To think local garage could have let me off 20p!

[cherrycrumblecustard]

I called in at the garage with children as we needed milk and I realised I was short 20p. Garage is down the road from my house, they all know me, I know them. I said I was sorry and could I drop it in later. 'No.'

Small local independent shops and businesses, like hairdressers can offer this.
Large companies like supermarkets and petrol stations can't.
Simple.

So you think there should be a different rule for people who want to be let off 20p and those who want to be let off £20? I wonder why you might think that, OP?

This is such an MN response - that last sentence has had me laughing for ages.

Yes, YABU. Employees don't usually have the right to extend credit to customers, even if it is a tiny amount.

How would you feel if it were the other way round, you had paid in full and the shopkeeper refused to hand over the milk, saying that "you're in here all the time and I'll let you have in the next time I see you"?

Shop sets price for an item, if customer pays then they can buy it. Simple!

If you're that skint, try Asda not Sainsbury's for milk. Save yourself 40p or something.

I second always having a bit of change available in the house. I don't like to have much lying about, but always have a few £2 coins that I won't break into.

We're not tailking emplyees in general in multinationals on minimum wage, we're talking about a local corner shop that knows the Op and would see her regularly. Jesus. Oh and the comparison to Sainsbury's, yes that made me laugh too.

I used to be a checkout chick in a supermarket when I was at college. I don't remember people forgetting their money on a regular basis. Hardly ever, in fact.

We're not tailking emplyees in general in multinationals on minimum wage, we're talking about a local corner shop that knows the Op and would see her regularly.

I think you need to read the op's posts again. It was not a 'local corner shop'. It was BP (IIRC) You can't get more multinational than that.

Our local garage is fab and the owner knows everyone. I dropped the car off on Thursday night and got the usual " hang on,I'll get one of the boys to run you back up the road" so I didn't have to walk back up the hill in the dark. Picked it up today with a £120 bill and said " I'll drop that in to you next week" and he said" aye, no worries". Often let's us wait until pay day for big bills. Which is why we have been loyal customers for 30 years and buy all our cars from him!

I love Asda, it's my favourite place in the world!

Oh sorry, I thought she meant it was her local shop, she said they knew her in there.

A nail place didn't have 80p change??

I know this is missing the point but I think you need an emergency fiver/tenner in the house for these occasions. You could need something like medicine or tampons urgently.
Mil does this with her pension and it causes her no end of stress. She Forgot about the bank holidays last week and got herself in a right pickle which we sorted out. (She then squanders it once she gets it but that's another thread entirely.)

I think you're missing the point yourself, whirlygirly, that some people just don't have any money spare at the end of the week/month.

I think you're missing the point yourself, whirlygirly, that some people just don't have any money spare at the end of the week/month.

There's a difference between having no spare money and literally not even having 20p in the house for milk even though there was money as the OPs partner had money to get the milk later in the day.

If you don't hve money left, then you don't have money left, but clearly there was money, the OP just didn't have access to it. Since there is money available there should be some money the OP can access. I often have "no money" left at the end of the month, but I still have at least a few pounds worth of change in a piggy bank and an emergency credit card just in case.

I also never leave home without at least access to money - whether that is actual cash in my pocket, my debit/credit card or Android pay on my phone - so that if I miss the last bus home and need to get a taxi, surprise early period whilst out and need to buy sanpro, develop a terrible headache and need to buy water/paracetamol or some other random occurance requiring a small amount of immediate cash then it doesn't have to turn into an emergency.

I clearly acknowledged it wasn't the point of the thread but it just seems irresponsible to me. I say that as a working single parent whose family live a long distance away. If we have an emergency and I don't have access to funds, we're screwed. I'm not talking about hundreds - a fiver or even a couple of quid in a jar would have avoided this.

If there had been an emergency DH would have come home