Yeah, most excuses I hear are really just excuses. Even had a shop refuse to sell me something after its best before date despite it being on the shelf at a reduced price. They said its illegal to sell it to me - no it isn’t, there is another shop just round the corner which makes that their entire business model by selling reduced stuff past its best before date.

Had I been feeling more argumentative I would have been tempted to leave the money on the counter and just walk off with it. Yes it is kinda stealing, but no one is going to enforce that. “So you are saying he left the money on the counter and walked off with it? Yeah stop wasting our time”