# You buy something. In the car you find the clerk gave you a 50 instead of a 10. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775 "2005-02-24T22:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/101 "2005-02-26T03:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Casey1505 I would like to call bullshit on at least half of you who said you’d return it. > > I don’t doubt that some of you who said you’d return it actually would, but I’m not buying that all of you would. You’d giggle to yourself “Hee Hee! Forty bucks!” and figure out how to spend it. > > I consider myself a decent guy, but I’m certainly not the angel that this thread seems to be attracting. OP’s situation happens to me, and we goin’ to Sizzler. > > I’ve lost a few bucks here and there, and in some of those cases, I know someone saw me drop it. Sometimes it was a buck or two, sometimes it was a twenty or larger. I never got any of it back. Must be nice to live in a place where everyone always says and does The Right Thing. Do you get a lot of rain there on the weekends? I found an envelope outside a store with couple hundred dollars in it. It was on a tourist street in Nashville. People were passing back and forth and I didn’t see who dropped it. I turned the money into the store, not knowing if the store workers would steal it or the owner would come for it, but it made me feel better. Two weeks later the store sent me the cash because no one ever claimed it. I was honest, the store was honest and it ended well for me anyway. At other times I’ve seen people drop money and I’ve stopeed them and returned it. It’s just the right thing to do. Even if no one else would do the right thing, at least I know I have. StG ---
**Author:** ![thewombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thewombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thewombat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/102 "2005-02-26T03:27:00Z")
To echo Canadiangirl, it doesn’t happen often here. The difference between blue ($5), purple ($10), green ($20), and red ($50) is pretty noticeable. I’m a poor student. Previously, I might have said I’d go back to point out I’d been given change for a $50 instead of a $10, but I might keep an extra buck or so. But last week, the clerk gave me a two dollar coin instead of a loonie (one dollar coin). I noticed it when she handed it to me, but I grabbed my gorcery bags, and took two steps… then, still holding my change, I turned right around and told her she’d given me a dollar to much. It wasn’t even the guilt, it was more the crazy “Must be correct!” part of my brain, which wouldn’t accept the inventory of my wallet being off, even by one dollar. ---
**Author:** ![thewombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thewombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thewombat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/103 "2005-02-26T03:28:37Z")
Sorry. Substitute ‘too’ for ‘to’ and ‘grocery’ for ‘gorcery’. It’s the stress, I tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/104 "2005-02-26T04:32:34Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > I refuse to believe, though, that there is an island full of dishonest people. No, no, there’s an island where half the people tell the truth all the time and half the people lie all the time, and you only get one question, duh. 😉 I am in no way religious and I would absolutely return the money. The cashier will be liable for it, and it’s wrong to keep it. I would return any sum I noticed; I would almost assuredly not notice a penny or other change, since I just dump it in my purse. I don’t count my change generally. If I had an extra 20, though, and I knew where it had to have come from, I would absolutely take it back. It isn’t my money. Once you know about it, it is a moral choice. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/105 "2005-02-26T05:27:50Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > I don’t doubt that some of you who said you’d return it actually would, but I’m not buying that all of you would. You’d giggle to yourself “Hee Hee! Forty bucks!” and figure out how to spend it. So who precisely are you calling a liar? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/106 "2005-02-26T13:19:49Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I return it. Even small amounts. > > Once on a trip I stopped at a McD’s and went through the drive through. I ordered and pulled up to the window to pay. The girl was chatting and she turned to me, gave me 11 cents and said thanks, please pull forward. I told her that she hadn’t taken my money yet and I returned the 11 cents. > > It was the right thing to do, but I think she could have at the least thanked me for being honest. I should amend my answer just a little. I would return it if I noticed. As often as not, I just stuff the change in my pocket and not look at it. Of course, the OP dis say “In the car you find…” so I guess my answer remains mostly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/107 "2005-02-26T13:45:31Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > **Lobsang** said the same thing and when I asked for a cite admitted he had made it up. Actually, he said that once you were \*out the door \* the money was yours. Now it’s “once you depart the checkout.” Respectfully, this makes so little sense to me that I will have to ask for a cite. Any UK legal type Dopers want to chime in? For what it’s worth, the person who told me this is a senior auditor for the Crown Courts. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/108 "2005-02-26T15:25:58Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > No. Not whooshing. > > I’d keep it because if the situation were reversed, I’d be stuck with the $10. Show me a retailer that will correct mistakes in my favor and I’ll be happy to help correct mistakes in their favor. [Publix Supermarket and Customer Satisfaction.](http://www.publix.com/about/newsroom/NewsReleaseItem.do?newsReleaseItemPK=1235) Publix has a program where if the item rings up the wrong price, you get one FOR FREE (this excludes tobacco and alcohol products). The others you get at the shelf price. Also, if ANY product (excluding tobacco and alcohol) does not meet to your satisfaction, you get your money back. It’s called the Publix Promise. Speaking as a part time cashier, a $40 shortage would take me off of cash (meaning I would be bagging or organizing shelves) for 3 months. Do you really want to embarrass a person for 3 months for making a simple mistake? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/109 "2005-02-26T16:05:33Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > So who precisely are you calling a liar? Anyone who has ever plucked an extra coin out of a payphone or vending machine, picked up a stray dollar off the street, or took the $4.37 credit accidentally applied to their electricity bill, said nothing, and then posted that they would return the money, no matter how small the amount. Like I said, I don’t doubt that some of the posters actually would return money or call the utility that credited them over what they should. I’m just finding it very hard to believe that the percentage is as high as this thread makes it out to be. If I’m in line at the store behind you, and you pull a wad of money out of your pocket to pay, and I see you drop a fiver or whatever, I tap you on the shoulder and hand it back to you. If, when my order has been rung out, I pay, and go home to find that the cashier wasn’t paying attention and gave me a $20 instead of a $10, that’s his fault, not mine. I keep the money, and if he has to pay the till back because he was too busy chatting up his bagger to pay attention to what he’s doing, fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/110 "2005-02-26T16:24:27Z")
What the hell is wrong with you people who would keep it? Someone once left a wallet in my booth at a music festival. I felt filthy just opening it up to look for ID, especially when I found that it was full of cash. If there is a way to return lost money to its owner, an honest person does it, whether it’s a dime dropped by the person in line in front of you or a mistaken $50 in change from a clerk. Karma can be a blessing or a bitch—your call. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/111 "2005-02-26T17:43:09Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Anyone who has ever plucked an extra coin out of a payphone or vending machine, picked up a stray dollar off the street, or took the $4.37 credit accidentally applied to their electricity bill, said nothing, and then posted that they would return the money, no matter how small the amount. How silly. Those situations are nowhere near the same situation that we’ve been discussing. I’m not even going to discuss your payphone/stray dollar/vending machine claims. You _may_ have a point on the accidental credit on the electric bill, however the customer would have to KNOW it was an accident. My electric company fiddles with my account all the time: sometimes it’s in my favor, sometimes theirs. If I got a credit like that, I would assume that their accountants caught a mistake in my favor. The only way you’re going to know if it was an accident is if you call them. Some people may call the electric company, but if they don’t, I don’t think it’s fair to call them dishonest. They’d have to know first that it was an actual mistake. Most people are going to trust the electric company’s hoard of number crunchers over themselves and assume they know what they’re doing when they credit them. The electric company, generally speaking, isn’t about to give anyone free money. I’ll take it a step further: let’s pretend some of the “I’d give it back” people in the thread have, in the past, intentionally taken money that wasn’t theirs. (I am sure 100% of us in the past have unintentionally done it, and we just don’t realize it.) Maybe they did something _really_ shitty like not return a wallet full of cash or whatever. Past does not dictate future. People are capable of growing and changing. My point is that you don’t know anyone else’s mind but your own, so to call bullshit on those who say they’d return it is pretty misguided. If you’re that good at reading minds, you should be able to make enough money doing it so that you wouldn’t have to keep the extra $40 at the grocery store 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/112 "2005-02-26T18:20:23Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > I’ll take it a step further: let’s pretend some of the “I’d give it back” people in the thread have, in the past, intentionally taken money that wasn’t theirs. Then my call of bullshit is valid, although I will concede that my phrase “at least half” may have been shooting a bit high. Many of the “I’d return it no matter what” crowd seem to have implied that they never ever kept money that wasn’t rightfully theirs. Note that I never once called bullshit on _everyone_. > [@](#): > > I am sure 100% of us in the past have unintentionally done it, and we just don’t realize it. So, if you find yourself up $40 after a day at the mall where you’ve visited many stores, the food court, took in a movie, and had your tires rotated at Sears, it’d be pretty impossible to know what establishment gave you the extra money. One would be absolved of bad karma then and only then, right? > [@](#): > > Maybe they did something _really_ shitty like not return a wallet full of cash or whatever. To borrow a phrase, how silly. This situation is nowhere near the same situation that we’ve been discussing. 😉 > [@](#): > > If you’re that good at reading minds, you should be able to make enough money doing it… If you came to my caravan for a prophecy, and I gave you back more change than you were owed, you’d still give it back to me, even after this discussion with me? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/113 "2005-02-26T22:53:36Z")
> [@Carm6773](#): > > Speaking as a part time cashier, a $40 shortage would take me off of cash (meaning I would be bagging or organizing shelves) for 3 months. Do you really want to embarrass a person for 3 months for making a simple mistake? Not to be harsh, but do you not think there should be consequences for making a mistake that large, regardless of whether the money was returned? /Ms Cyros ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/114 "2005-02-27T02:26:21Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Not to be harsh, but do you not think there should be consequences for making a mistake that large, regardless of whether the money was returned? > > /Ms Cyros You’d be surprised how easy it is to make that type of mistake when it’s busier than hell and you’re tired. Happened to me today, in fact. I accidentally put a 10 in with my 5s. I caught it immediately 'cause it was kinda slow. And, let’s face it, we’re not perfect. Shit happens. That’s why it’s important to follow the Golden Rule. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/115 "2005-02-27T02:44:51Z")
Sure, I’d return the money. Heck, just this morning I bought coffee and a bag of chips at the local convenience store, laid out four bucks on the counter near where another customer had left change for a small purchase. The clerk shoved a dollar bill back at me, “It’s $3.60,” and I answered, “No, that’s not mine,” and pushed the change back toward her, apart from my money. As it happened, the store owner then looked over and chimed in, “Yeh, so-and-so bought such-and-such,” and All Was Revealed. But that’s my automatic reaction in such situations. I’ve run after people in the street who’ve dropped money, calling and waving the bill(s) at them. I’m no saint, I’ve done dishonest things in my life, but this sort of thing? No-brainer – you return what isn’t yours. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/116 "2005-02-27T16:48:52Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Like I said, I don’t doubt that some of the posters actually would return money or call the utility that credited them over what they should. I’m just finding it very hard to believe that the percentage is as high as this thread makes it out to be. So which of them are you calling liars? > [@](#): > > If, when my order has been rung out, I pay, and go home to find that the cashier wasn’t paying attention and gave me a $20 instead of a $10, that’s his fault, not mine. I keep the money, and if he has to pay the till back because he was too busy chatting up his bagger to pay attention to what he’s doing, fuck him. And just because you don’t find this immoral doesn’t mean that the majority of the population (or the **very** non-representative list of people who have responded in this thread) agrees with you. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/117 "2005-02-27T19:51:36Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > So which of them are you calling liars? If you seriously give the money back, have always in the past, and will always in the future, then rest assured I’m not calling you a liar. My experience as both the finder/keeper and the loser/weeper is different than yours, apparently. As was pointed out earlier, I don’t know anyone else’s mind but my own, so to go ahead and single out specific posters would be a ridiculous thing to do. My point was that in _my_ experience, the percentage of people who would return the money in the OP’s hypothetical situation is not as high as it is in this thread. You, yourself, go on to call this thread non-representative of the general population. Thank you for seeing it my way. 😃 Besides, it’s not like I’m constantly being handed back extra change. I can’t remember the last time I was on the receiving end. Maybe the next time I am, I give the money back because of this thread. I have, in the past however, kept it. I don’t even remember the amount, but it’s not like it moved me into a different tax bracket or anything. Maybe a few bucks, a $10 instead of a $5 or something like that. > [@](#): > > _And just because you don’t find this immoral doesn’t mean that the majority of the population (or the **very** non-representative list of people who have responded in this thread) agrees with you._ Guess it’s a good thing the forum is titled “In **My** Humble Opinion.” My opinion of the situation obviously differs from many in the forum. It was explored for a while, and while what _I_ would do seems disagreeable to a number of respondents, the discussion remained very civil. We seem to have almost agreed to disagree. Isn’t free thought a wonderful thing? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/118 "2005-02-27T20:17:16Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > $40 is a lot. A dollar, maybe even 5, I’d keep walking with. $40? > > I’ve also worked as a cashier, and the place I worked at happened to be unrelentingly strict. If your drawer didn’t match at the end of the day by one _penny_, you got written up. Second offense, have a “counseling” with the boss. Third offense, written, counseling, and you got put on probation. > > Fourth offense? Fired. > > Now I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum, as many of you have. $40 is too much to pocket and walk off. But neither do I feel any guilt in keeping that extra dollar or 5. I have always returned money when I have been over compensated in change (if I notice) and have never given it a second thought. A few weeks ago my daughter and I went out to lunch. We were so caught up in conversation that I forgot to leave a tip. The restaurant was far from home and I didn’t want to turn back. I called as soon as I got home, told them where we were seated, got the name of the waitress, and mailed her my tip plus a few extra dollars and a note apologizing for the oversight. I feel that I would be stealing money whether it be a forgotten tip or getting too much change. However - If a cashier has a bad drawer a second, third, or fourth time, then they obviously have a problem doing the job they were hired to do and should be counseled, written up, and eventually fired. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of the customers to continuously correct the errors of the employee. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/119 "2005-02-27T20:18:23Z")
I’d keep, it no question. I worked in retail for 4 years in a managerial position, so I know about shortages and the like. You’re right, $40 would probably get a cashier at least a slap on the wrist, but it’s a well deserved slap on the wrist. > [@Carm6773](#): > > You’d be surprised how easy it is to make that type of mistake when it’s busier than hell and you’re tired. Happened to me today, in fact. I accidentally put a 10 in with my 5s. I caught it immediately 'cause it was kinda slow. > > And, let’s face it, we’re not perfect. Shit happens. That’s why it’s important to follow the Golden Rule. As harsh as it may sound, it’s NEVER too busy to verify change. Where I worked, we had a policy of counting change at least twice before handing it to a customer, and the biggest shortage I ever got from a cashier was $4.00 or so. If a cashier is irresponsible enough to let $40 of _the store’s_ money walk off, then they should be prepared to use _their own money_ to make up the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775/120 "2005-02-27T20:22:35Z")
Give it back if I noticed soon enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-buy-something-in-the-car-you-find-the-clerk-gave-you-a-50-instead-of-a-10/291775.md?page=7)