Scammed! (language)

[Rubystars]

Each company deals with shortages or overages in a different way. At my company, the worst that will happen (provided this is a one time incident) is you will be written up and possibly sent for some retraining.

What if the person (fairly or unfairly) is already having a problem at work, and a moron like this does end up causing them to be fired?

I had a problem at one of my last jobs where the management told us not to let people price match Tyson for no-name store brands in ads. That is, if there's a no-name store brand in the ad, and the customer brings up Tyson, they don't get the ad price.

I would tell customers no, like I was told to do, and I would tell them nicely, but they would go and complain on me.

The managers at the time backed me up and told the customer I was right, and praised me for following the rules and taking the heat when other cashiers were slacking off just to avoid an argument.

Later, there was a change in management and I had the unfair reputation of being draconian when I'd only been doing what I'd been told to do. The new ones got upset with me for "Following the rules too closely." even though I'd had it driven into me strongly by the previous group that I would get in trouble if I didn't tell the customer no.

Suddenly I wasn't being praised for being the cashier that actually did good when others slacked off, but I was the bad cashier now because people got angry with me.

Different management, different expectations, but these expectations were not made clear. I went from being considered the BEST because I followed the rules, to being considered one of the worst, because I followed the rules.

I even got yelled at because I hadn't taken a coupon with the expiration dates ripped off of the top.

I told them if it didn't bother them for me to give Tyson away for that price or to take expired coupons, then it didn't bother me, I had just been doing what I was told to do, but they still thought that somehow it was some personal crusade on my part. That sucked. I really didn't care much either way. I just wanted to follow the rules, whatever they wanted me to do.

Now if at that low point, what if someone had gotten me for a large sum?

[Seshat]

Anyway, I count out 4 $20s, place them on the counter, then place his stack next to it and begin counting. He takes the $20s (I didn't like that but what was I going to do, slap his wrist?) while I'm counting.

Scammers and criminals of all kinds rely on you being nice.

As soon as someone does something that seems suspicious, stop being nice. Slapping his hand might count as assault, but telling him to put them back and calling a manager or a loss prevention officer over is well within your rights.

Best, of course, is to keep the money out of his reach until you've completed the transaction.

[sms001]

but unless you've been warned beforehand, it's not that easy to spot.
These guys are usually professionals, and they're very, very personable.

and.... They have done it hundreds, if not thousands of times. Most of us do thousands of transactions without someone scamming us, so the natural advantage is to the scammer.

[Becks]

I'm sorry that the OP got scammed, but it's his (her?) own fault for not keeping the money nearby...and not counting the "customer's" money FIRST.

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I was still fairly new, I had a quick-change guy get me for $10. Not a huge amount, but still. He bought a little gift book (around 5 bucks) with a $50 bill. I only had one $20 in my drawer, so I gave him that and two 10s. He pocketed one of the tens and then showed the rest to me saying I had shorted him. I realized shortly after he left that he had scammed me...sure enough the drawer was short when I counted out at the end of my shift. Somehow it all balanced out for the day, though, so I didn't get written up or anything.

[Andara Bledin]

Don't feel bad. I know it sucks that a scammer got you, but unless you've been warned beforehand, or are just really anal about how you handle cash, it's not that easy to spot.

These guys are usually professionals, and they're very, very personable.

I still don't understand why any job that requires money handling doesn't have a requirement that money should be kept separated, and the customer never gets anything until it's been confirmed that it has been paid for or belongs to them.

^-.-^

[Despina83]

I lost the store 100 bucks to some piece of shit scammer a while back. I got flustered and he he was a clever bastard, and he ended up short changeing me. I'm surprised they didn't even get mad at me, security and one of the supervisors just nicely explained what I should do to prevent a reuccurence. I felt horrible, that I could have been so stupid...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Had a huddle today in which we were informed we are supposed to be on the lookout for two guys pulling a similar scam involving birthday cards.

They hit a store about an hour southwest of us. What they do is buy a birthday card, then pull out a roll of bills and ask for smaller ones they can put in the card. Then through some sleight of hand and nonobservance from the cashier the con men ended up stealing almost $200 from the register.

According to that store's LP guy, they then headed for the store half an hour south of us. Rule of thumb is that if thieves, con artists or other baddies hit that store, they visit us next.

[mattm04]

At the company I work for we have a strict policy that under no circumstances can we give you change, even if it is after a cash sale. We have a NO SALE button that is used if the cashier needs to get change but they are audited and if NO SALE is used more than a certain number of times it will lock out that cashier until a CDH can investigate.

[norrina]

I don't work retail, but rather a small private office. We often have delinquent accounts referred to us, and while we tell the account holders that payment is to be in the form of a bank check or money order, we still regularly get cash payments, and if they are exact change, we will accept them. Payments are always for large sums, usually a couple thousand dollars. About a year ago, I took a payment, counted it, twice, gave the account holders their receipt, and deposited the payment directly into the safe until we could get to the bank. When I took it out the next day, some niggling little voice told me to count again. And I came up $100 short. The best I can figure, is that while I was filling out the account holders receipt, they managed to slip $100 off the stack, even though it was right beside me (we were on opposite sides of the conference table).

So NOW, when I get a cash payment, I count once while I'm marking with the counterfeit pen, then count a second time straight through. I hold the bills in my left hand while I write the receipt, then count a third time before handing over the receipt. The money never leaves my hands until it goes into the safe.

[Ree]

You count the money, realize it's short (it's close enough it looks like an honest mistake, also close enough that you have to count it to find out).
Either while you're counting, or as it appears he's putting the money into the envleope, guy pockets the large bills.
Guy apologizes, hands you back the envelope, takes his money back, and says he'll be "right back" with the full amount.

Ah!!! I see now.

I guess I missed the part where he took back his $79.

That makes more sense.

[Customer Beating Robot]

Why give him his money back if he was just going to get a dollar? I would have held on to both until he got back.

[Estil]

To everyone who works at a place where the drawer has to be open to make change; in our store it's just the opposite. Like a couple days ago I had a customer who wanted change "while you have the drawer open" (obviously he's been to those other "must have drawer open" places) to which I had to reply that I had to complete the order and CLOSE THE DRAWER before I can make change. This just helps ensure I don't get confused. So far I've not had any quick changers get me but I did come close once and I'm sure there have been a couple others that would've tried.

[Andara Bledin]

Way back when I did the whole cashier thing for a little over a year, we were instructed to take the customer's money, count it, place it on the top of the register, out of reach (especially so, since we worked in little booths, selling guest passes). Once the customer's money had been secured in a transparent manner, only then would you reach into the till to start working with the company's money, whether it was to give change for the sale or to exchange bills.

I don't know how people are trained these days, but I can't imagine a situation where something along those lines would not be effective for shutting down most scammers.

^-.-^

[tangrid]

True story. I've had the little old granny type try to pass off fake $50 bills in Oklahoma City. For those who don't know, Oklahoma's the buckle of the bible belt. Just goes to show that scumbags come in all shapes and sizes, and from every corner of the known world. (btw, I know she was trying to scam us, because she turned white as a sheet when I pulled out the counterfeit detector pen. Hooray for following policy! )