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So here's the next installment of Tales from a Discount Store. This week. Scammers of varying kinds.
1)
A lady came in waving two empty cartons of milk around claiming that she used both cartons of milk, but that the milk didn't taste right, could she take two more for free? Manager said yeah that's fine, go ahead and take two more. The thing is, that was now the third time she'd done that in the last month. When I told my manager that she's drank the milk and probably just wants more for free he just said "Yeah I know."
Seriously. The milks bad and you want more so that you can drink it and then take the cartons back so you can complain and get more. I truly believe that the milk tastes like milk and nothing more and that you enjoy every last drop.
2)
I was serving a lady. Her stuff came to £3 and she handed me a tenner. She asked me if she could have a £5 note and £3 in coins.
Me: *puzzled* I can’t do that, but I can give you a fiver and two coins.
Her: No, I want three coins and a £5 note.
Me: But your change is £7. I can’t do that.
Her: Why not? I asked you for three coins and a note!
Okaaaay. I just handed her a fiver and her two coins. She looked at her change, gave me a filthy look and walked off, grumbling under her breath. Seriously, what? A scammer? Or just dense?
3)
I served a man who was slathering me with terms of endearment, and generally being TOO nice. He bought two items that came to £2 altogether. He handed me a £20 note, so I took it, checked it, and then put it in my counter cache at the side of my till like I always do with £20 notes. I handed him his change - a £10 note, a £5 note and three coins. He told me I was lovely and that I was to "have a nice day now!" I served my next customer, but the man I served before got my attention by saying in the most sickly sweet voice ever, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I think you short-changed me. I only have £8 here. I should have £18."
Alarm bells started ringing. Suddenly, there was a reason forming in my head as to why he was being so nice. He was actually sweet-talking me. A typical method scammers use to try and con people. Also, I knew that I clearly gave the man a £10 note as well as a £5 note and coins. Yet he placed just the £5 and coins on the side of my counter.
"Sorry about this, I'll just call down a supervisor and get them to till check my till for you."
Suddenly, his attitude and demeanor changed. Drastically.
"A till check?" he barked. "Why do you need to do a till check? Look!"
He pointed to the money I'd supposedly given him.
"That's £8. I should have £18!"
"Are you sure you didn't drop the £10 on the floor?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm SURE!" he hissed. "I'd have seen it!"
"Okay, well I'll just get a till check done and I'm sure all of this can be wrapped up."
"Why are you wasting my time doing this fucking till check?"
"It's standard procedure," I calmly said back, trying to ignore the swear word.
The supervisor came down and took my till off. He said to the supervisor, "How long is this till check going to be?"
"About 15 minutes," she said.
"Well I can't wait that long. I'm going. I'll be back in about half an hour."
We let him go. Half an hour came and went, and by this time, the shop had actually closed. In the meantime, the supervisor came down and told me that my till wasn't £10 up like it would have been had I actually short-changed him. All along, I knew that this would be the case.
So he went from being too nice to aggressive. The latter being 1) he was getting edgy because his plan to scam me was backfiring or 2) he was trying to bully me and intimidate me into giving him the £10.
Ugh. I hate scammers, but I like how asking for the 'dreaded till check' keeps them at bay.
4)
Well, it happened again, except this time the scammer was a woman in her fifties and she was a lot more aggressive than the man was. Here's how it went down.
She came up to my till with a pack of lighters, costing £1. She paid with a twenty. During the transaction, she was commenting on how beautiful my hair was, that it was a lovely colour and that a lot of children in her family are also ginger. She kept smiling at me and giving me compliments and then she asked if I ever got bullied at school. I said that yes, I was, and she said that some people are just really vulnerable in that respect.
I handed back to her £19 change: a tenner, a fiver, four coins. I looked up and saw her fumbling with her money. The tenner was in her hand. I saw it. I went to serve my next customer when the woman cut in and said I'd only given her £9 in change and she wanted her tenner. No, I thought. Not this again. Please not this again!
I kept my composure and told her that I was sorry if I had shortchanged her, and that I would request a till check for her. She started to get edgy at this point, and said she couldn't wait around for a till check because she was on a break from work and she'd get into massive trouble if she was late. (And I'd get in massive trouble too had I believed her and given her a tenner, because then my till would be down, but obviously this woman doesn't care about that). I told her that a till check is the only available option at this point since it's her word against mine.
She started getting aggressive and shouted, "Why won't you believe me?! Just give me the tenner you've kept from me! I'm going to be late for work!"
My supervisor came down and she said the same thing I did, that she would have to do a till check. The woman then tried a different tactic: She said she didn't want the item anymore and to give her the money back. She was yelling that she 'so doesn't have time for this!' etc etc etc, and the swear words that came out of her mouth, well geez...there was a lot! So, after my supervisor told me what to do, I did the next best thing and gave her the £9 change back (otherwise she'd have had TWO tenners in her purse and would have succeeded in scamming me). She hit the roof.
"This is £9! Give me back the rest of my money you thieving little bitch!"
My supervisor told me to quickly go to the opposite till, that she would handle this. I was on the verge of tears at this point so I quickly moved to the other till, but I could still hear the massive argument that was going on between the supervisor and the scammer. She was calling me a thief, incompetent, and every name under the sun. She said that if my supervisor wouldn't hand the money over, she'd open the damn till up herself and grab the tenner she was owed. Well, my supervisor called security and the woman was escorted out.
My till was spot on, down to the penny.
It was bad enough dealing with customers when they think you've done something you shouldn't have or can't give them what they want, but when they yell at you and swear and call you names when they know full well that you're actually in the right and they just want to scam you, well it makes you feel pretty darn crap, let me tell you. I was an innocent person here, yet she STILL insisted on calling me a thieving little bitch and incompetent and the slurry of other words that I can't even remember now.
1)
A lady came in waving two empty cartons of milk around claiming that she used both cartons of milk, but that the milk didn't taste right, could she take two more for free? Manager said yeah that's fine, go ahead and take two more. The thing is, that was now the third time she'd done that in the last month. When I told my manager that she's drank the milk and probably just wants more for free he just said "Yeah I know."
Seriously. The milks bad and you want more so that you can drink it and then take the cartons back so you can complain and get more. I truly believe that the milk tastes like milk and nothing more and that you enjoy every last drop.
2)
I was serving a lady. Her stuff came to £3 and she handed me a tenner. She asked me if she could have a £5 note and £3 in coins.
Me: *puzzled* I can’t do that, but I can give you a fiver and two coins.
Her: No, I want three coins and a £5 note.
Me: But your change is £7. I can’t do that.
Her: Why not? I asked you for three coins and a note!
Okaaaay. I just handed her a fiver and her two coins. She looked at her change, gave me a filthy look and walked off, grumbling under her breath. Seriously, what? A scammer? Or just dense?
3)
I served a man who was slathering me with terms of endearment, and generally being TOO nice. He bought two items that came to £2 altogether. He handed me a £20 note, so I took it, checked it, and then put it in my counter cache at the side of my till like I always do with £20 notes. I handed him his change - a £10 note, a £5 note and three coins. He told me I was lovely and that I was to "have a nice day now!" I served my next customer, but the man I served before got my attention by saying in the most sickly sweet voice ever, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I think you short-changed me. I only have £8 here. I should have £18."
Alarm bells started ringing. Suddenly, there was a reason forming in my head as to why he was being so nice. He was actually sweet-talking me. A typical method scammers use to try and con people. Also, I knew that I clearly gave the man a £10 note as well as a £5 note and coins. Yet he placed just the £5 and coins on the side of my counter.
"Sorry about this, I'll just call down a supervisor and get them to till check my till for you."
Suddenly, his attitude and demeanor changed. Drastically.
"A till check?" he barked. "Why do you need to do a till check? Look!"
He pointed to the money I'd supposedly given him.
"That's £8. I should have £18!"
"Are you sure you didn't drop the £10 on the floor?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm SURE!" he hissed. "I'd have seen it!"
"Okay, well I'll just get a till check done and I'm sure all of this can be wrapped up."
"Why are you wasting my time doing this fucking till check?"
"It's standard procedure," I calmly said back, trying to ignore the swear word.
The supervisor came down and took my till off. He said to the supervisor, "How long is this till check going to be?"
"About 15 minutes," she said.
"Well I can't wait that long. I'm going. I'll be back in about half an hour."
We let him go. Half an hour came and went, and by this time, the shop had actually closed. In the meantime, the supervisor came down and told me that my till wasn't £10 up like it would have been had I actually short-changed him. All along, I knew that this would be the case.
So he went from being too nice to aggressive. The latter being 1) he was getting edgy because his plan to scam me was backfiring or 2) he was trying to bully me and intimidate me into giving him the £10.
Ugh. I hate scammers, but I like how asking for the 'dreaded till check' keeps them at bay.
4)
Well, it happened again, except this time the scammer was a woman in her fifties and she was a lot more aggressive than the man was. Here's how it went down.
She came up to my till with a pack of lighters, costing £1. She paid with a twenty. During the transaction, she was commenting on how beautiful my hair was, that it was a lovely colour and that a lot of children in her family are also ginger. She kept smiling at me and giving me compliments and then she asked if I ever got bullied at school. I said that yes, I was, and she said that some people are just really vulnerable in that respect.
I handed back to her £19 change: a tenner, a fiver, four coins. I looked up and saw her fumbling with her money. The tenner was in her hand. I saw it. I went to serve my next customer when the woman cut in and said I'd only given her £9 in change and she wanted her tenner. No, I thought. Not this again. Please not this again!
I kept my composure and told her that I was sorry if I had shortchanged her, and that I would request a till check for her. She started to get edgy at this point, and said she couldn't wait around for a till check because she was on a break from work and she'd get into massive trouble if she was late. (And I'd get in massive trouble too had I believed her and given her a tenner, because then my till would be down, but obviously this woman doesn't care about that). I told her that a till check is the only available option at this point since it's her word against mine.
She started getting aggressive and shouted, "Why won't you believe me?! Just give me the tenner you've kept from me! I'm going to be late for work!"
My supervisor came down and she said the same thing I did, that she would have to do a till check. The woman then tried a different tactic: She said she didn't want the item anymore and to give her the money back. She was yelling that she 'so doesn't have time for this!' etc etc etc, and the swear words that came out of her mouth, well geez...there was a lot! So, after my supervisor told me what to do, I did the next best thing and gave her the £9 change back (otherwise she'd have had TWO tenners in her purse and would have succeeded in scamming me). She hit the roof.
"This is £9! Give me back the rest of my money you thieving little bitch!"
My supervisor told me to quickly go to the opposite till, that she would handle this. I was on the verge of tears at this point so I quickly moved to the other till, but I could still hear the massive argument that was going on between the supervisor and the scammer. She was calling me a thief, incompetent, and every name under the sun. She said that if my supervisor wouldn't hand the money over, she'd open the damn till up herself and grab the tenner she was owed. Well, my supervisor called security and the woman was escorted out.
My till was spot on, down to the penny.
It was bad enough dealing with customers when they think you've done something you shouldn't have or can't give them what they want, but when they yell at you and swear and call you names when they know full well that you're actually in the right and they just want to scam you, well it makes you feel pretty darn crap, let me tell you. I was an innocent person here, yet she STILL insisted on calling me a thieving little bitch and incompetent and the slurry of other words that I can't even remember now.
The manager knows, and he just lets her do that?! Hey, everybody! Let's fire up the CS bus and go to Evannah's store! Her Noodlespine Manager's giving away free milk! 
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