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AIBU?

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Original poster

Shops deliberately short changing

151 replies

ThisLittleKitty · 06/02/2018 09:28

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?!

OP posts:
k2p2k2tog · 06/02/2018 09:59

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

Most large shops have a policy that their staff should not have any money at all on them on the shop floor. Many will randomly search staff. Most will also have some sort of system which doesn't allow staff to open the till for no reason, they'll need a supervisor key or something signed if they need to open the till. Again, in a one-man band type of shop this is much easier to do.

MiaowTheCat · 06/02/2018 09:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
ThisLittleKitty · 06/02/2018 09:59

It's obviously a family owned business so if someone pickets the £5 no one is going to say anything.

OP posts:
Original poster
ThisLittleKitty · 06/02/2018 10:00

It's family owned!

OP posts:
Redpenblueink · 06/02/2018 10:01

Yes I have had that at Pret a Manger several times as well as local shops. Now I carry change so I don't give any notes or pay with card. When it happened at Pret for the first time, the shop worker insisted that I was wrong and I refused to leave until the manager opened the till and counted the money and what do you know shock horror I was right. I was given my money plus a free drink. Wasted 30 minutes of my morning and was late for work.

Original poster
ThisLittleKitty · 06/02/2018 10:03

She opened the till infront of me and didn't use any special key after closing it after I pointed out to her she gave me the wrong change. She opened it to look but still kept saying "are you sure, are you sure" I think she was banking on me not noticing as I was carrying my baby and had my 3 year old. I guess I probably looked "distracted" so easy target. Unlucky for her I actually double checked how much money I had in my pocket before entering the shop as I didn't want to pay on my card as they charge you extra for anything under £5.

OP posts:
grannytomine · 06/02/2018 10:05

If someone hands over £20 and gets change then the shop assistant just has to pocket a £10 at some point and the till balances.

When I was a teenager working in a shop on Saturdays (50 years ago at M &S) we were always taught to put the note on the shelf above the cash drawer, give change and then put note away. This means if assistant has made a mistake it is instantly obvious.

LadyOfTheCanyon · 06/02/2018 10:06

We used to have a corner shop which would try and fiddle us constantly ( years ago before debit cards etc) - got to the point where we would memorise the last few numbers of the serial number on the note in order to 'prove' it. When they cottoned on to what we were doing they just smiled and said "can't blame someone for trying, eh?"

Soubriquet · 06/02/2018 10:06

If it's family owned, then yes it sounds like she did do it on purpose

stickytoffeevodka · 06/02/2018 10:07

Yeah I realise that k2 - that's why I said it massively depends on the system. We're part of a national chain but our shop isn't particularly large - anyone can go into the till for whatever reason. Normally to sort out receipts or similar, but it would be perfectly possible to take £10 and nobody notice.

We don't have cameras above the till, and although it's policy not to have money on the shop floor, I've been there two years and have never been searched!

Different shops, different systems - some you could get away with till theft, others, not so much!

nancy75 · 06/02/2018 10:07

There is a little corner shop/post office where I live that is well know for it, the man that runs it is the most miserable sod on earth and he short changes everyone.

IndigoMoonFlower · 06/02/2018 10:07

When I shopped at Matalan last the girl tried to charge me 47.00 and I queried it. Turns out my shopping only came to twenty something pounds and she had put something in three times. Now, I'd like to think this was accidental, but she looked dead stunned and guilty when I paused, repeated the amount she asked for and asked for a breakdown.

As consumers, we should always check. She could have given herself refunds for the extra things otherwise and claim she had given them to the customer.

Lucymek · 06/02/2018 10:08

The family shop near me did this to me constantly when I was younger I was to embarrassed to say anything.

They did it to a lot of people.

IndigoMoonFlower · 06/02/2018 10:09

And I just wanted to add, it was in the run up to Christmas and the queue was long, so I think she thought I wouldn't notice.

nancy75 · 06/02/2018 10:09

IndigoMoonFlower most big chains require a supervisor or double signature to give a refund, if you paid card any cash refund would be flagged up as suspicious straight away - in your situation it was most likely a mistake

Original poster
ThisLittleKitty · 06/02/2018 10:11

I remember the memorising number thing as my dad use to do the same when I was little. I usually pay with card so hats been a problem but recently when I do use cash I've noticed how often it happens. Thinking about it more my local Chinese take away has a sign saying please check change before leaving the till as mistake won't be corrected later, so Of course it makes sense to sort it out then and there queue or no queue.

OP posts:
RowenasDiadem · 06/02/2018 10:12

There's one near us that has different prices on the shelves to what they charge. They'll have the £1.50 reduced price label up but when it rings up with the rest of your shopping it will be the original more expensive price. You have to watch the buggers carefully because I believe they do it on purpose. When it's an offer item and that's all you're buying, the original price rings up and they do an immediate till correction without even looking at the price as if they know it's different in the system. When it's amongst other shopping they don't bother.

I'm going to do a nice big shop one day and pull them up on EVERYTHING. Sneaky gits. I wonder how much money I've wasted buying items only because they were on sale whereas I wouldn't have bothered otherwise...

mumpoints · 06/02/2018 10:12

I do this "Oh sorry I've only got £20" thing when I hand over a note, and make a remark about I hope I'm not taking all their change... Everyone is then alerted to what I've handed over!

I was in M&S once, being served, and two managers (?) arrived at the till I was at and stopped the cashier. They said they had a problem with the till and needed the cashier to go with them. One put their hand underneath the counter and pulled out a few five pounds notes. They closed the till down and told the cashier at the next one along to serve me next. When they had gone, that cashier told me that they would have been watching the till on the cameras and saw money being taken out and put underneath and if I ever saw a cashier not putting money I'd handed over in the till, it was a scam.

k2p2k2tog · 06/02/2018 10:14

Your thread title needs to be in that case "is the woman in my local corner shop dodgy" and the answer may well be that she is.

But your OP talks about "shops" in general as if there is some sort of conspiracy to diddle customers out of change all over the country. Which there isn't.

MsHopey · 06/02/2018 10:14

I worked in Aldi. This has happened to me, we have had chancers where we give them the difference and believe we made the error. Then the till is down as the end of the night and we get a bollocking. So now if there is a problem we count the till or check the cameras.
I have made errors a few times, completely by accident. Nearing the end of a 10 hour shift on a busy Saturday with only a 30 minute break a few hours in, and where we have to work out the change in our heads, accidents happen.
If I did fuck up and it wasn't noticed by the customer, my till would be up and it would be reported on my file for discrepancies. And there's no way you could get money out your till and into your pocket without anyone noticing.
I figure it's just accidents and the staff have to double check.

LightDrizzle · 06/02/2018 10:15

The ladies in Cooplands Bakeries usually call out “Tenner going in!” as they put larger denominations in the till.
Makes me feel nostalgic for my schooldays when we’d often skip school dinners and get a sandwich and crisps at Cooplands.

InspMorse · 06/02/2018 10:17

This happened to my DD several times when she was younger and I was teaching her how to be independent and buy things for herself Angry
She now says how much she is handing over... 'Sorry, I only have a £20 note' or '£10 note' Leaves no room for 'error'!

RadioGaGoo · 06/02/2018 10:17

Some great advice on handing over notes here!

swapsicles · 06/02/2018 10:18

Tbh most times it happens it is purely accidental, I do it on occasion and I've been using tills for 20+ years!
Generally it's just if you get distracted by something usually the customer nattering or asking a question whilst you count the change.
Of course there are dodgy cashiers just as there are dodgy customers who will distract and insist you gave them a higher value note than they did.
There's also a scam where a customer will ask for change then mess you about swapping this and that so that the cashier ends up bamboozled and the store out of pocket.
Store staff can also be disciplined for till discrepancies so none of them want to risk that either.

Jenna43 · 06/02/2018 10:18

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

I used to do this too when I worked in retail. There was always the odd chancer that swears upside down they gave you a bigger note when they didn't.

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