Do you ever go to Subway? Maybe you can help me out.

[Chino]

I go to subway for lunch a few times per week and have gotten into the habit of paying with cash lately rather than card. Every day my order comes to $9.66 and I hand the cashier a $10 bill. They registers have the automatic change dispensers so the cashiers don't have to do math. Well, last week, three days in a row, I was shorted between $0.01 and $0.03. I went to another subway in the city on Friday and was shorted $0.02. Yesterday at a restop 100 miles away, I was shorted $0.01. No more than ten minutes ago, I was shorted $0.03 again.

I'm now 6 for 6 in being shorted change since noticing this. Maybe I'm just being a cheap bastard here, but it really pisses me off. I really don't give a damn about a couple pennies, but is this something that is happening everywhere? Could Subway be doing this to millions of people per week? I need answers. If you go to subway, pay with cash, count your change, and post your finding here.

[cramx3]

Interesting.  Yea most people aren't going to notice a penny missing, but that ends up over transactions after transaction between stores. 

I used to love subway, but I think I ate too much of it and almost never eat it anymore.  Maybe I'll have to go to one by me just to test this out. 

[El Barto]

Setting aside the notion that anything you get from Subway could possibly be worth $10, why not just call them out on it? If it's that consistent count your change right in front of them and say the machine scammed you. Drag the manager out and have him crack it open to give you your 1 cent. Then tell the people behind you to count their change. Do it every time you're in there until they get sick of it.

Out of curiosity, is there sales tax involved? Any place that doesn't have to deal with sales tax that prices things in dumb amounts infuriates me. There's no need to have to hand out any change smaller than a quarter unless you're just trying to be a dick.

[Chino]

I don't want to be that guy who holds up a line of 20 people because I was shorted a penny. Simple as that. I believe sales tax is included.

[King Postwhore]

I don't want to be that guy who holds up a line of 20 people because I was shorted a penny. Simple as that. I believe sales tax is included.

I would call them out. Don't be shy about it.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Since I always throw my coins in the tip jar when I pay with cash, I never noticed it.

[TAC]

Since I always throw my coins in the tip jar when I pay with cash, I never noticed it.

So you're tipping them for ripping you off?

[ReaperKK]

I'd call them out on it eventually, maybe to corporate but not to the clerk. My local subway just hands out it's change.

[KevShmev]

Subway is nasty. I am not sure the chicken is even real chicken.  Gross.

[Progmetty]

I wouldn't have noticed that in a million years Chino 
It could be an Office Space kinda ploy from some laid-off Subway workers 

[lonestar]

Fuck that man, two words bro... Class action...

[TheCountOfNYC]

Since I always throw my coins in the tip jar when I pay with cash, I never noticed it.

So you're tipping them for ripping you off?

It's not so much tipping them as much as it's "I don't want to carry this change in my pocket so you take it".

[lonestar]

Number of Subways in the US- 26744
Average 400 subs a day (found a few stats, this number is fairly in the middle)
Subways are open almost every day of the year I think, except maybe Xmas, Thanksgiving, NYE, and the 4th
We'll just go with 1 cent every other sandwich...

26744*200*361*.01=$18,744,288

Not too shabby a skim...

[Stadler]

And it could be as much as three times that.  I'll take it if they don't want it.

I don't carry any change at all, but I do count it.

I'll ask my daughter; she eats there a fair amount.  Though I don't think she's paying cash.

As for the food, the recent Italian special they've been offering is the bomb diddly.  Not like going to a real Italian deli, but still. 

[Anguyen92]

Number of Subways in the US- 26744
Average 400 subs a day (found a few stats, this number is fairly in the middle)
Subways are open almost every day of the year I think, except maybe Xmas, Thanksgiving, NYE, and the 4th
We'll just go with 1 cent every other sandwich...

26744*200*361*.01=$18,744,288

Not too shabby a skim...

In the event that this is actually a thing at a large scale, it's going to be really interesting when the accounting auditors are trying to figure out, for the yearly audit, why Subway has an extra $18 million in revenue than they should have and it's going to be interesting when Subway explains that to the shareholder's meeting.

Edit: Oh wait, I just looked it up.  Subway is not a publicly traded company.  Then, they don't have to explain anything and can possibly get away with it.  Those dastards.

[pogoowner]

It's interesting, because if this is actually happening all the time, the balance of the drawer is going to end up being wrong every single day (possibly multiple times per day, depending on how they do it at Subway), and that has to be acknowledged by some form of management each and every time. Sounds annoying as hell for the people working there.

[Adami]

You sure you're counting correctly?


You know what? I'll go to subway tomorrow and try this out and see what happens.

[TioJorge]

I mean, this happened with AT&T and I had listened to my dad bitch about random scams that were a dollar here and there and then the huge class action happened...low and behold, he got a check and so did a fucking shitload of other people and AT&T paid out the ass. Still a drop in the bucket for them but hey, I suppose it's principal (and my dad's extra $25 dollars).

So hey, you go and show them what's what, Chino! Get dat money. Justice! Sandwiches! Greed! THE AMERICAN DREAM.

[Chino]

You sure you're counting correctly?

Yes

[El Barto]

Seems to me you'd only have a couple of ways to do it. If you've got coin dispensers then you could probably have it short everybody 1 penny. If you don't, then you have to tell all 133,720 current cashiers to ring 1 cent short per transaction. We'd have heard about it by now.

[Chino]

Seems to me you'd only have a couple of ways to do it. If you've got coin dispensers then you could probably have it short everybody 1 penny. If you don't, then you have to tell all 133,720 current cashiers to ring 1 cent short per transaction. We'd have heard about it by now.

It could also be a mechanical element in the coin dispensing machine itself. I would rule cashiers shorting the transactions out. My bill is exactly the same every day ($9.66) and it's the change that varies. The amount of change due on the receipt I get does not align with what the dispenser gives me.

[MetalJunkie]

Seems to me you'd only have a couple of ways to do it. If you've got coin dispensers then you could probably have it short everybody 1 penny. If you don't, then you have to tell all 133,720 current cashiers to ring 1 cent short per transaction. We'd have heard about it by now.

Typically when you're working on a POS system you input the amount that was handed to you. If Chino handed her a ten and his total was 9.66, she could have pressed that he gave her 9.97, and he'd only get 31 cents back.

[cramx3]

Seems to me you'd only have a couple of ways to do it. If you've got coin dispensers then you could probably have it short everybody 1 penny. If you don't, then you have to tell all 133,720 current cashiers to ring 1 cent short per transaction. We'd have heard about it by now.

Typically when you're working on a POS system you input the amount that was handed to you. If Chino handed her a ten and his total was 9.66, she could have pressed that he gave her 9.97, and he'd only get 31 cents back.

9.69* I think you mean, but doesn't that also show up on your check?  Cash tendered?  Maybe not.  I hardly carry or use cash anymore. 

[Nick]

Around here a chain called Wawa is immensely popular and they use the automatic change machines. I stop for breakfast basically every day, and will use many other locations at times. I take note of my change and it has never been incorrect.

[ReaperKK]

Side note but I love wawa, one of the things I miss from Florida.

[cramx3]

There's two wawa's near my house.  Love them, but I really love Sheetz which is in PA. 

[Chino]

Status report: I tried paying with a $20 bill instead of a $10 bill today. The bill selection made no difference and I was shorted $0.02. I got undercover video evidence and will upload to Youtube once I'm home tonight.

[cramx3]

Is there by any chance a cone near this subway?

[Dublagent66]

Oh no!  Subway is skimming customers!  What on Earth are we going to do?

Subway is nasty. I am not sure the chicken is even real chicken.  Gross.

Exactly!

[TAC]

Status report: I tried paying with a $20 bill instead of a $10 bill today. The bill selection made no difference and I was shorted $0.02. I got undercover video evidence and will upload to Youtube once I'm home tonight.

Is there by any chance a cone near this subway?

[TioJorge]

Is there by any chance a cone near this subway?

[lonestar]

Is there by any chance a cone near this subway?

Fucking shoot us a warning before dropping gold like that bro...

[Adami]

Just tried it.

Cashier manually gave me change. Didn't use that machine. No problems.

[Tick]

I got shorted a quarter 3 times in a row by a live cashier a few years ago. Oh the injustice!!!!

[Dublagent66]

They put the machines in so the cashiers don't have to think.  But machines aren't perfect either.  What are we gonna do now?