A SWAN Hill woman says she will never withdraw cash from a supermarket self-serve checkout again after accidentally leaving behind $200 last week.
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was in a rush to pick up her children when she left Woolworths with her groceries about 3.30pm on Wednesday, forgetting she had withdrawn cash.
By the time she remembered and returned to the supermarket just minutes later, the $200 was gone from the checkout and it had not been handed into staff.
She said while the matter was in the hands of Swan Hill police — who are currently speaking with two suspects from an unrelated but identical matter on Saturday, June 21 — she would never use self-serve checkout for cash withdrawals again.
“It’s so easy [to forget to take your cash] — especially for someone like me, who only uses the self-serve registers when they’re in a rush,” she said.
“The money comes out right at the bottom of the machine and it only reminds you to take your cash right at the end of the transaction.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Mal Simpson said time was of the essence in such cases, as supermarkets usually only kept their CCTV footage for a limited time.
“Report to the supermarket first, as sometimes there’s honest people out there who hand it in,” he said.
“However, if the money isn’t handed in then people should contact the police station ASAP and we’ll contact the supermarket for CCTV footage — they only keep it for a little while.”
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (June 30).
