Unfiltered Story #56737

(I am working the ticketing desk for an extremely popular art exhibition. A woman, who had waited in the ticket queue for about twenty minutes, decides immediately after I processed the sale that she no longer wanted to see the exhibition and wants a refund. Frazzled by the swarms of visitors and on autopilot after selling nearly 1000 tickets that day, I hit the “sale” rather than the “refund” button on the till and give the woman her £11 back. When I realize my mistake I make a note of it, and at the end of the day call over one of my senior coworkers.)

Me: “I made a really silly mistake. Someone bought a ticket and then wanted a refund. I gave her the proper money back, but I accidentally punched it in as a second sale rather than a refund, so my till is ‘down’ by £22. Since it’s after closing I just want a witness for my sales correction so you know I’m not pocketing cash.”

Coworker: “No bother at all. I’ll even fix it for you and finish cashing up if you’re willing to finish cleaning in the shop downstairs.”

Me: “That’s great, thank you! I’ll see you downstairs.”

(I go to the gift shop to help, and eventually I see my coworker go in to the offices with the ticket desk’s cash boxes. A few minutes later she leaves, but I am called in to the office by our supervisor.)

Supervisor: “[My name], your till was down by £44. Anything more than a few pence is totally unacceptable.”

Me: “What?! That’s not possible! I counted everything in the till before coming down here, and I was down by £22, which was because I accidentally processed a refund as a sale. [Coworker] said she would rectify it for me, but she must have made the same mistake as me and pressed “sale” twice more instead of refunding both the original and the accidental transaction. Check the sale history!”

Supervisor: “Well it was down by £44 and it’s your till. This is your only warning. You can leave now.”

(Still fuming the next day, I check the sales history in the till. Sure enough, after closing time two more “sales” had been punched in, yet I still was written up and taken off the tills for the rest of the summer!”