Paying by check

I was at Hannaford’s in Kennebunk Saturday night, and after my transaction, I noticed that the (young, teenaged) cashier put aside my BLANK SIGNED CHECK next to the register. I asked if she printed my check (although I could clearly see she had not) and she said, “Oh, yeah; we usually do but it didn’t print this time.”

I’m thinking, “Well, she’s young. She doesn’t realize the risk of theft involved with a signed, blank check just lying around the store. Someone who is dishonest (not her! not her!) might take advantage of a situation like that.

So I said, “Well, give it back! I’ll write it.” She gave it back. I wrote it.

When i got home, I told my husband what happened. He said, “Did you tell the manager?” and of course, I had not. “Call there now.”

I called. I told the manager what happened. He asked me if I had the receipt with the cashier’s name on it. I did. I named her. He said that he knew it was going to be that particular cashier.

I had a similar experience last summer when the store was the Stop and Shop. I wrote a check, and then noticed that I was  charged $177 but the total was actually $117. I asked the cashier why she had overcharged me $60.  She just said, “Oh,” and gave  the discrepancy back in cash.

Lesson: Pay by credit or debit card! Check your receipt carefully!