I Walked Out of a Grocery Store Without Paying..But Then I Turned Around

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I bought a couple office phones and an office chair at an office supply store about ten or fifteen years ago. Each item was between $60-$90, and I had several other lower priced items as well.

I don’t recall the exact details, but I remember that the checker rung it up incorrectly. It was in my favor, but being the nice person I am, I pointed out her error. She looked it over, and said there was no error. I said “yes, there is, you charged me the wrong price for <item x>” or whatever it was that was wrong. It was a difference of about $50 if I remember correctly.

At that point, she started arguing with me. I didn’t think it was worth it to argue with her, so I gladly took the items and left.

22

I recently walked back into a baby store and tried to pay for something that had slipped under the baby carrier I had propped in my cart, but I coud not get the cahsier to help me, so I just turned around and walked out. I thought it was just me, but seems to just be the trend.

You are correct. In high school I worked in a clothing store and I swear every other week we’d catch some “mom” walking out of the store with a mini-van sized stroller just loaded down with clothing in every nook and cranny (especially under the baby-they all loved hiding clothes under the baby). We always though it was kind of sick to use their children as accomplices.

When I managed a retail store in college I always tried to get the employees to place bills given to them on top of the till until the transaction was over (this also helps prevent falling for a short change scam) but my employees were usually high school girls who didn’t give a crap if they were giving out correct change or not.

23

We bought a couple items of furniture a few years ago. One was a mattress and boxspring set, and the other was a computer desk, which was 199$. The sales person hand-wrote the bill and put the desk price down as 99$. We didn’t notice at the time, and didn’t actually notice until about a month later, when we moved the bill/receipt from where we had put it to our file box. We figured it was their mistake, and if it was really a problem they would have contacted us, since they had that info for the furniture delivery. We figured it just came out of the guy’s commission. We’ve since had some rather serious problems with that store and another purchase, for which we were never compensated, and so we just assume we’ve come out even!

24

I’ve always wondered a bit at cashiers that are sure you’re trying to scam them when you’re telling them that you need to give them more money.

I once went into a convenience store to pick up a few small items, paid for them, and then indulged myself of one of their impulse purchase displays. I don’t remember the exact sequence, but the cashier wound up giving me too much change back for the extra item. I tried to just give him the extra money back. Tried explaining the error and the math. Finally gave up and walked out with the parting comment, “You’ll be three dollars short when you count your register down. Don’t say I didn’t tell you because I won’t be here.”

25

[quote=“phil417, post:5, topic:469593”]

Please keep the stories coming. I’m learning to run a cash register at Wally world. So your stories are for the education/edification of another doper./QUOTE]It’s been many years since I ran a cash register, but the best suggestion has already been mentioned: place the bill you were given on top of the ledge above the cash drawer, not inside the drawer with the other money. T

hen if there is any question about what the customer gave you, it’s sitting right there, separate from the other cash. With all the other stuff going on, and so many customers one after another, it’s real easy to get confused – having their bill right there makes it easy to check that you are giving the right change. And also makes it easy to catch someone who tries to scam you.

26

No money involved in this cashier story, but I, as the cashier, got the better deal.

I was working in a “big box” grocery store. We didn’t have baggers, customers did it themselves. So a guy is in there, with a very young child. Said child is propped up in the back of the cart, in a cute little snowsuit. Suddenly, he leans forward and starts vomiting all down the front of the cute snowsuit. Poor dad doesn’t know what he should do so I hand him a big wad of paper towels and volunteered to bag the groceries. As I said, I got the better deal!

27

I used to sell my handmade jewelry at outdoor festivals.

Last year I had a customer who bought an item; she paid with a $20, and I kept the bill out until I had given her her change, and then I put the bill away. (I’m very careful about that!)

While I was doing that, she decided she wanted another item, took out some more cash, and I made her change again, the same way.

At this point, while she was in her wallet putting the bills away, she claimed that she was short a $20, and she must have given me too much on the first sale, and she knew how much she started with because her husband had gone to the ATM and given her $X, yada yada yada.

I was certain that she was mistaken, but I offered to count my till to check. Fortunately it was early in the day and I hadn’t had many sales yet, and sure enough the till came out correct (and I was careful to check for $20s stuck together). I apologized and told her there was nothing I could do, and that the time to dispute the first sale was at that time, but I was certain that she had given me the bill that she thought she hadn’t. And that if I had found an error I would have been glad to give her the correct change, but my till was square.

She grumbled rather angrily and stomped off. I was a bit worried that she was going to come back with an angry husband (I was alone), but I never saw her again. And then I wondered if it was an attempted scam. I mean really, did she think I was there to make my money by ripping off my customers?

28

We went to a rather large retailer looking for a dining room table. We were insistent that it be an item that was in stock, as we were having 25 people over for thanksgiving dinner which was about a month away.

They assured us that the table we had chosen was in stock and we opted for the delivery. They scheduled it a week out. Delivery day arrives, we get 6 chairs, no table. We call the store. No table in stock, they can have one to us in 2 weeks. Ok, that is cutting it close, but ok. I call two weeks later, no delivery, they say I cancelled the order. Nope, never did. Every day they assure me I will have a table the next day. The day before thanksgiving, we drive down there because our table is ready. We arrive, no table. They end up loaning us a table. Except we had to remove it from the showroom floor ourselves and load it into the truck. Three weeks later, they deliver my table and take back there table. A day or two later, I get a check in the mail for the amount of the table as a refund for my cancelled order. I call, they ask if I’ll drive across town to bring them the check. Big Fat No. Pay the stinking fee for a stop payment, I’ve been on the phone with these people all day, every day for a damned month for an item that was supposed to be in stock.

Fast forward 8 years. I’m doing the found money thing on the internet. I have money due me from another large store. A store that bought one I used to work at. I’m guessing it is a lost paycheck somewhere back in the deep bowels of time. I get the check, deposit it gladly.

It was for the exact amount of the cost of my dining room table. The big store also bought the store I got my table from. I’m guessing in the balancing of the books, they saw that outstanding check dangling around 8 years.

It’s a wonder my table doesn’t keep food warmer. It’s definitely hot. :slight_smile:

And for the record, I ended up with a few small items when my daughter was stroller aged. Not intentionally, but invariably, the most distracted, spacey person around a baby is invariably the sleep deprived Mom.

29

I was also told to put the cash given on top of the register. I’d often forget, and at both the places where I worked retail, we were lucky if we made one sale every half hour, so I was constantly having to ring in no sales to put the money in the drawer and I probably made the managers suspicious. So that’s the second piece of advice - don’t close the drawer immediately after giving change!

I treated myself a few weeks ago and bought a little tub of blueberries - $4 but so good! The cashier pushed it through but it didn’t beep or come up on the screen. There was even a girl bagging the groceries, not common, and she didn’t notice either. Automatically I told them, and the bagger just pushed it back to the cashier and he scanned it. Neither said thank you or anything. I resented that - when I worked retail and someone caught a mistake like that, I always thanked them profusely for their honesty.

30

That’s how I was taught to do it when I worked box office at a movie theater. Of course, back then it was pretty primitive: I had a little chart in front of me with pre-calculated amounts for numbers of adult and child tickets, and I’d read that total off to the customer. When they paid, I’d set the bills aside, to my left, as I went into the cash drawer, also to my left. There was no register at the box office, and no “ringing up”; the drawer was always open, and could be locked with a key if I stepped away. After counting out their change, I’d wait until they actually left the window before putting the cash away and dealing with the next customer. In case you’re wondering how we kept track of sales with no register: we manually logged the numbers on the start of each ticket roll each morning, and again in the evening, did the subtraction and multiplication, and thus knew how much money should have been in the drawer. Primitive, like I said.

Anyway, with a locking till, it would be a bit harder, I’d imagine; you’d have to leave the drawer open while you count the cash out for the customer, and practically turn your back on it, which seems kinda risky.

31

When my daughter was younger, I would pick up a container of juice and a box of animal crackers to keep her occupied while I shopped in the market. One day she was finished and I threw the containers in a garbage bin in the middle of the store.

It wasn’t until I got home did I realize that I didn’t save the items to be scanned and paid for at check out.

Oops.

32

This happen to us with a mirror we bought from Lowe’s.

Bought mirror. Paid w/ credit card/

Got it home, discovered it was cracked. Not a huge break – 2 or 3 months bad luck, tops – but certainly not what we wanted. So we return the mirror and one other gizmo to the store, and get a replacement mirror and the amount of the gizmo credited on on the credit card. Get home, discover we have a new mirror and the refund on the credit card for cost of mirror AND cost of gizmo. So now we have a free mirror.

Back we go to the store. “There’s a problem with this,” I begin. “We exchanged a mirror and you refunded the price on my credit card.”

“No problem,” says the cashier. “Go get a new mirror and bring it up here.”

“No, no. We already have the new mirror. We just never paid for it.”

She examines the receipt. “Yes, sir, you did.”

“Yes, and you refunded that money.”

“Because you returned the mirror.”

“Yes, we did. But we got another mirror.”

“And you’re returning that?”

“No! I…”

At this point I suggested to my wife that we should just stop protesting, because at this rate we could open our own mirror boutique with essentially free inventory in the span of a few short weeks, but she was not amused.

I ended up talking to the manager, who told us to not worry about it. This was a ~$100 mirror, but it was easier on her to not fix the problem.

So I went back, found the duplicate of our mirror, paid for it, and then left it in the cart just beyond the checkout line and walked away. I hoped that fixed everything.

33

I worked at a small store with a single regisiter. I was told to keep the larger bills outside of the register until I had given them their change. If they were to dispute it, the bill would be readily available. If everything went by fine, I’d put the bill inside the register.

34

Years ago, I was shopping with my infant daughter - still in her carseat. I had set the carseat in the cart and put the few groceries I needed in the cart with her. Put 'em up on the conveyer, the cashier rang them up, and I paid.

When I went to load the bags of groceries in the car, I noticed a bottle of Pedialyte (the main reason for the trip) underneath the carseat. Not in a bag.

I checked the receipt. Nope, never paid for it.

I did go back and correct the situation of course.

A few weeks ago, I bought a bottle of spray cleaner, and 2 large laundry baskets, at the hardware store. Didn’t pay too much attention to the total, just signed the credit card receipt. Stacked the baskets, plunked the cleaner in the basket, and headed home.

Got home, glanced at the receipt, went hmmmmm. Nope, 2 laundry baskets, no cleaner. I got a free bottle of cleaner!

Typo Knig had to go to the hardware store a few days later, so I had him sort it out, otherwise I’d have taken care of it the following weekend.

35

From the other side of the counter, I, as a cashier of some experience, ALWAYS announce how much money I am receiving. Someone asks for “$10 on pump 8,” hand me a twenty, and I say, “Out of $20.” They are often clearly not listening, and say, “No, TEN dollars.” “Yes, OUT OF twenty, and ten is your change…” They’re not used to people noting how much they pay with.

Joe

36

It happens fairly often that people pay me for gas, then drive off without pumping it. Usually, it’s not a problem - I notice it before someone else pumps the gas. But if you’re too late, you’re SOL. I once had a lady give me a hundred, pump like $42.00, then drive away. She had been a regular customer, perhaps thrice weekly, but I NEVER saw her again, and worked for about 2 years after at the same store. Was she embarrassed, in prison, moved, what?

Personally, I can’t imagine paying for gas and forgetting to pump, but that’s just me…

Joe

37

Since you mentioned Wal Mart , I’ll pass this little gem along. A few years ago my wife was pregnant with our first child. She was about 7 or 8 months along…definately at the ‘huge’ stage of the pregnancy, but still fairly mobile. She heads to Wal Mart one day on the weekend to do our shopping for the month. She’s got this huge cart, filled with assorted items and goes through the self checkout…because Wal Mart is obviously unaware that people come to actually shop at their super stores. Anyway she gets done with it all, bagged and paid for and starts to walk out. The lady at the door stops her and asks to see the receipt and tells her “I just wanted to see if you were going to steal that ribbon or pay for it.”

A $.70 roll of ribbon had fallen through the cracks and my wife didn’t notice it…you know…being all huge and pregnant at the time and struggling to do the self-checkout thing. So this ladies first thought was that my wife bought over 200 worth of groceries and other items, but was trying to make off with the .70 roll of ribbon?!?

She was almost in tears when she got home for being made to feel like she was a thief. Now I understand that stores have to keep an eye on customers. Especially as this store was located not that far away from a lower income neighborhood, but if you were watching close enough to see that the ribbon hadn’t been scanned, why for the ever-lovin’-fuck didn’t you figure that she just missed it and walk over and point it out to her during checkout? Rather than confront her like she’s making off with a TV under her top instead of a baby?

I went back and raised hell with the manager about that. Really ticked me off.

So I guess the moral is to try and head off mis-understandings like that by pointing things out to the customers and assume they forgot, rather than assuming they meant to steal something.

38

I have one of these, which I believe I have recounted to the SDMB before…

Working as a cashier in a large supermarket. Man comes to till with just a cheap pack of butter. I ring it up, say “42 pence please” or whatever. The man starts searching pockets for change, I think it went something like:

“I’ll pay with coins, and can you also change this £20 note?”

“Sure” [waits while customer fiddles with change]

“Actually, I don’t have the change, I’ll just pay with the £20”

“OK.” [Takes £20 note, begins counting change.]

“Oh, actually, I do have the change. Put that back, give me the £20, then I’ll pay with coins.”

“OK, sure.” [puts change back in register, hands customer £20 note, takes coins from customer] “And here’s your receipt”

“Wait, what about the change for my £20?”

“No, I gave that back”

“No, you still owe me change for £20. I gave you £20.”

[Customer is always right, OK, perhaps I did make a mistake, it’s been a long day] “Oh yes, sorry. Here’s a 10 and two 5s.”

[Customer exits store speedily]

A couple of minutes later, I call my manager over.

“I think I was just conned out of £20”

“Oh no! We’ve just had a call from the store down the road where the same thing happened!”

Lesson: the customer is NOT always right. I didn’t get in trouble for it.

39

I would definitely go back and pay for unpaid-for items, but I did have a friend that forgot to pay for something and went back in to pay for it, only to be accused of being a repentant thief.

40

I was at the grocery store this weekend and didn’t notice a packet of tuna. It had gotten caught in the wires of the cart basket. The manager who was running the register filled my first (of two) bags. I loaded it into the cart and it knocked the tuna packet loose.

I reached in and picked it up. I went to hand it to him just as he hit the total button. I said, “Sorry. I didn’t see the tuna pack in the cart.”

He said, “It’s 98 cents. Think of it as an honesty bonus.”

Since he was the manager and not just a bored clerk who didn’t want to retally something, I took it.