i ended up taking 6 dollars from a scamming artist

[aurelemsrealm]

When I'm working on a transaction, I ignore any other requests until I'm finished. In general, I pretty much ignore anything not relevant to the current transaction when dealing with customers. Also, once the drawer is closed, I don't open it again until another transaction.

Additionally, I'm not big on making change for noncustomers, and generally tell them I only give change for purchases (the nice version of buy something or get lost). The only exception is if someone wants a dollar or two in quarters for the air machine or payphone. Otherwise, if I need to get into the drawer without a transaction, I wait until there are no customers, and write the reason down on the receipt that prints out so I can put it with my paperwork.

What gripes me is when coworkers just fulfill requests without thinking about the potential consequences like scammers. Then, when I refuse, I get grief from whatever idiot comes in off the street because the others do it for them. I don't change my mind, I just get tired of the morons trying to argue me down thinking I'll give in.

[LadyAndreca]

If someone wants me to make change, I NEVER let someone do "as long as your drawer is open, will you..." with me. If someone wants to change a bill, I make them wait until I'm done with the current transaction, then do theirs. I always count out 'least change' unless they ask for something different, and if they do, I put it all back in my till and start my count over with their requested denominations. And I've gotten good at telling the customers I can only focus on one thing at a time, let me make sure I got this right... (To some degree, that's true. I can't count money and answer a question at the same time, though I can do most other multitasking skills.)

Thankfully, my current till system lets me follow those rules, since I have a way to open the drawer. As far as I know, I've had one customer try but not get anywhere, though she was smart enough not to push it when she realized I had my act together. Most scammers seem to target my coworkers rather than me.

[EricKei]

i was greatly insulted by the event because she kept talking like i'm a bad server. complaining about customer service. i wonder if it's a common thing for scamming... making you feel bad...

Absolutely. They make stuff up to distract you, throw you off, etc. If anything, you were providing *superior* customer service by preventing the scam from working! Kudos to you for (a) counting down the til right in front of her (but out of her reach), and (b) making sure the Manager got the "extra" money and knew what was going down. You handled yourself very well!