# I inadvertently scammed McDonald's **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723 "2013-10-08T21:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/61 "2013-10-09T08:16:59Z")
I’m quite surprised at how moral everyone is. Or maybe I don’t have a well developed sense of guilt or something, because I wouldn’t bat an eyelid, just keep the money and forget about it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/62 "2013-10-09T10:03:37Z")
I’d say go back. They video tape everything. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/63 "2013-10-09T13:52:59Z")
Definitely 3. Also make sure you tell the story of where the money fell and how embarrassed you were when you found it. Customers doing the right thing is so rare that the stories get retold over and over so you might as well give them some entertaining details. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/64 "2013-10-09T16:05:38Z")
managers previously would ask people to look and see if they dropped part of the change. after the hot coffee thing they don’t want people wiggling around with their orders. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/65 "2013-10-09T17:15:01Z")
I definitely would go back and tell tehm that you made a mistake so the cashier doesn’t get blamed for it. I have a lot of sympathy for people who are working a shitty job for close to minimum wage. I would not want to make their lives harder by causing them to get in trouble at work. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/66 "2013-10-09T17:30:30Z")
I’d go with 3, because I work in retail and I can tell you that the cashier probably only has a limited number of times her register till can be off before she gets fired regardless of how good an employee she is. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/67 "2013-10-09T17:40:11Z")
#3, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/68 "2013-10-09T19:01:49Z")
> [@Andy](#): > > I’m quite surprised at how moral everyone is. Or maybe I don’t have a well developed sense of guilt or something, because I wouldn’t bat an eyelid, just keep the money and forget about it. Ordinarily I’d be with you. If I discovered that three days ago, I ended up somehow with too much change from McDonald’s, I’d be like “Whatever,” then continue drinking. But he told on her to the manager and possibly got her in trouble. I’d feel bad about that and would want to make sure no one’s punished because I screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/69 "2013-10-09T19:19:30Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Definitely 3. Also make sure you tell the story of where the money fell and how embarrassed you were when you found it. Customers doing the right thing is so rare that the stories get retold over and over so you might as well give them some entertaining details. I’ll go with #3 as well, and second the motion above. But make it REALLY entertaining. Maybe something about how the $10 got stuck way down between the carpet and the floor of the car, and you had to take the door sills off to get at it, and when you propped the door sills up against the garage wall, they fell over, frightening your dog. Your dog then ran away in fright, and took off to a neighbors house, where you chased it, and found, just in the nick of time, that your neighbor had fallen, and you were able to call an ambulance and save her life. So the $10 “missing change” incident actually ended up saving a person’s life. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Rowland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@Rowland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rowland)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/70 "2013-10-09T19:21:33Z")
Go back and explain situation believe me, do great things and great things will come to you, it is karma. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/71 "2013-10-10T02:55:08Z")
Sorry about taking so long to get back but I was busy. I just read this thread and I learned a lot about retail, since I’ve never worked a register. For those wondering, i wasn’t able to go back at the same time because it was about 2 AM and I need sleep, so i went in when I got a chance, and told a random manager what happened and that I didn’t want the cashier to get into any trouble. He mentioned that they had just done payroll, that the till being short was not uncommon, that they apparently would have docked the wages if the till was short, and that after a set amount of variances the employee would be fired. I told him the time and date when I was in and he said he would “check the video”. He didn’t write anything down but he did say that he would apologize to the cashier for me, told me most people wouldn’t have bothered to return the money and shook my hand. I feel that I at least did what I could to fix my mistake, and I can sleep a little better. Also, FWIW last time I checked I only had X-chromosomes. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/72 "2013-10-10T13:57:59Z")
1. Keep it. Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/73 "2013-10-10T14:10:23Z")
Thanks for getting back to us. You did all you could do. I congratulate you. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/74 "2013-10-10T14:38:19Z")
::Tips hat:: **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/75 "2013-10-10T17:17:59Z")
Good on you! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/76 "2013-10-10T17:54:02Z")
Making the world a better place \*and \*fighting ignorance at the same time, good on ya! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/77 "2013-10-11T14:00:28Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I went through the drive through at McD’s and handed them a $20 bill. My charge was $6 and change. I looked down at the change in my hand and I had 3 ones and change. I called over the teenager and told her that I had given her a 20 and was $10 short. She said that she had given me the correct change. I showed her the 3 ones. She called over her manager who listened to the story, opened the register and gave me a ten. I put it away in my wallet. 3 days later I was getting something out of the pocket in the driver’s door and there was a $10 bill which obviously had slipped down when I got my change. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do. Here are what I see as my options: > > …snip…d tell them I overpaid the last time (risk of worker just pocketing the money) > > 1. Go into the store, find the manager and explain the whole thing to make sure the girl who was working the window doesn’t get blamed (a hassle and they may think I’m crazy) This really is your only option. Honor and integrity demand that you do this. It is the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/78 "2013-10-11T14:27:18Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > For those wondering, i wasn’t able to go back at the same time because it was about 2 AM and I need sleep, so i went in when I got a chance, and told a random manager what happened and that I didn’t want the cashier to get into any trouble. He mentioned that they had just done payroll, that the till being short was not uncommon, that they apparently would have docked the wages if the till was short, and that after a set amount of variances the employee would be fired. I told him the time and date when I was in and he said he would “check the video”. He didn’t write anything down but he did say that he would apologize to the cashier for me, told me most people wouldn’t have bothered to return the money and shook my hand. I feel that I at least did what I could to fix my mistake, and I can sleep a little better. Well done! Not only can you feel good about yourself, but you helped the cashier too. And it didn’t cost you any money… ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/79 "2013-10-12T00:08:36Z")
Why the concern that anyone will “think you are crazy”? Not only is this unlikely, since there would be nothing crazy about it, but if they do, why do you care? Give the money back and explain what happened. This is not heroic or crazy, just common decency. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-inadvertently-scammed-mcdonalds/670723/80 "2013-10-12T00:37:17Z")
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