Sobeys... always check your receipt!

[SweetDeals]

I submitted this to the "Reviews" blog a few weeks back but it hasn't appeared. So thought I'd post it here because I think it's an important warning for everyone.

A few months ago I stopped to pick up some ketchup in the Sobeys in Port Perry, ON on my way home.

I had other things on my mind, so I went in, got the ketchup, paid by debit and left without looking at the receipt.

The next day, I went to update our budget (lucky for me I keep one!) and noticed that the receipt from Sobeys was for $13.49, not $3.49.

I checked my bank account and confirmed that I had been charged $13.49... for one bottle of ketchup!

Looking closer at the receipt, I saw that I had been charged $3.49 for the ketchup and $10.00 for cash back.

Now I NEVER get cash back... I think I've done it once or twice, five or more years ago. I hardly ever carry money in my wallet these days, and had no need to get cash that day. So I didn't ask for, or receive, any cash back.

I assumed this was a simple error and went back to the store to have it corrected. I showed the customer service person my receipt and told her I hadn't asked for or been given any money back. She talked to her manager, went to see her, and then came back and gave me the $10.00.

But as she handed it to me, she said to me with a smug smile, "just so you know, we have the receipt with your signature on it for the cash back."

Huh?!? If I didn't ask for or get cash back, how could you have my signature?!? I asked to speak to the manager, and the customer service person said I didn't need to. So I DEMANDED to speak to the manager, and the acting manager (it was the weekend) came down.

I asked to see the receipt and sure enough there was a signature on it. But it wasn't mine. The signature didn't even look like my name. So I showed the acting manager my license with my signature, and said "that's not my signature, and I didn't ask for or get any cash back."

I said that I was pretty concerned that someone was forging my signature, and the acting manager took my contact info and said she would speak to the manager about it on Monday.

I assumed that I would get a follow-up call, an explanation and an apology from the manager, but that never happened. I should have called back and spoken to the manager about it, but my DW said to just drop it and I listened.

But here it is a few months and clearly I haven't dropped it. I think it's way too late to call the store, but I can post a review here in the hope that others don't fall for the same thing I did.

Thinking back, I realized that the cashier swiped my debit card for me and when she gave me the pad it didn't ask me to confirm the amount -- the pad just asked me to pick which account I wanted to use. I've since seen this done by a few other cashiers -- they swipe the card and press "OK" to confirm the amount for you, then give the pad to you to pick your account and enter your pin. I did some research and found out that this is (or at least used to be) a pretty common way to scam people.

In the end I got my $10 back, but I am still angry that I was treated like a con artist by the customer service person and that someone signed a receipt in my name. I still feel like I should have called the police! And I'm angry that the manager didn't call me to address the situation and tell me what (if anything) was done about it.

For all I know it's still happening at that store.

To be fair, this incident doesn't necessary reflect the integrity of all Sobeys stores/cashiers/managers, but I think the lesson is pretty universal: always check your receipt before you leave the store.

Thanks for listening!

[tidytaurus]

Thanks for the heads up, sometimes I wonder why I don't have to confirm the amount but duh I just carry on. I also check my receipts and I would have noticed a cash back as well. I know how life makes us hurry but I am starting to check my receipts before I leave the store or before I start my vehicle. Catch the problem right away and get it resolved because the longer you wait the harder it is. Too many scammers out there.

[Justine]

I always check how much they charge me at the till, I used to be a cashier so I think it's just habit now. Once I get home and see a mistake, I doubt I will go back to the store unless it's a huge amount.

You mean you submitted this to the SC blog?

[Natalka]

Gee, sorry you had to go through this. But there's a but, here - even if the cashier swipes, you get the keypad to enter your account, pin, and confirm the amount. This happens the same way whether you use cashback or not - you see the total.
I sure wouldn't enter my info for a transaction if I didn't know what the total was! One time years ago at Safeway, my total for about $40 worth of groceries was some crazy number in the high hundreds - just a boo-boo by the cashier!

Sorry, but if you had looked, you would have caught the mistake before it went through on your account, and you could have caught the cashier (if she did it) red-handed.
Glad you got the money back though. It's too bad you didn't pursue it further at the time; whoever did it has done it to many customers since then probably.

And a little HINT - I don't often get cashback, but when I do, usually they ask you to initial it, not necessarily sign your name. When I do it, I add my middle initial, and do all three initials in lower case writing all attached together - so I would know for sure whether or not it was me who wrote on the receipt. No one else would know that's how I sign it.

[SweetDeals]

You mean you submitted this to the SC blog?

In the "Reviews" section of SC... there's a blog filled with reviews that people have submitted with a form labelled "Submit Your Review".

Gee, sorry you had to go through this. But there's a but, here - even if the cashier swipes, you get the keypad to enter your account, pin, and confirm the amount. This happens the same way whether you use cashback or not - you see the total...

My post is pretty long so I understand if you didn't see it, but I mentioned above that the cashier hit the "OK" button herself and confirmed the total before she handed the keypad back to me. So when I got the keypad the total wasn't displayed. All I did was pick my account and enter my code.

That being said, the lesson is that I shouldn't have proceeded without confirming the total myself. I agree that was naive of me, and it won't be happening again. But my moment of distraction and blind trust doesn't excuse the fact that it was the cashier who knowingly ripped me off, or that fraud was committed.

Saying "you shouldn't have let that happen" really does miss the point.

And a little HINT - I don't often get cashback, but when I do, usually they ask you to initial it, not necessarily sign your name. When I do it, I add my middle initial, and do all three initials in lower case writing all attached together - so I would know for sure whether or not it was me who wrote on the receipt. No one else would know that's how I sign it.

Good advice for others, but as noted I never get cash back. So this won't be an issue for me. Thank you for suggesting it though.

[seylz_gurl]

Thanks for the headsup Sweet Deals and sharing your story. I'm often in a hurry and have made the mistake of not checking the total when I leave. That is usually the time the cashier makes a mistake, rings it in wrong etc. I only do the cash back when the atm machine isnt working. Good for you for not letting it go cuz that way they'll find out who it was pretty quick. They know who the cashier was on during that shift pretty easily.

[jac.queline22]

Wow - that's fraud and you had a right to call police. All receipts will have the cashier's identification number on them, so it would be easy to track the person down.

I admit that I probably wouldn't follow through with police action for only $10, for fear of creating a 'scene' I guess, but such action would have been warranted. I mean, how many others has this person scammed? It's terrible that Sobey's never got back to you on this.

[mulock]

Contact the Better Business Bureau and the police and file and official complaint. More than likely Sobeys will try to push this under the rug, being such a negative story. I'd sure the local media would love to get their hands on this one. Sobeys would s_it their pants.

[SweetDeals]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I should have posted here first and asked my DW's opinion second.

Mulock -- I think I will contact the BBB as you've suggested. I checked it out and what they'll do is contact Sobeys and get back to me with a response from them in two days.

Feels a little weird to do it so late in the game, but it will reassure me that it's not still happening to other people. I'll let everyone know what they say.

[matrix82]

crazy. I know that the times that I have gotten cash back from sobeys, I've always had to initial my own copy of the reciept.

[GoddessDigi]

When I first started working (at 15) I had a job at the grocery store down the road, called Ingles (back when I was living in the US).
There was a cashier there that started bragging about a way she could make more money than any other cashiers. For the most part, I just ignored everyone, so I didn't pay it any mind, but one day I was in the breakroom on my lunch break, and she was in there telling her story to a stock boy (who wasn't known for being very upstanding, anyway).
Well, we accepted cheques, and our machine could actually just print out the amount and name of the store so the buyer wouldn't have to. A lot of the older people would just fill out the parts they had to, and hand us the cheque to run through the machine and let it fill it out. Well, the cashier has to enter in the amount that gets printed.
This girl was putting in $10 over the bill amount, if it was small, or $20 if it was a larger amount (like $100+), and pocketing it.
I went to a manager after I heard this..and they fired me for spreading rumors.

[osrs]

My husband bought a few coke bottles for 7.00 from 7eleaven and was charged 40.00 and never got his money back. But we both learned a good lesson and never pay in a hurry any more.
I even check my receipt after buying coffee or any small purchase.

[mhk]

When I first started working (at 15) I had a job at the grocery store down the road, called Ingles (back when I was living in the US).
There was a cashier there that started bragging about a way she could make more money than any other cashiers. For the most part, I just ignored everyone, so I didn't pay it any mind, but one day I was in the breakroom on my lunch break, and she was in there telling her story to a stock boy (who wasn't known for being very upstanding, anyway).
Well, we accepted cheques, and our machine could actually just print out the amount and name of the store so the buyer wouldn't have to. A lot of the older people would just fill out the parts they had to, and hand us the cheque to run through the machine and let it fill it out. Well, the cashier has to enter in the amount that gets printed.
This girl was putting in $10 over the bill amount, if it was small, or $20 if it was a larger amount (like $100+), and pocketing it.
I went to a manager after I heard this..and they fired me for spreading rumors.

Aww you poor thing! But you did the right thing in reporting the story to your boss - at least you have a clear conscience!

[Dinglehopper]

I received an Email forward about this (but with credit cards) a while back... but this is the first I've heard of it actually happening to someone I 'know'.

[Justine]

In the "Reviews" section of SC... there's a blog filled with reviews that people have submitted with a form labelled "Submit Your Review".

Oh right, I never look there, I don't know who manages it, but I am sure if you pm'ed Boo he would get back to you.