your advice
@riverstyxxx:
Lots of places don’t want cash – you have to store it and transport it, and it creates a theft risk. Particularly stores with larger $ value items.
As for buying cars, while the dealer clearly doesn’t want to take a credit card for a $50k purchase (due to the fees), they’d much prefer a cashier’s check to $50k in cash. If they would prefer cash, they’re tax cheats.
@JustAGuy2:
I’m sorry but I’ve never been to a store in my life that didn’t accept cash. Your argument has no merit because Best Buy has a reasonable amount of security that would make it safe for them to accept cash.
well the US dollar has been on the decline…..
@KarmaChameleon: That’s fine, if that’s what you want to do, but there’s really no reason at all to blast other people for having other preferences.
Our new Apple rep is from a CompUSA that closed down. He doesn’t like em either.
@Tyr_Anasazi: I totally agree!
I think customers are a part of the customer service problem. Don’t get me wrong; I think companies should strive to be excellent communicators.
But because people want it cheaper, we pay for what we get. That’s why our calls get routed to India; that’s why the majority of our crap is made in China…
If we actually paid for what we wanted, I don’t think many people would buy it.
I can’t believe that anyone is actually buying something from CompUSA anyway. Especially with their horrible “going out of business sale”.
I went into a CompUSA over the weekend and I want to know how they think they will get rid of their inventory by reducing their prices only by 10-40%? Computers, printer ink, cameras, etc are 10% off. Things that no body really wants are 40% off
Five employees standing around behind the counter chatting, long wait for service for a return, indifferent and rude handling of request… my last trip to CompUSA was indeed..my last.
My policy in handling such matters is to stay viciously sweetly calm and unmovable.
and in that vein..when all was said and done and my requests were denied..I simply leaned forward and said with a smile…
“I’m sooo glad you’re going out of business and all losing your jobs”.
It’s satisfying..just to remember it!
Don’t look now but Bestbuy is next!! Let’s bring back the Goodguys store!!!!