I've been scammed twice in 3 days

Rket4000

I could have just been unlucky but it led me to wondering.......

The first time was in a shop which is one of a large chain of pharmacies. I purchased a few items and the lady at the till asked for €8.47. I handed over €10 and she gave me my change, which I put into my pocket. When I got home I took the coins out and realised she gave me €1.50. I checked the receipt which stated that my change should have been €1.53. If rounding rules were being applied correctly, my change should have been rounded to €1.55.

The second time I was in a convenience store and was picking up a couple of items for myself and a couple for my mother. I just put everything in the basket and paid with the €20 my mother had given me. I asked for the receipt so I could pay my mother for my own items. The girl in the shop handed me the change and forgot the receipt till I asked for it. When I got home and was going through the receipt I realised I had been charged €1.30 twice for one item.

I should point out that I didn't go back to either shop to complain and that if I had done so, I probably would have had the mistakes rectified. However it led me to wonder if this kind of thing goes on a lot - there used to be a story about a shopkeeper who kept a bag of sugar by the till and regularly charged people for it - if anyone complained he'd say "oh sorry I thought it was yours." Given that so many people just tap cards or phones to pay for stuff and generally don't get receipts, very few people would realise if an extra 50c or a euro was added here or there. Likewise if people are paying in cash they regard 5c coins as a nuisance to be thrown in a jar at home so wouldn't be that bothered at not getting them. It just seems that either behaviour would add up to a nice little bonus for a business over a year and to the same amount of detriment to consumers over the course of a year.

FortuneChip

You shouldn't have been short changed, nor should you have been double charged for an item.

That said, I reckon you've been scammed about two times fewer than you claim.

"scammed"

Rket4000

True - and the title is probably incorrect in that regard but both instances just led me to wondering how easy it is nowadays for people to actually be scammed if a shop or business is minded to do it

Ive been scammed by this thread title

partyguinness

It's happened to me whereby I have done a 'click and collect' with Sainsbury's. Collected and shoved everything into the boot of the car. Only then to realise over the coming days that certain items although paid for and on the receipt never in fact made it home.

I only copped it last time whereby I have ordered replacement Oral-B brush heads (Sainburys own brand) which are £6.00 so would be the dearest items on the list. That night I remembered at bed time and it dawned on me that I never had them. Went back the next day and the refunded me the £6.00 without question when in reality I wanted the brish heads but they were out of stock.

It must have happened before so keep a closer eye on it now. Some of the supermaket pickers wouldnt be the most reliable lads in the world.

accensi0n

More like an inconvenience store.

Masala

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217496/ive-been-scammed-twice-in-3-days

that's a 'Talk to Joe' segment.... definitely!!!

I wouldn't let that go!!

Rket4000

If it happens a 3rd time..., 😂😂😂

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217496/ive-been-scammed-twice-in-3-days

Don't let all the naysayers in this thread get you down OP. Some of the biggest and successful scams took small amounts of money from large amounts of people.

The rounding rule being the most scandalous. I know 3 places (2 shops and a petrol station) that round the price up so you have to pay the extra few cents. But then if it ever works out in your favour they never honour the rule. I pulled the cashier up about it one day (as I was in a foul mood anyway) and she said "the rounding rule is at teh discretion of the retailer". I did a back of the envelope calculation a few years back and it works out between 3000 and 5000 euro per year for a shop with reasonably high transaction count.

Another scam that larger shops pull (name and shame for dunnes) is they put yellow sale stickers on about 50% of the products but a lot of these discounts don't apply when you go to the till. After about the 5th time that this happened to me I found the manager in the aisle and gave him lots of grief for it. He kept saying they just hadn't got around to updating the prices in the till. Bullsh*t! If this was true then how come it never works out in the customers favor?!

partyguinness

Scammed out of €1.33. Is there any end to the evil in this world?

OP, if you are that fussy then when did you not check at the till? Grand you couldnt be arsed like most people but most people would not go home and then count out the pennies so that is a curious contradiction.

dxhound2005

The ones who throw the "nuisance" coins into a jar get scammed when they put them in a counting machine.

Allinall

Think OP has more sense than cents.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118151757#Comment_118151757

12.5% to be exact- at least the one in my shopping centre charges that- but it’s clearly stated. I put in a bag of 20s 10s 5s 2s and one cent coins the other day -a collection gathered over the last 5 years or so- came to just under 50 quid so I was totally happy out getting rid of all that junk coin - I mostly go with cards these days so unlikely to ever have such a collection again

partyguinness

I was in Hugo Boss yesterday and I had to buy a pair of trousers (x2) at £99.99 each. I handed over £200.00 cash and by God I waited for my 2p change. The guy at the till had no change as they would expect card payment. Off he went to get change. I think he was half hoping I would tell hiim to forget but eff that- I need the money more than Hugo Boss.

dxhound2005

Other people don't care about money. This is from a report in 2020.

Over €90m in unclaimed prizes has now been returned to Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) since it took over the licence to operate the National Lottery in November 2014. Under the terms of its licence PLI is allowed to retain expired unclaimed prizes for marketing lottery products with discretionary use of the fund for special draws and top-up or additional prizes.

That €90 million would be dwarfed by vast sums abandoned in dormant accounts.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118151817#Comment_118151817

Slim fit pockets?

Rket4000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118151753#Comment_118151753

I rarely use cash these days and usually don't get receipts. In retrospect the thread title is facetious and both issues could have been genuine mistakes. But it was just that when the only two receipts I've checked in ages, in a short space of time, showed two different discrepancies, it got me thinking about how easy it would be for shops etc to help themselves to cash without customers realising if those retailers were minded to do so. A huge number of small amounts would add up to a very nice profit for them over time and would be far less obvious than overcharging by large amounts.