Would you have returned it?

Definitely return or phone up and tell them if you've got home.

Definitely would return it, to protect staff who may have to cover shortfall, but if it happens to them more than once may be accused of stealing, and even lose their job.

My sister works in a supermarket. Its on her contract that shortfalls in the till can be made up by her although I don't know if anyone has ever been made to do so.

I have and would always return too much change.

Over the years I have found 3 purses full of money and managed to return them to the owners. I like to think that if I lost anything it would be returned to me too.

My supermarket place of work doesn't make us repay shortfalls, however we do get interviewed which isn't pleasant. With our system it is difficult to be explicit as to which operator is responsible for a shortfall as there can be several different people covering the same till between till checks ie tea breaks, lunch breaks, follow on shifts. Once a regular customer came back and said she believed she had been short changed by £10. I called my manager who, unusually, said to give the lady the £10. Normally there would be a till check first. An hour later the customer came back with an apology. When she had returned home she'd realised she had been mistaken and brought the £10 back.

Would return it.

I am feeling guilty as realised we lifted an extra compost into the car between us at the garden centre earlier. Will pop and pay for that tomorrow.

Depends which Supermarket it was. I have been 'done' so many times at the one I use I would feel justified in keeping it. But that doesn't make it right. ( Btw I only use this particular one because I like their cakes!)

A girl I knew years ago worked in a night club. When the club closed each night the cleaners would find purses, jewellery and wallets. The manager would take the cash for himself and throw the rest in the bin. A shocking example to the young people who worked for him.

Many years ago when I was a student I worked in a pub in the evenings - I was told that if I broke a glass I had to pay for it out of that evening's wages (2s 6d per hour). The landlord said that a glass cost 2s 6d so I thought that, if I broke four glasses, I'd be working for nothing.
I didn't stay there long.

It's surprising anyone at all works in these places that make staff pay for shortfalls. Mistakes happen. I wonder whether they give any overpayment to those same workers...?

That's news to me

Both of my children work in the retail industry. Any shortfall in the till at the end of the day comes out of their wages.

They would have been out by £5 and may have thought one of their employees had stolen it...you could have gone back later to return it...

Many years ago on a bus in southern Italy we found a wallet stuffed with notes on the seat. We were not well off but still not tempted To be dishonest, and we gave it to the bus driver . Friends later said he would probably keep it, but my response was that it would be on his conscience and not mine. 30 years later still happy I did what I did.

Right-o hicaz. That's much better.

Similar has happened a couple of times to me and when I've gone to put things right, naively expecting at least a 'Thank you' from the recipient, I've had my head bitten off and not even a smile. Yes, I'd probably do the same again but with a heavy heart. Don't always expect gratitude.

OK jingle bell frocks I'll grow up a bit and say ffs. The sentiment is the same, just making a comment not being rude.

That's a shame Jing you'd think people would order items that you liked!

I wouldn't have returned it, but that's just me. If I was in a rush and it was only a small amount then I wouldn't have worried about it. I've much more to worry about than a huge supermarket losing a fiver. Mistakes happen in tills and as a checkout operator I was never asked to make up for any made when I worked for a supermarket.

I have occasionally receive a couple of someone else's shopping in my online shopping order. I keep them of course, but they never seem to be anything to my taste.

Can only repeat what several others have already said - that cashier may have had to repay the shortfall and be monitored now. They are usually on minimum wage too. And I would have gone straight to the cashier and just handed it over - putting it in a charity box won't make that shortfall right.

I recently tried (and failed) to return money to a large supermarket after we were credited for chilled foods that had actually arrived. The customer services person I spoke to said it was easier to refund everyone, than to separate out those (3 customers) who had received their goods. I decided that as the refund wasn't really mine I would use it for a charity (Lend with Care) that lends small amounts of money (micro-finance) to businesses in developing countries. So the supermarket, unbeknownst to them, are sponsoring a food stall in Africa! It seemed entirely appropriate to me!

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Why aren't you paying by card?!!!!

Save all this bother.

Pip, I wouldn't beat myself up over it. You tried your best to give it back and it's not as if you deliberately stole the money or as if it were a large amount. It was the cashier's fault, not yours. And while I feel for her/him if he/she has to make up the difference, maybe they'll learn to be more careful in the future.

However, if your conscience is still pinching, then by all means, bring it back today or give it to charity as PPs have suggested.

About finding money in the street - it's very hard to find the owner, usually, so I can understand if someone just takes it. More noble to put it in a charity box, of course, or keep it but send a check in that amount to the charity of your choice. You (general) could just leave it there, of course, on the chance that the person who lost it will come back to look for it. I did that, once, when I was very young, but later realize it's more likely that someone else just picked it up.

I would have returned it (nipped to the front of the queue and explained to the next person waiting). I know from working in a supermarket during University holidays as a mature student, that large companies not only make the person working on the till (on minimum wage) at the time, pay it back, but they also interview, and monitor them on the basis that they may have stolen it. It happened to me when my till was £10 down. Not pleasent!

If the cashier is too busy, there is no reason why money could not be returned via the Customer Services desk. Everyone happy then because the customer is given a receipt and the cashier's till will be balanced.