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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU over 2p?

168 replies

MrsCosmopilite · 10/04/2015 21:49

I need to give a little background info for context.

I'm unwaged, a student. I am not eligible for benefits, so I do 'treats' out of a very small budget (£10 per week tops). I shop a lot at the charity shops in our town - and I make frequent donations of unwanted items. I have a four year old daughter, who needs some new clothes as she's grown out of a lot recently.

Today I was out with DD. We'd had lunch (£6 in the cafe), and I'd bought a local paper (£1). I then bought her a skirt in charity shop A, which was £2.

We went into charity shop B and she spotted another skirt which was £1.50

I took it to the counter, opened my purse and found I had only the single pound left. I rummaged in my purse and found another 48p. I explained to the person on the counter that I was 2p short, but I would happily drop the extra in next week when I'll be back in town. I said that I had no other money on me, and showed her my empty purse.

She looked at the skirt, looked at the money in my hand and just said "Well, it's £1.50..."

She didn't offer to put the skirt aside whilst I got any money, she didn't offer to call anyone (there is always a manager on duty), in fact, she didn't do anything, just stood there.

In the end, I had to leave the skirt, and the shop, with my daughter crying because I couldn't afford to buy her something for £1.50.

I feel the woman was mean - I go in the shop every week - I go in all the charity shops every week, to have a look. I would happily have given the extra few pence the next time I was there.

OP posts:

Malenky · 13/04/2015 13:08

The way that she handled it does seem really mean, but to be fair to her, if you are in a job which involves working a till, the till is usually checked by a manager to see if everything adds up at the end of the day and if the till doesn't have as much money as expected in it the lady would have got into trouble. Yes, even over 2p, some managers can be very petty about this. The only other option for her would have been to put the last 2p in the till out of her own pocket for the time being, and again it's only 2p but she shouldn't have to use her own money to do that. It seems as if it's the principle of the thing that she was being mean about.

JacksWastedLife · 13/04/2015 13:41

You know, not only are you NBU but some of the commenters on this thread are being completely U and rude.

OP has said the £10 was treat money. Not money to live on for the week. Or money for emergencies. Give her a break.

ConfusedInBath · 13/04/2015 14:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LetticeKnollys · 13/04/2015 15:22

I don't think many posters here have worked on a till before. It's nothing to do with being mean, you can't just give away or take money from the till, even small amounts. It all gets counted at the end of the day for the audit, and usually only managers can over ride the price on things, and have to give a reason when they do for the audit.

If it were me when I worked in a shop I would have acted apologetic and said something explanatory, probably offered to keep it aside for you if I could. Her customer service wasn't great, but she was a volunteer giving up her time for a good cause after all so I don't think it's fair to be too critical of her when she was just following the rules.

LetticeKnollys · 13/04/2015 15:34

Oh, and 'keep the change' money just went into the locked charity donation box, not just chucked in with the money for the audit, so she could hardly have gone fishing in there for it.

BarbarianMum · 13/04/2015 15:40

When I was a volunteer in a Cancer Research shop the rule was that you were never allowed to reduce the marked price.

You could have asked her to set it aside perhaps?

ConfusedInBath · 13/04/2015 15:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SunnyBaudelaire · 13/04/2015 15:47

well I work in a charity shop and would have just let her off.
If the till is out by 3 or 4 p by the end of the day it is not a huge beef.

FyreFly · 13/04/2015 16:39

Perhaps not in your opinion Sunny (or in mine tbh - personally I would have let it go) but if you have a manager, or an area manager, or a head office who's shit hot on these things then it becomes a big deal - and you can be sure it will land on the head of the most junior member of staff.

I repeat my earlier post, I don't think either the OP or the lady in the shop was BU.

Aridane · 13/04/2015 17:31

As previously stated - although I appreciate I am distinctly in the minority with just a few posters here - friends of mine who work in retail get 'till counselling' for till discrepancies, and persistent discrepancies will lead to warning and ultimately dismissal.

Further, they are not permitted to keep personal belongings, including bags / purses (with case) at the till and so wouldn't have the option to fund customers who are short of the required price, even if they were so minded.

So if my friends were in this position, they would be unreasonable indeed to accept cash short of the price of the item - well, unless they were happy to tread the path of 'till counselling' (and then written warning, then dismissal, for repeat offences).

daisychain01 · 13/04/2015 23:11

I can't believe all this stuff about audits and managers for 2p. My DP has worked in the British heart foundation and we are regular donators to our local shop. If someone was short by 2p no way would they turn away a good sale. The stuff is donated for a start and they have massive piles of stuff at the back of the shop far too much stuff ever to have a complete inventory valuation at any one time.

daisychain01 · 13/04/2015 23:14

I think this thread is one of those MN parallel universe situation .....

Seriouslyffs · 13/04/2015 23:37

Whenever I've worked in a shop the till was regularly 50p-£1 off. Either way.

kali110 · 14/04/2015 01:03

Think ya very u.
She wasnt being rude by offering you no solutions, just possibly no solutions for you.
I know you've excepted you didn't want to be let off the price.
I was just wondering if the skirt was a giftaid item as the charity shops by me can't reduce those?
They also can't hold anything for anyone.
Think it's unfair that you and others have moaned about this most likely volunteer for not holding this skirt when she may not have been able too!
Sure she would have said if she would have been able too, or you could have asked her.
I don't think its unreasonable of them not to hold things.
I wonder how many times people ask them too and never return.
As for saying you'd bring the money in that isn't really a sensible idea.
Think its terrible people (not you though here op)
Moaning about not letting the 2p off.
It's a charity.
Everything has to go through the till and when the accounts are checked then they'll be off.
Why should the staff put odds and ends in when people don't have enough money?

UncleT · 14/04/2015 06:42

Please stop it with the 'if everyone was let off 2p' crap....because we're talking about reality, where people don't all come in short of 2p and the OP was clearly genuine. It was mean. Really mean. YANBU.

claraschu · 14/04/2015 07:09

Outrageously mean, petty, and officious.

How many people are 2p short or try to bargain a price down by this paltry sum? I bet it happens once in a blue moon.

ebwy · 14/04/2015 08:50

mean, petty, and officious? being a good unpaid worker and following the rules (politely) doesn't come under that.

I had people who tried to bargain me down every single shift I worked when I was in a charity shop - the same people, who got the same reply every time - half of them miraculously found the money when told they couldn't have 5p off, every time.

I had people accuse me of racism for not selling them things at a reduced rate (nope, relative amounts of skin pigment makes no difference to me)

the sheer amount of people wanting things reduced because "well YOU get it free after all!" and "you've just lost a sale!" was staggering. including trying to buy the shop fittings which weren't for sale.

then there were the "you know me, I'm here all the time!" people trying to get me to "bend" shop policies for them.. no. again, about half I'd never seen before, some of whom tried to tell me I must be new (no, I worked there for 7 or 8 years), that the manager knew them (no, since she was present for a lot of them and shook her head, or the customer backed down when I called her out to sort the issue), or that they usually came in on a different afternoon (ha-ha, I did cover most afternoons andhad done all of them regularly at some point since I was the one who didn't mind being moved to cover shift when other volenteers retired) and frequency of visits still made no changes to the rules even if all of the above were true.

There really was no way to help people in that situation. I still had to get the manager to explain that to at least one person a week. And got reported to head office for it ("you naughty volunteer! sticking to our rules while giving up 3 afternoons a week to help raise funds for the local hospice!" yeah, those complaints got nowhere). I did get observed (without my knowledge) by someone from head office who set me up... and was told afterwards that they weere impressed I didn't lose my temper.

Shop policies are there for good reason (usually too many people doing the same thing or others being chancers), the poor volunteer behind the till doesn't have the authority to over-ride them, not even for friends or family.

FyreFly · 14/04/2015 10:15

claraschu when I was volunteering for Loros I watched a perfectly normal lady have a massive screaming meltdown over the fact that we wouldn't do "buy 1 get 1 free" on the 20p children's books. It happens every. single. day. when you work in a charity shop. Most people don't but you will always get a few each day who will try to haggle you down, even for 5p!

If our manager was in, then she could make the call. I could not. My job was to take the price that was on the ticket.

IF it was up to me, I would have let OP off. If I'd have been a manager, I would have let people off for small amounts here and there. But when you're a volunteer / cashier etc, it is not your business to run and not your call to make. You need to take it up with the managerial staff, not the unpaid volunteers behind the till.

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