Honest About His Scam
(An eight-year-old boy has been pulling the same scam about three days a week for almost a month. He comes to the checkout with a few items and is always around $2 short. He freezes like a deer in headlights when asked if he would like to put an item back or go get more money. He’s gotten the act down so well, almost every time another customer feels bad for him and offers him the $2.)
Me: “Okay, the total is $12.12.”
Child: “I only have a $10.”
Me: “Do you want to put this back?” *holds up item* “It’s $2.19, so then you’d have enough.”
Child: “Ummmm. I don’t know. My mom needs it. She said to get these six things.”
Me: “You can go home and get the $2.12. I’ll hold these things here and you can come back to me and pay.”
Child: “Ummmm… I don’t…”
(Just then, a customer behind him speaks up.)
Customer: “I’ll give it to him.”
Me: “No. He does this all the time. We aren’t allowing other customers to pay anymore.”
Customer: “It’s just $2.”
Me: “Right, but he’s probably made $100 this month doing this same thing. We won’t allow any other customers to cover his groceries.” *turns to child* “You’ll need to go home and ask your mom what she wants you to do.”
(About 10 minutes later, the boy returns. I figure the boy has been pocketing the money, but it turns out he hasn’t.)
Child: “My mom said to get the money from another customer. She says they always give it to me, and why can’t I get someone to give it to me this time?”
This story is part of our Scammer roundup!
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
