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Time to 'Change', on a Lighter 'Note'

  •   Thu, Jul 12 2012
  •   By Anjana Ramakrishnan

July 12, 2012

'Ma'am change please...!'...'Please give us change ma'am'...'Change kodi!'... these are common phrases that everyone, especially people in Mangalore have become used to. Yes ... this is one irritating thing that we are being forced to hear each day time and over again.

'Oh no! Not again!!!'....'Come on! Give me a break!!'...'This can't be happening again!!'... these are my usual mental responses to such requests or rather 'orders' from the shopkeepers. The funniest response that you can get from them when you say that you don't have change is a funny stare...as if we just deprived them of the last drop of water on earth!

What annoys me most is when we have drained the last member of the 'change' family and we go with a 1,000 or 500 or even 100 rupee note, we get to hear the same! Ya ..ya....I know what you are gonna say....things are still the same and Jack and Jill is still up the hill!!

Another 'irritating' habit of cashiers....any guesses......yes! You got me right! Giving toffees instead of change! Come on guys! If we wanted toffees we would have purchased them! Okay.. now you give us toffees instead of change...and tomorrow if we customers don't have change, would you accept the same toffees from us??? Why is it that only when customers don't have adequate change they 'have' to get it at any cost? The funny attitude of the shopkeepers are ' beg, borrow or steal! But we want change madam!'

Even hypermarkets like Spar have adopted such a technique. But we customers feel that instead of a necessity, at times, it just comes out of habit for them. Even if they have change they keep nagging us for more. Grrrrrr...........why???! We expect to get change from such supermarkets but coincidentally they expect the same from their customers! Now what happens when both parties don't have change? It might result in the addition or subtraction of a couple of items to make the due amount a round figure. Again, sometimes, it has resulted in angry customers showing their frustration openly to the cashiers. But the question is... what exactly can the cashiers do? Can they really make the situation any better?

Adequate change should be provided to the cashiers so that they wouldn't have to beg or nag the customers for it time and over again. Actually we customers are also to be blamed at times. I feel that we, as customers, should stop the age old habit of asking change even though we have plenty of it. Come on guys! If you want change that badly, go to a nearby bank and get it. Unless we have some change vending machines like in the US, there is really nothing else that we can do. We are left with limited options.

But now a couple of new techniques are going to be adopted. One of them is giving tokens instead of change so that the customer can redeem those tokens the next time they shop there. The other technique is of 'credit' card, which also does the same function in bigger hypermarkets. It is indeed a good sign to see such ventures.

And what about our auto drivers? Are they any less? In fact, many a time they are more than happy that we don't have change because they can gobble the difference amount even if it is one or two rupees, saying the age-old dialogue 'change illa!' Woah... so simple! They either scream at us if we say that we don't have change, or they loot us! The choice is really ours. Either give them 'exact' change, or get ready for the worst! It is quite a wonder that though they accumulate change all day in their rides, they still are out of it when you need it!

So next time, before we all cringe our faces when this shopkeeper or that rickshaw wala ask us for change, lets just double check our wallets, 'in case' we missed out a dime hiding in that little corner of our wallet!

P S - Spare me for naming only one single hypermarket. Its not that I have anything against it. But the thing is that invariably every time I go there they keep asking me the same thing!!

 

Anjana Ramakrishnan Archives:

 
By Anjana Ramakrishnan
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Comment on this article

  • Lawrence, USA

    Mon, Jul 16 2012

    "No change" and "Keep the change" are two way traffic. Many times,businesses are also rounding off to the nearest denomination in favor of customers. At the end of the day we are not loosing much.

  • Neville Fernandez, Mangalore/Antigua

    Sun, Jul 15 2012

    Good write up. The government should repeal service tax on credit/debit card purchases. This way more people will use them and the change shortage situation will be alleviated to some extent.

  • Aladdin Pais, Mangalore / Mumbai

    Sat, Jul 14 2012

    Hi,
    While the above note is written in a lighter note the concern of shortage of change is really BIG.
    For e.g.: me living in Bombay (now Mumbai) realise it in a BIG way while I interact and communicate with the many of the lower income.
    Say where a photocopy was 50 ps. now for having discarded the 25 ps. by the RBI the cost of a photocopy goes straightaway to Re. 1/- quite a steep hike.
    Forget the business or commercial bit....
    Pav (the local bread as it is called) could also be the staple diet consumed by all the rich and poor. Well from a Re. 1 for cancellation of the 25 ps has gone straight away to Rs. 1.50. It might seem small but simple calculation for a family of 4 that much of increase could be steep on their monthly budget.
    Say a extra 25 ps. on each bread (a bun sized) being consumed 2 by each of a family of 4, traightaway speaks about a Rs. 2/ increase per day for shortage of change or cancelling currency. So it means Rs. 60/- per month from a poor man's budget for no fault of his.
    This is just one of the things I am looking at... slowly the virus is spreading to the 50 ps too and it wont be long before th Re. too.
    Many may think I am thinking petty but then my heart felt really for a poor man I greeted on New Years day who in turn in Hindi said "how can the year be good as they have palmed off the 25 ps."
    Every penny or paisa counts is a real true saying and guess we should see how we can contribute towards curtailing this in a BIG way.
    God Bless

    Aladdin Pais

  • victor, mangalore/dubai

    Sat, Jul 14 2012

    Wait for another 2 to 3 years, Govt will erase coin system, it's starts from minimum Rs.1/-

  • ruchir agarwal, mangalore

    Sat, Jul 14 2012

    Most of short change will be avaiable in temples. The temple people can keep coin melas and exchange coins for rupees

  • Derek, Boston, USA

    Fri, Jul 13 2012

    The best way to shop in such places is to use your PLASTIC. No change required and no hassles.

    Plus.. some cards offer free miles for every $ you spend !!

    In this year & age, a small percenatge carries cash. You can even buy anything these days with plastic!!

  • Juliet Mascarenhas, Bejai/Mangalore

    Thu, Jul 12 2012

    Baby Anjana this is the reason why the parents teach their children to collect coins in the piggy bank.

  • Shekar Moily Padebettu, Udipi/India

    Thu, Jul 12 2012

    Dear Anjana Ramakrishnanji you have touched indeed a very good topic today.This is happening not only in supermarkets,malls,groceries,hotels but also places like bus,autorickshaws.Just because of small change one has fight,argue and get anger by eiher party.This is one of the biggest nuisance prevailing almost everywhere putting customers in a embarrassing situation.Offering toffees in place of change is so irritating/annoying sometimes we have to either leave the toffees without accepting or have to compromise for excess amount.

    Well done Anjanaji by bringing the issue to public attention.One should not beg from the customers rather they must have enough change in store.Offering toffee in exchange of change is a dirty practice.This is another kind of money laundering by shopkeepers/mall,fleet owners.If they don't have change voucher can be given to customer to redeem the same during his/her next visit.Stop offering toffees.

  • Jawar D'Souza, M'lore/Doha

    Thu, Jul 12 2012

    Before I was having a idea for the change just give postal stamps, but now even the postal stamps are of no use. People hardly know to hold the Pen. I saw my friends daughter hold the pencil upside down. Mails have changed a lot of things. Big malls can issue their their own tokens instead of change.

  • N. Frank, India/Ksa

    Thu, Jul 12 2012

    In Japan the local buses have a system, where in, you the currency note in a box provided, and you get the change, automatically, to pay the bus fare.

    Not necessary to ask anyone for change. When you shop, you get the exact change back, even if you insist on not wanting the change back.

    We cannot expect this service in our dear India. In my opinion customers should also try to carry sufficient change, when making petty purchases, and not put all the resposibility on the seller to return the change.

    Better still, make the habbit to use debit cards to shop, this will solve haggling over change to a certian extent.

    Regarding travel by auto, I always make it a point to check with the driver about change status prior to boarding the auto. Otherwise the driver will never have change.

  • R.Bhandarkar., M

    Thu, Jul 12 2012

    'Change'nahin to 'Jaan Pehchaan'
    'Hain to Anjana bhi Anjaan' !!


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