Work related issue

Firsttimeuser20

Hey,

As you can see i am a first time user with boards and in a bit of a bad situation at work. I work part-time for a company, i will not name as i am aware of one r two the guys i work with gettin torn apart for mentioning the company on this. Anway, i have been working part-time for the company for about five years now as a cashier and customer service. Delightful to say the least:D Does me while in studying in college though.

Basically i was working a friday afternoon n was assigned to a till for three hours. We count the till after we have been on it and is been checked before also. When i had hit the three hours, i counted the till and realised unfortunately the till had a discrepency of 199euro which was a complete kick in the b***s as in the five years i have worked there, i had never been down a penny.

So i am aware of every procedure in the store and was well aware something would be said and done about it.I obviously messed up with a sale of some sort but i couldnt understand how as i had all 5 sales within the 3 hours so i was suspicious as to where it went. On the day that was in it, i purchased something worth 200 in the store-Horiible luck i know. I was then brought down to the office yesterday to have an investigation into why on the day i was buying something worth 200, was my till short 199. I understand that anyone might get suspicious and companies have to take certain steps when dealing with issues of this type but they are basically accusing me of taking the money. I know they cant say that but it is assumed. One of my parents took the exact amount out of the atm for me the day before and the cameras which are fitted and working fine are not recording or managed properly.

I basically don't know what to be thinking or expecting as i hav never been in this situation before.

AARRRGH

Are you at risk of being fired or are they just pissed off with you? What's happening at the moment?

Firsttimeuser20

They have called me down for the start of an investigation yesterday. Two of the managers,one asking questions and one writing down what we both have said. I then read over what was said and signed that what was taken down was right. They have to speak to the manager that gave me permission to purchase the item worth 200 and the guy who was there when i was paying for it. It was on another till in the store, not the one i had been on for the 3 hours. It then goes to the general manager who "will speak to me about it"?!

AARRRGH

Just because you bought an item in the shop (costing X) on the same day that X was stolen from the shop... surely that's not enough evidence to say you're a thief?

Was your employment record unblemished up until this point?

For the sake of getting to keep your job and moving on with things, could you offer to pay back the missing money while maintaining your innocence?

Firsttimeuser20

Yeah, my employment records squeeky clean. Im part of the furniture at this stage but never had any problems with money or customers. I do the administration at the weekends for them, including counting the safe etc.

That's the thing they really have no evidence on it at all as there is no camera recording or witnesses...whatever.

Not sure about offering it back and yeah i messed up but out of principle i wouldn't like to. ha. They don't treat their staff that well at all.

pow wow

So you rang something through for 199 and the money isn't in the till, it could be a scanning error rather than a customer shorting you the 199/you pinching it. I worked cash office for a huge retailer for about a year and we regularly had big shorts and overs due to cashiers accidentally ringing stuff through they didn't get the money for (we did also have a couple with their hands in the till but that was pretty rare!).

Can't they stocktake against the sales you did during your shift and check if they are conveniently 'over' something that costs 199? Or do you think it could really be a case where a customer underpaid by 199/you gave out too much change?

If they have no evidence there isn't much they can do without fear of you going legal on them. At worst it'll probably be a severe warning and all eyes on you for a while.

Firsttimeuser20

Thanks for your reply, I know the system quite well and i checked almost everything myself as i was desperate to find something that would match..i must have had about 5 sales during the time i was on the till.

Only conclusion is i messed up with change..Although since i wrote last the manager which was there when i was purchasing the item reminded me that i showed her the money beforehand and even before going on the till and made the general manager aware of this after my meeting.

We'll see what happens i guess, im expecting a warning for the money i was short but not much else they can do..Hhhmmm..Wouldn't suprise me if one of the managers had something to do with it!! Horrible company,

LegacyUser

This happened to me when I worked on a till in a bank. It turned out that it was one of my colleagues who stole the money.

DO NOT offer to reimburse the cash - it only makes you look guilty. If you have been working there for as long as you say then they must see that you aren't stupid enough to steal the exact amount of cash as something that you bought in the shop that day - I mean who would be that dense?

Stick to the unfortunate coincidence aspect of the story. The cash transaction should appear on your parent's bank statement - show a copy to your supervisor.

You have done nothing to be ashamed of and they have to be very careful of accusing you of stealing. On the other hand, they have to be seen to carry out company procedures so don't take it personally.

Good luck - it's a horrible situation to be in and I sympathise.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

sorry "Happened to Me" - forgot to approve your post. approved now.

AARRRGH

"Happened to me" just reminded me of something.

I used to work in a book shop. I noticed the manager started acting very strange around me (watching me when I dealt with money, giving me weird assignments where I would be around a lot of money which she claimed was "uncounted", etc.)

My instincts were blaring that she thinks I am stealing money and is trying to catch me.

Anyway, one day I caught one of my colleagues (absolute psycho) stealing money from the till. She was best friends with the manager. So I suspect she was trying to stitch me up for her thieving.

It's possible a manager has screwed you over in a similar way.