I was paid for a job in cash yesterday. This morning I went through the self-service grocery line at Kroger, paid with a $100 bill - and left $61.00 and change behind. :smack: Then I went to the Kroger gas pumps to fill up - and realised I’d left the change in the machine. The station attendant called into the store right away…but someone got my change. I went straight back into the store and talked to a manager to double-check that it hadn’t been turned in - but nothing they can do if it’s not.
Ugh. My fault completely for being an airhead, although an honest person wouyld have turned it in. I really, really hope that whoever took my change was someone who is poor and will put it to good use.
The gas station attendant thought so, but I imagine all they would show is some unidentifiable person using the same self-check-out station, and possibly (or possibly not) taking money out of the change machine that may or may not be theirs. Not worth anyone’s bother for $61.00, for sure.
Oh, that stinks. I’d be screwed if I lost $61. Hopefully you keep a better cushion than I do. I can’t imagine keeping that kind of money if I found it, either…I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
Hope tomorrow is better!
I appreciate your positive attitude regarding the finder. This should work in you favor and against the finder. My view is that money has to be returned if the owner can be found as would be expected in this amount, say anything over $20. I could not sleep knowing I took someone’s money. I feel that the good comes back around if I do the right thing.
PS>Others feel differently. They rationalize that the loser can afford it. This is their punishment for inattention. “I deserve/need this.” “God”(yes, God) was helping me out. Etc.
The person right after you REALLY needed the money, and had prayed for some kind of help. Hell, they weren’t even praying folks but things were just that bad.
I don’t think I’d be able to leave my change behind, even if I wanted to. The machine says about four times, “Please take your change. Coins are dispensed beneath the scanner.”
That happened all the time when I worked at U-Scan. I’d try to keep an eye out, there were quite a few times, almost once a week, that I ran outside to give a person $20-$40 they left in the machine. There were a few instances where I was too late though. If I found the money and was unable to track down the person, I’d tape it to my till until the end of the night. That only happened with a large amount of money ($20) once, and I turned it in at the end of the night. It was stupid of me considering the managers just pocket the money but I was young and naive. :smack:
In my store’s case, we only have one working security camera, facing customer service. Sorry to hear that you lost such a large sum.
That blows. I admire your attitude though. I once freaked the hell out when my last $20 fell out of my pocket at one of those things (luckily it was still on the floor when I came back half an hour later. Must’ve been a slow night) so I can’t even imagine how upset I’d be at $60.
I’m really sorry that happened to you. Being paid in large bills is usually a hassle no matter what. Hoping that someone in need got it is a good way to look at it, and I hope that that someone eventually “pays it forward.”
When they first introduced these machines my mom used her debit card to pay AND get cash back, um ok transaction done where is the money? I’m no idiot but I don’t see anything but the coin cup?
Anyway after fetching an employee the dollar bill change comes out at shoe level in a recessed slot! Impossible to see from standing height, nothing to indicate its there.
As I said in my OP, I was paid in cash for a smallish job (painting contractor, I never ask for cash but if someone hands me green I won’t refuse!) I don’t like having large bills either and the most reliable place to get change is a grocery store or high-volume gas station.
The largest amount of money I ever found was a ten dollar bill, in a park. I kept it. I found a clutch stuffed with credit cards in a movie theater restroom once. After riffling through it and joking with my companion that we could go on a spree in the mall, I turned it in to the manager. I absolutely wouldn’t feel good about myself if I stole someone’s change, and since feeling good about doing the right thing makes me happy, I prefer to do the right thing. For an entirely selfish reason.
grude, I thought the same thing! The place where the change came out was several paces away from where I had to put the money in, and about knee level too. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?
Maybe, but it talks at you at a lot of other times too, and so do the other machines in the background, and there’s lots of other noise, and you’re tired…
Chiro, damn bad luck. But yeah, you probably did make someone’s day. It’d be nice to think it was someone who really needed it.
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve only ever found money when I was really poor and needed it. I’ve always looked around for someone who’d lost it, and if they were there I gave it back (and in one case when it was a (to me) significant amount of money, I handed it in to the police and then got it back when no-one claimed it), but it’s always been a real glowing boon to my life at the time when I’ve found money. Like, the difference between eating and not. Maybe the person behind you was in a similar position.
Still no good for you, though. I hope it doesn’t make the opposite kind of difference for you right now.
I almost did the same thing. I had no cash and all the registers were down. The store said cash only. So I had to go next door and spend 50 cents and asked for $10 back from the self-service machine. After my transaction was finished, I couldn’t find my $10.
I had to flag down a salesperson to show me that my $10 was about knee level. Nowhere near the level of the conveyer belt or countertop. I was already ticked off, so I figured this was a method of clerks making tips when customers forgot their cash back. (grumble grumble).
