Stupid Guest Tricks

hhsrat wrote:They are in circulation now. The hotel I work at does currency exchange as a convenience to the guests. (and allows guests to pay their bills in any of the currencies that we exchange, without having to go through the exchange process). One of my cast members got payment in Canadian $ the other day, and it was the new-style bill as pictured above.

Yes, the 100$ bill now, the 50$ bill in March, Then the 20,10 and 5 by late 2013. Very few merchants in Canada will accept 50 and 100$ bills, due to counterfeiting issues. Clerks see so few of them that they have difficulty recognizing a real one from a fake. I doubt the new bills will lead to greater acceptance of big bills, but you never know. Even my local bestbuy has a sign up saying they don't accept 100$ bills. Hotels might be the only merchant that will take them in payment. It's a drag being in line behind someone paying for big ticket electronics with 20$ bills!

delsdad wrote:Even my local bestbuy has a sign up saying they don't accept 100$ bills. Hotels might be the only merchant that will take them in payment. It's a drag being in line behind someone paying for big ticket electronics with 20$ bills!

Wow, that statement took me completely by surprise. I didn't realize that anyone still used cash to pay for big items anymore. I don't use cash for small items anymore. Twenty dollars in my pocket lasts for a month. Credit and Debit cards are the new currency in my mind. Between promotions paying me to use Debit cards and cash back promo's on Credit cards, it's like throwing money away to use cash.

Goofyernmost wrote:Wow, that statement took me completely by surprise. I didn't realize that anyone still used cash to pay for big items anymore. I don't use cash for small items anymore. Twenty dollars in my pocket lasts for a month. Credit and Debit cards are the new currency in my mind. Between promotions paying me to use Debit cards and cash back promo's on Credit cards, it's like throwing money away to use cash.

I still use cash for day to day expenses like lunch, cabs, transit, and beer! Groceries however go on debit.

But there are certain, shall we say, ethnic groups, who simply do not use any sort of credit. Cash only! This goes for even the wealthy among them. Stories abound around here of people paying for luxury cars with cash. I often pass the building where much of the raw gemstones are traded and manufactured in Canada. These guys deal only in cash and hems. I see them in the smoke shop where I buy my lottery tickets, carrying what look like doctors bags. But the are not. The store clerk informed me one time that the guy ahead of me in line was nervous, because he had 5 million in diamonds in his satchel! An armored car arrived with payment and to take the gems to the buyer. Love having to accept payment from brinks guards pushing a dolly of cash. I'm amazed that there is nota lot more security around these guys, but maybe it is all very well hidden. We have a very large immigrant population in this city, and old habits die hard.

There are also religious reasons that some of them won't use banks if they can avoid it.

delsdad wrote:I still use cash for day to day expenses like lunch, cabs, transit, and beer! Groceries however go on debit.

But there are certain, shall we say, ethnic groups, who simply do not use any sort of credit. Cash only! This goes for even the wealthy among them. Stories abound around here of people paying for luxury cars with cash. I often pass the building where much of the raw gemstones are traded and manufactured in Canada. These guys deal only in cash and hems. I see them in the smoke shop where I buy my lottery tickets, carrying what look like doctors bags. But the are not. The store clerk informed me one time that the guy ahead of me in line was nervous, because he had 5 million in diamonds in his satchel! An armored car arrived with payment and to take the gems to the buyer. Love having to accept payment from brinks guards pushing a dolly of cash. I'm amazed that there is nota lot more security around these guys, but maybe it is all very well hidden. We have a very large immigrant population in this city, and old habits die hard.

There are also religious reasons that some of them won't use banks if they can avoid it.

Tell them to never come to So. Cal. Too many people here robbed and killed carrying cash for their businesses :( Home invasions as well.

DisneyMom wrote:Tell them to never come to So. Cal. Too many people here robbed and killed carrying cash for their businesses :( Home invasions as well.

I've got a friend who designs and makes dresses. She caught on in LA a few years ago and is now there for the week every time there's an big awards show. Golden Globes, Academy Awards, stuff like that.

On her first trip she got set up with a Russian bodyguard. She says the guy is so scary looking that rooms go quiet when she walks in with him.

hobie16 wrote:I've got a friend who designs and makes dresses. She caught on in LA a few years ago and is now there for the week every time there's an big awards show. Golden Globes, Academy Awards, stuff like that.

On her first trip she got set up with a Russian bodyguard. She says the guy is so scary looking that rooms go quiet when she walks in with him.

I like the T-Shirt Dress! Doesn't look like she designs for Lane Bryant,tho

DisneyMom wrote:I like the T-Shirt Dress! Doesn't look like she designs for Lane Bryant,tho

It's all leading edge stuff. She's got a huge customer base in Japan too.

I'm gonna have to get some of those for Little Wallaby.

delsdad wrote:The number of times I heard "what am I supposed to do with this monopoly money / funny money ?" or "can I get my change in REAL money ?"

Although I try not to show it, I find comments like that borderline offensive and think that they only serve to show how ignorant the speaker is. I especially love when people (it seems to be mostly Australians) say that US money is "all the same color" when current bills are not.

I think this page illustrates it best: http://speedingdragon.wordpress.com/201 ... -monopoly/

My brother once told me that the U.S. is the only country--this was many years ago--that prints their money in one color. In other countries, the different colored bills help people determine the denomination of the bill. It's either a literacy thing or a convenience thing--tell at a glance how much you have by the colors. My dad collected stamps, and most countries print their stamps in different colors to denote the denomination of the stamp as well. But we Americans have to be differant.