Why Do People Get $100 Bills?

[shortbun]

I've never been to a place that wouldn't take a 100. I usually get one at every paycheck and use it for the big week's grocery trip. Then I know I can't go over a 100.

Yeah, I don't know of any place that doesn't take them either. I shop Starbucks and Dairymart. Legal tender is just that and according to the law of the land, must be accepted. Not having change is another issue all together but simply not accepting a legally printed U.S. 100 dollar bill would be unacceptable to me.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

Hmmm, I didn't realise a lot of places didn't take them...most places do around here...

I work at WDW as a server and I get $100 bills handed to me on a daily basis - it doesn't bother me at all. At the end of the night when we leave with our tips, I tend to keep the $100 bills rather than take a ton of $20's, $10's and small bills - I just think it's easier. I tend to put them right in the bank, but other than that I use them at the grocery store, at restraunts, etc. I've never had anywhere say they won't take them but I've never actually tried to use it somewhere like Starbucks! Maybe they'd tell me no!

At the department store I work at during the holidays, a lot of tourists pay with $100 bills. I had a Brazilian lady pay for a $3000 bag yesterday with $100 bills! Security had to come down and take them since it was too much cash to keep in the register.

 

[lillygator]

personally, I'd rather have small bills. DH loves hundreds, if he gets money out that is what he prefers.

Also, if I did carry $100 bills, and the businesses chose not to accept them, I would find somewhere else to shop. According to the US Treasury that is their right, but I still wouldn't spend money there.
http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

now, the businesses who put up the cc signs which say please use cash for transactins under $10, that is illegal - they have to accept your cc no matter the purchase...(well here in FL anyway)

 

[a1tinkfans]

Because I am less likely to break it...............20's are like pennies now a days.....

 

[crz4mm2]

I've never had trouble cashing a 100 dollar bill....
I just take what the bank gives me and it usually involves some 100s and some 20s.

 

[NMAmy]

People get them because they're easier to carry than a bunch of 20's. I ask for them occasionally. I try not to use them for a small purchase. If I have to use one for a small purchase, I always ask the cashier if they can break a hunded before getting to the counter. I don't remember ever being told no.

 

[Imzadi]

Yeah, I don't know of any place that doesn't take them either. I shop Starbucks and Dairymart. Legal tender is just that and according to the law of the land, must be accepted. Not having change is another issue all together but simply not accepting a legally printed U.S. 100 dollar bill would be unacceptable to me.

Lots of those smaller stores I mentioned above that won't accept bills larger than $20 also have little hand-scrawled signs by the register warning that they don't accept those bills. Sorry you won't be visiting here.


Just kidding. Really!

Let me tell you this analogy: The police set up "Random backpack searches" at various subway stops at any unspecified time. They set up a card table and 3 police officers check the bags of people before they pay & enter the subway station.

Occasionally, they will get an irrate person who spouts off his constitutional rights that he does not have to submit to a backpack search. The police will blithely tell him, "You're right. You do not have to allow your bag to be searched. You also do not have to ride the subway."

If someone goes into a store and does not like the fact that they won't accept a $100 bill, they don't have to shop there. The store really is not going to be put out if you take your business elsewhere.

BTW, if that person starts making a ruckus about it, the cashier will probably also point to another sign they have scrawled and taped up: "We reserve the right to refuse to serve anyone for ANY reason." (This is probably actually the more illegal sign, I think. Since the Civil Rights era, which banned the "Whites Only" signs, I think it has become illegal to refuse to serve anyone.) But, in a city where muggers, robbers, drug addicts, pimps, ho's and plain wackos come in, purposely create a ruckus, so they can steal, people here generally accept the fact that not everyone should be served and the store owners have a right to protect themselves & their property.

If you found a cop on a street corner and said, "That store won't accept my $100 bill," he'll just shrug and tell you to shop elsewhere.

As for the stores, they didn't say they don't accept legal, U.S. tender. They just won't accept all forms of it. They also have rights to the smooth operations of their stores. Many will also not accept those $1 coins or $2 bills.


It doesn't make sense to have the argument that it's okay to reject a $100 bill if they don't have enough change, but not for other instances.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Why Do People Get $100 Bills?

Because they can.

 

[DarthKTrava]

The RARE time I have one, I try to use them for larger purchases. Last time I had 2 of them, they went for the hotel bill at the Hyatt in Atlanta.

I hate when people use them for a small transaction in a fast food joint. Especially when the obvious thing is just to break it and get change.

 

[ChrisFL]

because $99 bills just didn't seem right?

 

[RangerPooh]

I try to not carry around $100 bills unless I'm making a large purchase in cash, like the yesterday. We went to buy a used car and knowing that the banks would be closed by the time we made our purchase, I had a lot of money in cash to carry around (no cards or personal checks accepted). Vacation is anothe rplace to carry money, but not an everyday occurrance.

Having worked in retail in a small store we were always frustarted when a custome rwould come in and complain that they couldn't make a $20 purchase in cash. We just didn't ahve that much money on us. At my dads work, there is a person who comes in once a month and makes a small purchase paying with a $100 bill, to only pull out a smaller bill at the last minute trying to confuse the cashier. If he is successful he walks away with the $100 bill. the smaller bill, and the change from confusing the clerk. Bogus money is also a concern for not wanting to accept the larger bills.

 

[MAH4546]

Lots of those smaller stores I mentioned above that won't accept bills larger than $20 also have little hand-scrawled signs by the register warning that they don't accept those bills. Sorry you won't be visiting here.

A $100 bill is legal tender. Unless they don't have change to provide, they technically have to accept the bill. They have no choice, sign or no sign.

A store absolutely cannot reject a $1 coin or $2 bill either.

I've used $100 bills at McDonald's with the "no $20" signs more than once. They have no choice but to take my money, though nowadays with debit cards, its not an issue.

The fact that a police officer won't help you out doesn't change the fact that they have to accept the $100 bill.

The "no bills more than $20" rule is just as illegal as receipt checking, but its just not a big deal, and the law is not enforced. 99% of people just accept it the rules.

I personally wouldn't make a hassle if a place wouldn't take my $100, there's an efficiency purpose for not taking a $100 since it requires returning a lot of change and the $100 bill likely won't be useful as change for another customer, and furthermore it is more likely to be counterfeit; but if a place wouldn't take my $1 coin or $2 bill? In that case, I would make a huge hassle out of it. There is no efficiency purpose - "there isn't a slot in my cash register tray" is not a valid reason.

 

[BudKing]

personally, I'd rather have small bills. DH loves hundreds, if he gets money out that is what he prefers.

Thats the same as my wife she hates hundreds and that all I like to carry

 

[Imzadi]

A $100 bill is legal tender. Unless they don't have change to provide, they technically have to accept the bill. They have no choice, sign or no sign.

A store absolutely cannot reject a $1 coin or $2 bill either.

They DO have a choice. You missed the point with my subway analogy and the mention of the other sign. The customer doesn't have to shop there. AND the store doesn't HAVE to sell to them.

You are coming from the presumption that every customer is precious to the store. That they MUST sell to them and the WANT to sell to them. That they need them. No, they don't. NYC is an odd duck. We have 8 million people squashed on a narrow island. There is always another customer, (usually many,) right behind the one with the $100 bill.

I have stood in line several times where someone pulled out a $100 bill. The cashier tells him she can't take it. Like in the OP, the customer starts getting pushy or irrate about it.

The cashier then asks, "Do you have a $20 bill, a credit card, a debit card to pay for this, or do I start voiding out this transaction?" (She's giving him a choice.) If the customer does not budge from his position, the cashier, or the manager or another clerk will take the items off the counter or conveyor belt, toss them in a basket, then removes the basket away from the scene and the cashier simply VOIDS the transaction. Then the cashier will say, "Next!" and start ringing up the next person in line's items up.

Since the customer doesn't even have the items anymore and he's have to shop all over again, he realizes how pointless the situation has become.

Sometimes, when they see the items being cleared away, they will cough up that $20 bill. It would have been easier had they just done that.

Another scenario is that the cashier will tell the customer with the $100 bill that she can't make change for it when tries to hand it over. He may catch a quick glimpse in the drawer and say, "There are four $20s right there and a bunch of fives. The cashier will shut the drawer and will tell him again that she can't make change for it. If the customer doesn't come up with a $20, she will proceed as above and void the transaction and move on to the next person.

Tourists always come to this city thinking they are the first ones who are trying to break the store's rule. No, they are probably the 100,000 one. After the third time a store was nice, made change for a $100 bill, then found out several hours later that they no longer have enough change the rest of the day, for their next customers, they know not to break their own rules no matter how irrate the customer gets. They end up screwing themselves. It's not worth it.


Third: You missed Lilygator's posting of a link by the U.S Treasury:
http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

"Question: I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn't this illegal?

Answer [from U.S. Treasury]: The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which 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 United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy."

(My bolding, not theirs.)

A store can refuse to accept payment of certain denominations.

 

[Pixiedust34]

We went to a McDonalds that wouldn't take a $100 bill. Making change wasn't the issue because it was during a busy lunch rush. We ended up leaving (after waiting in line) and trying another fast food place down the road that took it without hesitation.

I should note that it's rare for us to use cash and to have a $100 bill. That was one of the few times we've used one. We got it for Christmas and saved it for paying for food on a road trip. We don't use $100 bills on a regular basis so I don't know how common it is to have a $100 bill turned away at the cash register.

 

[aprilgail2]

I like having hundred dollar bills rather than a bunch of 20's. I always keep 1- 100.00 tucked in the corner of my wallet for an emergancy. The only place that it was ever an issue using one is 7-11 and since I wil only go in that place once a year or so and they take debit cards so I will just use that it really isn't an issue. I just went to the bank to get money for the first half property taxes last week and I asked for 40- 100.00 bills - no way did I want to have to carry around all that money in 20's!! It was much easier for the tax office too when they had to count them out!

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I like them! I spend them slower!!!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

...Legal tender is just that and according to the law of the land, must be accepted. Not having change is another issue all together but simply not accepting a legally printed U.S. 100 dollar bill would be unacceptable to me.

A $100 bill is legal tender. Unless they don't have change to provide, they technically have to accept the bill. They have no choice, sign or no sign.
...

Where do you people get this stuff? You have to accept legal tender in settlement of a debt (unless the debt contract specifically set out other terms). For making a normal purchase, the seller can make just about any rules he wants and needn't take any form of payment they don't want to take. If a store in Nebraska wants to only accept Canadian and Mexican money, it can. If it only wants to accept pennies and Susan B. Anthony dollars, it can. You can refuse to shop at stores that don't take $100 bills, but they aren't breaking the law.

 

[MIGrandma]

DH gets $100 bills from the bank often. He prefers it. He saves them longer that way. $20 bills would get spent too fast.

I remember when I worked at the restaurant, and opened on Sunday mornings, sometimes people would want to use a $100 bill to pay for their breakfast and I didn't have enough change in the drawer yet to break it for them. One time I had a guy come in for coffee at 7:05, I opened at 7:00. He wanted to buy a cup of coffee with a $100 bill. Told him I couldn't do that, I didn't have enough change in the drawer. He left. Oh well, sorry guy.

I would never try to break a $100 bill at a small mom 'n pop place early in the morning. Later in the day, I would at least ask if it was possible before I tried to. Bigger stores, restaurants, no problem. But small places many times don't have that much change to give out so early in the shift.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

I would never try to break a $100 bill at a small mom 'n pop place early in the morning. Later in the day, I would at least ask if it was possible before I tried to. Bigger stores, restaurants, no problem. But small places many times don't have that much change to give out so early in the shift.

Or how about at a rummage sale at 8:00am in the morning! Two years ago we had an elderly lady come to our rummage sale right at 8am, she bought like $3-4 of stuff and handed me a $100 bill! I only had taken out $100 to make change for the whole sale, but luckily I had some $20's in my wallet of my own money so I was able to give her change, but I was just shocked that someone would try break a $100 at a rummage sale.

I think she wanted me to tell her to take the stuff for free, that I couldn't break the $100. She seemed disappointed that I was able to get the change for her.