On the off chance that I notice, I’d give it back.
If I notice it right then, I give it back. Clearly, I was paying attention, and I would have noticed an error in their favor and gotten the correct change.
If I notice it later, I keep it. Clearly, I wasn’t paying attention, so I figure it’s a wash with all the other times I wasn’t paying attention and overpaid.
If it is a small place that the cashier can correct I’ll correct them. If it’s a larger place that’s going to require a supervisor come by to open the register to correct the error I’ve learned to say nothing as opening my mouth has ended in me standing around wasting my time while they try to fix it.
Ditto.
That and I don’t feel right having something that I’m not supposed to.
I would always give it back. Always.
I rarely glance at my change. I know the register tells the clerk what to give me.
I’d say something if it was very noticeable. Like a bill for 11.92. Why did you hand me several quarters? I’m not counting change, just mentally estimating what I should get back.
This.
It isn’t my money. Return it to the proper owner.
Woooooah… This, like, just happened to me a few minutes ago, dude! And it had a twist, too, making it, like, totally relevant!
Getting coffee at my usual coffee shop this morning, the cashier gave me the wrong change (too much, by about a quarter). How do I know this? I order, like, 2 different things here all the time and I know exactly what my change is supposed to be for both. So, I mentioned it to her (she’s a bit new, but she still knows me) and she said “no, it’s correct”. Now it’s way too early in the morning to argue with someone about a quarter, and all the change is going into the tip jar anyway, so I just dropped it.
Yes, because humans never make mistakes…:rolleyes:
I return the excess, always. And if the waiter forgets to add something to my check, I remind them. Nearly always they say “Don’t worry about it!”, but that is their call, not mine.
If they cared enough about getting it right, they would count it properly, doesn’t seem to be asking too much of people.
This is exactly how I think about it, except I always figure the returned change is giving me a pass to feel all self-satisfied and righteous about what a Spectacularly Good Human Being I am. Cheap delusional high right there.
Also it sometimes pays off. Once I accidentally got a candy bar from the school vending machine for .05 instead of .95. Next time I saw the dude that services the machine, I told him and gave him the ninety cents, which he, somewhat bewildered, accepted. Next time I saw him he’d thought about it, and gave me a bar for free, and then did so again the next time I saw him. Self-righteous smugness, AND free candy!
I almost always return the excess.
On the other hand, if the service has been shitty, and the excess is small, I may pocket it without too many moral qualms.
Apparently she does know you…“Give this guy too much change and it comes back to us in the tip jar”.
Yeah, you’re right, I shouldn’t have called it a mistake, but I was just a kid myself at the time.:smack:
So we’ve gone from “they’re dumb” to “they don’t care”. Perhaps when I reach your level of perfection and diligence I, too, will understand. In the mean time, I choose to not ascribe to malice/lack of intelligence/lack of dedication that which can be easily explained by “honest mistake”.
I don’t scrutinize the coins that closely, but I pay attention to the bills and if they’re wrong in my favor or theirs I let them know. Fair is fair.
I cannot remember the last time I paid with currency or coin. I think I have three 20s in a wallet from before Nov 06.