Went to a smaller store the other day, bought a few things.
Cashier rang me up on the till, told me the total, and then set down a small calculator with the total displayed. To be clear, she had already rung up the purchase on the cash machine, before then inputting the final total into the calculator (as one number; she didn’t use it to add up the purchases).
I wasn’t really sure what to do, so I just paid the money. It came to about 1800 yen, I set down two 1000-yen notes, and she handed me the correct change without using the calculator further.
Am I supposed to be doing something with it? Genuinely baffled, and it’s not the first time this has happened. What’s the correct procedure here?
13 comments
It’s just to avoid mistakes, no? You aren’t needing to do anything, this just covers someone not catching what the clerk said.
What purslanegarden said.
Usually they do this, when the register is hidden behind the counter or behind some displayed products (for example in the basement shops of departments, etc.)
It’s a race. If you’re able to yell out the price before the clerk adds and shows it to you on the calculator, you get 10% off. In effect, the shop eats the tax. If the clerk wins, you pay 10% more.
“this is your total. If you didn’t hear me correctly, this is your total written down.”
Not a big deal in the slightest. Older stores/department stores have the register away from the counters, so it’s difficult for customers to see sometimes.
You can also show a customer the price without ringing it up in case they don’t want it
She can’t speak your language and assumes you can’t speak hers; the calculator display gets around this issue, happens all the time. Best thing you can do is say the total in Japanese, with a smile of course.
It’s just a way to display the total in writing. You do not need to do anything.
It’s easier to show you the cost on a calculator than it is to tell you or write it out.
Happens in most of East Asian incl China Korea Taiwan Hk. So it’s clear and looks professional
Interesting no one said this yet but calculator out is to me an unofficial sign to start haggling prices at bic camera. They can do some quick maffs on it and show me another number and I’ll hum and haa and ask for more discount and they tap at it again and present it.
This was also common in many other Asian countries where haggling is expected in smaller stores in Korea and Malaysia
Yah I think it’s just one way to communicate the total price in case you’ve misheard/couldn’t see the display. Or when the display on their cash register isn’t working for whatever reason. Or when they simply don’t have a register. I see it a lot in smaller stores.
Honestly, I like it cause sometimes it helps to just look at the calculator if I don’t remember the price/didn’t hear it.
So, there really are people who don’t understand this kind of gesture? Interesting.
Japan is full of old people who are nearly deaf and blind, so they often show the total on a big calculator screen to make sure the customer knows how much it is. Or it’s a microaggression against foreign residents who speak Japanese. Which one depends on how well-adjusted of a person you are.