Where's my 5 dollars????????????

[EricKei]

BK - he's still at the counter, isn't he? You haven't taken anyone else's order, right? Therefore, he is still "at the time of purchase". 8p Scamming free food FAIL on his part.

The only rationale I can think of for policies like this is -- to make sure cashiers give receipts to customers (which already happens 99.9999999% of the time anyway unless they intentionally ignore you and run off like the scammer in the OP), thus, it makes it all but impossible for a SC to claim that they never GOT a receipt.

[Merriweather]

Geez, unless you're making a major purchase, how horrible is it if you don't get your receipt? As someone who keeps an almost OCD control of their finances (I like to be able to look at MS money & see what categories I can cut back on when needed, LOL), even I can handle having no receipt now and then for a fast food meal.

Don't get me wrong, I love having a surprise compensation for an actual inconvenience (such as "sorry for the longer than normal wait, here's an apple pie). But for heaven's sake, if you need a receipt so badly, how hard is it to say "could I get a receipt, please" on the rare occasions they forget to give it to you.

I can't see that policy making a difference to anyone but the truly SC's & scammers. Hopefully it will go the way of all those "your pizza in 30 minutes or it's free" policies.

Personally, I don't think I could bring myself to take advantage of a situation like that (sign and no receipt) cause a. I'd feel like a scammer cause I wouldn't feel it was an inconvenience that warranted $5, and B. I'd be afraid that management might actually cover this by taking it from the cashier who forgot to give a receipt (same reason I count my change carefully to make sure I'm not given too much, there are places that take it from the cashier). I wouldn't lose sleep over a huge corporation losing a little bit of money by accident or stupid policy, but I can't handle the thought of the cashier being stiffed.

[Teefies2]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

It WAS clear from SC's behavior that he did this on purpose. He threw down the exact change, left the store before the receipt even finished printing, and came back a few minutes later with his rant. Add to that, that he quoted the sign verbatim over and over, tells me he planned it. As DragonWings (who works for the same company as me) pointed out, 99.99999% of our customers are given their receipt, if for no other reason than the sign. That makes his claim even more bogus.

BowserKoopa1, my manager is one of the coolest guys I have ever known. His rational was this: if we don't give the SC the $5, he is clearly one who will complain to corporate, who will then spend time/manpower investigating the incident. In the end, SC will be given the $5 anyway, so why not cut to the chase? That doesn't mean I have to like it, but it does mean that it's the most efficient use of resources. That being said, I'm not dissing your opinions or feelings, just explaining why it went down the way it did.

Merriweather, your concern that the cashier would be charged for this incident is valid. Fortunately, my company is not one that would take this out of the cashier's paycheck (although I have worked for some that would errrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggg).

[NotAlBundy]

BowserKoopa1, my manager is one of the coolest guys I have ever known. His rational was this: if we don't give the SC the $5, he is clearly one who will complain to corporate, who will then spend time/manpower investigating the incident. In the end, SC will be given the $5 anyway, so why not cut to the chase? That doesn't mean I have to like it, but it does mean that it's the most efficient use of resources. That being said, I'm not dissing your opinions or feelings, just explaining why it went down the way it did.

As a manager, this is usually what it boils down to for me. I try to empower my staff (with knowledge and also with a small markdown amount they are allowed to do if something is "damaged") so that issues won't escalate to me. If it gets to me, I try to settle it at the store level, because if it goes all the way up to corporate, the SC will get a gift card, my store will be featured in the regional compliments and complaints newsletter AND the associate will probably have to be written up. I don't like having to write people up for sticking to policies. So, I try to settle it at the store level, but use verbage letting the SC know that I'm on to their scam or whatever. I also make a note of it for my records and pass the info up to my DM in case they still decide to take it higher.

ETA: If it is something that blatantly violates a policy, I'll do it under my register number so it doesn't reflect negatively on my employee.

[Shalom]

You know, you could argue that the cashier did issue a receipt, and he failed to accept it.

[wolfie]

The only rationale I can think of for policies like this is -- to make sure cashiers give receipts to customers (which already happens 99.9999999% of the time anyway unless they intentionally ignore you and run off like the scammer in the OP), thus, it makes it all but impossible for a SC to claim that they never GOT a receipt.

I thought it was to stop cases where employees would pocket the payment (easier if customer gives exact change) rather than entering it into the register. In cases of pocketed payment, there is no receipt to give the customer - take the profit out of one form of internal theft.