OT: Cashier Error in our favor....

[sam_gordon]

As someone who has worked retail for over 20yrs, I can tell you that it would be just fine for the OP to call. This sort of thing happens way more often than stores would like. It would not be held against the OP at all. Many people just take back their change without looking, or sign their credit slip without paying attention. No good luck is needed. The OP calls, 99% of the time they will be told they are fine, no harm done. But at least the store knows the cashier was not taking money out of the till, and that they need a reminder to be more careful. Win win.

I think roar's point was how do you ensure they don't mess up the charge AGAIN, maybe putting in $90 instead of $9, not that the OP would be "in trouble".

 

[maxiesmom]

I think roar's point was how do you ensure they don't mess up the charge AGAIN, maybe putting in $90 instead of $9, not that the OP would be "in trouble".

Most stores, at last around here, won't take a payment like that over the phone. They would tell you to forget about it, but that if it really bothers you to pay the difference the next time you were in their store.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The cashier's mistake *could* cost her the job. Would she be fired over $9 bucks? Doubt it.

I should have known a topic like this would cause a stir! Auugh...forum boards! That's why 90% of the time I'm a lurker...

I can sleep easy at night....it wasn't our fault. If the Liquor Store wants to charge our bank account for the difference, then they need to do the leg work. And we wouldn't have a problem with it.

We had a great time drinking our .98 cent beer!


diznee25

Good for you for gloating about it.

If you would have contacted the store - even without a receipt - if your account showed a charge of $98 (still the store's error, not yours), why wouldn't you contact them about this mistake?

Shrink is shrink. The money has to be made up somewhere. If the system is programmed wrong and they're losing $9 on every six-pack of Guinness, they're going to end up raising prices. The vendor isn't going to accept, "Oops, we've been undercharging by almost 90%, so we can only pay you $.98 per six-pack of Guinness we sold last month. Computer glitch".

 

[kaytieeldr]

No she didn't, she paid what the store charged her.

Okay, try this:
Due to human error of which the OP (and now the DIS), but not the person responsible for the mistake, is aware and which the OP refuses to correct, the OP's husband was able to purchase and enjoy a six-pack of beer at 90% off the retail price (a total which probably covered the cost of the bottles alone).

Better?

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, the OP never said the cashier scanned the beer, she said the woman rang up the correct amount on the register, but keyed in the wrong amount into the separate credit card terminal. Her register drawer was $9 short and she will get reprimanded or fired. That's too big an amount to go without action.

Unless there's a post that's been deleted, she didn't say either if those things. She said

My DH picked up a 6 pack of Guinness at the Liquor Store last Saturday, St. Patricks Day. Cashier said the total was $9.80. She swiped my DH's card and asked if he wanted a receipt. He said no. (We don't usually get receipts for small purchases.)

and later

Had my husband known about it when he was there, he would have said something. We just don't feel like going out of our way to go back and have them correct their error.

Nothing in there at all about how the transaction was processed. The OP goes right from the physical action of her husband removing the beer from the display to the cashier quoting him a number.

What just struck me as odd here is that the cashier would read him a number (total due) from the register display - apparently the $9.80 or he would/should have noticed the discrepancy - then swipe his card for ANY different amount... and yet not have the register require additional payment?

 

[stitchlovestink]

Yes. It can cost her her job. Most cashiers are given a leeway of plus or minus $2. After that you can and will be fired. It is thought to be theft.

So you know how ALL employers will handle this situation??

On the flip side- the store probably didn't know something was undercharged, if OP goes back now they may be getting the cashier in trouble! This is a tough one!

I kinda agree with this. If it wasn't detected, it may draw attention and get her in trouble now....

WOW, that is kind of harsh! The cashier is human and humans make mistakes. Being honest when a cashier over or under charges your for something is not bailing the cashier out. None of us are perfect.

In the end the PP and everyone who shops at that store will end up paying for the "cheap beer." It is just like shoplifting, it is considered store shrink and store shrink cuts into store profit, when store profits go down the prices have to be raised. It all adds up.

The excuse that "if I call no one will know what to do anyway" is a poor excuse. I work retail and we know what to do if a customer has been undercharged. Just call and find out, if they don't know what to do at least you tried.

Wow Pretty Harsh of you to compare them to a Shoplifter don't ya think? They paid for the item. Not really their fault that the cashier didn't charge them the correct price... Not saying that they were right or wrong to not speak up about being charged the incorrect price. But they didn't not pay at all....

 

[declansdad]

Okay, try this:
Due to human error of which the OP (and now the DIS), but not the person responsible for the mistake, is aware and which the OP refuses to correct, the OP's husband was able to purchase and enjoy a six-pack of beer at 90% off the retail price (a total which probably covered the cost of the bottles alone).

Better?

I have no idea what you are saying or what this has to do with saying the op shoplifted.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I have no idea what you are saying or what this has to do with saying the op shoplifted.

I'm agreeing with you that the husband didn't shoplift (or steal, or in any manner enter the store with the intention or even inkling of depriving the store of any revenue in any way).

But simply because a mistake was made somewhere in the process and despite that mistake not being the fault/responsibility of the purchaser in any way, now that the customer is aware there's a mistake, it wouldn't be unreasonable to spend a few minutes trying to resolve it.

I'm having trouble picturing how the actual transaction was processed that there was even an issue. None of this is the customer's responsibility, but:
Cashier told customer total, okay. Scanned credit card (or debit as credit), okay. That's all she did. She didn't enter any tendered amount into the register. You don't do that with a card as standard practice. The customer is paying in full with the card. She just scanned the card.

So, either:
The beer price was programmed into the system wrong or the cashier rang it up wrong (either way, store's responsibility) and nobody noticed that the customer was being charged less than a dollar(!) for a six of Guinness; or
Something went wrong somewhere between ringing up the beer and processing the payment and the cashier didn't notice an $8.82 balance due on her display(!); or
It's a problem at the bank.

Yes, I know there are other possibilities; I need sleep.

 

[maxiesmom]

So you know how ALL employers will handle this situation??



I kinda agree with this. If it wasn't detected, it may draw attention and get her in trouble now....



Wow Pretty Harsh of you to compare them to a Shoplifter don't ya think? They paid for the item. Not really their fault that the cashier didn't charge them the correct price... Not saying that they were right or wrong to not speak up about being charged the incorrect price. But they didn't not pay at all....

That poster didn't accuse the OP of shoplifting. They were trying to point out that it is a loss for the store in the same way that shoplifting is. It is all "shrink".