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Customers question Chipotle's 'rounding up' policy

August 29, 2012

Chipotle usually makes headlines for its innovative marketing tactics or dedication to serving sustainable food, but the Star-Ledger called out the fast casual giant this week after some New Jersey customers noticed that their checks were being rounded up to the nearest even amount.

At some of the chain's busiest markets, including New York City and New Jersey, registers often round down or up depending where the coin falls nearest to a nickel, according to Star-Ledger's Karen Price Mueller,  who looked into the matter. A Chipotle spokesperson told Price Mueller that the practice helped the company speed up service in higher-volume locations.

"The idea is simply to limit the possible combinations of change on cash transactions to keep the lines moving quickly in high volume areas," spokesman Chris Arnold said in the story. "It was never our intention to have a policy that was confusing or misleading."

Arnold also said the company has never seen a profit from the practice, but as of Aug. 1 Jersey locations stopped rounding up, choosing to only round down.

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