Excuse me, are those fake checks?

[CSR Kim]

I had some women try to write a check today for approximately $175. The check looked so bad, I knew it wouldn't go through. It looked like a check, but the printing looking like it had come out of their desktop printer. Also, the bank's name was a legitimate bank, however it was not their font and did not look like one of their checks. I didn't want to outright say, "Hey, did you make this check?" So I checked the I.D., made a note of the name, and sure enough the check got declined.

After they left, I called mall security who had me call the police to make a report. They sent out a couple of officers who took a statement. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the check, so all I had were the details I could remember and a description of the women. After the police left, I thought that would be it. Surely the women weren't stupid enough to stay in the mall, right?

Apparently not, as not 5 minutes after the cops left, the women and the guy they were with came walking past my store. I immediately called security and they, and the police who were still in the mall, were able to apprehend them. Turns out they had been writing these fake checks all over the mall, and some places even accepted them (including Borders and Sears, which I thought was surprising)!

I have the biggest natural high right now. I can't believe they got caught! I also can't believe I was the only one out of all these other retailers who reported these women. I feel like I deserve major cookies.

[purplemoose84]

wow that woman is seriously stupid but the other retailers even more stupid! i had to call security on woman once... she was super nervous and it was her "husband's card"... never found out if she was legit or not but hey...I personally have never understood cheating both school and shopping... you end up putting more effort into cheating than if you did legit... oh well *shurges* that's life I guess

[lordlundar]

No doubt you deserve cookies! You just help bust a con artist!

[Seshat]

I feel like I deserve major cookies.

(bakes a batch just for you.)

[Becks]

What's your favorite cookie? Dozens will arrive soon after you tell.

[CSR Kim]

What's your favorite cookie? Dozens will arrive soon after you tell.

Chocolate chip!

I am still getting over the fact that they actually caught them. I hear about shoplifters, etc. every day at the mall, but a lot of times they get away. I thought I was wasting my time calling the cops, honestly. They couldn't even go back to the security cameras because they only catch the edge of our store, the rest of it is kind of hidden.

I hope there's a follow up to this. I wrote a 3 page "offical" report for the cops and the security officers, but I don't know if I'll need to testify or anything.

[WHShit]

Congrats! You should get a reward. Seriously.

Stewart, a co-worker, was serving this man who was buying £100+ in DVD's. I was next to him at the tills serving another customer. My customer left and Stewart went to run his customers card. Well, the card wasn't chip&PIN, which was weird to begin with. He swiped it and it came up with the message "declined. detain card". Stewart asked me what the message meant and I told him I wasn;t sure, that I had never seen it before and had to ask the manager. Stewart told the man some excuse and assured him that it was a minor problem. When I came back with the manager, the customer was gone and somehow Stewart had managed to keep the card!

Manager called the card people and they said Stewart and I would both be getting a reward! We are getting £25 each because we both dealt with it!

There has to be some kind of a reward system with bad checks too! Especially since no one else noticed that the checks were bad. I can't believe that Sears and Borders actually took them!!!!

[blas]

AWESOME JOB! Do you get rewarded when catching shoplifters or con artists?

At the young lady's store, since it was such a rare occasion catching shoplifters (no cameras whatsoever), our GM always bought the crew a pizza when we got lucky and caught one. There was always some left over for other employees in case they didn't work that day or the next.

The best part was there was a bulletin board in the back room. What the GM did was tape/pin the attempted shoplifted item(s) onto the board and attach a copy of the police report by it, and then have our pizza sitting on the table below with a note saying "Great job, girls!"

[CSR Kim]

AWESOME JOB! Do you get rewarded when catching shoplifters or con artists?

I'm honestly not sure. I know, as a company policy, if we report internal theft, etc. we can get a reward, but I'm not sure about this situation. Luckily we didn't lose any merchandise ourselves. As far as from the mall or the police or whatever, I'm not sure. A reward would be nice, lol, but I won't hold my breath.

[mscrybaby]

I have had to capture quite a few cards back when I worked for the c-store. I knew there was a reward but our company was so cheap they never shared it with me, not even a good job remark

[BaristaGirl]

Great job! ^.^ I'm so proud. *sniffle* It is a beautiful, special day!

[Imogene]

A few weeks before leaving for Vegas, I had to call in a check for confirmation, it was a pretty large purchase (a 360 and some games, I think). And it was my first time to call that system, and it wouldn't register anything I said, so my voice kept getting louder, in an attempt to get the damn thing to understand me. In the end, the check was declined. Manager man pulled me off to the side after that was over, and let me know I was making the call too personal for the customer. I was 'shouting' her info. I told him, "The system wasn't registering anything I said. How else was I supposed to get it to understand me?"
All he could tell me was just to be softer about it next time.

Which never happened, seeing as I left after returning from Vegas.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I have only once been told to destroy a credit card, but I couldn't do it because per company policy, we are not allowed. We had to give the card back and tell the customer that the operator had told us to destroy the card. Which doesn't do much if it's a stolen card (though in that particular case I don't believe it was).

[Becks]

Chocolate chip!

They're on their way.