Set-up for a short-change scam?

[Yetty]

A few days ago I purchased refreshments at a coffee chain in Heathrow T4 departures. My items cost £11.75 and the cashier rings in the £11.75 sale correctly. However, after I pass 2x£10 notes, the cash register incorrectly indicates only £12.00 was tendered. Me: [very loud] “Hey, I gave you two 10 pounds notes, don't you short change me!” Cashier: [all smiles, examining the notes at low and close to waist level, replies in mumbly pigeon English] “I entered £12.00 incorrectly, don't worry you get change of 20 pounds”.

The cashier, still smiley and mumbley, then presents correct 8.25 change. Suspicious, I ask cashier to place the change on the counter, I take a close look before taking it myself.

Tell me, I did experience being set-up for a short changing scam here, I didn't over-react?

 

[marcros]

I am not convinced that you identified a scam.

 

[Yetty]

That's interesting, sometimes I react and don't manage a sensible response in a timely manner . Hence the post to see what other folks thought!

 

[sunnybob]

Hes not scamming you, hes raking it off the till roll into his own pocket.
Call it a service charge.

 

[finneyb]

A few years ago someone tried similar with my wife.
She handed a £ 20 note over , but we getting change for a £10.
Until she quoted the last three digits of the £20 note - end of discussion !


Brian

 

[sammy.se]

A few years ago someone tried similar with my wife.
She handed a £ 20 note over , but we getting change for a £10.
Until she quoted the last three digits of the £20 note - end of discussion !


Brian

Omg are you married to Rainman?

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Yetty]

Hes not scamming you, hes raking it off the till roll into his own pocket.
Call it a service charge.

Does "raking it off the till roll" still work for the cashier when the customer gets the correct change?

 

[Yetty]

A few years ago someone tried similar with my wife.
She handed a £ 20 note over , but we getting change for a £10.
Until she quoted the last three digits of the £20 note - end of discussion !

Blimey, that raises the mental bar for transaction alertness!

 

[marcros]

Hes not scamming you, hes raking it off the till roll into his own pocket.
Call it a service charge.

but that doesn't work either. if you bought £11.75 worth of goods which was rung in, then the same needs to be in the till to make it balance. if the customer was given the correct change, then it doesn't matter what was stated as the cash tendered, it either balances or doesn't. if it doesn't, then it will be identified at cashing up time.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I'm not sure if it was a scam or not - probably. I never cease to be amazed by how many sales staff rely on the till to do their arithmetic for them - they can't do it themselves. It occurs to me that - especially in airports - sales staff often take coins which may turn out to be not British - either proffered by accident or by design. I inadvertently offered a one euro coin instead of a one pound coin a week or two ago.

I expect that till shortages have to be made up by the till operator - so if they take a euro for a pound, for example, they may then have until the end of the shift to make good by "cheating" one or more other customers. A bit like what most people would do if they received a counterfeit coin - pass it on to the next mug.

For me the real scam at Heathrow was £11.50 for a couple of hours parking - waiting for an arrival!

 

[RickG]

Modern cash registers need to have the correct money rung in, otherwise they will have a discrepancy in the amount of change at cashing up. I would imagine this is a fiddle that all the staff at this concession are in on.

As for expensive parking. Try Stansted pick-up area: £3.50 for 10 minutes. If you take too long to get through, you get a £25 fine.

 

[Lons]

Hes not scamming you, hes raking it off the till roll into his own pocket.
Call it a service charge.

but that doesn't work either. if you bought £11.75 worth of goods which was rung in, then the same needs to be in the till to make it balance. if the customer was given the correct change, then it doesn't matter what was stated as the cash tendered, it either balances or doesn't. if it doesn't, then it will be identified at cashing up time.

Surely it can work Marcros.

The way I read it was the challenge was made before change was tendered so therefore the cashier could in theory have given him 25p change and pocketed the £8 surplus in which case the till would balance. Who knows, could have put only 1 note in the till and 2 pound coins from her own money.
Happens in shops and supermarkets.

I would be very suspicious, sounds like a scam / theft to me.

ps, I'm just off to note down the numbers on my cash.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

....Modern cash registers need to have the correct money rung in, otherwise they will have a discrepancy in the amount of change at cashing up....

That's what I was on about - the operator, who will no doubt be "logged on" to the till (and quite likely under CCTV surveillance), will have to make up for any shortfall - from his own pocket - identified at cashing-up time. If they know there's going to be a shortfall, or suffered from one on a previous shift, they have an incentive to make up for it!

 

[Garno]

Maybe it was just a genuine mistake.
Most of you would of had her sacked and arrested by now, in fact someone even suggested that all of the staff at that concession were in on it.
We are living in a society where we no longer believe in mistakes we now believe something more sinister is afoot.

 

[dzj]

Is it customary in the UK to round up to the nearest pound in cafes?

 

[Yetty]

Is it customary in the UK to round up to the nearest pound in cafes?

Nope

Maybe it was just a genuine mistake.
Most of you would of had her sacked and arrested by now, in fact someone even suggested that all of the staff at that concession were in on it.
We are living in a society where we no longer believe in mistakes we now believe something more sinister is afoot.

I remain suspicious but as nothing is proven, so I'm going to park this in my mind trying to take the optimistic view 'maybe it was a mistake'.
Thanks for all your views.