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Short changed twice at Walmart, count your change and look at your receipt


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last week we were short changed at the farmacia and the lady tried to ignore us, but persistence paid off and we got the additional change.

Today at the check out we were short changed again and went to the service desk to get additional change.  We bought one cucumber last week and upon getting home we were charged over 60 pesos for 4 kilos of cucumbers.  There was no way to take back the one cucumber and prove we had only bought one, so we ate the 60+ pesos cucumber. :-((.  Watch your receipt also.

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Learned long ago. 

(1)  Stand at the check-out and count your change before moving away.  Cashiers (and people behind) won't like it...  they are supposed to count the change into your hand, but most times are too lazy, too busy, or trying to rip you off. Understand---- once you move away from the desk, they are within rights to say they did not make the mistake.

(2) Move to one side (out of traffic) but do not leave that check-out station.  Go over your bill immediately.  If there is a mistake -- overcharge OR something charged you did not buy OR charged for a lot more weight than you purchased --   turn back to him/her immediately and show where it is wrong. Yes, they will have to call a supervisor. Yes, they don't like it. But if the price on the shelf is not the same as on your receipt, you again have little recourse once you step away from the area.... because in all fairness, you could have done some kind of switcheroo......

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The lady in the farmacia was not real young, nor did she have the colored hair.  She just tried to ignore us when we showed her the receipt showing the change to be returned and the change on our hand.

You are right about not stepping away from the check out. 

If we had looked at our receipt at time of the cucumber purchase we would have caught it, but too late when we got home.  The cucumber was good but not worth 60+ pesos !!

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5 hours ago, sm1mex said:

last week we were short changed at the farmacia and the lady tried to ignore us, but persistence paid off and we got the additional change.

Today at the check out we were short changed again and went to the service desk to get additional change.  We bought one cucumber last week and upon getting home we were charged over 60 pesos for 4 kilos of cucumbers.  There was no way to take back the one cucumber and prove we had only bought one, so we ate the 60+ pesos cucumber. :-((.  Watch your receipt also.

Several years ago this Walmart practice of never making correct or previously not having any change forced me to start using a credit card. This is safer with the chipped card but MC and Visa in the USA need to implement the pin requirement as Maestro in South America does and CCs do in Europe.

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I have been shortchanged many times at WM.  I stand in line and count my change to the chagrin of the cashier and people behind me.  Too bad.  When I'm shorted, I tell the cashier that she is a bandido.  Then, I go to the customer non service.  The last time the customer service said, "well, you did get your right change, so..."  They see nothing bad about it. 

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2 hours ago, RIlady said:

When I'm shorted, I tell the cashier that she is a bandido.  

Perhaps after you have been in Mexico a bit longer, if you make it, you will realize how foolish saying something like that makes you look to everyone within earshot. Think of it as "Losing Face" and that's what it amounts to in the Mexican culture.  Same as raising your voice in Telmex or CFE. Pay attention to how the locals handle things and you won't stick out like the sore thumb or Ugly American (Canadians are just as guilty).  Best of luck in your new life.

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I have been here over 10 years. So, I should just let their cheating go.  I never yell or raise my voice, but I'm not going to be screwed with.  Locals put up with theft and poor service, they expect it.  For that reason, locals never get problems resolved  and …… the beat goes on. 

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Because of warnings here, when I go to Walmart, etc. and know that I am going to pay in cash, I always have plenty of change, so that I can pay very close to what I have been charged. That is one nice thing about having a bank account here and not having to depend on all of those 500 peso notes.  That way I always am able to pay within a few pesos of what is owed, leaving very little room for the cashiers to cheat.

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13 hours ago, RIlady said:

I have been here over 10 years. So, I should just let their cheating go.  I never yell or raise my voice, but I'm not going to be screwed with.  Locals put up with theft and poor service, they expect it.  For that reason, locals never get problems resolved  and …… the beat goes on. 

(edited by Moderator, inappropriate and personal post)

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15 hours ago, RIlady said:

I have been here over 10 years. So, I should just let their cheating go.  I never yell or raise my voice, but I'm not going to be screwed with.  Locals put up with theft and poor service, they expect it.  For that reason, locals never get problems resolved  and …… the beat goes on. 

Congratulations on being an "Oldtimer". All the more puzzling as to why you would not know how childish it is to call someone a Bandito in public. Perhaps you do it in jest with a huge smile on your face and everyone gets the joke and laughs with you...although I doubt it.

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Something to be aware of :

 

Jorge Castaneda cites one of these popular adages not once, but twice, in his timely, perceptive new book, "Manana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans," to illustrate what he believes are some of the cynical, corrupt and backward-looking attitudes that are preventing his countrymen from living up to their vast potential. The saying is, "El que no transa no avanza" - "Whoever doesn't trick or cheat gets nowhere."

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I do not know what to say, Alpha1. I broke out laughing when I first read your quote, then I got mad, and finally I came to the conclusion that "that's Mexico" and I would rather be along the shores of Lake Chapala, than where I am now (Seattle) for another few weeks.

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Transa, from Transar = To transfer, or do a transaction, or deal.

Engañar = To cheat

So, I take your saying to mean something like "wheeling and dealing", rather than cheating, or maybe just negotiating, or dickering.

 

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1 minute ago, RVGRINGO said:

Transa, from Transar = To transfer, or do a transaction, or deal.

Engañar = To cheat

So, I take your saying to mean something like "wheeling and dealing", rather than cheating, or maybe just negotiating, or dickering.

 

You may want to take it up with the author....

Jorge Castañeda Gutman is a Mexican politician and academic who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He also authored more than a dozen books, including a biography of Che Guevara, and he regularly contributes to newspapers such as Reforma, El País, Los Angeles Times and Newsweek magazine. Wikipedia

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I count my change right when I checkout. I ask for the amount that I've been short changed. The cashier reimburses me without contradiction or argument. I'm not short changed all the time, but I find that it is more likely to happen when I've been given a lot of small coins in change.

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