Zales Store Receipts Really Don't Mean Anything
Reader Taylor had purchased wedding rings from Zales with a payment plan that allows him to make payments over the course of a year. One day, Taylor went to the store to make a payment of $160 and received his receipt for the cash transaction. A few days later, he received a call from the store manager who said that she believed that Taylor had only paid $60 and cited a surveillance video which, according to the manager, shows their sales representative counting only 3 bills. Even though Taylor was certain that he paid $160 and has a receipt to prove it, he asked to see this intriguing video, but the store manager has been giving him the run-around ever since. Taylor's letter and our advice, inside...
Long-time reader, first-time writer. Here we go:
Hello. I'm writing to let you and others know about my experience with the jewelry company Zales. I bought both mine and my wife's wedding rings at the store located inside Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA. I purchased them from an old acquaintance of mine from middle school; let's call her Jen. Jen and I had not seen each other for at least ten years and it was great having her help us pick out rings that we wanted. She was extremely helpful in the account setup process, enrolling us in the credit program with no interest for twelve months. The total for our rings was $978.36, and allowing us to pay it over a year was very helpful. I could either pay online, or just drop by the store in the mall that I both live close to and frequent, so it was no problem. The only gripe I have is, you cannot pay by debit card in the store, with is my preferred method of payment since I rarely carry much cash on my person; you can only pay in-store by cash or personal checks. I had made three cash payments in the store without any problems.
I went to the mall on June 18th because I was close by to make my payment. I stopped by the Bank of America ATM that you have to pass on the way to Zales to withdraw the cash. I tried to withdraw $150.00 from the ATM and it gave me a message saying that I needed to enter in an amount in multiples of $20.00, so I entered $160.00 and withdrew my money in the form of eight $20 bills, declining a receipt because I am always keeping track of my bank accounts online and I always end up just throwing away the receipts anyway. I walked about twenty steps to the Zales store and paid a woman behind the counter the cash that I had never seen before. I counted the money on the counter and then set it in a pile on her side of the counter while she was pulling up my account information (I didn't have my bill on me). She verified the information and then took the money and placed it in the register and gave me my receipt for $160. Everything seemed fine at the time…
"Jen," my middle school peer, called my house the next day, on June 19th. I was at work at the time, so my mother called me to let me know that she called and gave me the number to call her back on. I got in touch with Jen about an hour after she called and she asked me how much I had paid on the previous day. I pulled out and checked my receipt, just to be sure, and told her $160.00. I asked her why she was wondering because I thought maybe it didn't get put into my account because I didn't have my bill on me. She said that there was just a monetary discrepancy in the store and that everything would be fine. Ok…
I just received a call on June 20th from the store manager, Jari (real name). She said that her and the "loss prevention people" had been reviewing the tape and that I had only paid the cashier $60. WHAT!? I told her how I had just gone to the ATM to withdraw the money, and I was 100% sure that I had paid $160 towards my ring payment. She said that while viewing the tape, the cashier only counted three bills and placed them in the same place in the register. She said that she went through all of the scenarios and that if I had paid her with a $100 bill in the mix, it would have gotten put in a different place than the $20 bills, but that the three bills still didn't add up. I told her that I would check my Bank of America account online, just to make sure that I had withdrawn the correct amount and call her back.
I checked my account online, and of course, there was the $160 withdrawal that I had made. I also checked my Zales account online, and the $160 had been subtracted from my balance, like it should have. Infuriated, but completely under control, I headed up to the Zales to talk to her personally and take care of this, showing her my receipt for the $160 payment I had made just a few days ago. I walked her over to the place I was standing when I made the payment, showed her exactly how I had fanned the cash out on the counter, counted it, put it all together, and set it on the far side of the counter closer to the cashier, for her to take after she was finished pulling up my account.
After listening to me, she said matter-of-factly, "What happened was this. The code to tell our system that you are paying in cash is [1]. You paid her $60 and then she made a mistake by pressing the [1] button twice, which made your total $160." When I brought up again how I had counted the money out on the counter, she said that she never saw me do it in the videos. I was with my wife at the time and she remembers me counting the money on the counter. Jari kept bringing up the fact that her cashier had only counted three bills and I showed her how I could easily count "three" bills by counting out two and then taking the rest of the stack as the last "bill." She said that this wasn't the case. I asked to see the video myself and she said that her loss prevention people had to be present to let me view the tape. I asked her what the next step was. She said "Well, either you will pay us the $100 or we will just add it to your account balance." I told her that nether one of those was going to happen and demanded that I see the tape with my wife. She said that she would call me "later" to set up an appointment.
I called Jari on June 24th, to see the status of the meeting we were supposed to have, and she said, "I have contacted loss prevention, but they didn't give me a response yet. I will call you when I hear from them."
I am so confused by the whole situation! I'm guessing that the cashier could have pocketed the money either after closing the store or sometime during her shift. I am 100% sure that I gave her the correct amount of money because I keep a strict budget for myself and everything adds up. I had no other money in my wallet at the time of the ATM withdrawal, nor did I buy anything with "extra cash" I had in my wallet in the few days in between, and I still have no cash in my wallet. Now, the question is, WHAT CAN I DO!?
A store can't just issue you a receipt and then days later say, "Woops! Do-over!" Hang on to that receipt, it is irrefutable evidence that you paid $160 no matter what the manager's mysterious video may reveal. It is time to escalate this matter over the head of Jari since she doesn't seem to realize the purpose and importance of receipts. If that doesn't work, the next steps would be filing complaints with your state's Attorney General's office and the Better Business Bureau. If all else fails, take it small-claims court, we can't see how Zales would have a legal leg on which to stand.
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
I see Jen's real name in there once... I think.
"We have video PROOF that you didn't pay - and NO - you can't see it. Pay us."
$160 = $100 + $50 + $10?
I don't see the problem.
Whew, they had better be darn sure you're a thief. Forget about the risk of lawsuit...they are never ever going to see you, any of your family, or any of the friends you can convince ever again.
Hope that bit of publicity was worth the $100 to them. Now, if you're really a thief, they don't want you around anyway, but they better be darn sure.
(Perhaps the manager is banging the thief cashier? Hehe.)
What kind of Zales only accepts cash or check? What year is this? I can understand not accepting a debit card but what about credit card?
Besides that silly policy, it sounds like someone at Zales is skimming.
I am shocked... SHOCKED... that no one has blamed Bank of America for this debacle yet.
I'd say so too. A jewelry store of all places that doesn't want to accept plastic? Fishy fishy fishy.
Jen...Sarah, whatever.
NOWHERE (well, department store cards) CAN YOU MAKE A CREDIT CARD PAYMENT ON ANOTHER BANKCARD. You have to use cash or check.
I'm guessing the OP is right about someone pocketing the money and then claiming the shortfall on the customer. I'm sure that the store's policies have people with itchy fingers just hoping for a shot at scamming some poor customer.
Here are my thoughts:
-Consider paying with a check from now on
-Hold on to that receipt. The entire purpose of a receipt is proving what you paid and when
-You're married and still live with your mother?
@ShariC: They are selling diamonds, after all. I mean, how honest could they be? I have seen this scenario before, as we all have. The employees are skimming the register/merchandise. It's the number one source of loss for most retail establishments for a reason.
This is ridiculous. Does Zales have some affirmative action policy requiring a certain percentage of their employees to be morons? I can't imagine the leap of logic required to go from a shortfall at the register to accusing a customer of not paying an amount for which he has a receipt.
@heavylee-again: It's at least possible his mother lives with them, isn't it? Mine did with me when I was first married. Nice attitude you have there.
@ everyone: It's just not possible to ring up $160 by entering $60 and hitting the "cash enter" button twice. That would give you only $120, or twice $60.
@speedwell: It's at least possible his mother lives with them, isn't it? Mine did with me when I was first married. Nice attitude you have there.
Psht, kick moms to the curb. You gots to get your honeymoon stage on!
So the store's theory is that the one time their cashier accidentally hits the wrong key twice and mis-enters the amount, it happens to involve a person dishonest enough to be trying to steal a hundred bucks?
Look, normally I take the position that every story has two sides, but when your version and the receipt say the same thing, unless the video involves the cashier saying "sixty dollars" and you saying "Yes, that's right, sixty dollars," the manager is way, way, WAY out of line. It sounds to me like it's video without audio (otherwise, the manager would be telling you that she heard the cashier saying "twenty, forty, sixty"). So the store came up short at the end of the day, and rather than deal with the fact that she's got a thieving employee on her hands (who, incidentally, isn't necessarily your cashier), the store manager wants to pursue the unlikely (to say the least) theory that silent video showing what looks like three bills being counted can overcome the receipt AND your recollection of what happened. Idiotic, to say the least.
That manager, I predict, is in a HEAP of trouble. Managers despise dealing with employees who steal -- it probably counts against the manager's performance if she can't get a hold on loss prevention issues -- but if the letter is accurate, this certainly looks like an unconscionable effort to avoid responsibility by shoving the problem off onto you.
In the long run, I can't imagine you won't win this argument, but it's a good thing you have the receipt.
Does anyone read the article?
@Jaysyn:
The loss prevention guy said it couldn't be a hundred in there, since all bills went into the same register slot. Plus the OP said he got 8 20s.
@speedwell:
He didn't say the cash enter button was hit twice. He said the 1 was hit twice before the 6-0, once to enter a code, and once by accident, making the 6-0 a 1-6-0.
Anyway. Receipt says $160, end of story. Sorry Zales. They won't add the $100 back. They have ground to stand on, and they know it. They know they messed up, and they were either hoping you didn't have your receipt, or they could bully you.
Two possibilities. The cashier stole it, and was smart enough (?) to try to fool the cameras.
Or the OP is full of it, and knows he only paid $60.
Regardless of which, the receipt is binding.
Small claims court. Poster has a receipt, store has a proverbial videotape. Screw the state attorney general... they're no good except for sending you form letters to fill out, and the BBB might work for a mom & pop business but a store as big as Zales has the BBB in their pockets.
Here is an idea....maybe the manager is the thief. She has been able to hide her misdeeds until now and must find someone else to blame for this cash shortage. Just an idea.
@speedwell: They aren't claiming the cashier hit cash enter twice they said she hit the 1 key (which tells the register the payment is cash) then accidentally hit 1 again, then entered the $60 that the store claims they actually paid. This would make the total be $160 because once you tell it the form of payment, all other numbers are considered the total. Having worked on old cash registers, I've seen this happen when someone types really fast. I don't think it did happen this time, but I've seen it.
Fix the comments! I am tired of redoing my posts.
My thought is possibly the manager is pocketing the extra cash. Until now it possible to hide the stealing but now she needs a scapegoat. Just an idea.
3 bills - $100 bill, $50 bill and $10 bill.
This is so simple. He paid the money, he has a receipt. Zales is screwed and had better back off. Call their corporate office. Call another store if you have to and get a regional managers name/number. Stir the pot just a little on this matter and it WILL get fixed, you'll see.
in the Atlanta area, go to Iroff and Son next time, they are good people.
I used to work loss prevention and I used to catch cashiers stealing money like this weekly, some weeks daily. It's quite an easy scam to pull even WITH cameras.
(Cameras are overrated in some cases)
Can we get a follow-up as to what is actually on the video? (Assuming he gets to see it...)
Something weird is going on here. I agree about the manager getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and trying to find a scapegoat. If she is going to let him see the video, though, why show it to him if she's lying about what it shows? I think there's more to this story...
Clearly someone in the store stole the money. It didn't jump off the counter and run away to spend itself somewhere else. Perhaps good ol' pal Pam wasn't such a pal after all. Maybe she had a burning heart for Taylor all those years and seeing him getting married threw her over the edge. But c'mon Pam if you are going to skim and claim you were shorted then you don't ring up the correct amount and give a receipt for it. Crooks are so stupid. Stuff like this is why they usually get caught.
Taylor ought not to fret. His receipt is prima facie evidence for his $160 payment. Zales is making a big legal mistakes if they keep harassing him or add $100 to his balance. Lawsuit time! Zales' legal team must know they would get laughed out of court with the "evidence" they have.
Taylor should call up his local TV station tell his story to the consumer investigative reporter. They love making fools out businesses that insist on doing the wrong thing. My local ABC 7 On Your Side is very good at exposing shenanigans on the evening news. Lights! Camera! Action!
The Zales people can't count, but it is the customer's fault anyway.
@Murph1908: (couldn't be a $100 bill since all bills went into the same slot)
Yeah, a cashier who's planning to steal a $100 bill would never put that bill in with the $20's. Or make a mistake. Hell, the manager already said the cashier made a mistake by pressing the 1 key twice, so why couldn't she have made a different mistake and put a $100 bill in with the $20's?
Anyone remember the nice Tiffany's stories that ran here ages ago? Like the one about the bracelet that Tiff's decided to comp totally for the customer because of some dinky little error? Zales, you could have had that sort of publicity but your pissant little manager decided to trash your rep and hers for an alleged $100 error. Stupid.
Ask the Zales store to file a police report because at this point, their demands and their explanations defy all logic.
I'm sure they'll leave you alone after asking for the police to get involved.
Does anyone read the article? He got all 20$ bills, why do people keep saying 100+50+10? Let comprehension be your watchword people.
@Mr_Human: But that blows their theory of '3 bills cannot equal $160.00'
Hang on the receipt and escalate the issue.
What the ATM gives out and what Zales claims are not related. They told the OP that she only handed over 3 bills so she could not have paid $160. That's their evidence....only 3 bills and they were all placed in the same location in the cash drawer.
That's what you get for getting married.
/obligatory blame the victim
Accusing someone of being a thief without reasonble grounds, I believe is slander?
Op - your good name has been besmirched.
Don't stand for besmirchment! I'm thinking your new bride is gonna end up with a free wedding ring + perhaps some benjamins for honeymoon travel (or to send your dear Mother on a trip so the two of you have the house alone).
Zales = evil besmirchers.
I went to Zales once and only once to buy an engagment ring. They treated me like crap and spoke down to me. I was very well educated and knew what I was looking for. The people that worked at the store I went to were idiots. They kept on telling me what I could and could not afford and kept on pointing me to the cheap rings. I left and the only time I came back was to show them the recipt of another store where I bought the ring at. I will not go to Zales again
Noooooo!
First think to be done is to make a photocopy that is signed in front of at least two witnesses w name and phone number. Few people know that register receipts will fade to white out over time. It does you little good to show up in court with a blank slip of paper.
Want to test it? Go to Home Depot. Buy a soda at the cash register. Then place the receipt somewhere out of the way but exposed. Wait about 3 months. That receipt will be pristine white.
The ATM dispensed $20 bills so they should have received 8 bills and not 3. However, I still call bullshit on Zales, the OP has a receipt and that is that.
Easy on this guy about his Mom living with them. She could be disabled or free day care if they have kids.
i don't understand why zales is pursuing this. the problem is on their end now. Just write up the employee if you say there was a mistake on the transaction. Leave the guy out of it. I know when i worked as a cashier and the register was short, we didn't go after the consumers. we wrote up the cashier and after a few write ups, they can be fired.
To everyone concerned about them not taking plastic. It's a credit program, many credit programs dont allow you to pay your credit with another form of credit.
They could still take a debit card but that's a costly setup plan and many IT managers would rather not buy the extra equipment to do pin based debit.
I am agreeing with Baraboo. Perhaps it is mother living with them rather than the other way around.
@JohnMc: Great advice. Every once in awhile I'll be cleaning out my wallet and I'll find a receipt that I saved but that is now completely blank, because all the ink has rubbed off. Thankfully it's never been one that I needed.
Also: I really, really want to see this videotape. I'm not holding my breath, but I sure hope Taylor at least gets to see it.
I think zentec makes a good point. Tell them to file a police report. If they won't, tell them you will if they still try to charge you the 'missing' $100. Call their bluff and tell them to STFU.
Wha-Wha-What?!?!? They *did'nt* ask to see his receipt (at the door)?