Thieves Strike Again

Yesterday sucked to high heaven. It just so happened that it was a Saturday and also the day before Valentines. So not only was it super busy because it was the first day of the weekend, it was double busy with all the last-minute holiday shoppers. It just seemed as if we could not get enough cash registers open all day. Managers were even helping check people out, which they normally avoid doing. We even shut the service desk down early to have just that one more person on a normal register. It was almost worse than Christmas. At least we had more cashiers scheduled then. Oh well, let me get into the good stuff. The first story doesn't have to do with today's title, it was just interesting enough to publish. My second story today is really the good'un. You'll see why when you get there.

~~~

~ When I arrived for my shift, the employee already at the desk mentioned some sheets that a woman in the store wanted to exchange, and then scurried off to her break. My co-worker had already informed the woman that there was nothing that we can do with the sheets that she brought us, but apparently that didn't sink in. The customer, against advise, went ahead back into the store to get the sheets she wanted to exchange out. When she returned, I reiterated what my co-worker had already told her, and sent her on her merry way without exchanging them.

The problem was this: The sheets that she had brought us were obviously extremely old. She said that they had been given to her as a Christmas present, which very well may be, but whoever bought them had had them for a very long time. The sheets looked like they had never been used, but the reason that it was so easy to tell they were old is because the plastic cover was turning a yellowy-brown from age. The barcode, itself, had already turned from white to brown and was tearing around the edges. It still scanned just fine, but we didn't have the price for that item in our system and probably haven't for a very long time. The discoloration was most likely caused from long-term exposure from a smoker, and there is no way she'll be able to exchange those sheets anywhere.

~~~

~ Later in the day, a gentleman approached the counter with a question. He didn't have his stuff with him because he wasn't sure if there was anything we could to do for him. He had purchased three boxes of baseball cards. All three boxes still had the cellophane on them when he bought them, but when he opened them up, all of the individual packs of cards were already torn open. Each pack of six was missing about one to four cards and its very likely that the only ones that were taken were those which retained some face value. This, of course, was a strange situation and all I could tell him was to bring the items in and we'd see what could be done. He was concerned with his predicament, but was also well aware that there wasn't really a way for him to prove that he was lying. Each box was almost $20, though, so he couldn't help but try and see if there was something we could do. Because of this, he was pleasant enough to deal with and I was definitely willing to give the boxes a look.

After he left to retrieve his items, he instead turned to the boxes we still had on the shelf. He picked one up, inspected it and, he returned to my counter to show me what he'd found. At first glance, the package seemed just fine. Looking closer to where he was pointing, I also noticed what he was referring to. This box, right off our shelf, had been tampered with. After showing me this, he hurried off to his car to grab his merchandise. While he was gone, I took the last one of the same box of cards off the shelf and inspected it, as well. It, too, had been tampered with. For this blog's purposes, I'm not going to go into detail as to how the thieves messed with the packaging. I know the majority of you who read this blog are honest people, but I do not plan on giving the dishonest ones the same idea.

When the customer got back with the boxes he had purchased, a close inspection of them also reviled the same subtle marks of the intruders. Since the remaining two that we had in stock were also messed with, I went ahead and refunded his money because he still had the receipt. It very well may be that he was the one who set this whole thing up, but he seemed legit and I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. You can also bet that, from now on, I'm take a closer look when people try to return items that are still in their plastic wrap.

01/15/2010

Today is an exciting day. With the completion of today's rant, I've officially run out of saved stories in my phone. Because of this, I may not be able to update daily since (believe it or not) I don't always have anything noteworthy to mention. I have to admit, it was getting kind of difficult recently to make a post every day. So its going to be nice that, from now on, all my posts are going to be current events.

~~~

~Before I get into the meat of this episode, allow me give you some back-story.
It is not uncommon for customers to need to return items without a proof of purchase. There are specific items that we, at the service desk, are not allowed to return without the receipt, though. Those items are things, such as cosmetics, small tools, or small electronic devises, which are generally expensive and easily pocketed. Last Friday was made special by the fact that it wasn't just one person that bothered me, it was a number of them.

I've declined plenty of returns without the receipt, but this day was ridiculous. I've never had so many people, within one work shift, try to return a bundle of stolen goods. Of course I'm not suppose to assume that the items are stolen, but its usually still pretty obvious. A customer who legitimately purchased something will usually throw a fit if I don't let them return it. Younger shoplifters in their teens to twenties don't, for the most part. They sometimes press the return, but seldom cause a scene and draw attention to themselves.

At first, it didn't bother me to turn the first few customers away. Then it got to the point where I literally had to decline every other person walking up to my desk. They had everything from ratchet tools to expensive craft ink. It felt as if there was a gigantic sign on the front of the store that said, "IF YOU STOLE SOMETHING AND WANT TO RETURN IT, DO IT NOW!" It got to the point where I almost went outside to make sure there wasn't.

I eventually asked a co-coworker, who has worked at the desk for longer than I have, if she'd experienced anything like that before. It didn't shock me that she had, and even to a worse degree. She also pointed out that the weekend was coming up, and they probably wanted the money for drugs and alcohol. Even though they would just get a gift-card if we did let them return the stuff, people have been known to try and sell the card for cash-money to support their bad habits.