Being short changed deliberately in pubs

On the night of the ill-fated Switzerland match, I found myself with some workmates in a local hostelry I wouldn't normally frequent and, when the eejit of a barman gave me change from €20 instead of the €10 I'd handed him, I — for the first time in my life! — said nothing and pocketed the change... (bad karma, I know!) :D

But if a crooked taxi driver ever threatened to "thump" me for catching him short-changing me, I'd report him to the Guards and call a solicitor pronto.
 
If the taxi incident occured in Dublin, report the driver to the Carriage Office (which is run by the Gardai).
 
Thought it was just me! Bought three drinks, cost about 13.50 and handed over 15, waited and waited and waited but no sign of change. Eventually caught the barmans attention and asked for my 1.50 change. The look I got and finally he threw and I mean threw 1.50 in ten and twenties across the counter in the rudest of ways. Other people looked and I explained all I had wanted was my change back! I experienced this taking automatic change in some countries in Eastern Europe where if you give money more than the bill, they assume its their tip? Is it coming here now?
 
We honestly more stood there looking at each other and yes it was Sat nite we'd had a few drinks and just didn't think. Hubbie thought it was a particular company and rang them but they wouldn't do anything as it was a pick up and not a call from the base and we were not 100% certain that it was that company. We will be a lot more careful in future though about looking at the number etc when we get in.
 
This thread was started to highlight the dishonesty of shop and barworkers, to their customers. Your actions have exactly the same effect; only to the owner. With this kind of mentality, is it a wonder there is so much thievery around!

Was this some kind of oneupmanship. The only person you're ripping off is the owner even if it's the first time you did it! You're not getting back or punishing the worker!

I'm not preaching what you should do or not; that's nothing to do with me.

But chipping in with " I 'm one of those" (effectively) in this thread seems a bit, well, ou of place!

It's also saying that if I'm being dishonest to a shop/barowner then it's ok, if they are to me! Although it's staff we're talking about.
 
DrMoriarty said:
when the eejit of a barman gave me change from €20 instead of the €10 I'd handed him, I — for the first time in my life! — said nothing and pocketed the change..
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Sorry, the last post was reffering to Dr Moriartys last.
 
Hang on — I as much as admitted that my action was dishonest ("bad karma"), and, as I said, it was the first time I'd ever done anything other than say immediately "Oh, hold on, you've given me too much..."

The main reason I didn't go back was that the barman in question is an obnoxious so-and-so, who also has quite a reputation for "accidentally" short-changing customers, and I suspect that the (millionaire) owner loses a lot more than €10 a night to his own staff. You might call this rationalising a dishonest action on my own part, but I'm certainly not implying that "if I'm being dishonest to a shop/barowner then it's ok, if they are to me!"

Also - there is a slight difference between a customer not pointing out a shopkeeper/bartender's own mistake to him, and a shopkeeper/bartender deliberately short-changing a customer (or many customers). I agree with those who've said above that if you don't bother to check your change, you shouldn't whinge afterwards about being "ripped off". Does the reverse not apply to an incompetent shopkeeper/bartender?

In any case, it would seem there's certainly a lot of this-kind-of-thing around...
When the fáilte falters
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Jane Halligan from Shankill in Dublin writes to echo concerns from other readers in connection with retailers either overcharging or failing to deliver on promotional promises, or occasionally both.

Her son is travelling to Japan this month and she wanted to give him "kitsch Irish souvenirs" - lapel pins, fridge magnets, stickers - to dole out in some of the schools he plans to visit as part of the trip. "I found myself doing something rather unusual for an Irish person and rubbing shoulders with a lot of tourists," she writes.

She was surprised at the high price tags attached to some of the "cheap tat" on offer in shops selling Irish souvenirs but what really sparked her ire was the number of times shops accidentally overcharged her. "I was overcharged for items in three of the four shops," she says. "The only place I was not overcharged was the tourist office in Andrew Street."

In one shop she was charged €8 for three fridge magnets, which had a price tag of €1.99 each or three for €5. In another outlet she was charged €11.90 for two flags which were priced at €4.95 each or two for €8, and in a third shop she was asked for €7 for three lapel pins despite the fact that they had a price of €1.99 each or three for €5.

"In each case, as you can see, what I was being charged isn't even the item price multiplied by the number of items purchased, never mind the special offer! I must also point out that the special offer price was in each and every case up in bold lettering in full view of the cash desk."

She says that when she pointed to the big signs displaying the real prices she received an apology and was charged the correct prices. "My point is that these are tourist shops where the shopper may not speak English at all or not well enough to argue the issue or may not notice the overcharge in the bustle of sorting out strange currency."

She does allow for the possibility that on each occasion the overcharging "was a slip of the finger" but says that as it happened in three out of four shops it left her feeling that "in 'rip-off Ireland' your average tourist is being systematically overcharged. Perhaps our national slogan of 'Céad míle fáilte' should be more accurately 'Caveat emptor'."
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© The Irish Times, 21 October 2005
 
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