Shortchanged? Customer tricks cashier at Bukit Batok minimart into giving him extra money

[UPDATE: Mar 11]

The customer returned $10 to the minimart owner on Wednesday night (Mar 10), according to Shin Min Daily News. Although the police approached the owner earlier that day, the latter chose not to lodge a police report, saying that he only wanted to warn others about the ruse.

The customer is always right — or are they?

A cashier working at a minimart in Bukit Batok was recently tricked into giving a customer extra money after the latter claimed that he was shortchanged.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Mar 10), the owner of the minimart warned others of a middle-aged man who swindled him of money.

CCTV footage showed how the man pulled off the trick — he approached the counter, phone and money in hand, and asked to purchase a pack of cigarettes. After the cashier handed him a wad of notes as change, he quickly pocketed one of the bills and turned to walk away without his purchase.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/tian.zhu.94/posts/10159368229068969[/embed]

When the cashier alerted him about his forgotten item, the man looked at the money he had in hand and showed it to the other. Realising that he had 'shortchanged' the customer, the cashier immediately handed him an additional note.

"Hope this post can prevent [this] from happening again," the minimart owner wrote, adding that he hoped the video could serve as proof should other shops encounter a run-in with the same man.

According to the owner, this wasn't the first time the minimart had experienced this. In February, they shared footage of the man pocketing a $10 note and claiming that the cashier had shortchanged him. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/tian.zhu.94/posts/10159280789353969[/embed]

"$10 also want to cheat," a netizen wrote after reading the post, while another remarked: "No money to smoke, don't smoke la uncle."

Many netizens criticised the customer for his dishonesty, saying that by taking more than what was due, the cashier would have to pay the missing balance.

Others also called him a "magician", referring to his sneaky tactic as a "sleight of hand".

rainercheung@asiaone.com