Being short changed deliberately in pubs

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this........ as it has happened to me quite a lot over the last couple of months - 3 times in one week and exactly 1 euro every time!!

For example
I was in a well known GAA Pub near Croke park a few months back and had 3 rounds of drinks - all okay till I went up the fourth time - I got short changed 1 euro. I knew straight away cos it was only two drinks each time - when I asked him for the receipt (thinking maybe they had raised the price after such an hour) the bartender looked at me like a deer caught in headlights - without saying a word he went to the cash register and took a euro out and handed it to me (no receipt given) - I never mentioned that he left me a euro short - he knew!!

So I called the manager - (20 mins later he arrives a 12 year old!!) told him he had a thief behind the bar - his response "if you were given a euro too much would you have complained??" - he didn't get the fact that anyone can make a mistake - but his barman was clearly on the take (in cohoots with the second guy behind the bar I might add as he had a little chat with him after I asked for the receipt)

so there you go thats just one example - I could write pages on my other instances which happened in 2 different convenience stores , an airport mini shop and another pub in the centre of the city .............
the funny thing is ....... I was 1 EURO SHORT EVERYTIME!!

I now ask for receipt with everthing - I trust no one - anyone else have this experience recently???

Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

Happened to me twice in an hour between 5 and 6pm last Christmas Eve.
They know people are tired and maybe even had a drink or two.
One may have been accidental, the other maybe not.. shop assistant blushed when asked for full change.
Why are we afraid to name and shame.State the facts only ie. that we were short-changed...not that we were robbed.
I`m weary of .."the vast majority of ........... (Gardai?/Civil Servants? Consultants?" are beyond reproach".
Please don`t ask me for definitions or question my vigilance.

Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

Happy Days said:

when I asked him for the receipt (thinking maybe they had raised the price after such an hour) the bartender looked at me like a deer caught in headlights - without saying a word he went to the cash register and took a euro out and handed it to me (no receipt given) - I never mentioned that he left me a euro short - he knew!!

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This exact same thing has happened me a couple of times in a famous fast food place in Blanchardstown.

I suspected I was shortchanged, asked for a receipt, and immediately the person behind the bar went to the till and gave me back more change.

I still insisted on getting the receipt which caused them enormous difficulties.

Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

Same happened me in a busy pub in town to the tune of €5. When I asked if I had the correct change she gave me a fiver from the till without even checking what she had already given me.....

Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

Same again here in well known pub in Glasnevin this week.

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Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

I used to work in a shop, and therefore then to be conscious of the correct way to do things on a till. I haven't noticed being short-changed (perhaps I haven't been looking - new resolution), but I have often noticed items not being properly rung in. I am afraid I haven't forced the issue by asking for a receipt; perhaps I should.

I have a particular dislike of the well planned fraud, because one rather imagines that this will be persistent and systematic, rather than perhaps some young idiot filching the bus-fare home. For example, if you go into a take-away and order burgers, it will always be rung in by the systematic fraudster, because burgers can be counted and checked against the sales printout from the till. However, bags of chips can only be estimated, so it is easy enough to get away with not ringing in a couple of bags per hour in a busy chipper.

Re: The One Euro Rip Off............

If the same person or same pub is ripping you off on some sort of predictable basis, you could inform the Gardai or maybe the Director of Consumer Affairs. It would be hard to prove, but if I am shortchanged, I tell the manager of the pub. Assuming that he is not in cahoots with the barman, it alerts him to keep an eye on things.

Brendan

A bar man friend (manages bars) of mine once told me that it's a bad night if a barman doesn't make at least €20/€30 a night through short changing. In a busy bar it's like the proverbial candy from a baby.

I was reading this thread last week and based on what was being said I decided that from now on I would make a conscious effort to check my change. Lo and behold, I was in a newsagents in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (there are a few of them in there and I'm not naming which one it was) at the weekend and it happened to me. I was told the purchase price of the items I was buying and the change came in €1 short. I checked the change as I was walking away and when I turned back to point out that I had been short changed, the till was opened and my money was given back to me without me having to utter a word. It's seems to be very easy to get away with it because a €1 coin can be easily swapped for a €2 coin. I will have to keep an eye out all the time now. So, thank you AAM, you might save me a few bob......

Now that you mention it, I've had the feeling that I've been short changed on a few occasion (€1 returned instead of €2) in newsagents etc but I didn't check for sure on any occasion. I will from now on!

How do you have a feeling that this happened if you didn't check your change?

Just to be clear here, before we get carried away. It's not a conspiracy amongst all shop keepers and bar workers in this country to rip us off by short changing us.

I was shortchanged 20c last night in my new local shop. It seemed to be a genuine error on the part of what appeared to be a very inexperienced shop assistant. Gave the benefit of the doubt and moved on.

If this happens regularly in the same shop however, (same person or otherwise), then there'll be an issue.

Until then, I'm happy to leave it as an honest mistake.

ClubMan said:

How do you have a feeling that this happened if you didn't check your change?

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Unless I'm handed back notes (€5, €10, €20's etc) I don't always scruntinise a handful of lose change, particulary if I'm in a hurry or if my daughter is with me and I am distracted. But on a few occasions when I would have thought the change should have included a €2 and I glanced quickly at the handful of coins in my hand and only saw what looked like a €1, I have for an instant, wondered if it was right. It's almost always been on occasions when I've already started to walk away and am in the process of throwing the change into my purse so I'm literally just glancing at it. But in that instant I've had the 'gut' feeling that the change is not right. But thus far I've brushed it off and just decided it might have been a €2 and it looked like €1. Don't recall this problem prior to introduction of Euro.

Does that make sense?

So after this post I will take the time to check the lose change when at all possible because I have a 'feeling' (call it a woman's instinct!) that I too have been short-changed in the past!

Jess said:

It's almost always been on occasions when I've already started to walk away and am in the process of throwing the change into my purse so I'm literally just glancing at it. But in that instant I've had the 'gut' feeling that the change is not right. But thus far I've brushed it off and just decided it might have been a €2 and it looked like €1. Don't recall this problem prior to introduction of Euro.

Does that make sense?

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Not really. If you had a gut feeling that you got the wrong change, went off anyway and only after the fact reckon that you were short changed then it doesn't make much sense to me.

So after this post I will take the time to check the lose change when at all possible because I have a 'feeling' (call it a woman's instinct!) that I too have been short-changed in the past!

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Better to check your change and be sure than to rely on some sort of instinct that probably doesn't exist.

Clubman, what doesn't make sense to you? I've said that on a few occasions I've been handed change that I think, on quickly glancing at it, was wrong, but that for various reasons I didn't have time to count /check at that time. I couldn't stand up in court and swear on a bible it was wrong, but it's happened on a few occasions, partiucalry with €1 and €2 as outlined in this thread, so I'm now aware I need to take the time to count the change to be sure I'm not being short-changed.

My instinct is powerful and certainly does exist and there are times I absolutely rely on it! However, with regard to this topic I doubt any of us would disagree that of course it's best to check ones change for accuracy.

I have deleted a lot of the posts which attacked ClubMan and his style. We are updating the Posting Guidelines as follows:

Please stick to the topic in a thread
Occasionally, the thread veers off in a new direction from the original subject. Please avoid doing this. Moderators will delete posts which do not stick to the subject.

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There are lots of people whose style I like. There are many whose style I don't like. I simply ignore the ones I don't like.

cas

I am deleting all posts not relating to the subject.

Brendan

got short changed in a taxi. Fare came to 8.50 and hubby commented that it was expensive were coming from our local to home so do the route at least once per week and usually pay around 7. Driver barked thats whats on the meter and hubby said ok but you did go the wrong way which he had and we had to point out. anyway hubbie gave him 20 and then gave him the 50 c and driver gave back 10. Hubby said you left me short and driver got very abusive and started shouting about going to the guards etc and then threw back the 50c hubby said no its the 2€ the 50 c is yours and your man gave him the 2 and muttered about a tip. He then got out of the taxi and threatened to thump hubby - very strange scary experience but I wonder how many fares does he decide to deduct his own tip from esp when people are in a taxi because they've had a few drinks. ditto in pubs do they decide to heklp themselves to a tip i wonder. unfortunately we were too shocked to take the number but def makes you more wary. Many's the night we would have had a few more drinks and blindly hand over fists of money without taking any notice ah well I suppose buyer beware is the lesson.

Drink at home whenever possible and avoid being ripped off by - bar owners - bar staff - and taxi drivers!

angie said:

unfortunately we were too shocked to take the number but def makes you more wary.

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Did you get the taxi firm's name? They should be able to tell you who it was, or you could complain to them.