Bobby is positive a 7-Eleven clerk mistook his $20 bill for a $10 and shafted him on change. He brought the issue up to the clerk, who shut him down and sent him on his way. Since Bobby is a regular at the convenience store, it made the situation more awkward and rendered him more inclined to accept defeat.

His story:

I’ve been going to this 7-Eleven about 5 days a week for almost two years and have had no problems. They for the most part recognize me and I even have a brief conversation with the attendant every Saturday and Sunday morning. I went in to 7-Eleven the other day on my way to work. It was a weekday afternoon, and not busy at all. I bought a few bottled drinks totaling about $3.50, and went to pay. I usually pay by card but needed some smaller bills, so I decided to use cash. At the counter, the attendant rang up my items and I handed over a $20 bill. I was certain it was a $20 bill because I had two in my wallet, as I had just been paid by a friend I had seen earlier that day.

The attendant rang up $20 on the register and my change was displayed as $16.50. She reached into the drawer, paused, and then looked at me and said “I’m sorry, I hit the wrong button, you gave me a ten”. I hadn’t been watching my bill the entire time, as I had gone to grab my items from the counter and glanced outside out of habit, so I hadn’t seen anything behind the counter. Despite my protesting that I had given her a $20 and that I was certain of that (I didn’t even have any 10s in my wallet before), she insisted that I could not have given her a $20 bill because she only had one in her register before, and because she now had one in her hand and none in the register, I had not given her $20. I argued that maybe she had none originally. I was getting nowhere.

I gave up and accepted the $6.50 in change because I was close to being late for work and this was going to be unwinnable. How could I have proven that one? The security tapes, maybe? I don’t know how many people are working at that 7-Eleven but I’m pretty sure it was just her and a new girl, so a manager wasn’t an option. Yeah it sucks but it probably wasn’t worth $10 to go back and convince a higher manager to give me back money.

I still go there. I just pay by card all the time. And if I have to pay by cash, you can bet that I will make sure both me and the cashier know what bill I am handing over before it leaves my hand.

If you’ve been shortchanged and managed to convince the person handling the register to fork over your cash, let us know how you managed the trick.

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