Customer Service Question...

[jdandtracy]

It is a lot of trouble to go for for $5

I also think you handled it well

If the lady was a regular, possibly you could have said, look the till doesn't show a discrepacny, but next time your in have a free coffee on us. This costs you very little and might keep regular customer....but I would only do it the once, on the basis that she had better damm well check her change properly in future.

If the customer was not a regular, I would have done exactly as you had done.

Believe it or not, we had a second occurance of this today. A guy said he gave us a $20, but we gave him change for a $10. He said we owe him $9. He is someone we recognize, so we went ahead and did a drawer count. No extra money in the till. Also, we had a different employee working this time, so I don't think it is an employee issue. I think it is a new scam, and they prey on people who just want to make things right with their 'loyal customers'.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who might have this going on in their area. I'm in Colorado Springs.

JD

 

[equus007]

scammy

The five dollar thing is a common scam in Austin and it is usualy women who try to pull it. I have spent years dealing with scammers and shoplifters and I think most of us can see them coming.

To the drink thing. Remake it and offer their "mis-made" drinks to someone else for free. You make the customer who doesnt know how to order indebted to you and the potential customer who got the free goods have a great impression of your shop. Running a by-the-book shop only works for the big boys and that is only true because they really don't see what goes on in their shops. Counting cups and beans makes your shop a very uncomfortable place to work and your employees mental state at work will emminate through out your shop ruining the atmosphere which is the only thing that keeps people in coffee shops... hopefully to buy more goods.

 

[Davec]

Believe it or not, we had a second occurance of this today. A guy said he gave us a $20, but we gave him change for a $10. He said we owe him $9.

I think I must be too nice....., the other thing of course is what some places do, a small camera linked to the back office systems and pointed at the till (us=register)....bit Orwellian though.

 

[Crazy4Coffee]

[/quote]

Believe it or not, we had a second occurance of this today. A guy said he gave us a $20, but we gave him change for a $10. He said we owe him $9. He is someone we recognize, so we went ahead and did a drawer count. No extra money in the till. Also, we had a different employee working this time, so I don't think it is an employee issue. I think it is a new scam, and they prey on people who just want to make things right with their 'loyal customers'.

[/quote]

Just a suggestion,
When a customer hands your cashier a $10 bill (or whatever the denomination), your cashier should always hold the bill up in front of the customer and state out loud, "out of 10". They should then place the bill on top of the cash drawer but not in it. Count out loud the customer's change and hand them their receipt. If the customer complains that they have been short changed, i.e. "I gave you a $20", the cashier can show them the $10 bill they were handed by the customer since it has not yet been placed in the till.

 

[crema123]

Crazy4Coffee is dead on. I have found at busy times I have neglected to do this, and at one time the customer said "I gave you a 20" and I looked in the drawer, and there was the 20 in the 10 slot. It's a really good habit to put the bill on the drawer - just a hard one to get into.

 

[Coffee Guy]

Hey Crazy4Coffee:

Good call. Especially in a coffee shop where not only the customer can see that, but also the employee or anyone else that happens to be near by. I have seen a number of cafes or other businesses do that. It also alerts every one that such transaction is taking place.

 

[morrisn]

Our policy is to remake the drink as we want our customers to be happy with their drink, there is always a question of if the customer didn't specify decaf or if the staff member missed it.

We train our staff to hold the bill out and count back the change to try and prevent those type of issues.