Customer put her money and change on the belt

[snugglegirl05]

Yesterday at work a customer came to my line to get cigarettes. I was working at the cigarette station.

She put her bills and change on the belt. When the belt began to move she said in a pissy tone of voice "Please do not turn on the belt. I did not ask you to do that."

The way the registers are set up the switch for the belt is underneath the belt. You turn the switch on when you get to the register.

I said twice "the belt is already on." Then I bent down and turned off the belt.

I counted her money and gave back the remaining change to her.

The look on her face... she was pissed. She said nothing at that point.

She asked for her receipt while I was putting her money in the register.

So what do you tell customers who put their money on the belt?

[eltf177]

An adult should know better. And when the belt eats their money they shouldn't be surprised.

But you know all hell will break loose when that happens as it's all YOUR fault!

[dalesys]

Honey dear, y'all go right ahead and leave your money on the belt. And you can be the one who climbs into the hole under it and fights to get it back from the monster what ate it!

[EricKei]

So what do you tell customers who put their money on the belt?

I'd really love to say something like "You might wanna grab that..." -- but....le sigh.

[Stormraven]

I'm no fan of the belt moving when I'm trying to get my goods onto it. Most of the cashiers around where I am put a spacer in front of the sensor until they're ready for it to move, but they're often ready before I am.

I don't get pissy to them, though. I just find it annoying - but I don't take it out on them.

[Mr Hero]

It takes the money off the belt.

[An Haddock]

It takes the money off the belt.

...or it gets the hose again.

[Nunavut Pants]

...or it gets the hose again.

Oh, if only!!!!

[notalwaysright]

So what do you tell customers who put their money on the belt?

"Please don't put cash/cards on the belt, I will take your payment in a second."

Yeah, I know people would probably get mad, even though it's perfectly reasonable. Maybe this is why I get a lot of cat-butt face at my work, because I am not timid about my counter space. If I'm at the cutting counter I will not hesitate to say "lets go one bolt at a time" while indicating that they should stop unloading their entire cart directly onto the space that I need to work in.

I've never had any issues with belts moving. That's what they do, it's their purpose. What a control freak. She clearly wasn't going to be happy no matter what, even at the end demanding the receipt when you obviously were still putting money in the drawer.

[taxguykarl]

Just wait 'til someone loses money on the belt

[wordgirl]

I'm no fan of the belt moving when I'm trying to get my goods onto it. Most of the cashiers around where I am put a spacer in front of the sensor until they're ready for it to move, but they're often ready before I am.

I don't get pissy to them, though. I just find it annoying - but I don't take it out on them.

Same here. I don't put my money on the belt but sometimes I put my purse on the belt so I can dig my wallet out - there's really no other place to put it. And it's annoying to have to hold onto your purse to keep it from moving with the belt, especially if it's a sorta expensive purse and you can hear that belt grinding away on the leather finish on the bottom. Ideally, I'd keep the purse off the belt but that isn't always possible.

But yeah, I would never get rude about it. If there's no reason for the belt to be moving (ie all my groceries are already in front of the cashier) I might ask politely if it can be turned off. And putting small loseable things on the belt is just DUMB.

[Gerrinson]

Just wait 'til someone loses money on the belt

Oh, I've seen it. Many years ago, now. A woman dropped her cash on a coworker's belt - while the belt was running - and his back was turned because he was bagging her groceries. $200 went into the tiny crevice. Only $120 came back out. The rest of the money was lost to the depths where we were told only maintenance would be able to get it by unbolting and moving the entire register away from that section of the floor.

The woman was livid and blamed it on the faulty register because 'the weight of the cash should have stopped <the belt>!' And on that day, she learned a lesson about photovoltaic cells and the fact that they were positioned about a 1/4" above the belt itself.

[eltf177]

$200 went into the tiny crevice. Only $120 came back out.

Let me guess:

She demanded her money back NAO!

When that didn't happen she demanded the store reimburse her.

The spineless manager complied, or if he didn't corporate gave her many freebies...

[Argus]

The woman was livid and blamed it on the faulty register because 'the weight of the cash should have stopped <the belt>!'

If weight stopped the belt, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

[Lace Neil Singer]

When I worked in the supermarket, a woman lost her credit card in the belt. She screamed, swore and shrieked at me, the supervisor and the manager about compensation for her loss, right until her son said in a loud voice, "But Mummy, you put the card there!" She went bright red, stopped shouting and meekly agreed to wait til the belt was dismantled and her card retrieved. Luckily for her, it was still in the underneath bit; had it dropped down, it would have been gone forever.