Shops deliberately short changing

[ThisLittleKitty]

Anyone else feel like shops try to do this on purpose sometimes? It's happened way too frequently for my liking. Just now I was in the shop I bought 3 drinks and a packet of crisps. I handed the woman £10 and she gave me back a couple of pound coins. I told her I gave her £10 she said are you sure, this went on for a few minutes, eventually I tell her to check the cameras which she does and there it is £10. Aibu in thinking sometimes they do it on purpose hoping you don't notice?!

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

She actually went and checked the cameras there and then?! Hope the queue wasn't too long...

I don't think they do it on purpose no. I have had it happen. It's usually easy to check because the note ends up on the wrong place in the till drawer.

[Soubriquet]

No shop worker I know would do it on purpose.

The tills wouldn't add up if they did that.

Sometimes it's pure accident

[ThisLittleKitty]

There was more than one person serving and it's only an off license so right at the front. Ofcourse she checked the cameras I wast prepared to leave without my money would you?? Poor people in the queue though having to wait an extra few minutes hey .

[Abracadabraapileofbollocks]

When I worked in retail there were only recounts and checks if a till was under. Not a flying fig was given over an "over". It would often carry on in the float for a week to be checked against the week's totals before being "banked".

[RadioGaGoo]

I went to a bar once where they did this. Friend handed over £20 for £8 worth of drinks and gave back £2. Friend pointed out that he handed over a £20 note, bar staff swore blindly that it was a £10. It definitely wasn't. Watched another member of bar staff do the same thing to another customer not long after. I imagine they all shared the stolen money between them at the end of the night.

[stickytoffeevodka]

I very much doubt they do it on purpose. Tills have to balance at the end of the day, after all.

[ThisLittleKitty]

Well if she put into the machine that I gave £5 then it would balance surely?

[k2p2k2tog]

I suppose it depends on the shop's systems.

In a large chain store like Tesco, Argos or Boots they're not going to do it as tills will be checked at the end of the shift, paperwork will be completed and discrepancies investigated so there's an audit trail.

If it's in Karen's Cornershop where Karen is the owner, serving behind the till, doing the books and banking and there is no cashing up process at the end of the day, and Karen is a dodgy type anyway, then yes it's possible.

[stickytoffeevodka]

It must depend where you work @Abracadabraapileofbollocks - we have to count the till every night and every error (up or down) that's over a pound gets automatically reported to head office who investigate it.

Most cash errors are down to miscounting, but I don't doubt it happens easily in stores with a busy environment or customers who are perhaps too drunk to notice what change they're given!

[GoodyHumbygge]

I always say ten/twenty or whatever as I'm handing it over so there's less chance of dispute.

[k2p2k2tog]

Well if she put into the machine that I gave £5 then it would balance surely?

No it wouldn't. If your bill is £2, you hand over £10 and the sales assistant only gives you change from £5, then she has £5 too much in your till. It doesn't matter what you key in as amount tendered, as long as you give the correct change. I've in the past entered £100 instead of £10 for a £9.99 purchase, but the customer still gets 1p change.

[heartyrebel]

I only blatantly had it done to me in a club on London got change for a tenner when I gave 20 and it was my word against the barman. My partner saw it too but we couldn't do anything.

[thecatsarecrazy]

No. Ive had a few people say oh i gave u a tenner, no pretty sure it was a fiver no no it was 10 thats all i had on me. So then manager has to take till off and count it all. Always come back fine.

[falsepriest]

I always make sure to say the denomination of the note as I hand it over. Two local shops here, one's a Co-Op and the staff aren't overly... err... bright. The other's a local business run by the most disinterested owner's sons ever, where card transactions often go through twice.

[k2p2k2tog]

we have to count the till every night and every error (up or down) that's over a pound gets automatically reported to head office

I volunteer in a charity shop and my first task is to cash up the takings from the day before. It's very rare that the till is spot on, there are usually discrepancies. We generally don't waste time investigating anything under £3, and if there's a problem it's usually because I've counted the float wrong or someone's processed a refund incorrectly.

If staff members are deliberately giving change from a £10 when they've put a £20 in the till, then it's not going to balance. Either the staff member is later on taking out that tenner and pocketing it (theft) or the business is falsifying records of sales to bank the money they shouldn't have. (fraud).

[ThisLittleKitty]

I've never actually heard anyone saying the amount of money they are handing over as they pay so that's a new one to me. It was a nisa store so I would say that's more of an off license than a supermarket.

[RadioGaGoo]

Probably the same place heartyrebel.

[cocopops88]

Alot if places round me put the note you give them on top of the till in veiw, give you the change and once you've looked at the change they then put the note into the till. This way it's obvious to both parties.

[georgeoutside]

Well if she put into the machine that I gave £5 then it would balance surely?

Oh dear.


Balancing the till means making sure the amount of sales match the cash in the till.

[stickytoffeevodka]

I suppose it really depends on the business and what till system you use.

We cash up every night and the till automatically sends the Z-reading to Head Office. If we don't complete the cashing up process, we can't use the till the following morning until it's reset itself, which takes at least an hour.

If I cash up and have a discrepancy, head office are automatically notified about it anyway. Anything under £1 they don't bother with as it's normally someone miscounting or not putting change back from petty cash, but otherwise they investigate as it either means we've over or undercharged a customer.

[ThisLittleKitty]

Obviously she could take out a £5 to make sure it "balances" not hard is it.

[Havingahorridtime]

Of course the till will still balance if the cashier tills in that you gave them £10 when actually you gave them £20 because if you don’t notice the additional £10 will end up in their pocket so the till will be correct. Doesn’t matter if it’s a corner shop or McDonald’s.

[k2p2k2tog]

Yes but stickytoffee - if there's no "head office", no Z readings and it's a one man band type of shop where the owner/till operator is doing there banking there is the potential for deliberately diddling customers out of change.

I don't think any reputable shop would have it as a policy though.

[k2p2k2tog]

their banking. Doh.

[Havingahorridtime]

Kitty beat me to it - I can’t believe grown adults struggle to understand this.