I’m looking for input from people who work (or have worked) as convenience store clerks, or anyone who’s experienced something similar.
For context, I’m in Quebec, Canada.
Tonight I went into a convenience store to buy some chips. The total came to about $9.50. I said I’d pay by credit card. The cashier did something on the register, and then I saw the same amount disappear and show up again on the screen, but this time as a gas charge on a specific pump.
I questioned him about it, and he showed me the receipt for the chips. He told me he made a mistake, that he’s distracted tonight because his wife is in the hospital, and that he entered the transaction as if I had paid cash.
I told him to just cancel the transaction and redo it properly, but he insisted he’s been working there for years and that this is just a way to charge me the correct amount and that everything will balance out in the end.
I’ve worked in a grocery store before, and canceling a transaction is very easy, so his explanation didn’t make any sense to me. I refused and left, and he seemed offended.
Honestly, this feels like a scam. I assume the pump would never actually be activated and that he would later cancel or manipulate the transaction, but I’d like to understand exactly how this would work so he can pocket the money.
If he’s trying this over $9 with me, I can’t imagine how often he does this with people who don’t question or even notice it.
How does this kind of scam work exactly? And who should I report this to? The store’s head office / corporate?