Short changed in the supermarket

[toshyboy]

Hi all - I'm absolutely livid at the moment - just been to morrisions to put my lottery on.

 

Basically I got my last £40 out of the cash machine and it gave me 2 £20 notes. Went to the lottery counter and handed my ticket (£2 worth) over along with one of the aforementioned £20 notes. The girl gave me £8 change and I obviously immediately queried it.

 

 

A supervisor was called and I was told that the cash office had left for the day and I would have to come back tomorrow. I was quite calm and explained this was no good to me as I needed the cash now hence me just getting it out of the machine. I then requested he call the most senior person in store.

 

 

The store manger then comes down and tells me the same story basically telling me to come back tomorrow as the cash office had gone. I explained that was no good to me I need MY money tonight and asked to to check the cctv to see me giving over the £20. He refused to do this so i reiterated I need the money and if he gives me it back I could gladly provide him with proof of address there and then. Again he refused and told me to come back in the morning. At this point I asked for head offices phone number which he went to get (This took him almost 10mins to come up with it).

 

I then come home and phoned customer services. They took all the details of my query and said they would call the store and phone me back. Subsequently I received the call in which they told me the store manager repeated that this will not be looked into until tomorrow and he has the overriding decision.

 

I asked for the details of whoever is over the store managers but was told this is business sensitive information and she point blank refused to give me the name of any more senior than the store manager, I responded by stating I will write to the chief exec then as I'll be able to get that info and she offered me his name as it is in "the public domain".

 

She went on to mention that my "threat" of contacting the ceo and possible county court claim was intimidating to her and that it would not get me my money back tonight. She said I maybe offered compensation if and when this was rectified tomorrow, however this may be reviewed with my "intimidating threats of further action".

 

Im absolutely livid as my lad cant go to football in the morning now cos I cant give him the money. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Edited March 8, 2013 by citizenB

[citizenB]

Not quite sure what you can do in the short term as in immediately.

 

Arent they supposed to enter the amount you have given them or did she enter that wrongly as well ?

 

I thought they had to close the till down and do a cash check there and then when something like this happens. I will try and see if anyone else on site team know what you can do.

[Sidewinder]

This is normal procedure for most stores. It simply isn't possible to cash up a till in order to verify whether it is over or not on demand, and it will almost always be the case that it cannot be checked until close of business, or until the cash office staff are available.

 

Unfortunate as it is, I do not believe that taking it out on store staff is productive - however much you shout and scream, they simply cannot do anything about it. Not quite sure on what grounds you would be threatening a CC claim - I don't see any viable grounds to do so.

 

Sadly just one of those things I'm afraid. I daresay that a voucher would be an appropriate gesture for the inconvenience of having to go back, but personally I wouldn't get too shouty or you might not even get this!

[renegadeimp]

Cash office hasnt gone. They stay there till close. How else do they cash up.

[renegadeimp]

Can i ask where the store was? It's pretty easy to get the area manager and regional managers info, and no, it isnt business sensitive info.

 

 

Regarding transactions, each transaction is logged on the till and it is easy to simply check through the till logs to find the last transaction and to verify it. The operators are also told to lay any note above £5 on top of the till while they get change. The note should be the last thing that gets pushed through the till before the receipt is handed.

[toshyboy]

Not quite sure what you can do in the short term as in immediately.

 

Arent they supposed to enter the amount you have given them or did she enter that wrongly as well ?

 

I thought they had to close the till down and do a cash check there and then when something like this happens. I will try and see if anyone else on site team know what you can do.

 

Cheers Citizen

Yes she entered as £10 received - they told me that they couldnt do that as the cash office had gone home and they wont be back until the morning. Head office also told me that even if they were there they wouldnt have shut the till down as its the only 1 for lottery and tobacco in the store

[toshyboy]

Cash office hasnt gone. They stay there till close. How else do they cash up.

 

my thoughts exactly - this all happened at 4.50pm and the store is open until 8

 

The store is in Cheshire

[Old Cogger]

Cash offices are open to receive the days takings at the end of the night

[renegadeimp]

my thoughts exactly - this all happened at 4.50pm and the store is open until 8

 

The store is in Cheshire

 

Can you name the store, or area. Cheshire is split into two regions for morrisons. Each has their own area manager. I think the regional manager is Aiden Downing, although im not sure if thats just for North Wales and west cheshire up to around Widnes area.

[Sidewinder]

Erm - no they aren't. I know many stores where cash offices close early afternoon. In most modern stores, tills aren't 'cashed up' any longer. All notes are periodically cleared into pods which zip along vacuum tubes directly into a safe - nobody even has to be in the cash office to receive them. All that happens when a till is cashed up is that a basic float is left in there and everything else is podded and sent. The numbered pods are then opened next morning (or at whatever point the staff are there) and totalled against the till reading.

 

Have to disagree with renegade - what purpose would contacting the Area Manager serve? Just to be told (again) that nothing can be done tonight? Staff on the premises might not even have access to the safe themselves. They aren't going to phone the cash office clerk to come back into work, even if the safe wasn't on a timer to prevent access under duress!

 

I agree about using CCTV as a suggestion from the OP, but it is entirely possible that id doesn't directly cover the checkout - at least not sufficiently to determine what was handed over.

[renegadeimp]

Not in morrisons sidewinder. Cash office still collects them, unless they are a "store of the future". With CCTV, each checkout has a camera covering it.

 

Even though i know its easy to get the details he asks, i still think that nothing will come of it until tomorrow. The regional and area managers simply wont do anything as they would have to check everything first, same as the shop would.

[Sidewinder]

In which case I stand corrected. Just about to go into my local one in a few minutes actually, so will have to have a look!

[renegadeimp]

There is usually one ball camera that is split into two facing almost directly down on the till, or in older stores, at a slight angle, but ALWAYS facing side on or above the till.

[Sidewinder]

Just checked in mine (opened last year. One camera at either end of the kiosk, nowhere near other of the two checkouts. Has a general view of the walkway and tills, but would have to be zoomed to get remotely close to being able to identify a note. Even the main checkouts do not have CCTV over the tills, only 4 to cover 16 checkouts and are in front of the tills, so impossible to see the cash drawers or tops. Also confirmed that cash lifts are unattended and cash office staff finish shortly after lunchtime. All notes cleared at end of day apart from float and amounts verified next morning.

[MrHat]

Following

[toshyboy]

Can you name the store, or area. Cheshire is split into two regions for morrisons. Each has their own area manager. I think the regional manager is Aiden Downing, although im not sure if thats just for North Wales and west cheshire up to around Widnes area.

 

Its Frodsham store rengade

[toshyboy]

There is usually one ball camera that is split into two facing almost directly down on the till, or in older stores, at a slight angle, but ALWAYS facing side on or above the till.

 

Theres a ball camera in the store to the side of the lottery counter - Id imagine it to be decent quality as the store is only 2/3 years old.

The store is closed now and obviously im not going to get my money until tomorrow - fuming with them though they had no consideration for the fact I needed my cash as it was the last of what was in my bankl account until payday.

Just hope they find the error tomorrow and can rectify it

[renegadeimp]

If thats the frodsham nr chester, then area manager is Jim Toohey and regional is Aiden Dowling. Google brings up a world of good answers

Edited March 8, 2013 by renegadeimp

[Westmead Fan]

Erm - no they aren't. I know many stores where cash offices close early afternoon. In most modern stores, tills aren't 'cashed up' any longer. All notes are periodically cleared into pods which zip along vacuum tubes directly into a safe - nobody even has to be in the cash office to receive them. All that happens when a till is cashed up is that a basic float is left in there and everything else is podded and sent. The numbered pods are then opened next morning (or at whatever point the staff are there) and totalled against the till reading.

 

Have to disagree with renegade - what purpose would contacting the Area Manager serve? Just to be told (again) that nothing can be done tonight? Staff on the premises might not even have access to the safe themselves. They aren't going to phone the cash office clerk to come back into work, even if the safe wasn't on a timer to prevent access under duress!

 

I agree about using CCTV as a suggestion from the OP, but it is entirely possible that id doesn't directly cover the checkout - at least not sufficiently to determine what was handed over.

 

i have worked in a supermarket as a checkout supervisor & what sidewinder has mentioned is what happened in the company i worked for the cash office would come in very early sort the previous nights takings & leave early afternoon.

 

staff at that store were following procedure, if there is a mistake it will get sorted out. just think if some customers try it on claiming it happened when it didn't happen this would lead to cash shortages which they would have to account for.

 

how quickly did you notice & there is always a chance errors happen when dealing in busy shops

[toshyboy]

Hi guys

To update been back into store this morning and asked for the manager I dealt with yesterday. The whole staff was aware of who I was which I didnt like, I've obviously been the talk of the staff room.

Anyhow they gave me my money back but the manager would not face me himself and sent one of his staff to give me my money.

I'm still really annoyed I had my little lad in floods of tears this this morning because he had to miss his football trip due to us not having the cash to give him first thing They knew all this and just gave me my money back without so much as an apology.

[citizenB]

So now you need to write a letter of complaint to their Head office and explain what happened. Point out that you had a trip that you would not normally have made as well in order to sort this out.

[Conniff]

The CEO is [email protected] so drop him an email anyway.

[renegadeimp]

See if you can find Mark Harrisons number. He is the main guy that deals with the company overall. Dalton is pretty much a talking shop and gets paid 800k a year basic for the pleasure of doing so.