Throwing receipt in the garbage at restaurant.

It happened a couple times while I was mystery shopping. The first was at a Mcdonalds and right when I was getting in my car to leave the establishment, I noticed I didn't have the receipt with me. Rather, I had thrown it in the McD garbage bin along with my other trash. I said "F***" and went back inside to ask the employees if I can get my receipt from the garbage. They gave me some gloves and I searched for it. It was a little gross but thankfully my receipt was laying on top of the trash pile. I was thinking to myself "I hope that didn't look weird."

How would you guys handle this situation?

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The same thing happened to me, but not at a McDonalds. This was at the airport. I went back and said, "My boss wants all of my receipts, he pays for all my meals, no matter how small. I would have done the same thing. The guy at the airport had thrown it in the trash, fortunately it was on the top.

I have read on guidelines that it is good to take a picture (with phone) of receipt while at establishment in case anything happens to it. I immediately put it in my purse so I don't toss it. Maybe you could put it in your wallet.

I accidentally threw away my receipt on a Five Guys shop. I used the order ticket which listed out all information needed except for the time and purchase price. Got permission from the MSC to use this. Can't remember if I also sent in something from my credit card transactions to show the price paid as well.

Did this a second time at a convenience store where I lost the receipt. Got permission from the MSC to use my credit card transaction as a proof of visit.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2016 10:42PM by Tarantado.

@DavePi wrote:

How would you guys handle this situation?

I have never thrown away a receipt but if/when I do, I will just call DavePiGarbageMan to dig it out for me.

It happened to me at a burger shop. I handed my receipt in when I picked up my order and I saw it thrown into the trash. For a second, I was about to ask her to pick it out of the garbage, but then I decided that it wasn't worth it to out me as the shopper. It was for a company that allows you to do the shop any day during a particular week. So I didn't have to do the shop on that particular day. I came back the next day and did the shop, this time being REALLY careful to put the receipt in my wallet before I picked up my food. I'm glad I had this particular experience as I am much more careful when it comes to receipts.

I don't know why this wouldn't work, but they can reprint your receipt by scrolling back through the day's business...

This reminds me of something that happened recently on a non-shop. I had an Arby's coupon and Arby's is my spouse's favorite fast food place, so we went there for dinner (I'm not a fan of Arby's). In the car I handed him the coupon and told him to hold onto it. We enter Arby's and the first thing he did was crumple the coupon and throw it in the trash! He just wasn't thinking. He started digging into the trash and I told him, "Don't worry about it, it's not worth the $1.80 savings." He ignored me and kept digging for it. He never found it. I was so angry at him that we ended up eating at Burger King next door.

DavePi, others: if that happens again, go back to the same register and have them give you a duplicate receipt.

It may not work if you pay cash. I did a convenience store/gas shop. I paid cash for the convenience store. When I got home, I could only find the receipt for the gas. I went back to the store. Maybe 20 minutes had gone by. The clerk "couldn't find" the receipt.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I haven't thrown out receipts but I had placed them in my purse. If you are a female, you know that it will get lost in your purse somewhere. I don't carry a large purse. I can't imagine how many times I had to empty my purse to look for receipts. Now, I had train myself to put receipt in my wallet with my dollar bills.

I have a mini clipboard. I stack all receipts in order of shops that day. I flip it over during shops.

Garbage is gross. Been there done that.

@sbobgal wrote:

I don't know why this wouldn't work, but they can reprint your receipt by scrolling back through the day's business...

I have gotten a new receipt this way several times. I am not sure a high volume place like a McD would be able or willing to do it though.

@catgrannyof5 wrote:

I haven't thrown out receipts but I had placed them in my purse. If you are a female, you know that it will get lost in your purse somewhere. I don't carry a large purse. I can't imagine how many times I had to empty my purse to look for receipts. Now, I had train myself to put receipt in my wallet with my dollar bills.

OMG yes. This morning I had to empty my purse to find my wallet which is a lot larger than a receipt.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

DavePi, others: if that happens again, go back to the same register and have them give you a duplicate receipt.

There is a very large MSC that does not allow that. I believe another poster already mentioned that. So it would be breaking the guidelines of the shop if you ask for a duplicate receipt.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

................................................................................It may not work if you pay cash. I did a convenience store/gas shop. I paid cash for the convenience store. .................................................................I went back to the store. Maybe 20 minutes had gone by. The clerk "couldn't find" the receipt.

You went back to a convenience store after 20 minutes to get a receipt?

You know how many customers could have come and gone in 20 minutes?. Are you sure the employee really looked?
Convenient store are just that ........convenience. Unless you asked for a receipt at the time of your CASH purchase, convenient stores usually do not print up a receipt. No one does there grocery shopping in a convenient store unless they are doing illegals

A credit card purchase is automatic receipt.

Theory is convenience store have a high theft turnover. It you don't ask for a receipt, that receipt can appear later, for an employee purchase. Some purchases never make it to the register, although a customer has bought something.

So I have been there and done that. ------->I had the receipt rolled up in my hand with my change. By the time I left the store, the receipt had disappeared. The receipt fairy came and grabbed it out of my tight little hands. It was gone. It was a nicely bonused shop too. Now, I take a picture of the receipt before I leave the register, regardless, my own shop or a MSC shop. The Fairy receipt won;t get me again.

Recently, a cashier was talking to me and I forgot to get the receipt. I ended up scanning the package of deli cheese (it was a grocery shop) because it listed the purchase date and store information, along with price paid. It was a highly bonused shop so I couldnt believe I was so silly to have forgotten to grab the receipt! Luckily, my shop was accepted!

All transactions, regardless of the time, are recorded: credit cards, cash, returns, exchanges, etc.

When the clerk said she could not find the receipt, I asked her to print the records for the last hour. Nothing on that list matched my purchase. That meant my cash transaction was not recorded and did not exist.

I wonder where the cash went.

I like your idea of taking a picture of the receipt at the register. Does that ever raise eyebrows?

@sojo917 wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

................................................................................It may not work if you pay cash. I did a convenience store/gas shop. I paid cash for the convenience store. .................................................................I went back to the store. Maybe 20 minutes had gone by. The clerk "couldn't find" the receipt.

You went back to a convenience store after 20 minutes to get a receipt? You know how many customers could have come and gone in 20 minutes?. Are you sure the employee really looked?
Convenient store are just that ........convenience. Unless you asked for a receipt at the time of your CASH purchase, convenient stores usually do not print up a receipt. No one does there grocery shopping in a convenient store unless they are doing illegals

A credit card purchase is automatic receipt.

Theory is convenience store have a high theft turnover. It you don't ask for a receipt, that receipt can appear later, for an employee purchase. Some purchases never make it to the register, although a customer has bought something.

So I have been there and done that. ------->I had the receipt rolled up in my hand with my change. By the time I left the store, the receipt had disappeared. The receipt fairy came and grabbed it out of my tight little hands. It was gone. It was a nicely bonused shop too. Now, I take a picture of the receipt before I leave the register, regardless, my own shop or a MSC shop. The Fairy receipt won;t get me again.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I cant count the number of times a conveniece store clerk wadded up my receipt in front of me. I look at them stoically, and state that i needed the receipt. After their embarrassment, they print me a new receipt in seconds.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

@sojo917 wrote:

So I have been there and done that. ------->I had the receipt rolled up in my hand with my change. By the time I left the store, the receipt had disappeared. The receipt fairy came and grabbed it out of my tight little hands. It was gone. It was a nicely bonused shop too. Now, I take a picture of the receipt before I leave the register, regardless, my own shop or a MSC shop. The Fairy receipt won;t get me again.

I was with you for the first half of your post but you lost me on the second half. How do you take a photo of your receipt before you leave the register? With the cashier and other employees watching you, a line of customers behind you and the video tape running, why would you risk blowing your MS'er covert status?

I don't understand how hard it is for some people to just put the receipt in your purse or wallet or keep it in your hand while you walk a few yards back to your car. Once I am in my car, I use a vinyl "pouch" that stays in my car throughout the day/night and then when I arrive home/hotel/private place, I photograph all my receipts at once. I have temporarily misplaced a receipt or two but I have never lost a receipt. But that is just me.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I did a convenience store/gas shop. I paid cash for the convenience store. When I got home, I could only find the receipt for the gas. I went back to the store. Maybe 20 minutes had gone by. The clerk "couldn't find" the receipt.

Was this a mystery shop/revealed audit? If not, I do not understand why you would blow your MS'er covert status? No regular customer in their right mind would return to a C-store 20 minutes later for a receipt.

@Sybil2 wrote:

Was this a mystery shop/revealed audit? If not, I do not understand why you would blow your MS'er covert status? No regular customer in their right mind would return to a C-store 20 minutes later for a receipt.

This MUST have been a revealed audit. While it is certainly not odd to ask for a receipt, it would be bizarre for a customer to go back to the store 20 minutes later for a receipt. It would be beyond belief for a customer to ask a clerk to print the records for the last hour.

@roflwofl wrote:

@Sybil2 wrote:

Was this a mystery shop/revealed audit? If not, I do not understand why you would blow your MS'er covert status? No regular customer in their right mind would return to a C-store 20 minutes later for a receipt.

This MUST have been a revealed audit. While it is certainly not odd to ask for a receipt, it would be bizarre for a customer to go back to the store 20 minutes later for a receipt. It would be beyond belief for a customer to ask a clerk to print the records for the last hour.

I have read a lot of inaccurate information, half truths and downright lies in this forum so I do not assume anything anymore.

Some accounting programs (Quickbooks, for one) that allow you to immediately submit your business expense receipts via photo. You could use that if questioned.

MissChele - Shopping KY, IN & OH
Thread Killer

catgranny,
I now carry a purse that has an outside zipper compartment into which all receipts, and nothing but receipts, go. Learned this trick when I used to do 20-25 airport shops in a day, with receipts needed for 80 percent of them!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I take a picture of the receipts immediately when I leave the premises.
If I forget the receipt and realize it rapidly after I leave I go back and pretend that I need it for tax deductions.

It wasn't a revealed audit. Asking for a receipt isn't an odd request for the clerks.

Hubby and I were at a gas station on a road trip. While I was getting our snacks, some dude asked for his receipts from two days before. I don't know if he got them.

@roflwofl wrote:

This MUST have been a revealed audit. While it is certainly not odd to ask for a receipt, it would be bizarre for a customer to go back to the store 20 minutes later for a receipt. It would be beyond belief for a customer to ask a clerk to print the records for the last hour.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

It wasn't a revealed audit. Asking for a receipt isn't an odd request for the clerks.

Hubby and I were at a gas station on a road trip. While I was getting our snacks, some dude asked for his receipts from two days before. I don't know if he got them.

@roflwofl wrote:

This MUST have been a revealed audit. While it is certainly not odd to ask for a receipt, it would be bizarre for a customer to go back to the store 20 minutes later for a receipt. It would be beyond belief for a customer to ask a clerk to print the records for the last hour.

@roflwofl, what did I tell you? Never assume anything in this forum.

@HonnyBrown, roflwofl and I did NOT say that it was odd to request a receipt from the clerk AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. It IS odd though to return 20 minutes later to ask for a receipt and then have the clerk search for all purchases in the last hour. Not professional for mystery shopping at all. It amazes me that you consistently bend the rules and that you are still allowed to be a MS'er. I guess you have a pulse!

@sandyf wrote:

@sbobgal wrote:

I don't know why this wouldn't work, but they can reprint your receipt by scrolling back through the day's business...
I have gotten a new receipt this way several times. I am not sure a high volume place like a McD would be able or willing to do it though.

I used to be a manager at a Burger King. We were SUPPOSED to be able to reprint receipts, but if we tried it would crash our whole system.

I also worked in the cash office of a local grocery store. I could reprint receipts there, as long as it was within the last 12 months.

I've never thrown out a receipt while mystery shopping. However, working fast food as a teenager, I did throw out my retainer. I didn't realize it until hours later when I was at home. I went back to the restaurant, put on gloves, and ripped open five bags of trash to find it. I boiled it and wore it. Yuck.

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Throwing receipt in the garbage at restaurant.

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