“Can I owe you a penny?” Before you refuse, you’d better think twice. You will leave the store with nothing

You went shopping in the morning, you only have banknotes in your wallet, and the final bill amounted to 99 groszy? I guess everyone in such a situation has heard the famous question “can I owe you a penny?” at least once. How to react? Before you answer with a firm “no”, check what the law says about it.

Can the seller refuse to give change? Not everyone knows this

Usually, when a cashier asks us if she might “owe” a penny or two, we don’t think about it in depth and just say yes. However, it happens that some people do not like this practice and instead of agreeing, they start arguing about the rest. Not everyone realizes that in such a situation the law is not on our side, because the buyer should have the amount deducted for purchases. – Theoretically, the seller is not obliged to give change, so the consumer should have the amount deducted – explained Maciej Chmielowski from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, quoted by

Who must have the amount deducted at the checkout? The law is on the side of sellers

In short, this means that the cashier does not have to give us change. According to the Civil Code, “the seller undertakes to transfer ownership of the thing to the buyer and deliver the thing to him, and the buyer undertakes to collect the item and pay the seller the price“So if we do not agree not to spend the proverbial “penny”, we may be left with nothing, because the seller may refuse to sell us. Of course, he must justify his decision, e.g. with the fact that there is no change in the cash register, because ” because “no” is not enough. If he does not do it, he may be subject to a fine. This, in turn, may amount to up to PLN 5,000. This is the situation in theory. What is it like in practice?

Can the seller refuse to give change? Not everyone knows this Can the seller refuse to give change? Not everyone knows this. Photo pexels.com / Andrea Piacquadio

Can the cashier refuse to give change? Theory and practice

Even though in the above situation the law is on the side of the seller, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which both a large chain and a small store they refuse to give change, which causes the customer to give up shopping. In such a case, he will only be exposed to financial losses and, at the same time, probably also an unfavorable opinion among consumers, which will translate into his profits. So usually, when we do not agree to “owe a penny”, the seller simply tries to find it, most often from other employees. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that Problems with giving change are troublesome not only for consumers, but also for employees. Sometimes, just a few customers are enough to leave not even a penny in the cash register. Therefore, if we can, try to pay with the smallest possible denomination or choose a card.