What Do You Think Of Shop Assistants Who Short-Change Customers?

What do you think of shop assistants short-changing customers?

This happened to me a while back, with £5. I only noticed when I got home. It could have been an honest mistake, which I wouldn't mind, but she gave me a few vouchers with my change, and I wonder if that was a deliberate distraction.

This has actually really bothered me. It's not just the money, it's the fact that you feel like a ****ing idiot afterwards. I quite like to chill out when I'm doing day-to-day stuff. I don't see why I should always have to be a paranoid wreck on guard for short-changers. It makes me wonder why she did it too (obviously £5 is about an hour's wage for her so that's one obvious motivation). I live in my hometown and it's reasonably big, but it makes me wonder if she somehow knows me and is now mocking me with other people who know me over "outsmarting me".

I reckon that plenty of clever people could get short-changed if they weren't paying much attention.

I doubt it takes that much brilliance to short-change people. Just do "the distract people with crappy vouchers then give them the wrong change" routine over and over until somebody doesn't notice or is too embarrassed to ask for the right change back. If you socialise a lot so have practised to get reasonable social skills, and aren't a complete plank, you'll be able to pull it off.

What can you do about short-changers? If the shop is part of a big chain, can you complain to the branch through email and get them to take a closer look at their workers? Could you get into trouble for this?

Also feel free to discuss shop-lifters if you have any opinions on them.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

HumiT

2

That happened to my mum a few months back. She got given £2 instead of £4 and my mum only realised when we had gone into another shop. So my mum went back to the shop and demanded the correct change. It was a small business and it was the owner who was serving us. The owner had done the same thing to the customer before us but luckily the person counted his change there and then and told her to give him the correct change. So it does happen!

Reply 2

Philbert

17

I did it a few times while I was working on tills at Tesco, completely unintentionally of course, customers only came back if it was ~50p or more. If it's a significant amount or a note, they would have noticed straight away. There's no way of telling whether it was intentional or not, so you just have to check your change carefully when you receive it.

Reply 3

Tommyjw

18

In a lot of shops, that i have noticed, people working on tills giving more or less change is simply bad fgor them. In both showcase cinema and matalan, where i worked, and where my girlfriend works (Monsoon).. giving the wrong change can mean disciplinary stuff if found out.

Especially at showcase where the change was counted after every shift. a + or - £5 figure resulted in something bad happening xD

Reply 4

Bezaberry

1

Doesn't really bother me, had a few people short change me, had a few give me too much change, it all evens itself eventually.

Reply 5

Crowhaven

It wouldn't happen if people had more respect for their own money man. Always receive your change with both hands and say thanks and make sure you get the right change. It isn't hard.

Reply 6

Shan<3

9

It's happened to me in a taxi before. I was with a friend, and I owed him a fiver. I'd just taken out two 10's from a cash point so that was all I had on me. When we got out the taxi the fare was only about 3 quid, so I handed him a tenner. At this point the taxi man is holding a fiver and the rest of my change, and my friend assumed that was what I had given him, and goes 'so you did have a fiver!'. The taxi man gave me back my 2 quid, and when I disputed it just said that i'd given him a fiver and got quite nasty, and I didn't really want to argue it whilst I was in his car :s-smilie:

so I just had to get out. Tbh if he needs 5 quid that much that he needs to stoop to those levels then he can have it!

Reply 7

IB_19

I like to think that I would notice if a shop assistant has not given me the correct amount, though often if there's a queue behind me and I do not want to feel rude by counting it. I glance at the amount as it comes out of the till and if I know that they've not given me enough, I will bring it up. Occassionally the shop assistant may do it intentionally, other times they may not be very bright or panick easily.

Reply 8

Sky_Dream

16

Original post by Tommyjw

In a lot of shops, that i have noticed, people working on tills giving more or less change is simply bad fgor them. In both showcase cinema and matalan, where i worked, and where my girlfriend works (Monsoon).. giving the wrong change can mean disciplinary stuff if found out.

Especially at showcase where the change was counted after every shift. a + or - £5 figure resulted in something bad happening xD

Yes, I worked at a cinema and they counted the change out after my shift and if it was either up by £3 or down by £3 I got a warning.

I worked on the tills in tesco whilst I was studying too and they would sometimes search you to check for money in your pockets etc. If they found money you could face a disciplinary. I think most of the time when you've been short changed it's accidental.

Reply 9

Alex J

1

I volunteer in a charity shop and I often work at the till, so I have some empathy for the shop assistants. You need to understand that if they did indeed make a mistake it can actually be very embarrasing for the shop assistant, so giving a judgemental glare back at them isn't going to help things. In fact that will make them even more embarrased and it will effect their confidence - in turn leading to the making of more mistakes. Furthermore it is important one understands that they could have just started, in which case they would be struggling to remember all the things they have to do on the till. However having said that I do aknowledge that short-changing with intent, whereby they would be stealing, is wrong, and you have every right to give them a hard time for that.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 10

killercow292

2

They didn't do it on purpose, mistakes happen only human.......I hate people who go mental at the poor shop assistants....jeez

Reply 11

problemsolver

OP

13

Original post by Crowhaven

It wouldn't happen if people had more respect for their own money man. Always receive your change with both hands and say thanks and make sure you get the right change. It isn't hard.

I do say thanks. I would count my change if I was buying from a machine, but if you are being served by a person, this could be interpreted as you not trusting their character or their ability to count.

I'd rather I could relax, trust people and not have to think about the boring stuff like counting my change.

I will be more careful in future though. I'm just not that happy that I have to be.

Reply 12

Cicerao

14

It's an accident. The tills get counted, so either money would be missing and in their pocket (they'd get in trouble) or there would be extra money unaccounted for in the till (they'd get in trouble.)

Everyone in the country should be made to work a week in retail, because once you're on the worker side of the counter you realise what unreasonable dicks some customers are.

Reply 13

Muffinz

16

Shop assistants usually don't conciously give the wrong change - often they're rushed or tired and make a mistake.

Reply 14

problemsolver

OP

13

Original post by Alex J

I volunteer in a charity shop and I often work at the till, so I have some empathy for the shop assistants. You need to understand that if they did indeed make a mistake it can actually be very embarrasing for the shop assistant, so giving a judgemental glare back at them isn't going to help things. In fact that will make them even more embarrased and it will effect their confidence - in turn leading to the making of more mistakes. Furthermore it is important one understands that they could have just started, in which case they would be struggling to remember all the things they have to do on the till. However having said that I do aknowledge that short-changing with intent, whereby they would be stealing, is wrong, and you have every right to give them a hard time for that.

I didn't glare at her or anything. I only found out I'd been short changed when I got home from the shops, after shop closing time, so I couldn't have glared. If I had noticed I'd been given the wrong change at the time, I'd have brought it up as nicely as I could have.

I'm fine with her if it was an honest mistake. It's a bit annoying losing five pounds, but if she didn't mean it I don't resent her.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 15

Crowhaven

Original post by problemsolver

I do say thanks. I would count my change if I was buying from a machine, but if you are being served by a person, this could be interpreted as you not trusting their character or their ability to count.

I'd rather I could relax, trust people and not have to think about the boring stuff like counting my change.

I will be more careful in future though. I'm just not that happy that I have to be.

I always make sure i get my correct change, if the guy on till did it accidentally then pointing out the mistake helps them improve their work, if they did it deliberately, being vigilant and pointing it out there and then makes sure you aren't robbed.

I don't get embarrassed by things like that, im a scotsman, im rather tight.

Reply 16

Annie72

17

Original post by Cicerao

It's an accident. The tills get counted, so either money would be missing and in their pocket (they'd get in trouble) or there would be extra money unaccounted for in the till (they'd get in trouble.)

Everyone in the country should be made to work a week in retail, because once you're on the worker side of the counter you realise what unreasonable dicks some customers are.

+ rep

I've never knowingly short changed anyone

Reply 17

DontJudge

3

I be like 'Gimme my penny back!!!!!' :gangster:

Reply 18

problemsolver

OP

13

Original post by Cicerao

It's an accident. The tills get counted, so either money would be missing and in their pocket (they'd get in trouble) or there would be extra money unaccounted for in the till (they'd get in trouble.)

Everyone in the country should be made to work a week in retail, because once you're on the worker side of the counter you realise what unreasonable dicks some customers are.

I'd be completely forgiving if it was an honest mistake, and now I'm thinking it probably was based on these replies, and I'm feeling a lot better about the incident.

If you have no knowledge of working in a shop, I don't see why you're necessarily a "dick" if you don't receive a significant part of your change and don't like the possibility (which is quite real in your eyes if you haven't worked in a shop) that the person in the shop has kept some of your money for their own use.

I'm always polite to shop assistants.

Reply 19

Agenda Suicide

18

Meh as somebody who works often on tills I have to say that I try my utmost to make sure correct change is given but sometimes we all just have them moments where we make mistakes, if people just check and say oh you short changed me I am more than happy to just reopen the till and give it them, it's not big deal.

Just check your change :smile:

What Do You Think Of Shop Assistants Who Short-Change Customers?

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