Americans (Not generalized, just tourists!)

A

auggie

New member
As stated in a post on Chit Chat, I work at African Lion Safari... This place had a ton of tourists, most of them coming from the US, some from other european countries as well...

My first day on till (third day on the job) and I find that Americans don't get their money changed into Canadian when they cross the border... not too much of a problem as our machine things have an Exchange Rate button for American money... People pay in 5's and 1's all the time, and I have to give them Canadian money because I'm in Canada and I don't have American money in my till. We give them the same value @ +15 cents to the dollar...

Every single American I've served, however, has given me a hard time... First off : When you're in another country, "Regular money" is the currency of that country... You say American Money or Regular money... NOT Real Money or Canadian.

Second : I tell them a slice of pizza is $4.00... then I see they're paying in American money (They don't mention they're paying in American money so I have to void the receipt and restart their order) then it comes out to a lower price because its American money and worth more... They get all pissed off because they think I'm ripping them off... How am I ripping them off if I'm giving them a lower price than was before...

Third : 15% tax here. I had to sit there (with my 5 coworkers) explaining to a lovely American who was losing it about 15% sales tax. PST and GST.
"I don't live in Canada" -> It doesn't fucking matter! You still pay OUR prices. You're not any more special and anyone else here who pays 15% taxes!

I'll probably have more later, but American tourists should at LEAST know a LITTLE bit about the place they're going. If not, they're going to get ripped off (I could have TAKEN the money and said that our money is worth the same and I bet you most of them would believe me...)
 
I don't really have much to add, being that this is a rant and all, but 15% sales tax is ridiculous. Jesus.

Edit: When I lived in NY, I used to love going to Canada because everything was so cheap with the conversion rate. You just have to sneak it back over the border though. :tongue:
 
Exactly... They didn't complain until I put the conversion rate up... like 4.12 came to like 3.50... and they were like "wait, don't I get more back? they paid with a 5 and i give them like 2 bucks canadian back... Then there were people (I don't think they were American, but they may have been) and they were calling Loonies and Toonies and Pennies, "Ones, Twos, Ones" respectively... Do you know how confusing it is to be counting Ones, Twos and Ones... When the second "one" is worth 99 cents less than the first "one"
 
Ehh - I wouldn't know any better, I've never visited anywhere else... let alone lived... I'm so used to the loonies and toonies and stuff... I think its just easier than having so many bills...
 
Because having $5 in singles shouldn't make your pocket bulge and pull your pants off your waste from the weight of the coins. $5 in paper money can easily fit into a wallet or pocket, and it doesn't annoy you with jingling. But I digress, I hate coin money, even our coins. We tried to go back to $1 coins but it never caught on, and I can definitely see why. I can understand change, but that's what coins should be; change for a dollar.Yeah, I have tons of loonies and toonies left over from my travels in CanuckLand.
 
That's so odd. The fact that they don't exchange their money...wierd. The first thing I do, even when I go to "Canadia" (j/k) is exchange my money. That's the fun part, playing with "funny money".
 
I hate shopping any buying stuff in general

15% tax is bullshit and I am from Ontario, people have been telling me that we live in the most taxed regions in Canada.

I do my shopping on eBay because I can avoid paying taxes on stuff I buy this is why I buy stuff

1: Outside of Guelph because there is nothing in shopping (Mostly DVD box sets) everything in Guelph is overpriced and they won't give the poor man a break IE: Me
2: Out of the Country very little taxes on stuff purchased before $50
3: On Ebay out of province and the United States because I don't have to pay taxes on the items I purchase but Customs did catch up to me on one purchase and had to pay $9.50 in taxes and duties.
 
Well i've never been to Canada, but i have been to Mexico, and as a tourist, I had a hard time with the money. But i wasn't an ass about it though, it was my falt and I knew this. Some people are just rude and dont think they have to care about there falts cause there on vacation. One thing that got to me was when i went to an atm and pulled out 200 dollers. I forgot about the whole exchange thing and had to go back to the atm again. I wish i could give you some advice, but i never had to deal with tourist.
 
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