I know what site I'm on, but I have to ask...

[RealUnimportant]

One of the first days I worked in a station, I got my first ever short-change scam. It was a particularly petty example; they claimed I'd given them a penny instead of a pound. This was easily disproven, as we don't keep pennies in our floats! I suspect they wanted a chocolate bar or soda & had underestimated the cost of their ticket... Thinking back, I'm quite surprised I never had someone try this when I worked in petrol stations in the 90s - although that would have been easier to disprove as the cash drawers were always kept relatively empty, all big notes were immediately shoved into the safe so any claims that they'd given me £20 or £50 could be shot down without a count.

Someone tried the old change-up scam at my local cafe the other week; the server was far too sharp to get caught & brilliantly dismantled the attempted scammer's shenanigans.

[Racket_Man]

Many of the SCs mentioned on this board get a refund/discount/etc they don't deserve. Why? Because they get belligerent and employees spineless jellyfish "break" corp. policy make the employee the scapegoat humiliate the employee MANA-JERKS find it easier to just give in and send the SCs on their way. Counting down a drawer takes time, and these scams often happen while the employees are already very busy. So SCs try this scam because if it works, it's easy money.

Fixed that for you.

[wolfie]

Of course, when the mana-jerk gives in to the scammer, the register will be short - and the employee who was overruled will be blamed.

[eltf177]

And if the scammer tried reaching into the till (which a couple of them did!), to slam the drawer shut. Manager said he'd reward us if we caught their fingers.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ead.php?t=3411

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ead.php?t=3703

KnightsWhoSayNi got fired for exactly this...

[Android Kaeli]

This happened to me quite a few times, the most recent was when I was still in the food court area. I had looked at the money the customer gave me, put the correct amount in, and gave the customer her change -- she only moved over for about two more customers before she asked where the rest of her change was. She got upset that I made a mistake but I still had to get a supervisor to count the drawer, customer lost it at that point and demanded a manager.

The drawer was counted by the closing manager, if I can remember correctly it balanced within .50 cents of the correct total, and the customer was told she was given the right amount of change back. I don't know what she said to that manager but if was anything like she was screaming at me, it wasn't pretty -- I think I dodged getting fired that night.

[scruff]

I've been the customer once, and stood there politely while the drawer count went on. and then got an apology because the cashier had put my £20 note in the bottom of the drawer and then miscounted my change. Which was fine, as we're all human and all make mistakes sometimes.

[Sheldonrs]

I think people still try it for the same reason little kids still laugh when the heat and retell the "why did the chicken cross the road?" joke. They think nobody else has heard it yet.

[mhkohne]

I've been the customer once, and stood there politely while the drawer count went on. and then got an apology because the cashier had put my £20 note in the bottom of the drawer and then miscounted my change. Which was fine, as we're all human and all make mistakes sometimes.

I stood politely by while they counted the drawer and proved I was wrong. I got mad at myself, of course, because I hadn't paid attention to what I was doing. I sure didn't blame the employee for the annoyed look on his face - he deserved to be annoyed by my inattention.

[ComputerNecromancer]

Back in the 70s I was the customer. I gave the cashier a 20, he gave me change for a 10.

I objected, he insisted. I said that I hadn't *had* any 10s.

They counted the drawer.

And, after the count, I got the remaining $10 of my change. And I seem to recall hearing the clerk told to put the bill on that little shelf above the cash drawer until the customer accepted their change. (That's *why* those shelves are there)

[manybellsdown]

If something has worked one time, ever, scammers will keep trying it.

How many princes does Nigeria even have, anyway??

[mjr]

How many princes does Nigeria even have, anyway??

A lot, apparently.

[judecat]

And I seem to recall hearing the clerk told to put the bill on that little shelf above the cash drawer until the customer accepted their change. (That's *why* those shelves are there)

I've been in retail (mostly C stores) for 40 years and no, we don't ever put the money on the "shelf" on top the the drawer, because that is within grabbing distance of the customer. You put it in the drawer, cross wise over the clamps that hold the bills down, that way if you see a hand comng your way to can close the drawer with the money in it.

[wordgirl]

I've been in retail (mostly C stores) for 40 years and no, we don't ever put the money on the "shelf" on top the the drawer, because that is within grabbing distance of the customer. You put it in the drawer, cross wise over the clamps that hold the bills down, that way if you see a hand comng your way to can close the drawer with the money in it.

That's where we were told to put it as well.

I actually had this happen recently; I gave a cashier a $50 and she gave me change for a $20. I was absolutely sure it had been a $50; I keep one tucked in my wallet as a last-ditch cash reserve and realized as I was checking out that I didn't have any other cash with me.

They brought over a nifty little device; I'd never seen anything like this before but it was a very speedy little cash-counter. The entire drawer-counting process was done right there in front of me and took about a minute, maybe two? Very neat. And then I got my $30 back.

And now I want one of those little machines.

[smileyeagle1021]

I had a few people try that on me... always did the drawer count... my favorite was the person who tried to tell me that he gave me a 20 instead of a 10... he was the very first person that I had helped... there were no 20s in my drawer... I didn't even bother doing a count on that one, I just invited him to look over the counter and into my drawer and tell me where I put the 20.
It's really fun when customers demand a surveillance review to prove I didnt' pocket it so the count would be right. Right, you think I'm smart enough to make sure that the drawer still balances, but dumb enough to let it be seen by camera? Yeah, no.

[Canarr]

I disagree with this. True they know they aren't going to jail.

You may not be able to prove it was a mistake (honest or not), but you can "prove" you were had (or at least an attempt was made) by counting the register.

I've heard stories (a few here on CS, I believe) about people getting the ban hammer for trying this.

Sure, the cashier can demonstrate that their till is correct, and thus, that the customer is wrong in claiming that they paid with a larger bill, but that's about it. In theory, this *could* still have been an honest mistake.

And, from almost all of the stories on here, most businesses wouldn't bother banning someone over such an incident - not unless that particular customer is known to do this regularly.