Page 1 of If Britain is a nation of shopkeepers, it wants bombing!

[spleen venting mode on]
Just took Mum to the local Alliance Pharmacy to pick up some cough sweets and Strepsils. Tendered a £20 note, and when the assistant tried to palm me off with change of a £10, I called her on it. She then proceeded to go through the whole cashing-up process in front of a crowded shop before coming to the conclusion her figures were only £3 out. She put a note in the till for whoever checks the takings at the end of the day, and my name (misspelled) and phone number, and I had no alternative but to leave the shop £10 light - which for my parents on their pensions is something of a deal.

I can sympathise with a) the assistant for an honest display of incompetence. I can sympathise b) with the shop for needing an anti-rip-off procedure. What aggravates me is we`ve used the shop regularly for the past nearly forty years and spent God Knows how much money there, but the staff still don`t know me from Adam and gave me the most embarrassing half-hour I`ve had in recent years coppering up to check how much they had in the till.

I suspect that`s the last we`ve seen of the £10 change, but ultimately the shop will suffer because I`ll stick to buying pharmaceuticals at ASDA and only pick up free prescriptions there in future.

EDIT: Oops [spleen venting mode off] ;)

J Mark Oates

This item was edited on Friday, 17th June 2005, 17:38

My local shops try this "trick" on a regular basis, to one and all.
Good luck in getting the money back.

Most shops I use have a clip on the machine where the shop keeper puts the note you have gave him under it he then gives you your change, you check it and he takes the note from under the clip and puts it in the cash registar, all seems senslble and quick to me.........Though there was that time in Superdrug a few years ago... :)

They use the clip for notes round here coz the shop assistants are skanks, and I usually get the right change, but just lately I`ve been getting old £20 notes and 50ps in my change so they`re getting me that way instead. Although today I did manage to give a shop keeper back the old 50p she gave me yesterday, so I feel like I got some revenge. :)

Quote:
Most shops I use have a clip on the machine where the shop keeper puts the note you have gave him under it he then gives you your change, you check it and he takes the note from under the clip and puts it in the cash registar

If that`s not implemented everywhere, it bloody well should be! >:(

A couple of years ago on New Years Eve, i was shortchanged twice in the same night at a nightclub by two different bar staff, and my friend was shortchanged once. Both times i handed over a £20, and got the change of a tenner back. She handed over a £10 and was given the change of a fiver. When i pulled them up on it, they laughed and walked away, as if i was just another stupid drunk prick. Unfortunately, a crowded nightclub isn`t ideal to make a scene about it... >:(

In hindsight, it was probably a scam amongst a few staff. Now, on the rare occasion i get out on the town, i carry a wallet full of fivers and watch the staff like it`s my last note. Which it usually is.

I don`t care what you`re doing, it`s the idiotic way that you`re doing it.

This item was edited on Friday, 17th June 2005, 19:59

If using a £20 note I always say when handing the cash over "Sorry I`ve only got a twenty"

Seems to work

"before coming to the conclusion her figures were only £3 out"

you mean her till roll total and the money in where £3 out?

if so how does she keep her job? either she`s loosing the shop money everyday, or giving the owner a HUGE bonus.

this all smacks of the "that`s £1.99, sorry i don`t have any 1ps`.." CON!! (which we always say, that`s ok, we`ll take a 2p instead)

I was short changed in B&Q last week but the checkout woman was deaf or something and forgave her because it didn`t seem like she was very experianced. I blame myself for not checking my change afterwards.

As for small shopkeepers, gone are the days where the shopkeeper would say please and thank you, sir. Now they`re barely civil at all. I`m usually polite but often these days they rarely return the compliment and look at you like you`re some kind of idiot. I think I`ll probably start to reply in kind soon since it`s really starting to pee me off.


All rights reserved. All wrongs reversed.

Its not just dishonest cashiers that try this, where I work everyday there is always a customer who thinks he/she can get away with getting more change than he/she should. Usually its "i gave you a £10 and you gave me change for a £5" a few years ago this would have turned into a similar situation to the one mention above but the simplist solution is to leave the note outside of the till until the change has been removed, that way they can never argue that they are owed more change as the note has been in plain sight since it was handed over, if you just take it, put it in the till and then they argue there is no easy way of proving they didnt give you a bigger note.

I am not saying that all cashiers are honest, infact I am sure there are plenty of places where the staff put the extra money in their pocket but not everywhere is like that and after being ripped off myself elsewhere (bought a 95p drink with a £10 note and only got change for a £5) I always try and make sure when I am working at least that everything goes smoothly.

Update of situation:

Went into the Pharmacy again this afternoon to pick up another prescription and enquired after the missing £10. The till on Friday, according to staff, was spot on (well, it would be, wouldn`t it?). They checked with the area manager and again of course as there wasn`t a discrepancy on the till, it`s not their problem. Although they are passing the matter on to their internal security people (!).

Bottom line, pensioners 0, shop 10. We`ll have to keep an eye on things in future. If there was another chemist`s in the area we`d go there.

J Mark Oates