Grocery Store Wouldn't Let Me Pay in Quarters: Woman

Woman mortified after Portland store refused to take her change
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2011 11:38 AM CDT
Grocery Store Wouldn't Let Me Pay in Quarters: Woman
Quarters!   (Shutterstock)

It's not a good week to be a grocery store. First, a Safeway in Honolulu got raked over the coals for arresting a pregnant woman who ate a sandwich while shopping and forgot to pay for it. Now, a woman in Portland says a Save-a-Lot wouldn't let her buy groceries using coins. KATU reports that the woman said she "had nothing to feed our children with. So we broke out the change"—$32 in quarters, she says. "And when I went up, I told them, you know ‘I have change. Sorry, it’s hard times right now.’ And they go, 'well we can only accept $5'" worth.

She says she told the clerk, "Money’s money," but the clerk couldn't be persuaded. She says she then went to another store, Fred Meyer, whose manager recommended she convert her coins using a coin machine; she says she couldn't afford to swallow the 10% fee it charges. After a "disgusted" customer offered to buy her change from her, the manager reportedly agreed to cover the conversion fee. Both stores apologized, and told KATU their policy is to accept all forms of cash. (More strange stuff stories.)

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