Shop refusing to give change

[sea-sidelady]

My daughter and her friends have gone into town, they have gone into a certain shop, purchased a handbag for £3. Paid with a ten pound note I had given her, and walked away from the till. Took half a dozen steps then realised she had been given no change.

 

She immediately went back to the till, and was told basically tough, you should of checked straight away! Give us your phone number and we will ring you tonight if the till is up.

 

My daughter has just rung me, and is so distressed.

 

Before I go to the shop guns blazin.....what should I do?

[2Grumpy]

I bet most shops say the same.

 

I would wait until the check their till. If they don't find it, you could ask if it was recorded by CCTV, otherwise its your word against theirs ...

[sailor sam]

Does she have a reciept?

 

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[sea-sidelady]

My temper got the better of me, and I went to the shop.

 

I asked what had gone on, and she validated my daughter's story. Yes she had the receipt still which showed she had given £7 change.

 

I asked why the change hadn't been offered to my daughter, and the slales girl said she couldn't remember, and to wait until the store had closed so she could check.

 

I told her she should check now while I wait. There were 2 other tills in the shop and it was very quiet, as what would happen if she made another mistake and gave too much change out??

 

So she apparently went to call head office, came back and said she needed to count it out by hand. And low and behold within 5 mins she gave my daughter her change.

 

A tiny victory I know, but one that my daughter is proud of.

[Mossycat]

Just as an aside, the shop (any shop) is NOT legally obliged to give a customer change!

 

Yes I know it sounds silly, but it would be perfectly legal for a shop to take the money you tender for goods and NOT give you any change at all.

 

Obviously that doesn't happen in the real world (except on buses that display EXACT CHANGE ONLY or parking machines that state NO CHANGE GIVEN), but it's true and perfectly legal.

 

I'm glad you got your money back though £7 is a lot to lose because of human error

 

Mossy

[Conniff]

Reference or citation please Mossycat.

[mightymouse_69]

Reference or citation please Mossycat.

 

Royal Mint says:

 

Both parties to a transaction are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender transaction it is necessary, for example, to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Mossycat is 100% correct...Consider vending machines that state "use exact cahange" or "no change given".

 

However it would be commercial suicide for a shop to impliment a no change policy.

[Mossycat]

However it would be commercial suicide for a shop to impliment a no change policy.

 

Yep, and that's exactly why they give change.

 

Just as another aside the reason why a lot of retail prices end in .99p is NOT because £9.99 sounds cheaper than £10.00 and therefore tempts you into buying it, it is because of change.

A customer who buys something at £10 and pays for it with a £10 note might not wait for a receipt, but if the goods are priced at £9.99 most customers would wait for their change, which forces the sales assistant to ring the sale through the till.

 

The .99p pricing was introduced to reduce staff theft because they couldn't pocket the money paid and had to ring it into the till to get the change the customer was waiting for.

 

Mossy

[labrat]

you think £7's bad

 

once went into the bank and put £400 in, it hadnt gone in next day so i went and asked to be told "theres no record of the transaction".... they asked if i had the reciet from it, and i pointed out i hadnt been asked.

 

they closed the area of the kiosk down and checked the staff members till that had apparently not been cashed up overnight?????

 

found the £400 fortunatly cos i was ready to kill someone that was our holliday money

[Conniff]

The Royal Mint is not a law or regulatory body, so I would still like to see where this is laid down in law please

Edited January 1, 2010 by Conniff

[mightymouse_69]

Its a simple contract issue.

 

The marked price is an invitation to a treat - so if you pay for an item costing £5 with a £10 note... you are the one offering to pay double the price.

 

If the seller does not want to give change then it is their choice... as the customer you either pay the correct price or don't buy the item at all!

[Conniff]

I know all that but would still like to see it in black and white or it becomes just another myth.

 

Tendering £10 for a £5 item is not offering to pay double the price unless you make that obvious.

[mightymouse_69]

I think that is about as black and white as it gets!

 

The leading cases on Invitation to treat are; Fisher v Bell [1961] and Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists Ltd [1952].

 

None of these cases concern someone not recieving change, but they do state that where goods are advertised in a shop, there is no offer by the shop keeper.

 

Therefore it is the customer that makes the offer. So, if you did hand over £10 and the cashier said "i will not be giving you change", you would not be able to demand change.

[Conniff]

So it's just a myth or legend.

[mightymouse_69]

I would consider it a fact, supported by law.

[Conniff]

I would consider it a fact, supported by law.

 

You can't say "supported by law" if you can't show that law. It will have to be written down if it is a law.

[kiptower]

the answer is in fact there is no LAW that requires change to be given , therefore it cannot be shown in law

 

however a shop / retailers etc etc would be stupid if they ran on , exact price of goods only and did not give change, however there is no actual law to stop them,

 

the giving of change is a service that is offered free of charge, and it can be withdrawn at anytime

 

there are many self serve facilitys that do not supply change such as vending machines, and in most cases they will have a sign saying "NO CHANGE GIVEN" simply because people would be complaining left right and centre,