Work related.. Was what I did so wrong? It would have been me losing out..

[ifldew]

I work in a cafe. I have been here for two years, Before that I worked in a different cafe and was there for 6 years.

I was at work and my ex boss walked in with her kids, She ordered meals for them all, they ate their food and came to pay, My ex boss looked in her bag and her purse wasn't there, She said she would be back in less than five minutes to pay as she was convinced she had left it in her car. I knew I couldn't let them leave without paying so I told her I would pay for it using my own money and she could owe it to me. I paid their bill and she came back to pay me five minutes later.

My boss saw all this and went absolutely mental at me saying I basically gave her free meals and her cafe wasn't a charity. I explained I had paid the bill but it made no difference. I would understand if I had left ex boss go without paying but the only person losing out would have been me if she hadn't come back with her purse.

I won't be doing it again but just wanted opinions on if I did something really bad here? Boss hasn't really been the same with me since and has commented that maybe I should go and work for ex boss again seeing as we get on so well etc..

Can you go work for ex boss again? Your boss sounds like a dick.

It all seems fine but I would have checked with Boss they were ok with you doing that before doing it as anything other than the customer handing over money and that money going in the till always has the ability to look dodgy even if it isn't.

Your current boss should be pleased you paid it rather than allow someone to leave with their bill unpaid. You didn’t have to

Your employer wouldn’t have been out of pocket so I’m confused as to what his issue is?

Did he say how you should have dealt with the issue?

Perhaps your ex boss is his competitor and he was annoyed to see them there?

Imo you gave excellent customer service, used your common sense and made a good decision based on knowing the customer personally.

Your current employer sounds awful and I’d be inclined to start job hunting as I wouldn’t want to work for someone who spoke to me like that.

I mean the risk was all on you and not the business wasn't it, if they hadn't repaid it you'd have been out of pocket and not the cafe. I'd say to your boss okay can you please clarify for the future- do I just let people leave and hope they come back or do I refer them to you everytime.

You dont pay for a customer's meal for them.

If policy at the cafe is to pay after the meal, and not before, then this is a risk the owner takes. Some people may eat and then be unable to pay. You dont pay for their meals. You hand it over to your manager to deal with when someone says they cannot pay or need to go to their car to get their wallet.

Usually places would ask the person to their mobile phone behind the counter or something but it really needs to be a judgement call.

If there is no policy in place then you just ask your manager to attend to the situation, but you dont pay for meals for customers.

Your manager has handled this really badly and sounds like they're now bullying you. They wouldnt have lost any money and you didnt make her cafe look like it was giving out free meals, but you did risk someone else hearing about this and then claiming they couldnt pay, expecting their meal to be paid for.

The boss is a woman, not a man.

What's the reason that your boss is upset as she would have lost out?

There was an issue local to me during covid. When a bakery chain, sacked someone for paying for elderly customers shopping on her card. As they had gone card only. They then paid her back in cash. There was outrage about it. I can see it could be a bit Dodgy, but a one off is ok.

I am stunned that staff get the sack or into trouble for paying for customers' food. How on earth is that any of the boss's business? The bill got paid.

And what happens when one of those people claims the staff member took more money than they should have, or didn't give them the change? Or someone's kid comes in claiming their elderly mum/dad was taken advantage of?

It sounds like a nice, helpful thing but it opens up the cafe to all sorts of trouble. They'll only have records of a card transaction from their staff member's card. No way to count the money or check the staff member didnt take more than they should from the older person.

Is your current boss a bit thick? Free meals? Cafe isn’t a charity? You paid for it, the money’s in the till.
You weren’t right to pay for your ex boss, but the manager is wrong to suggest you were giving a meal away “on the house”.

The boss sounds an arse. It should be pay for food on ordering, that way it won't happen again. In my view you did nothing wrong.
If it was me I think.i would be looking for another jo