Much less than this.
As the cashier kept mentioning a quarter, I will too. The change he gave was correct if you gave him $20.25
QED
I don’t know what I would do. We’ve all played out the scenarios in our heads, imagining how we’d act, decisively, even heroically. None of us really know until we’re there, under pressure, disoriented, adrenaline surging.
You’ve been through a traumatic experience that will take time to process and move past. Just remember, first and foremost: it’s probably not your fault.
23 post over 3 cents.
…and now… 24… :smack:
Assuming I even noticed? Absolutely nothing. They’re pennies.
I’m pretty sure that, in the grand scheme of things, I’ve made more money out of cashiers handing me a dime instead of nine cents than I have from being stiffed a cent or two.
Still, it’s your money and you’re entitled to make a fuss about it if you want to.
Bravo !
Less than half a farthing per post.
According to the OP, it’s not. Somewhere on another message board in another corner of the internet is a 3 page topic started by a cashier trying to figure out if he got scammed for less than a nickel by a customer that was talking in circles about the tax rate and quarters and 17 cents.
I’d take 3¢ out of the “leave a penny” tray and walk away with it. That’ll show 'em! 
Confessions of an ornery critter:
I was there once in my life. Couldn’t let go of any mistake like that. It would bug the hell out of me that someone gave me the wrong change, for chrissake.
Then someone pointed out the big picture shit I was overlooking.
So now mostly I laugh at myself when I catch me doing it, yet again.
I know a store where they charge the regular 7% sales tax on food, which should be 3% here. I ought to inform the state department of revenue of this.
‘Winner Winner Chicken Dinner’ to Roderick Femm who said:
“Alternatively, it may be something the shop owner wants to have happen so that they can have some of their income under the table and not reported for taxes.”
The cashier was up to no good.
He could have not rung up the sale, guessed at the taxable total, and pocketed the two dollars (plus 17 or 20 cents). If he were smart, he would know the tax rate on a two dollar sale and would have given me the correct total price. As a cashier, if he did this once a day he would have and extra $500 a year.
Or he could have rung up the sale as normal, added a little bit to the total, and when he totaled out the drawer at the end of his shift, he could have pocketed the exta money. There were 5 people in line in the few minutes when I was there.
If he took an extra 3 cents from every customer (unlikely), and had, say 10, customers an hour (also unlikely), that’s about $600 a year. This is a busy store- 16 gas pumps.
If he were an **employee **that would probably work for some extra pocket money.
Also, as a clerk, it doesn’t really matter if your drawer is over or under. Both show that you aren’t making change correctly which makes you a bad employee.
If he was the manager of the store, he would have to account for missing merchandise to someone above him. If he kept the loss at a “normal” or “acceptable” rate, whatever that is, I guess he could get away with that.
If he was the owner of the store, he doesn’t have to account for loss of stock to anyone but himself. As an owner, any losses or “extra” money need only to be accounted for to himself. Any “extra” could be quietly collected in his pocket. No one would know.
I have to say, this three cents really bothered me.
He did not make a mistake.
If he rung the sale up, the register would have told him the proper total. Saying “Two twenty” could not be a mistake. The register would have said $2.17".
If he input in my bill- a twenty dollar bill- the register would have told him how much change to give me. That change would have been $17.80.
I did not give him a quarter, as he claimed.
He did not say he was out of pennies.
He was actually pretty good at quick addition and subtraction- he could figure out how much change to give me to the nearest quarter. Lots of peolle have trouble with that.
Like Joey P, I ran a register for too long and also raced the register to make change. It’s a math problem I can do quickly in my head .
Evan Drake said “That has been the downfall of millions of thieves: instead of relying on an occasional percentage to keep themselves in luxury, they draw attention by the audacity and scope of their criminality — in this case maybe stealing 12 (sic) cents a time — and worse, which leads to the Débâcle, they never know when to stop.”
And that’s what the true story is here.
This 3 cents niggled me. The comments I got at work were similar to the ones you see here- the clerk was confused (but it is suspicious!), it’s not important, it’s mundane and pointless, you owe the clerk money, etc.
LOL!
I filed a complaint with my State’s Comptrollers O.
I felt kind of stupid about it, but that 3 cents really bothered me.
The comptroler’s office called me. I told them “This will probably be the most ridiculous compaint you have had in a while”, and explained what happened.
They sent investigators to the gas station. Not only was the owner nickle-and-diming customers at the counter, he was also shorting the customers who bought gas there (remember, there are 16 gas pumps at this busy station). All of the gas pumps were set to deiver less gas than what was indicated on the display.
So, he was cheating everyone who bought gas and at least some who shopped in the store.
And my annoyance at that three cent overcharge was what got caught!
"I filed a complaint with my State’s Comptrollers O.
I felt kind of stupid about it, but that 3 cents really bothered me.
The comptroler’s office called me. I told them “This will probably be the most ridiculous compaint you have had in a while”, and explained what happened.
They sent investigators to the gas station. Not only was the owner nickle-and-diming customers at the counter, he was also shorting the customers who bought gas there (remember, there are 16 gas pumps at this busy station). All of the gas pumps were set to deiver less gas than what was indicated on the display.
So, he was cheating everyone who bought gas and at least some who shopped in the store.
And my annoyance at that three cent overcharge was what got caught!"
Gah- typos! Somebody has probably been drinking (and maybe it’s you.)
Please read the above as:
I filed a complaint with my State’s Comptroller’s Office.
I felt kind of stupid about it, but that 3 cents really bothered me.
The Comptroller’s Office called me. I told them “This will probably be the most ridiculous complaint you have had in a while”, and explained what happened.
They sent investigators to the gas station. Not only was the owner nickle-and-diming customers at the counter, he was also shorting the customers who bought gas there (remember, there are 16 gas pumps at this busy station). All of the gas pumps were set to deliver less gas than what was indicated on the display.
So, he was cheating everyone who bought gas and at least some who shopped in the store.
And my annoyance at that three cent overcharge was what got him caught!
Over a lifetime, that could add up to quite a lot!
Pussy. I say take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure of effective vengeance.
Geez - if my store fired everyone who was the least bit over or under we’d have no cashiers at all.
Look, I get that in theory you want perfection in a cashier but these days we’re expected to move at a breakneck pace. The central corporate office seems to value speed over actual customer service at times.
During an eight hour shift you are, apparently, expecting that bills will never stick to each other and that coins will never be in the wrong slot. You will never have a customer that spends an inordinate amount of time fumbling for a penny he/she doesn’t have when it’s faster and makes the other customers more happy for you to tell the person to just forget about the penny so you can keep the line moving. And a half dozen other very common problems that come up.
Even the best employees make an occasional mistake. That doesn’t make them bad, it just means they’re human.
Of course, under/over shouldn’t be routine, but labeling an employee that makes an occasional mistake as “bad” is pretty poor management.
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 …
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.
Not just the same day, but on a federal holiday.
Also, 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.
According the the website for the Texas comptroller. “The Comptroller’s office is the chief tax collector, accountant, revenue estimator and treasurer. It also offers business assistance, taxpayer assistance, handles the state’s college savings plan, and handles unclaimed property for Texas.”
Also, according to their twitter feed…“Our offices are also closed today in observance of Memorial Day.”
Yeah, me too.
I live in the same state as the OP.
I had a book of checks stolen from me in the mail. The GIRL* went around town writing all sorts of checks. I had to go to the bank, sign the affidavits, and talk to the police.
The bank was prompt in giving me my money back. But after my initial interview with the police, they were very hush-hush and would not give me any info as to whether or not they caught the girl who stole my checks.
Which annoyed the crap out of me.
*I’m a guy. Person who stole my checks was very much a girl signing my very obviously male name to these checks, and not once did anyone stop to think to question this girl. :smack: