Gransnet forums

Ask a gran

Would you have returned it?

(78 Posts)
pipstocking Fri 22-Apr-16 13:40:39

Yesterday as I walked out of a shop I noticed I'd been given too much change (almost £5 too much). I turned round to take it back but the queue was endless and the woman at customer services wasn't around. Plus I was running late. So I walked out. I wouldn't have done if it had been a small company but it's a super super market that I would imagine wouldn't ever notice. Still. I'm feeling uneasy. What would you have done?

durhamjen Fri 22-Apr-16 22:40:33

I know that in a post office, they always have to do an audit at the end of a shift. If the tills are down, it has to be made up from their own pay.
They have to go through receipts, etc., until they find the discrepancy.
Not sure how it works in a supermarket, because they do not change over till drawers like they do in the post office. Also, as many pay by card, it's not up to the individual cashier.

I once had to sack somebody who was taking money from the till. Not a very pleasant experience.

Willow500 Sat 23-Apr-16 06:30:57

I had this discussion with my husband last week and we both said we would go back if we found a mistake had been made. I once worked for a bingo company and if the tills were out at the end of the day whoever was on that shift had to make up the shortage. My DIL also worked in a shop which had the same policy. Working in accounts for a large company I know how difficult it is to write off a discrepancy so guilt would make me stand in the queue to pay it back.

annsixty Sat 23-Apr-16 07:11:20

When my mother was alive I used to collect her pension from the PO but only every few weeks. I was once given more weeks than I should have which was quite a sum of money. When I returned it the assistant called into the back to tell the staff the discrepancy had been found and the clerk responsible came out with tears in her eyes. I felt very good that day.

absent Sat 23-Apr-16 08:02:21

Yes, of course. I have always returned money if I have been given too much change – say change of a £20 note when I had tendered a £10 note, for example. Anything else would be theft. I have also added up an extensive bar tab and found that it had been miscalculated by about £50 in my favour, which I automatically pointed out. Anything else would have been theft.

Marieeliz Sat 23-Apr-16 09:16:13

On a ramble once found a fiver in the mud. When we got to the next town put it in charity box..

Marieeliz Sat 23-Apr-16 09:21:29

On Thursday was in my local M &,S could not believe it as I watched a lady dropping bars of chocolate into a paper carrier which obviously had an expensive purchase from another store in. I could not believe what I was seeing. The store was busy and she just vanished. Now one around for me to speak to.

annsixty Sat 23-Apr-16 09:48:18

I have reported shoplifters on several occasions. Our local M&S simply food, a tiny store, has to have a security guard on the door

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 09:49:36

Would you have dropped her in it? That's so mean! shock

I would have kept the fiver. Might have momentarily wondered about person on till being blamed. If she was old I might have given it back.

Was it Tesco? They must get till discrepancies all the time.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 09:50:27

So glad you lot have enough money to not be put in desperate situations! angry

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 09:51:17

You need to watch it. Who knows when the food bank is just round the corner. hmm

annsixty Sat 23-Apr-16 09:52:03

I pay for my goods and feel everyone else should do the same.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 09:54:17

Best I say no more. Although I would like to.

hicaz46 Sat 23-Apr-16 10:02:10

Get a life. It was only a small amount and if it was such a huge supermarket no one will even notice. Just think of the thousands of pounds they are losing by having food wastage, by having dedicated thieves in the shop and by normal staff pilfering which must go on. Also if the person on the till cannot read what change is needed (shown on till display) and then count it out properly it's certainly not something to feel guilty about. Hundreds or thousands of pounds maybe but under a fiver don't give it another thought.

hummingbird Sat 23-Apr-16 10:11:34

I was walking through the city centre with my daughter, and spotted a note on the floor. I picked it up, looked around, and in the very busy street, no one appeared to be looking for it. I thought it was a ten pound note, but it was £50! I don't know when I last even saw a £50 note! There is no police station anywhere near the town, and taking it into one of the shops would have been pointless. We hmm'd and ha'd over what to do, and concluded that the chances of it ever finding its way back to its owner were too slim. Reader, we shared it! What would you have done?

misunderstood Sat 23-Apr-16 10:52:02

I was once given £10 to much and I went straight back and told the girl she had given me too much, she was so grateful and I felt so good about myself. Every time I go in now she smiles and I know she remembers.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 10:57:07

I wish people wouldn't say 'get a life'. It's so young teenager-ish, apart from being nasty.

Anya Sat 23-Apr-16 11:00:57

But doesn't it just nail it!

Better though for our generation to simply stick with FFS? hmm

Anya Sat 23-Apr-16 11:01:09

wink

bellabrusco Sat 23-Apr-16 11:20:21

The assistant might be questioned about a shortfall in their till when it is cashed up. Then it might be docked from their wages.

sillup Sat 23-Apr-16 11:21:54

For me an resounding absolutely I would have taken it back. Your queasy conscience clearly agrees it would have been the right thing to do. The person on the till probably had to make up the deficit from own pocket.

librarylady Sat 23-Apr-16 11:29:57

Yes, I would give it back - I would have gone back to the cashier and handed it over quickly, doubt very much it would have disrupted the queue at all.

I always go back in circumstances like these but what saddens me is how astonished the cashiers always are. In a slightly different scenario (sp?) I realised when unpacking my shopping that I had been very much undercharged. When I rang the shop to tell them, they obviously had no idea what to do in that situation, only for when people complained they had been overcharged.

To the OP - would the queue have been too long and time too short if your change had been £5 down?

To the finders of notes - well, if it is just lying in the street and there is nowhere obvious it could have come from then you might as well keep it. The £50 note - I know this is a huge generalisation but I feel that people who are short of money don't take their cash in denominations so large. I don't think I have ever seen a £50 note and I have certainly never been offered one in payment

JMHO smile

fairy99 Sat 23-Apr-16 11:50:58

Do you not think it would be a lot easier if your change was counted out into your hand rather than being given a handful of coins? If there's a queue behind you, you can imagine them all rolling their eyes.

Also what annoys me is placing my bag on the counter and the assistant scanning the bar code on an item and pushing it through so hard that the bag gets all scrunched up and you find it hard to get the item in your bag. Once you do there are another three items pushed through so your bag is all scrunched up again, making it harder to pack, thus it takes you longer at the counter. Why can't they use some common sense?

Yes, I would return it if I was given the wrong change.

This is my first post. i enjoy reading all the comments on GN

fairy99 Sat 23-Apr-16 11:50:58

Do you not think it would be a lot easier if your change was counted out into your hand rather than being given a handful of coins? If there's a queue behind you, you can imagine them all rolling their eyes.

Also what annoys me is placing my bag on the counter and the assistant scanning the bar code on an item and pushing it through so hard that the bag gets all scrunched up and you find it hard to get the item in your bag. Once you do there are another three items pushed through so your bag is all scrunched up again, making it harder to pack, thus it takes you longer at the counter. Why can't they use some common sense?

Yes, I would return it if I was given the wrong change.

This is my first post. i enjoy reading all the comments on GN

fairy99 Sat 23-Apr-16 11:50:58

Do you not think it would be a lot easier if your change was counted out into your hand rather than being given a handful of coins? If there's a queue behind you, you can imagine them all rolling their eyes.

Also what annoys me is placing my bag on the counter and the assistant scanning the bar code on an item and pushing it through so hard that the bag gets all scrunched up and you find it hard to get the item in your bag. Once you do there are another three items pushed through so your bag is all scrunched up again, making it harder to pack, thus it takes you longer at the counter. Why can't they use some common sense?

Yes, I would return it if I was given the wrong change.

This is my first post. i enjoy reading all the comments on GN

fairy99 Sat 23-Apr-16 11:50:58

Do you not think it would be a lot easier if your change was counted out into your hand rather than being given a handful of coins? If there's a queue behind you, you can imagine them all rolling their eyes.

Also what annoys me is placing my bag on the counter and the assistant scanning the bar code on an item and pushing it through so hard that the bag gets all scrunched up and you find it hard to get the item in your bag. Once you do there are another three items pushed through so your bag is all scrunched up again, making it harder to pack, thus it takes you longer at the counter. Why can't they use some common sense?

Yes, I would return it if I was given the wrong change.

This is my first post. i enjoy reading all the comments on GN