Recently I hired a professional cleaning company to clean my home. We agreed on the price of $79. They only take cash.
So they came and cleaned and then it was time for them to get paid and leave. I handed them a $100 bill expecting $21 in change back. They said they don’t have any change at all. I only had a $100 and a $50 so I could either overpay them by $21 or underpay them by $29. They didn’t do a particularly good job at cleaning so I didn’t want to leave a $21 tip this time.
Eventually I found some coins and managed to pay them $73 and they left angrily.
It seems to me like if your business only accepts cash then you ought to have change. Yet they acted like it is my responsibility to have exact change. Which is it?
On practical terms, the business should have change.
On a technical level you should have the exact cash for payment.
The bill is $79. You must provide $79 as payment. It is not $100 nor is it $73. It is $79.
They are under no legal obligation to have change for every denomination that you can come up with.
It is really smart to have change for the customer. Because of this, businesses make every effort to have change for us for any denomination we can bring to the cash register. It makes the transaction run more smoothly and leaves the customer with a more satisfying experience.
They do this so much for us, that we take it for granted.
So now, when someone expects us to have the exact amount for the bill, we feel oppressed.