Am I wrong on this one? (Long)

[KnightsWhoSayNi]

I work in a fairly small discount Dept. store as a Cashier/Customer Service/Lay-a-Way/Giftware Department Manager etc. So basically I get to deal with every different flavor of customer BS.

The other day I'm covering registers so a co-worker could take her lunch. Well some guy comes up to me and I start ringing up his stuff. No big deal, right? Well the guy happened to be a state quarter collector (the kind of customer that bitches when you don't give them the right state). So I am counting out his change and out of nowhere he shrieks "What state is that quarter?!!!" and he reaches his hand into my drawer attempting to grab the quarter in question. Now when it comes to register I am very (probably overly) vigilant about making sure my counts are near perfect. So the second the customers hand came within grabbing distance, my natural register insticts kicked in and I SLAMMED the drawer closed which catches the tip of the SC's finger in the drawer (which, wasn't enough to prevent the drawer from closing, but enough to maybe cause a little pain).

"Oops...I'm sorry sir." What else am I supossed to say? He shouldn't have reached his hand into my drawer. You just don't do that! H could have just said 'Can I look at that quarter' or 'Can you TELL me what state that quarter is'. But no, he reached his hand into my drawer and I shut it.

Of course this guy raises hell. He starts throwing every curse word in the book at me while demanding to see my manager. My manager shows up and the SC starts going on about how I assulted him and how rude I was to him. Well my manager is pretty cool with me and knows that 95% of the people that I come in contact with either liked me or just didn't care. I rarely get customer complaints except for the super-special occasions like this one. So my manager just kind blew him off with a 'Sorry that happened' speech. The guy demands that I be fired and my manager (thankfully) refuses to appease him.

Well, long story short, they guy complained to the Customer Care line and the DM came to my store to personally write me up and apologize to the customer. What a jackass (both the DM and the SC). My drawer barely touched him and I'm sure his finger was just fine withing 30 seconds of the "Assult". Now I might understand if it caught his finger enough to prevent the drawer from closing (that would have hurt) but, come on! Either way he should have kept his grubby hands out of my register.

What really pisses me off is that the DM basically took the customers word over mine and wrote me up. Before this job I had never been written up before, in fact this is the only time I have ever been written up period. He didn't even bother to watch the tapes. Just kissed the customers ass. The store manager wasn't even going to write me up and even commended me for doing a good job. Man I can't wait to quit retail for good. (9 more months before my braces come off and I can finally join the Navy)

[flybye023]

I don't think you're wrong. I've had customers try and reach into my drawer and had to slam it shut (though I've never actually caught their hand). At the end of the day what it boils down to is this: it's my cash drawer, I'm the one whose responsible for it, and I'm the one who has to account for what's missing.

To the SC: seriously, ! Keep your hand outta my cash drawer. I don't care what your reason is!

[kibbles]

Did you know that you would catch his finger in the drawer? And from your story I don't think you did, so I say you weren't wrong and it was a simple accident. I don't think you should have been written up IMO.

[CanadaGirl]

I'm surprised you got written up for protecting company money. That guy could have just as easily grabbed for a big wad of bills and ran.

[TheRoo]

Of course you were in the right. This guy tried to reach and grab money that was not his, and you were responsible. That seems like theft to me.

[KnightsWhoSayNi]

Did you know that you would catch his finger in the drawer? And from your story I don't think you did, so I say you weren't wrong and it was a simple accident. I don't think you should have been written up IMO.

No, he just didn't pull his hand away fast enough. I wasn't in a bad mood or pissed or anything. As soon as I saw an intruding hand refexes just took over

As far as being written up by the DM, I'm certainly pissed about it but, I'm not really upset. Our DM is just a jerk of a manager who just likes to come in to the store every once in a while and act like an asshole. He doesn't actually do any work (unless you're definition of work is walking around talking on the celly). Hopefully my cool store manager will take his job one day then our district might stop being one of the lowest in the company

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well let's see here...

asswalrus reaches into your drawer for a particular quarter (how are you supposed to know this guy isn't going to try and clean your drawer out?)

you slam it shut and catch the guy's finger....

and you're the one in the wrong?

Typical corporate suit minset. The customer is always right, even when he tries to steal from you.

[Gurndigarn]

It may not be the corporation; it may be the DM. The corporate HQ got the complaint; they asked the DM to investigate, and he had a "employee is always wrong" mentality.

I'm not sure of this, but I've met DMs with that attitude in the past, and it's possible.

You were in the right here, and may have a case if you want to complain to corporate yourself. Admittedly, it's probably not worth the bother, since you've got your exit strategy in place and you're acting on it.

[karma_gypsy]

Isn't there some sort of law against this?? No person, should be reaching over the counter to put their hand in the till, let alone a customer. I'd say not even a co-worker or manager (unless you authorized it).

I'd say that's illegal, he was reaching for money. Although it was only a quarter, he wanted to remove it from your till, that's attempted robbery (ok, that's harsh, but you get the idea).

Your reaction was quick and commendable, I don't even think my reflexes are that quick. I see nothing wrong in closing the drawer on his finger, he was in the wrong. Hopefully now he'll learn not to reach into any till! He should've asked.

[KnightsWhoSayNi]

It may not be the corporation; it may be the DM. The corporate HQ got the complaint; they asked the DM to investigate, and he had a "employee is always wrong" mentality.

I'm not sure of this, but I've met DMs with that attitude in the past, and it's possible.

You were in the right here, and may have a case if you want to complain to corporate yourself. Admittedly, it's probably not worth the bother, since you've got your exit strategy in place and you're acting on it.

Yeah, you have a good point. My only glimpse into the corporate world is through my DM so its hard for me to actually picture the people above him actually being cool.

I did consider contacting the Regional Manager but, my Store Manager basically told me that even though I had been officially written up, he wouldn't say anything about it to future employee's. Since I really don't need this job (i'ts just a way for me too pass the time and pay for my videogames) i'm finding it a little hard for me to motivate myself to care too much about it. The second I get these braces off I'm going straight to the recruiters office and signing my life away over to the military.

[KnightsWhoSayNi]

I'm surprised you got written up for protecting company money. That guy could have just as easily grabbed for a big wad of bills and ran.

Our DM is a 100% pure-bred asshole. It doesn't mean jack to him to write employee's up over the whims of SC's. Everything bad that happens in the store is the employee's fault. A person could literally walk into the store and stick a gun our face (hasn't happened yet) and our DM would probably say something along the lines of "Well maybe if they had provided better customer service..."

Basically he didn't really care what the situation was or who's fault it was. He was just interested in kissing the customers ass reguardless of the employee's he would piss off.

I can't believe how far some people will go for money.

[batmoody]

Since they decided to write you up, I would have decided to press charges against the guy who went for my drawer. I would have refused to sign the write up until the cops showed up. I bet they would have sang a different tune after that!

[JustaCashier]

I wonder what would have happened if you hadn't reacted as you did, and the idiot grabbed a handful of money and ran. Would AHDM have written you up for not monitoring your drawer closely enough?

Now, in my opinion from the account as written, the guy was not going to grab a handful of bills, just the quarter. But, he no way in HELL had any business reaching into your drawer, and even if it would have drawn blood, or took off the tip of his finger, no way would you have been in the wrong.

If I would have been the Cashier, I would be just as angry as Ni is at the AHDM for the write-up, and would likely not pursue it any higher in the Company, just to avoid any repercussions from the AHDM. However, if I didn't feel I needed that job that badly, or could be certain of no repercussions from the AHDM, I wouldn't hesitate to go to the RM, or Corp.

[Gurndigarn]

It may not be the corporation; it may be the DM. The corporate HQ got the complaint; they asked the DM to investigate, and he had a "employee is always wrong" mentality.

I'm not sure of this, but I've met DMs with that attitude in the past, and it's possible.

Yeah, you have a good point. My only glimpse into the corporate world is through my DM so its hard for me to actually picture the people above him actually being cool.

Well, I'm not saying they are, necessarily. This may have been some idiot in corporate who passed down the order.

HOWEVER... in the same way that we complain about customers looking at us as being things, not people, there's a tendency for workers to forget that people they work with-- especially those who they don't work directly with-- are people, complete with the full range of motivations, fears, pet peeves, and some real odd quirks.

That full range of fears, quirks, and odd pet peeves is one of the reasons that this place exists. Usually, boneheaded decisions are made by a single person, not a committe. The question is who the bonehead is. It can be the guy yelling at you, or it can be someone above him.

(If the corporate culture encourages boneheaded decisions, that's usually caused by the man at the top. Well, and those immediatly around him, but face it... the guys immediatly around him usually reflect his business beliefs. If you're in a situation like that, getting out is usually your only option.)

Anyway, I'm glad you're not going to be affected much by this silly idiot.

[Andreamic]

Your in the right Ni, and I think everyone is. The problem I got with DM's was they were never in the store. The only things they see are numbers, and complaints. And a complaint means they have to come down and see what's up, and they don't care about you, or really the customer, they just want out as soon as possible. They don't care about a story, because they don't know you, and they don't have to deal with this guy at the till, so they write you up, drop it all together and run away. At least those are my expierences.