Short Change ConSuppose the customer has offered a ten dollar note to pay for two dollars worth of goods. The clerk will slowly and deliberately count three dollars worth of coins onto the counter in front of the customer and surreptitiously slide a five dollar note onto the counter but a short distance away from the coins. Very often the customer will pick up the coins and leave the five dollar note behind (which the clerk then places into his own pocket). But if the customer complains that the change is five dollars short, the clerk innocently points to the note laying on the counter and says it was there all the time; nothing shonky going on at all.
Just recently I was stung by a store clerk who was operating a new version of the short change con:
I walked into the local shop and stood to the left of the cash register waiting to be served. I asked for a particular item and the clerk found it on the shelf behind him. He placed the item on the counter and rang up the sale on the cash register. I gave him my money; he handed me my change, and I left the shop.
It was only after I got home that I realized I had forgotten to pick up the item from the counter. I telephoned the store to see if they remembered me and still had the item on the counter, but "no", they didn't know what I was talking about.
I replayed the scene in my mind and quickly figured out what had happened.
I was standing to the left of the cash register when the clerk took the item from the shelf, but instead of placing it on the counter in front of me, he placed it on the counter space to the right of the cash register where I couldn't see it. Then he turned back to me; collected my money; handed me my change, and wished me a "good day". If I had asked for the item he would have given it to me, but I didn't ask so he left it where it was.
After collecting my change I looked around; there was nothing on the counter in front of me; the transaction seemed to be complete, so I left the shop without the purchased item.
I was standing to the left of the cash register when the clerk took the item from the shelf, but instead of placing it on the counter in front of me, he placed it on the counter space to the right of the cash register where I couldn't see it. Then he turned back to me; collected my money; handed me my change, and wished me a "good day". If I had asked for the item he would have given it to me, but I didn't ask so he left it where it was.
After collecting my change I looked around; there was nothing on the counter in front of me; the transaction seemed to be complete, so I left the shop without the purchased item.
The clerk probably watched until I was out of sight and then picked up the item from the counter where he had left it; put it back on the shelf and then retrieved the purchase price from the cash register and put it into his pocket. Probably the easiest $48 he had ever earned.
A few weeks later I'm back in the same shop and the same thing happened again. I didn't think the clerk would be silly enough to pull the same stunt twice in such a short time, but he was young and stupid and probably thought he was too good to ever be caught (and he knew from our previous encounter that I was an easy mark, ripe for the picking).
So I'm on the left of the cash register, my purchased item is on the right (out of my sight) and the clerk is handing me my change. The clerk is expecting me to either ask for the item, or to leave the shop without the item. Instead I just stood there.
So I'm on the left of the cash register, my purchased item is on the right (out of my sight) and the clerk is handing me my change. The clerk is expecting me to either ask for the item, or to leave the shop without the item. Instead I just stood there.
Now a smart con artist would have realized that I was onto him. A smart con artist would have instantly allayed my suspicions by picking up the item and handing it to me with a beaming smile as if that had been his intention all along. But this guy was too greedy. He was so close to another score that he just couldn't bear to give it up so easily. Also he was a complete novice and had no idea what to do now that I wasn't behaving the way he expected. He thought he had played the con perfectly and now he was waiting for me to leave - but I wasn't leaving!
Usually when he played this con, the mark would already be walking out of the shop and he would just carry on normally; tidying up the counter, restocking the shelves, or whatever he usually did. But this time I was just standing there looking innocent and he couldn't think what to do next. It was so funny watching him standing stiffly in front of the cash register, staring off into the distance and pretending that he didn't know I was still there.
He was trying hard not to make eye contact but eventually curiosity got the better of him and his eyes flicked nervously in my direction as he tried to figure out what to do next. I just smiled.
It was probably another five seconds before he eventually realized that he couldn't just stand there like a statue for too much longer and he finally turned his head in my direction and asked, "What?"
Without a word I casually pointed beyond the cash register towards the section of the counter where he had hidden my purchased item. He looked quite ill because he finally realized that I knew exactly what was going on and - worse - that I was silently poking fun at his ineptitude.
He tried to regain lost ground by implying (with his body language) that I was a bit of an idiot. He rolled his eyes at me as if he was utterly confused by my odd behaviour, but the nervous lick of his lips showed that he was afraid I was going to retaliate against him for the attempted rip-off.
He doesn't work there anymore. I don't know why he left. Maybe he got caught by somebody who treated him a bit more roughly than I did.
Usually when he played this con, the mark would already be walking out of the shop and he would just carry on normally; tidying up the counter, restocking the shelves, or whatever he usually did. But this time I was just standing there looking innocent and he couldn't think what to do next. It was so funny watching him standing stiffly in front of the cash register, staring off into the distance and pretending that he didn't know I was still there.
He was trying hard not to make eye contact but eventually curiosity got the better of him and his eyes flicked nervously in my direction as he tried to figure out what to do next. I just smiled.
It was probably another five seconds before he eventually realized that he couldn't just stand there like a statue for too much longer and he finally turned his head in my direction and asked, "What?"
Without a word I casually pointed beyond the cash register towards the section of the counter where he had hidden my purchased item. He looked quite ill because he finally realized that I knew exactly what was going on and - worse - that I was silently poking fun at his ineptitude.
He tried to regain lost ground by implying (with his body language) that I was a bit of an idiot. He rolled his eyes at me as if he was utterly confused by my odd behaviour, but the nervous lick of his lips showed that he was afraid I was going to retaliate against him for the attempted rip-off.
He doesn't work there anymore. I don't know why he left. Maybe he got caught by somebody who treated him a bit more roughly than I did.
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