Here’s a question for ya…
Posted on June 21, 2007
Filed Under Ranting
Without giving too many details, there is a place that I go to several times a week where I purchase the exact same thing. The people at the shop know my order and when I walk up they usually ask if I’ll have “the usual”. While it’s being prepared, I take my order slip and move down to the register. My total is the same every day so I am almost always prepared with the proper amount of cash. I leave the remainder of the coin change for their tip jar.
Because of this regularity, I am to the point now where I basically walk by the register and set the money down and the guy just knows what to charge and he knows that the changes goes in their bucket. It’s not quite to the level of everybody in the place yelling my name ala “NORM” from Cheers, but still it’s a comfortable place and I enjoy the familiarity and having the people behind the counter recognize me as a “regular”. It’s probably an ego thing, but whatever…
So, a week or two back, I thought I saw something odd happen. But, I wasn’t sure. I certainly didn’t want to accuse anybody of anything without knowing for certain that I saw what I saw. But I made a mental note to look out for the signs of a repeat offense. The next few times I went I stayed extra alert but still couldn’t be 100% certain that I saw what I thought I saw. Until today. Today, without a doubt in my mind, I did in fact see what I thought I saw. My question now is, what to do about it.
What the hell am I talking about, you ask?
As I walk by the register and set my money down in front of the regular cashier, I repeated my order to him and he nodded in agreement. I walked over to my normal spot where I wait for my order to be completed. I then observed the following:
- The cashier grabbed my money and folded it in his hand.
- He then mock-typed some stuff on the touch screen register.
- He looked around at all the other employees (including his boss who was no less than 5 feet away)
- He then reached out with the same hand that’s holding the cash and grabbed the slip of paper that had my order on it.
- He crumpled the slip of paper in his hand and put his two hands together.
- He switched the cash from one hand to the other.
- In one motion he tossed the trash from his right hand in to the waste basket and placed his left hand (with the cash) in his pants pocket.
Like I said, I had THOUGHT I had seen this happen before. One of the main reasons I thought I had noticed it before was the absence of the sound of the register opening and shutting. So today, I can say with 100% certainty, he pocketed my cash.
When I said I have a question, actually, I have a few:
- Should I confront him about it?
- Should I tell his manager?
- Should I leave only half the money next time and wink at him in a knowing way so I get a discount and he pockets only half?
- Is it my duty to stand in front of him to make sure he rings it up and hands me my change so that he can’t continue to rip off his employer?
As I try to figure out what to do, here are some things that run through my head:
- Business work on a profit basis. If they don’t make enough profit, their prices go up. That hurts me in the long run.
- I hate confrontation.
- Why doesn’t this place have cameras?
- I really hate confrontation.
So, I’m torn. I don’t know what to do, if anything. I know how I’m leaning but I won’t say just now as to not sway the voting. But please, leave me a comment and let me know what you would do.
Thanks.
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24 Responses to “Here’s a question for ya…”
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Being me, I’d probably pull him aside and ask to talk to him and tell him that I noticed he is doing that and see what he thinks I should do? That way the moral dilemma is in his lap and confrontation levels are low since you are giving him a chance by talking to him first about it and it’s his job on the line.
Don’t pay with excat change anymore. Cause then you know he’ll be putting the cash where it should be. In your hand and in the owners.
Easy - Make an anonymous call to this establishment and ask for a manager. Mention that you go there regularly and you are a concerned citizen, then tell them your story. That way, you don’t have to look anyone in the face. Don’t be afraid…but then again, I can make that call for you if needed.
Unfortunately, there is no way around confronting him about this offense. Stealing is stealing. So here’s what you do: Pull him aside and explain the situation to him… If he doesn’t cut you in for 75% of his profits, then you’ll be forced to discuss it with his boss. That should fix the problem.
Better yet, take your camera with you next time and take a picture of him in the act. That might also do the trick.
I say the hell with that kid. he is a thief through and through. No need for confrontation. Rat his ass out to his boss via anonymous phone call.
I know you hate confrontation, so you’re in luck… you don’t need to confront anyone. In fact, you should definitely NOT confront the thief.
You need to tell the manager—preferably when the employee in question is not around. In fact, make sure that guy isn’t around. It is in your best interest to inform the manager what’s going on.
I think I would take the other approach. The level of loyalty an employee has toward his/her employer is based on the quality of the job and the mentality of the employee. If an employee doesn’t care about stealing, much less being terminated, then of course this seems like a great idea to them. However, you are not their employer and they are not stealing from you, so if you only put down half the amount and wink, now who is the thief? There is however the tangent of what if the employee really needs the money to feed a family? Then you have a soft side, saying this guy needs to get paid more for serving me. What if he is just working to have enough to buy some drugs and hooker? Then, the guy should be fired for stealing. Our society gives us unlimited ways of getting ahead, how we chose to do that is up to each individual. If you start taking up your time trying to live this guy’s life and not your own, you are going to go insane. You paid, got what you paid for, let him worry about who’s watching.
P.S. - “Trust No One”
Pay in pennies.
I also have an extreme aversion to confrontation and I know exactly how you feel. If you just keep going there, assuming the world will work itself out, it’ll probably bother you every morning until that dude just doesn’t work there anymore and who needs that kind of stress first thing in the AM? In the past under similar circumstances I’ve just stopped going places and pick a new spot for the morning food and caffeine fix. I guess these are my picks…
1) Pick a new spot.
2) Tell the cashier (minus management involvement) that you’d appreciate it if the money went into the register when you came in.
3) Start using the debit card.
I would call the manager and let him know what you saw. You can also start paying with a debit card which would make it harder for him to take the money that you pay.
You saw him steal, I believe when you are party to an event like this you must do the right thing as a law abiding member of society and tell him boss. I was in a similar situation when I heard my next door neighbor beating his girl friend. The problem being I didn’t know for sure he was, but it sure sounded like it. She had also hinted to us that he hit her. I decided that even if I suspected something like that I should call the police just in case as a child was also involved. I was wrong he was trying to stop her from going to meet her heroin dealer. Do I feel bad about call the police or even thinking that about my neighbor. No, I know I did the right thing with the information I had at the time.
I believe if you know for sure he’s stealing it’s your civic duty to do something to correct the situation.
Pay with Monopoly money. See what happens then.. lol
Right after he pockets your money, change your mind and ask for a refund.
But seriously, lots of good advice. But, if you decide to make a personal crusade out of it by using non-exact-change methods then you’re sacrificing your convenience and piece of mind just so he doesn’t pocket *your* money, but you’d be passively allowing him to continue pocketing everyone’s money, which, as you pointed out, maybe hurts you in the long run.
I’d make an anonymous tip to the management that they should start counting cash in the drawers at the end of shifts. That way things work themselves out; if they do the kid will be caught, if they ignore your advice they obviously don’t mind.
i concur with #3. let me have the number and i will call no your behalf i would definetly notify the manager by phone call. you know now and have to take action.
What kind of crack are all of you smoking? The dude is stright up stealing from YOU, and his place of employment. That is bullshit, and he should pay, no suffer, no die! Dont be a sissy about confronting anyone. Dont make a lame anonymous phone call to the manager — the manager will likely pull the punk ass kid aside and say, “I received a complaint about you pocketing money, thats a no-no, go sit in time out for 10 minutes”. Dont pull him aside and tell him you saw it, hell laugh at you and be like “oh man my bad i wont do it again”. You are not the only regular customer at that establishment, you are not the only customer he is stealing from. He may not steal from you tomorrow, but I guran-damn-tee hes doing it to other customers. Hes probably jacking money from the store as well as customers. If you want to be a pansy, stop reading, and take someone elses advice. If you want to do the moral and correct thing to do… read on!
1) Prepare your correct change prior to arriving at the store, and by this I mean, write something on the bills. I would suggest writing the word “THIEF” or “CRIMINAL” along the side of the bill.
Then say, “Hi, [insert managers name]. I wanted to inform you that your cashier [insert cashiers name] is stealing money from your customers, and from your store.”
1) Walk into the unnamed establishment.
2) Order the same thing you always order.
3) Set your cash down in the same manner that you always do.
4) Give the cashier a big smile, ask him how his day is doing, be friendly, comment on his pretty eyes, do something to make him think you have NO idea what is about to happen.
5) Watch as he pockets the money, watch as he throws away the slip, laugh hysterically (IN YOUR HEAD) because you know what is about to happen… Pay close attention to which pocket the money goes into, where he throws away the paper, etc.
6) When the transaction is complete, calmly and politely ask to see the manager.
7) Make sure the manager is standing next to the cashier, and make sure there are other co-workers around to witness the fun!
9) Watch the criminals face get really red, he wont know what to do.
10) Continue to tell the manager, “I just handed [insert cashiers name] a [bill denomination] bill with the word “THIEF” written along the left side of the bill. That bill is in [insert cashiers name] [left/right] pocket.” Proceed to explain the rest of what happened, ie: how your a regular customer, how the cashier pretended to ring up your order, and all of the other fine details of the transaction.
11) If the manager doesnt ask him to empty his pockets, you should suggest that he should, and when he pulls out your money and its marked with the word “THIEF”, there will be no doubt it is your money, and the cashier cant claim he came to work with that money in his pocket.
12) It might get ugly for a moment, while the manager knocks the fuck out of the cashier, but you will know that he will never steal from you, another customer, or that establishment again, cause that fucker is going to be out of a job.
You will feel great knowing you did the right thing. You will be a hero. I will be proud of you. The world will be proud of you. Hell, the manager may even give you free food for taking down that piece of shit punk ass high school dropout worthless fucker. Do the right thing! You are a criminal if you just sit back and let him steal and do nothing about it. Let me know when its going to go down, I want to be there so I can watch.
Do not start using a debit card. If this chump is willing to steal from his employer, odds are good that he’d have no problem stealing credit/debit card information.
Kick him in the sack. If you are going to confront the situation, do it with gusto! If not, pay with a debit card.
As a manager of an establishment that takes large and small amounts of money in every single day I have to put my two cents in. I would be lying if I thought for one second that my employees at one time or another didn’t snag some free shit (irrigation stuff). But then again I can’t think of any one of my guys would go out of their way to steal money from the drawer. If I had a customer tell me in person that they witnessed this event my job is easy I fire his ass make a call to HR and look for a new employee. If I got an anonymous phone call my job sucks because now I have to have a separate conversation with him, document it and pray he doesn’t slice every bag of product open on his way out one day. If nobody ever says anything I spend countless hours during the whole year trying to track why inventory is missing or tracking missing $’s.
So my opinion with your situation keep giving the business your money, the next time you see this happen with either your money or the customer before/after you, say something immediately to the manager to give him a chance to fire on the spot. You wait or just call your going to make the managers life that much harder.
p.s. as a side note for Matt this isn’t 1956 anymore managers don’t get to beat the shit out of the no good piece of shit employee. We get sued lose our job and probably have the worst time ever being employed again by any major company. While we want to shove our fists up their ass, laws protect the employee FAR greater than they protect the employers.
Rat him out. Not only is he stealing from you, he’s stealing from the company he works for and from his co-workers by pocketing the tip change.
What I would is to talk to the manager on the way out. Say “I saw that guy pocket my order money and tip”. Tell him what you ordered. If the kid can produce a receipt, he’s good. If he can’t, he’s done. End of story.
Maybe you don’t like confrontation, but if this kid is doing it to you, he probably does it all day as much as he can. And slips himself a 20 from the register. I know this because I’ve had to fire an employee who did that kind of thing. Hopefully he’ll learn something now rather than later.
Fact that he pockets the tip is probably what irritates me most. I’ve been part of a tip pool before, and there’s nothing worse than somebody who steals from it.
Well, I can’t thank you guys enough. I appreciate all the feedback. Here is what I have decided to do:
1. I will no longer pay with exact change. That will force the guy to always ring it up so that he can give me my change.
2. I will call the manager and explain what happened.
I would not feel right doing nothing. This guy is obviously ripping off his company, his fellow employees and in the long run, he’s ripping me off, too. I can not and will not stand for that. But at the same time, I will do what I can to not have to deal with a face-to-face confrontation as I would like to avoid the stress of going back to the place and dealing with him if the company decides not to remove him.
Matt, I know this plan does not suit you and you probably think I’m a chicken. I’m OK with that.
What? No kicking in the sack?
I know I’m late weighing in on this, but I agree that confrontation would be in the best interest of all parties involved. I understand your situation, and I hate confrontation myself. So take a friend (sounds like Matt wants to go) that way you have a second witness and your buddy can speak up if you don’t.
And, get it on video. Youtube would eat up that shit.
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