There Are No Winners Here

Due to too many cashier errors, when doing scratchcard payouts for customers, we can no longer do it in the same transaction. So, if someone wants to pay with their scratchcard winnings, they have to give us the scratchcard first. Most people are okay with this. But as with anything, there’s always one who makes a fuss.

Or in this case, one person making a fuss repeatedly. A woman comes in with a basket full of shopping and dumps it in front of me. I scan and bag everything for her and read the total. She then takes out a bunch of scratchcards and hands them to me.

Me: “I’m sorry. I’ll have to give you your winnings separately.”

Customer: “What? Do it now!”

Me: “I’m sorry but I can’t.”

Customer: “Someone did it for me last time!”

I’ve worked at that shop for a year, and in that time we’ve never paid out winnings at the same time.

Me: “Again, I am sorry. Our tills do not let us do it.”

Customer: “I don’t see what the problem is! Just give me the money!”

Me: “Our tills don’t let us select the ‘payout’ option once something has been scanned. We can only do it after you pay.”

Customer: “I don’t have any money on me. I wanted to use my scratchcard winnings to pay with! Just go and do it and stop being awkward!”

Me: “This is something we have no say over. The only way to do it is to void the transaction, give you the money back, and then scan it through again.”

I called a supervisor to void it off. All the while, the woman was muttering under her breath about how ridiculous it was and how much we’d inconvenienced her. Finally, I processed her winnings, gave her the money, and scanned it all through again.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last I saw of her. Just a few days ago, she came back in, gave me her shopping, and then once again gave me a scratchcard after I’d scanned everything through. I explained again how I had to do it separately. She nodded and then stood there staring expectantly at me. I repeated that she had to pay first.

Again, she complained about how pathetic it was, but this time, she had other cash on her. I think she expected me to suddenly decide I could override the entire companies till system just for her if she stood, stared, and wished hard enough!