Check the receipt

I don’t usually check receipts I get from groceries. And I don’t think anyone else takes time to check this usually long list when she or he gets home, except maybe for a special reason. Well, I had my special reason last Monday when I looked for the receipt of my previous day’s shopping at the Landmark supermarket-Trinoma mall, Quezon City branch. I was looking for the price of one item I bought. It was when I noticed that the cooking oil that cost PhP89.00 (about $2.00) was double-punched by the cashier. So that was the reason, I immediately thought, that I paid the cashier a higher amount than what I had computed when I was still inside the grocery. And then I wondered how many times this has happened before, the double-punching, without me, or any other customer of this supermarket, noticing it. Except, maybe, an always alert shopper who never takes her or his eyes off the LCD of the cashier’s terminal while each item’s barcode/price is scanned. But I seldom do that, too, as I usually only look at the final amount that appears on the LCD, aside from not checking my receipt after.

The complaint
I would have let this incident pass if not for the rather high cost of the cooking oil and also that I wanted to make a point to Landmark about this carelessness on their part or maybe even a glitch on their point of sales (POS) system. I usually do my groceries on Sundays at Landmark, but since I was in the area last Wednesday, I already went to their customer service (CS) personnel to complain. After a few minutes of them verifying my complaint and looking over my receipt, and checking their logbook for the name of the cashier who had attended to me, they declared that the cashier who had to personally process my “refund” was on leave for a few days. The CS people asked for my name and number and said that they will get back to me as soon as they’ve talked to the absent cashier. I gave them what they wanted but also told them that I’ll just get my refund the following Sunday, and there was no need to call me. The refund will actually be a piece of paper that I can show to the cashier on my next purchase to deduct the amount from my payment.

Another double-punch
Funny thing though, when I went inside the grocery to get a few items after I had talked to the CS, the cashier attending to me double-punched or double-scanned again another item. Again I didn’t notice this because I wasn’t looking at the LCD as I was busy getting money from my bag. But the cashier was alert enough to notice it right away and made the appropriate corrections on her machine, which appeared on the receipt afterwards. She advised me of this, and I said to her that, in fact, I had earlier turned over to the CS a receipt with a double-punched item. I mentioned that the concerned cashier was absent so I had to go back later for my refund. She related to me that in cases like that, the concerned cashier will have to suffer a three- to seven-day suspension because it’s really the cashier’s look-out for any discrepancies in scanning the purchased items. I was surprised that there was such a thing as suspension for the cashier for double-punching. I thought that the management will just give the cashier a memo or a verbal reprimand. Now, I’m quite hesitant to follow up my refund at Landmark because if it’s true that the cashier-at-fault could be suspended for some days, then I think I wouldn’t want her to be suspended at all, with a loss of her income to boot.

Point to ponder
A friend of mine said that the cashier’s being suspended isn’t my concern anymore. That this cashier needs to be taught a lesson so that she will be more careful next time. Well, I’m seriously considering telling the CS that I’ll not anymore get my refund if it will result in the cashier’s suspension for some days. I think the cashier will still learn her lesson even without suspension. And I’ve learned my lesson, too—keep my eyes on the LCD of the cash terminal as each item that I purchase is scanned. Don’t rely on the cashier to be exact. That way, I’ll avoid the hassle of having to talk to the CS (especially if the grocery is far from my home--fortunately, Landmark isn't too far away, and I regularly go there on weekends).

P.S. When I came back last Sunday to Landmark about my refund, the CS told me that the concerned cashier isn't working there anymore because her contract had ended. I got my refund back by receiving a bottle of cooking oil that was double-punched in my receipt.