It's still $9.00 ...

[dutifulTM]

Still frustrated over an incident that happened at work the other day.

Pretty much what happened was, that there was this lady who came thru my line who wanted to buy two rather horrible picture turn-outs - total was $0.95.

She gives me a dollar, and I give her the $0.05 change.

She leaves.

I get some more customers, all of whom paid by credit/debit/gift card, and not long after the one customer returns... and she claims that she gave me a $10, and that she wants the rest of her change.

So I call over my supervisor, open my till and check through all the ones, since if she gave me a ten it should be there, right? After all, that's where I put the money she gave me. Of course, there are NO tens.

So I tell her this, and she's all like, "Well then honey, you're going to have to have someone count your till because you're wrong, I gave you a ten."

I ask supervisor if there's someone who can count the till, and he says to go ahead and just give her the change.

:C

He also told me after she left that it's okay, I wasn't going to be in any trouble, but still... was a bit sick at the thought of being short so much, especially since I knew she was lying.

I talked to him (supervisor) shortly before shift ended, and told him again how sorry I was for what happened, and that I knew she gave me a one, and he told me not to worry about it, that he'll keep an eye out for her - because he thinks she's done this before.

Sigh.

I think she was well aware as to the fact that we wouldn't count the till/she'd get the money she claimed she was owed.

Tbh I found it fishy to begin with when she wanted to pay for the two rather shitty pictures she got from the self-kiosk.

:C

MEH. I'll remember her should she ever come thru again - wonder what I should do if she comes through my line again? :/

[Arcus]

What I do with people like that is leave the bill they gave me where it can be seen (but away from the change) and make a production out of counting their change back to them. When I'm done I ask them if that is the correct amount. I've only had one person come back later and claim they didn't get the right change. They made a quick exit when I smiled and reminded them that I asked if it was right before and they said yes.

[Anakah]

She'll be back and next time she'll claim it was a hundred. I can't believe he just gave it to her. That's crappy. That sucks.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Things like this are why, when I worked in retail, I'd take their cash and go "Out of $X" before counting out the change. If it wasn't super super busy, I'd even hand over the receipt/items, "That's $total," the coinage, "$next-dollar," and then count out the bills, "$counting-up-to-cash-tendered."

Example. Say the total was $13.50. Customer hands me a $20 bill.

J2K: (takes bill) "Out of $20?"
(rings it up)
J2K: (hands over receipt/items) "That's $13.50," (coins) "14," (bills), "15 and 20."

I was fortunate to never have to deal with scammers that often, but I think it was a combination of being savvy like I describe above, projecting an aura of confidence, and being 6'2" and broad-shouldered that kept me insulated from the scammers of the world.

Displaying savviness and confidence is a good way to keep the Suck away. If you look anxious or nervous or depressed or distracted or in any way not-confident, you tend to attract more Suck your way, be it a scam or a Jerk-Face McAsshole.

[BowserKoopa1]

She'll be back and next time she'll claim it was a hundred. I can't believe he just gave it to her. That's crappy. That sucks.

Agreed totally. Your manager is pretty nice in the fact that you are not going to get into trouble. But he also seems like a manager who will just give it to them to avoid argument, and that causes the business to lose money. He saw that there were no tens in your till, so that should've told him that she was lying, and I definitely would not have given it to her. Not too smart on his behalf. She's going to keep coming back and doing things like this, and he'll do it again, because he doesn't want to lose a "loyal customer's" business. Managers want to make customers happy, I get that. But they also need to grow a spine and stand up to scammers like this one. The customer is going to get mad.... so what? They'll walk out the door mad beacuse they know they didn't get away with their little scam because they came across a manager who actually does his job the right way.

[LillFilly]

I hope you got something in writing signed so that you don't get in trouble for being $9 short, and the fact that you had NO tens in your drawer.

[Betweenshades]

I ask supervisor if there's someone who can count the till, and he says to go ahead and just give her the change.

WOT??

I had a few people try this on me and we counted our till. At least she asked for the till to be counted! It's basic money-handling butt coverage! GAA!

[Seshat]

Insist that the manager put a note in the till stating that HE authorised it - and that he give you a copy to keep for your own records.

That cuts down on weak-spined managers. And some of the scammers, because they will then see that there's a paper trail.

[mikoyan29]

Agreed totally. Your manager is pretty nice in the fact that you are not going to get into trouble. But he also seems like a manager who will just give it to them to avoid argument, and that causes the business to lose money. He saw that there were no tens in your till, so that should've told him that she was lying, and I definitely would not have given it to her. Not too smart on his behalf. She's going to keep coming back and doing things like this, and he'll do it again, because he doesn't want to lose a "loyal customer's" business. Managers want to make customers happy, I get that. But they also need to grow a spine and stand up to scammers like this one. The customer is going to get mad.... so what? They'll walk out the door mad beacuse they know they didn't get away with their little scam because they came across a manager who actually does his job the right way.

Why should the folks who don't play by the rules get anything?

[Caractacus_Potts]

We always counted the drawer if there was a dispute. If a manger ever told me to give someone money from my drawer I wouldn't do it as we got written up for being +/- more than a dollar...the manager can take it out of their drawer or the safe if they really want to give away money.

I had one notable scammer who tried to get us not to count the drawer (i.e. I don't have time for this! I have a baby in the car! I have an appointment! My car turns into a pumpkin in five minutes!). When she realized we weren't just going to hand her money (I even offered to take her name and number and call her if the drawer was off) she just turned around and ran out of the store.

Surprise, surprise the drawer was dead even.

[chainedbarista]

i agree; she'll keep pulling this crap until she's stopped. there's no way in hell she should have gotten $10 in the first place, since there was nothing even remotely supporting her claim, just a 'leave, before we call the police.'

[SuperRTL]

One and only time I ever had a dispute like this, I'd done about $10,000 in an hour (yes, that's right. Opening night for a much anticipated haunted house at the amusement park I was working at.) We counted the till. I was 5 cents short, because a nickle had fallen out and was under the table. I was the only person whose till balanced at the end of the night.

I always confirm the bill they've given me before I even touch it. Saves the hassle and helps me remember.

[mattm04]

I just had one yesterday. They claimed the gave me a $20 for a $1.95 purchase, when the really gave me two ones. The demanded a manager.

The till was counted and was short a penny. The Sc claimed I pocketed it and when SM pointed to the camera with a clear view of the who register stand and myself, saying he would call LP and get back to the SC in a minute, they quickly scampered off.

What you have is a classic spineless manager.

[Trishlovesdolphins]

She'll be back and next time she'll claim it was a hundred. I can't believe he just gave it to her. That's crappy. That sucks.

This. I would also bet she'll come through your line too and say you've done it before.

[Petronella]

Of course she'll come back, and now the manager has set a precedent which the SC will use from now till eternity: "They did it for me before!" "The other guy who works here always believes me and doesn't make me wait while they count the drawer!"

She'll also go to a different store location and use it: "The manager at the other store always does this for me!"

In time the manager who did this will get promoted to "The supervisor did it!" "The DM/RM always helps me out!" "The store owner knows me and never makes me wait!"

It just goes on and on until someone, somewhere, has the spine to put a stop to it and start enforcing policy and common sense.

Your manager didn't cause a hassle for only you that day...he also gave this customer an unfair advantage over other, honest customers, as well as sowing the seeds for your co-workers to have to deal with this woman in future.