Discussion»Questions»Shopping» I go to Walmart dressed like a poor homeless person with only .50 and take a potato to check-out costing 53 cents would cashier forgive .03?
The cashier can't change the price. She weighs the potato and the price is computed. If I had that job I would keep change in my pocket for times like this.
I would let you have the potato and put 3 cents in the till for you plus I would let you know that next time you need a potato go down to China town because you could get 3 potatoes for 50 cents. Cheers!
Company policy states that, in this situation, the clerk cannot sell the product to the customer. A till short - even by a penny - can equate employee termination. Giving money from one's own pocket isn't advised as it can be construed as stealing (cameras are watching).
I've worked in retail at numerous places over the past 30 years and the policy is the same everywhere. Some places have a "give-a-penny/take-a-penny" tray for such occasions.
Why? Two whys, actually. 1. Why would you do this? And why wouldn't I JUST GO TELL YOU TO GET ANOTHER ONE? What is a homeless person going to do with a potato anyway? Why not get a banana?
slice banana, pour rum and brown sugar in frying pan and have bananas foster
This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at October 15, 2019 12:59 PM MDT
In my experience, cashiers will round down a price when I have a big bill, or am counting out coins and am a little short. I have never intentionally dressed like a homeless person. You may have better luck if you look like you can afford it and just forgot your wallet. They are more likely to want your return business. However, I don't shop at Walmart, so I don't know if the protocol is different there.
Isn‘t produce sold by weight? If you go back and get a slightly smaller spud, you’ll have enough money to pay for it. Quit causing a problem for the cashier, get a potato that you can afford. ~
Shuhak makes a fair point. A lot of companies do have policies that expressly forbid stepping in on things like this, either by paying or accepting less. Wal-Mart has notoriously rigid policies for staff. It wouldn't surprise me at all if something like helping the homeless person would cost the cashier his/her job.
If I was the cashier, I'd either short the drawer or pay the balance. If the company fired me over it, it's not a company I would want to work for anyway.
That brings to mind a news story I saw a while back, where a restaurant owner put a hungry guy to work washing dishes and stuff. He fed him and gave him cash. I think it turned into a regular job for the guy. Obviously, as a cashier at Wal-Mart, you don't have that kind of leeway, but I think that's the better outcome.
As a customer, you have 6% less than the purchase price of the item he wishes to purchase.
Are you a customer or a con-"woman?"
But seriously, Walmart has a "product mix" which includes not only the item it sells but also the time and effort that it takes for the customer to pay for and exit the store with the product.
So---as has been mentioned in other answers---there is the potential effect on the other customers that may disincline them to return to that store because of the time involved to deal with such issues in the check-out line.
And then there is the question of whether Walmart can afford to maintain a policy of effectively discounting its items to everyone who has almost enough to pay for what they want (and at what percent discount).
And how many such "potatoes" are sold daily---in other words, how is the cashier supposed to keep up with how much money she needs to repay to Walmart because she has accepted less than the purchase price?
I would guess the self-service checkouts that are becoming very common eliminate the issue rather effectively.
I'd pull my handy dandy swiss army knife out of my polyester blue garb. Slice off part of the potato, making it a 48 cent potato. Eat the evidence. Take the man's 50 cents. Put the now 48 cent potato in a bag. Give the man 2 cents back and the potato, and wish him a happy Potato Head day.
If I were the cashier I'd pay the three cents from my own purse. Since we no longer have three-cent coins in Australia, I'd round it up to the nearest 5 cents. Actually I've done this on a few occasions as a customer standing in a queue waiting while the pauper struggles to pay.
This post was edited by inky at October 16, 2019 7:55 PM MDT
Shuhak 