US retail... not so smart
 

On my last trip to the states, I was doing some shopping and out of curiosity I asked the lady checking me out if they took Canadian dollars. I just happened to have a large sum of Canadian cash on me, so I thought I would ask.

She looked at me (and a couple of the other girls too) like I was from another world or something and then she politely said NO they didn't accept that. It struck me as completely wrong. I mean, we as webmasters will take whatever you got. We'll take a credit card, checking account, phone charge... whatever ... just make that transaction. I would be the same if I ran a retail store. Just get the money across the counter and I'll take care of the currency exchange.

Stranger still was the look on her face which was like "Canada? They have a currency?"... duhhh. And by the way, our dollar is worth more than the US dollar right now. She either didn't believe me, didn't know, or didn't care. Probably all three.

Michigan accepts your change so take it or leave it.

when I was at the airport in Montreal they wouldnt take my US dollars at Mcdonalds. I had to borrow money off of my buddy. I have found a new love for vinegar and fries though.

We don't take Euros, pesos, pounds or any other currency either.

Well think about it from a business perspective. How much wasted time would you loose out on by doing those transactions, training people, setting up your books, cash registers, etc.... really does not seem worth the effort now if its some small ma and pa shop then I think it would not be that big of a deal but for someone like mcdonalds I think they would actually be loosing money. I could just see some 15 year now trying to count some pesos when he can barely even count U.S dollars, lol.

Two words.

NAFTA BUCKS.

Uh, when I go to different countries I don't expect them to take my currency just because. If they do, great, if not, my problem.

Can you imagine trying to train a $6/hr employee how to convert money into multiple currencies? And how exactly is said person supposed to know what is legitimate and what is not? Lastly, can you imagine the counterfeit?

Most places in Canada accept US currency simply because it's convenient to tourists. MOST places along the border of Canada in the US accept Canadian currency.

In Socal, I have never once in 5 years seen a single Mexican try to give Pesos to anyone, and the Latino population is massive. I have never once seen a French tourist at Disneyland (I have an annual pass) try to give Francs to buy a Chilli Bowl.

The US is different. When you're here, speak English and use US Dollars and everyone is happy. It's just the culture here. I have no idea why anyone would expect a vendor in the USA to take any currency other than their own.

You may think that is ignorant, but I think you're ignorant for trying to use CAD in the USA.

And I am a Canadian Citizen. :)

I thought SOS was the only one that thought USD and CAD were interchangeable.

i like loonies

I don't think it's common at all for US businesses to deal with something like this... It's just too much drama for them to try to make .00001% of customers happy...

I'm surprised at the replies.
In a business where it's all about the joins and transactions.

If I had a clerk working for me and he/she took Canadian at par right now (given the opportunity), I would be impressed.

How exactly are $6/hour clerks supposed to be expected to keep up with exchange rates?

For the record, even though I sell goods and services to webmasters all over the world, I only accept USD and I have never had one that even asked if I would accept their currency instead.

Guess you should talk to your people unless you have GEO IP join pages.

http://admin.teenrevenue.com/cgi/jp....lina18.html&s=

They don't have to keep up with exchange rates. You just need a little sign on the counter that says "today we'll exchange your Canadian funds at _____". Stores in the US have managers right? OK... one of their jobs is to adjust the settings of that rate for the given day. It's never exact, but close within a couple percentage points.

You accept only American because you accept credit cards. Correct? No matter the currency, the card does the currency exchange for you. Similarily, retail stores should be able to do the same thing.

This boils down to the US doing what we've done for years in Canada. Simply accept each other's hard currency at an exchange at the till. Pretty easy.

We accept checks, wires, epass, paypal . . . . all USD

Congratulations on completely losing the point. Or maybe you never got it in the first place?

Do you run a storefront operation?

It's also extra work to take the money to the bank, instead of just dropping it off you probably have to visit a teller.. I'm just talkin outta my ass I have no idea, but I always thought the inconvenience of what to do AFTER they get the foreign money is why they don't bother.

Guess not.

Nope....

Most US residents don't even know what Canadian currency looks like, you could be handing her funny money for all she knows. I say it was a very smart business move on her part.

So explain. Why is it easier for a dime store to accept foreign currency than an online operation?

If I travel abroad, I'd expect the burden of currency exchange to be on me - not the merchants in that country.

Only border States are likely to accept. Just because we're used to it in Canada, doesn't mean Americans more than a hundred miles South are.

Certainly true. For decades, Canadian stores have been accepting US dollars at the daily exchange rate or close to it.

All I am saying is that, as a courtesy, a retail store might (should) consider taking their neighbour's currency at a reasonable daily rate of exchange.

I presume your recent visit was to Las Vegas. That is hardly a neighbor of Canada.

Money is Money...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080206/...wyork_euros_dc

Your missing the point - A clerk making $6 an hour can barely count out the proper change no less figure out how to convert Canadian money.

In certain tourist near a border it might be a bit more common, although I've been down to San Diego and I've seen anyone using Pesos. Across the border in Mexico, however, my US money is fine - even the toll boths have the prices in American dollars.

I was just in Amsterdam and none of the hookers would accept dollars.

I guess it does represent another opportunity for profit... and one that the fine people of Mexico seem to take advantage of.

Even the banks down there turn a hefty profit off of Americans in that regard. It seems that just by visiting an ATM machine in Ensenada, you lose more than 10% of your currency's value.

But I think the perception might be that those sort of business practices are a bit shady... and American retailers may try to distance themselves from that sort of perception.

"The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York."

there's your reason. Are there waves of Canadians where you were trying to shop?

By reading the fucking sign that the manager put up ....

"US exchange 5 %"

We had and still have that in Montreal ... because of tourists ... It is true that are tourist are real tourists, not illegal aliens .

Hm. Pretty much any store in the vancouver area will take US dollars. They'll have the exchange rate on a sticky-note stuck to the cash register usually. It won't be super current, but that's the price you pay.

Chris: One word..

Idiot.

Now listen to me.

Unless the computer/till/register the $6 an hour employee is working on has a button that says "Exchange Canadian $50" and it types it in and then says "this is worth $46.82" and then it says "So the balance left is $1.07" then NO ONE, not a SINGLE FUCKING BUSINESS OWNER is going to do it because these 17 year olds can barely count let alone convert currency.

WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THIS. - See first statement -

Now that you've proven total ignorance let's also remember than online you may accept Euro, Pounds, and Rupees but the rate you set is done online, and you let a system handle the rate conversion, or your bank etc into your bank account.

Comparing Online to a Pizza Hut or a Walmart is pretty fucking idiotic. I was trying to be nice with my first reply, but it's clear you just don't understand.

Now, if your point is to tell us you're introducing a new register that pulls down currency conversions from an online system every minute and that you've found a way to train everyone in the US to EASILY accept different currencies, perform fraud detection and still perform to the same speed for each transaction as if they were accepting USD... then you sir are fucking brilliant and I have 50k to invest in your business RIGHT NOW.

Brad: One compound word..

Asshead.

Now listen to yourself as it appears you love doing that.

You should have stopped right there.

No need to over-complicate things. My intent was stating that more places could accept more currencies and hence make more money. The subsequent link to the Yahoo article only solidifies what I was trying to say.

Before taking more currencies I'd be happy if more places what take AmEx.

Why don't they? Two reasons.

1) Expense. AmEx charges more.
2) They don't need to. Everybody has a Visa.

Chris stop being pissed off because your brilliant revelation was shot down. I'm right, you're wrong so just stop.

That is pretty funny. Doubtful many $6/hour clerks could figure it out.

So is BradM saying that somehow Canadian 6$ an hour clerks can figure out exchange rates but their American counterparts can't?

I got the impression he was saying it is quicker to check out at US stores rather than stand in line waiting for some clerk to figure out how much to charge.

So, if I go to Canada and pay in USD, do I get USD change back?

:1orglaugh
That's probably partially true.

No, but really what I am getting at is something like 90% of Canucks live on the US border or within 100 miles of it, correct? So we have grown up (I know I did on the Island) with accepting US currency. However go to Lincoln Nebraska. I sincerely doubt they accept ANY random currency for 1 major reason: They DON'T HAVE TO. Their economy doesn't rely on Australian dollars, so why should they train their employees to take them when it MAY happen once in 15 years?

CDNs have a HUGE amount of tourists from the US that come to the cities. Americans are ignorant, hence assume anywhere they go will accept USD. Canadians being complacent agreeable dipshits instituted policies YEARS ago to accept USD because hey... why not? It's important to their business.

Maybe what it boils down to in the end is ignorance.

Speaking of which Elli, why do you support ch1ld p0rn? Just curious why you and AFF are totally fine with advertising on sites with ch1ld on it. Thanks.

No, the policy is to give Canadian change. But they will take US dollars without blinking.

Once the Amero hits the streets, all your problems will be solved.

No, you will absolutely not. Your change comes in CDN. :)

I was under the impression that the original store in question was close to the border. Otherwise I completely agree, there's no reason for a non-border town to experience non-US dollars often enough to keep up with exchange rates, etc. It'd be like going to Bella Coola and wanting to pay in US. I doubt they do that there.

Quebec City is NOT on the border ( about 200 miles from it ) but they accept US dollars most everywhere .... because it is a tourist oriented city ...

I would presume that Las Vegas qualifies for that status ...

Las Vegas I believe

My bad, I must have missed that in the thread. Las Vegas is a very international town, maybe that's the problem. It's not just Cdn currency they'd be accepting, it'd be everybody else's, too. Keeping it to US dollars is just simpler, I guess.