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Imagine trying to pay cash at a restaurant, and an employee accuses you of paying with counterfeit money. If you knew the money wasn’t counterfeit, what would you do?
In this story, one dad is in this situation, and he offers to pay another way. That’s not good enough for the employee who threatens to call the police.
Keep reading to find out what happens when the police arrive.
WingStop tries to steal from my dad
So this was a few years ago, my dad and his girlfriend went to WingStop for lunch. They were on the nicer side of town, and had just got done hiking at a local park, so they were kinda sweaty and gross.
My dad also has this big, wildly bushy beard, which doesn’t help him look any less funky.
Either way, they order, and both of them get a pretty large order with drinks and such, and their total comes out to $30 something.
I can’t remember exactly why, but he only has a $100 bill on him, not including his credit and debit cards.
Here’s some more context about the $100 bill.
Now this was pretty soon after they changed the look of the $100 bill, and both the new ones and the old ones were in circulation.
More often than not, you’d see the new ones, but the old bills popped up from time to time.
So he hands the cashier (C, for reference) the bill, and their conversation goes something like this after he “holds it to the light”:
C: I’m sorry sir, but I believe this bill is counterfeit. I’m going to have to confiscate it.
He offered to pay another way.
Dad: No that’s okay, give me the bill and I’ll pay with my card.
C: I can’t do that sir, it’s company policy for us to keep counterfeit bills. It’s to keep them out of circulation in other businesses.
Dad: That’s nonsense, give me my money back.
C: If you keep this up, I’m calling the police and they can handle this.
He was all for the police handling it.
Dad: You know what? Call the police. I want them here now.
By this point, there are several people in line behind them, complaining about what’s taking so long, etc.
The police are called, and they wait another 15 minutes or so for them to get to the WingStop. They aren’t taking any other orders or being remotely productive at all. My dad is getting visibly mire irritated by the minute.
Finally, the police (P) arrive.
Let’s see how the police handle it.
P: So, what’s the issue here?
C: This man is trying to pay with fake money.
Dad: Um, no, I’m trying to pay with my $100 bill and this cashier is trying to steal from me. Told them I’d pay with my card if they would just give the bill back, they said that it was “company policy” to keep counterfeit bills.
P (to C): Did you check it?
The police know what’s really going on.
C: Of COURSE I checked it, I held it to the light and the bar wasn’t there.
The police man is noticeably irritated as well at this point, snatches the bill and checks it with his fancy pen. The bill “passes the test,” and the cashier pales as they realize they’ve been caught.
P: So what you’re trying to tell me is that you wanted to steal from this man? Give the man his money back and stop harassing people.
Here’s how it ended.
The cashier takes the bill from the police officer and shamefully hands it back to my dad.
The cashier, who is— SUPRISE!— the manager, offers my dad his lunch on the house, and a gift card.
My dad refuses, and they go to the McDonald’s across the street.
My dad (and the rest of our family, surprisingly) has not been to another WingStop since.
So, was the manager trying to steal, or did he really think it was counterfeit?
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
Here’s a fun fact.
A former manager weighs in.
Another person thinks it was just a mistake.
Nobody seems to think the employee was stealing.
Calling the police really was the best way to handle the situation. I don’t think the manager was trying to steal. I think he really believed the bill was fake, and it sounds like, according to the comments, that employees are not supposed to give counterfeit bills back.
The manager did the right thing, but so did the customer and the police.