Two for one-Scammers and Bad Moms

[pageantmama]

Um, why buy cigarettes at Walgreens? At least here, buying ciggs anywhere other than a gas station, they are way more expensive.

I worked there as well for a long time and evidently we had the cheapest cig prices in town, even compared to the gas stations that did the 3 pack specials. We would even have people ask if we did a 3ps and they were told no because our prices were already as low as they could possibly go.

I had a scammer pull the rolled coin trick once but with quarters. We were told to leave them rolled as well but as scary our as LP guy was I did not take any chances on my drawer being a penny short. I would open them and make sure the correct coins were in there and make a good estimate on how many were in there so I was not short. We had a lady come in for cigarettes all the time and she was one of those that give you the money as she is telling you what she wants because she was in a hurry. Once she wanted 2 or 3 packs and gave me a roll of quarters and they had tape wrapped around the paper roller. I sat her cigs behind the counter and started to cut the tape off. She got all huffy and was like, I am in a hurry, I need to get to work. Just don't worry about my change (I owed her like 70 cents or something) I said hold on I have to check rolled coins. Got it open and there was a quarter on each end, a few in the middle to I guess hold the middle out the correct size as well, and the rest were nickels. I guess at least it was nickels instead of pennies. I counted out the money and told her that she owed me (whatever amount it was) and she got all huffy and told me her kids helped roll the coins and must have messed them up and she didn't have enough now, just put the cigs back and she left. Guess that is why the roll was taped up so good. I found out later she had to nerve to call and say that I would not take her rolled change and she can't believe that I gave her a problem even though it was already rolled. Like I refused to even take it at all or something. Luckily I had the good manager on duty and she was over close to the registers and saw most of it and then came over and asked me the details when the lady left so she knew better.

[EricKei]

. I found out later she had to nerve to call and say that I would not take her rolled change and she can't believe that I gave her a problem even though it was already rolled. Like I refused to even take it at all or something. Luckily I had the good manager on duty and she was over close to the registers and saw most of it and then came over and asked me the details when the lady left so she knew better.

I'd say you would have been well within your rights to refuse it and threaten to call the cops -- a scam is a scam. She's probably pulled it elsewhere. Heck, if I'd taken her phone call I would have told her to have a little chat with her "kids who rolled the coins" (if they even exist) regarding the 7 bucks or so *they* stole from *her*...

[MidoriDelSol]

The bitter and cynical part of my brain was screaming of what could have happened with you taking responsibility for her child; if the child got hurt behind the counter, you had an accident, etc. just how much that woman would have gone off on you and how royally you would have been screwed by your employer. I was informed of such when I worked at a small movie theater and a couple left their 6-7YO in the lobby while they saw a horror flick

I've had this happen before. I used to have a corded phone on the wall behind my counter, you know, where only employees are supposed to walk. While mom is checking her crap out with me, little daughter toddles behind my counter and starts pulling on the cord. The phone was literally milliseconds before dropping off the receiver and onto her little noggin. I jumped into act and was like nononono you can't be back here playing with that, it's going to fall on you! Mom got SO ANGRY that I told her daughter to stop doing something. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO STOP HERRRR. I tried to explain that in the time it takes me to tell you to tell her to stop pulling on the phone cord, she would have a nice big bruise on her head. She was not satisfied. Derp!

[Clover]

I've had this happen before. I used to have a corded phone on the wall behind my counter, you know, where only employees are supposed to walk. While mom is checking her crap out with me, little daughter toddles behind my counter and starts pulling on the cord. The phone was literally milliseconds before dropping off the receiver and onto her little noggin. I jumped into act and was like nononono you can't be back here playing with that, it's going to fall on you! Mom got SO ANGRY that I told her daughter to stop doing something. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO STOP HERRRR. I tried to explain that in the time it takes me to tell you to tell her to stop pulling on the phone cord, she would have a nice big bruise on her head. She was not satisfied. Derp!

I think the universal consensus is that SC's are morons who care about nothing but finding someone to vent their own unfulfilled desires and dreams out on.

[Ree]

When we take rolled coin, we ask for the name and address of the customer who has traded it in, and we write it on the side of the roll.

Mind you, they can still give a fake name and number., but it keeps a few people honest.

[bainsidhe]

When we take rolled coin, we ask for the name and address of the customer who has traded it in, and we write it on the side of the roll.

I've seen this too, especially at the bank. Of course, the bank will just black out the name and then give them to customers, without ever checking to see what's inside. Never received any non-quarters, but I've received a lot of Canadian coins which won't work in the laundry machines here. So I always ask if they can check to make sure they're all US coins. They usually have to give me the coins rolled by the bank after that. Good thing it's easy to test, Canadian coins are magnetic and US quarters are not.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

When we take rolled coin, we ask for the name and address of the customer who has traded it in, and we write it on the side of the roll.

Mind you, they can still give a fake name and number., but it keeps a few people honest.

That's what we did years ago when we took rolled coins.

But now that we have a Coinstar machine, we hardly ever take rolled change. Most I'll take is a handful and then I'll spread the coins out on the counter and count them twice just to make sure I'm counting them correctly before sorting them and putting them in my drawer.

Reason I do that is to make sure I'm entering in the correct amount so my drawer balances out at the end of the day.

[Kogarashi]

Mom got SO ANGRY that I told her daughter to stop doing something. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO STOP HERRRR. I tried to explain that in the time it takes me to tell you to tell her to stop pulling on the phone cord, she would have a nice big bruise on her head. She was not satisfied. Derp!

I had a customer say that to me once. What I wanted to say in return was, "Well, Ma'am, your kids were destroying merchandise, and since the front end was crowded and you were no where near them, I had no clue which parent actually belonged to the children." Instead I just gave her a basic "sorry" and left it at that.

When we take rolled coin, we ask for the name and address of the customer who has traded it in, and we write it on the side of the roll.

Mind you, they can still give a fake name and number., but it keeps a few people honest.

That's how we did it when I was at Walmart. Write down the customer's name and number, put it on the side of the roll, and then don't open it for the rest of the shift. It would be opened by the cash office instead, who could then (attempt to) track down the customer if it turned out the roll was shorted.

[zond]

It seems chain store managers are just all around worthless-which makes no sense to me, as many of them were the underlings themselves to start out with and worked their way up. Why is it that as soon as they get the position they want, all competence seems to go out the window?

It's called the Peter Principle. Everyone rises to their level of incompetence.

[HotelMinion]

The scammer was bad but the mom? Wow. Just wow. And the way the manager handled it... I would've quit the next day. Bad customers plus bad manager equals gimme my paycheck and see ya wouldn't wanna be ya!

[RetailWorkhorse]

daughter was adorable-all pudgy with a puff of blonde hair and big blue eyes and all, and she was QUIET.

...snip....

tell me to "hold this for a minute" and run off to do your shopping!

Daw, well ain't she the cutest thing...... *YOINK* I'm agonna call you Tiffany and you's agonna come home wif me. You wanna pet ponies? I bet you wanna pet ponies.







I'm a horrible person.

[Carsomyr]

It seems chain store managers are just all around worthless-which makes no sense to me, as many of them were the underlings themselves to start out with and worked their way up. Why is it that as soon as they get the position they want, all competence seems to go out the window?

If you've never had a good manager to learn from, how will you learn how to be a good manager?
Combined with poor personality qualities to boot.

I don't know how you managed to hold that baby AND work the til. >.< Was it old enough to grab?

Our customers don't roll coins (although I once got a bunch selotaped up, which was very annoying), and if they did we'd have to pull them apart just because it's a very strange, suspicious thing to do. Come to think of it, we don't get customers wanting to spend jars full of coins either (our problem is the other end - everyone wants to use big notes). We'd just end up telling them to go to the bank because again, it's a strange thing to do. And also, we have to check each coin since each and every one has a foreign currency the same size and colour (now that's a common problem >.<).

[VComps]

Around here their prices are pretty much the same everywhere, so it doesn't make any difference if you go to a gas station or to a pharmacy-though why a PHARMACY, which is concerned with health, of all places, is selling cigarettes and alcohol is beyond me.

I work for a pharmacy too - and until it recently became illegal for us to carry them, we sold cigarettes.

Our company actually did a study that found that in places where pharmacies carry cigarettes, the smoking rate is actually slightly lower. We believe this is due to the fact that we can merchandise stop-smoking aids etc. with the cigarettes, and that we have pharmacists on staff who can counsel clients in their use.

But yeah, it is counter-intuitive, and I only found that out when I voiced the same concern as you.

[Clover]

Daw, well ain't she the cutest thing...... *YOINK* I'm agonna call you Tiffany and you's agonna come home wif me. You wanna pet ponies? I bet you wanna pet ponies.







I'm a horrible person.

Naww, you're not. XD She was cute...and y'know, I could actually have taken her home to pet my ponies-well, only one of them is technically a pony, the rest are horses-but I have goats too! It's like a petting zoo!

I don't know how you managed to hold that baby AND work the til. >.< Was it old enough to grab?

She was, and she did try to grab a few things, but I just angled myself so she was away from the til. It was one heck of a juggling act, and it made me furious that my manager, who was doing nothing but walking around the store trying to look busy, wouldn't take her so I could actually do my job. It slowed me down a LOT.

[EricKei]

Kid for saaaaaaaaale! Kid for saaaaaaaaale! Who wants this crying, trying, sister kid for saaaaaaaaaaaale?