Working as a cashier in a fast food restaurant, you come to discover scams that customers will try to pull on you for free food, such as ordering food, biting into it, and then coming back and complaining that it was the incorrect order — yet getting visibly disappointed when you throw the “incorrect” sandwich in the trash and say the correct item is on the way.
This attempted scam was an interesting one that could have possibly worked, except that I’m a stickler about charging for ANY food item leaving my station.
Customer: “I’ll take two fish sandwiches with [sides].”
I enter two fish sandwiches in my register; the order appears in the kitchen for the food prep staff to get started.
Me: “€9.50, please.”
Customer: “Huh? I said one fish sandwich!”
Me: *Caught off guard* “Wait a second. One or two?”
Customer: “One!”
Me: *Running to the kitchen* “Cancel on one of the fish sandwiches!” *To the customer* “Okay, that’s [new total].”
The customer pays, and I bring up his food to the counter.
Customer: “Where’s the other one?”
Me: “You said you wanted one fish sandwich!”
Customer: “I said two! Pay attention!”
Me: “Then that’s [extra amount]! *Running back to the kitchen* “Now he wants the other one! Don’t throw it away!”
I come back to the counter and ask for the money.
Customer: *Feigned anger* “Can I talk to the manager, please?”
I run back to the kitchen… where the manager himself is prepping food while our other prepping staff is on break.
Me: “Now he wants to talk to you!”
Our manager barges out of the kitchen with his face a burgundy red.
Manager: “I’m not in the mood for this. You’re picking the wrong day today!”
Customer: “I asked for—”
Manager: “YOU ARE PICKING THE WRONG DAY TODAY!”
The customer is standing there and looking as if he’s trying to figure out what card to play next.
Customer: “You know what? Give my money back!”
My manager immediately punches in his code on the register, refunds the customer, and points to the door.
Manager: “Goodbye! Next in line, please!”
That was when I learned that some customers figured out that prep staff begin making food as it’s ordered but will stash it aside to be discarded in the event of an error. It’s then up to the would-be scammer to employ a tactic to get the “error” sandwich free — a scamming manoeuvre the manager had clearly seen numerous times and was fed up with.
