# Cashier Overcharged Me By Three Cents **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651 "2017-05-29T15:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/41 "2017-05-30T07:13:00Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > … I don’t know about the OP’s jurisdiction, but in mine, if the gas pumps are shorting customers (and how did the OP know), that’s handled by the Department of Weights and Measures. Yes and no. Weights and Measures verifies the accuracy of the volume, by comparing an actual gallon of output to what the dispenser displays. When I worked in a gas station, the dispensers (the actual pumps were in the tanks) had stacks of gears to correlate volume to price, and you changed the price by moving the gears up or down the stacks. These days, it appears that the money display is electronically calculated against the output volume. I used to read the meters at closing (small odometer-like counters) and math out how much revenue that would be for each dispenser (based on price), then compare that to the till. But the volume totals never lined up with the fractions for each sale, so the numbers would balance to zero about once every 15 months or so (like that Halloween night, with the mushrooms and – uh, nm). If a vendor can tweak the electronics to make the price fractions of a cent per gallon high, he could rake in extra cash every day, and no one does gallon/dollar math in their heads, so it would go entirely unnoticed, unless a customer pores over every receipt and starts to see consistent overages. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/42 "2017-05-30T11:56:23Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > They went over there the same day you filed a complaint? And you learned about their findings before the day was up? I call bullshit on the whole story. This thread finally got good. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/43 "2017-05-30T12:53:28Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > They went over there the same day you filed a complaint? And you learned about their findings before the day was up? I call bullshit on the whole story. My take is that the entire story took place in the past. He told part of the story, and then revealed the actual outcome. I suspect his thesis was that like his co-workers, he’d get from here a bunch of “get a life,” and “it’s only three cents,” responses, and those responses would have been sharply muted if he revealed the whole story. Having gotten unvarnished reactions, he then revealed the actual outcome. Just my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/44 "2017-05-30T13:05:06Z")
The three cent issue happened about 2 months ago. The store making the local news for shorting customers happened about 4 days ago. The story wan’t really all that interesting when it was just a weird exchange over three cents. Finding out that the store was cheating so many people sheds a new and interesting light on the clerk cheating a customer out of three cents. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/45 "2017-05-30T13:39:24Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > The store making the local news for shorting customers happened about 4 days ago. It made the news? Great! So you can post a link! ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/46 "2017-05-30T13:45:57Z")
You are Frank Columbo and I claim my 3 cents. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/47 "2017-05-30T14:23:13Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > OK, good for you (and thanks for the chicken dinner, can I take a raincheck?). > > I’m a little confused about the timing. I’m guessing (since your OP was this morning and today is a holiday) that this all happened at some time in the recent past? And that you knew all this when you posted the OP? I wonder why you didn’t just post the entire story then … It’s a _Gotcha_. Fair enough. > [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > They went over there the same day you filed a complaint? And you learned about their findings before the day was up? I call bullshit on the whole story. I find it entirely plausible that any office he complained to over 3 cents, rang to tell him the gang was behind bars and he had done his duty. I would. It wraps things up. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/48 "2017-05-30T14:35:43Z")
> [@digs](#): > > It made the news? Great! > > So you can post a link! The only recent news I could find about shortchanging customers was [this article](http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_allows_suit_over_underfilled_boxes_of_reeses_pieces_and_whoppers) about a guy suing Hershey’s for not putting more Whoppers and Reese’s Pieces in their boxes, but there’s a better than average chance that the litigant named is the OP. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/49 "2017-05-30T14:43:15Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > What would you do, if anything? I wouldn’t have noted the price of the sodas, so I would have paid whatever (within reason) the cashier said I owed. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/50 "2017-05-30T14:44:42Z")
I did find [an article](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-area-gas-stations-cited-for-bad-gasoline-11169868.php) about a whole bunch of Houston gas stations which have been cited for overcharging customers. It looks like the Texas Dept. of Agriculture has been involved in a pretty big sweep for the last… wait… > [@Ca3799](#): > > The three cent issue happened about 2 months ago. OP confirmed as secret agent of the Texas Dept. of Ag. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/51 "2017-05-30T15:53:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I did find [an article](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-area-gas-stations-cited-for-bad-gasoline-11169868.php) about a whole bunch of Houston gas stations which have been cited for overcharging customers. It looks like the Texas Dept. of Agriculture has been involved in a pretty big sweep for the last… wait… > > OP confirmed as secret agent of the Texas Dept. of Ag. So a whole bunch of unrelated stations were caught up just because the OP was shrewd enough to catch the three cents! Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/52 "2017-05-30T17:31:08Z")
I did read a shocking story recently about a dog that bit a guy, though. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/53 "2017-05-30T18:27:57Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > The store had sodas on sale 2 for 2 dollars and I wanted to buy a treat for my child(ren) who were just getting out of school that day. > [@Ca3799](#): > > The three cent issue happened about 2 months ago. The schools in your community let out for the summer at the end of March? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/54 "2017-05-30T19:11:32Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > The schools in your community let out for the summer at the end of March? 😕 I’m sure he meant for the day, not for the summer. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/55 "2017-05-31T06:07:59Z")
Is “counting backwards” a fancy way of saying subtraction? I’m not really sure what the difference is or ever being “taught” that but I do most math in my head without being taught (and sometimes can’t explain how I get the answers). It sounds like some fuzzy, new math (though apparently it’s an old thing) that unnecessarily complicates things - sorta like going through so much trouble over 3 cents. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/56 "2017-05-31T07:12:49Z")
In Australia and NZ, we did away with small coinage, and round up or down for cash transactions, (exact for electronic). But the best thing we do is include tax in the total price so it’s not a complicated surprise addition. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/57 "2017-05-31T23:26:36Z")
> [@digs](#): > > It made the news? Great! > > So you can post a link! Yes. Since it made the news. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/58 "2017-06-01T15:14:15Z")
I’m a store cashier. Someone came back to the register to complain that her change was short a penny. I looked at her. “Well, what if you do that to every customer?” I hand about 200 cash customers a shift, and I am not that desperate for two dollars. The cashier next to me had a penny sitting on her register, and I asked her to please give it to me. As soon as she stopped laughing, she did. I gave it to the customer. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651/59 "2017-06-01T15:24:53Z")
I’m always behind that sweet little old lady diligently searching the bottom of her purse for that last penny. I mean, it’s was $2.87 and by damn, she was going to give them $2.87, even if it’s one coin at a time. Hate the worthless penny, not the people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-overcharged-me-by-three-cents/787651.md?page=2)