"Would you please do something illegal for me? Please?"

[edible_hat]

It all depends... the Supreme Court in Australia ruled that modding a console to get around region encoding is OK, modding it just to play pirated games isn't. The defendant in the case got off the charge of selling modchips (because his chips allowed you to get around region coding) but was found guilty of selling thousands of dollars worth of pirated PS2 games.

[SpyOne]

Has anyone else been asked to do something so blatently illegal?

Had someone ask me to commit felony fraud for them, and then get angry that I wouldn't.
I am not authorized to tell anyone we are not hiring, especially if they have not turned in an application. I can be fired for refusing to give anyone an application, even if they are obviously unqualified for the job, for any job, and/or to care for themselves.
Therefore, no I will not sign that government document that says that you applied here and we are not hiring.

And what the hell in our past experience together makes you think you have any right to act huffy when I politely decline?

[lordlundar]

Is that what everyone's doing when they tell me "Oh, I Modded my PS3 so I could play the games." Why would you buy a system you can't play unless you mod it, I ask them with several purple and green polka-dotted question marks fluttering over my head.

I always get "Uh..." as an answer.

It's not totally illegal, as there are mod chips which simply bypass the region check and allow people to play import games. That said, PS3 games are not region restricted, so if someone asks for a mod chip to play PS3 games, it's pirated ones.

And though it's not fully illegal, going into a GAME store and asking for one is just plain stupidity.

[Becks]

Besides being asked to buy smokey treats for the somewhat underage set, no.

[Crawley]

I forgot to mention the time a guy came in to my games store and asked if we mod systems.

(Note: Modding a system means illegally altering the hardware in a console to play pirated software)

Two things,

1) I don't think it's illegal to mod the hardware. It voids your warrenty, but AFAIK it's not a criminal offense.

2) I actually modded an original PS to play games that weren't release in the US (specifically Guitar Freaks). It was a legitimate copy, just not a US version.


Just letting you know not all mods are for pirated games.

[MadMike]

My parents own a little retail/surf/bike rental shop, and I would take care of the retail shop every afternoon. I had a group of twenty-somethings come in and ask "Hey, do you know where we can find something fun to do around here? You know, like cocaine?"

A few years ago, someone posted a story on here about how they'd give people making such requests the address of the police station, and told them to ask for "the captain."

[BlaqueKatt]

I ordered a custom made coat from china-paid $120 us for it-got the package marked "clothing sample" value $20 us

[Auto]

This is called surcharging. While not always illegal (it is in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas) this is a violation of their merchant agreements with the credit card companies. MC/Visa specifically prohibit it. AMEX - IIRC - doesn't specifically not allow it, but requires that AMEX not be discriminated against. Meaning that if you don't surcharge MC/Visa, you can't surcharge AMEX either. Theoretically if you accept only AMEX you add a surcharge, but I haven't heard of any place that accepts only AMEX.

If a business is reported to the CC companies for this, they can have their merchant accounts yanked.

actually it's not a surcharge for using credit as it is a discount for paying cash. which does not violate their merchant agreement.

but for last few years, cash and credit prices at gas stations have been the same. i haven't seen where the price is different in years.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

The modding might not have been straight out illegal but the companies who sold us our games do not appreciate unauthorized modification of their hardware. If they found out we were doing such things they'd stop selling to us and likely hit us with a fat fine to boot.

[Spiffy McMoron]

Funny. Dude must have mellowed since I quit!!

Hey, guy!

The owner was having one of his good days. YOU know what I mean.

[Jadedcarguy]

I had a girl come in once and ask me to cut a key from a VIN. She had zero paperwork to prove she owned the car, so I told her no.

Her response? "I don't own it. It's my ex-boyfriend's truck and I'm gonna teach that bastard a lesson!!"

My response? "You have 5 seconds to get out of here before I call the police."

Her: <scampers>


Duh.

[Misanthropical]

I had a call like that, the man wanted the information on his mother.

Him: So, what's this about?
Me: I can only discuss that with her.
Him: C'mon, just tell me.
Me: I really can not do that
Him: Sure you can!
Me: No, I can't, it's a privacy issue.
Him: Really, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone you told me.
Me: I will call her back.

I'm not about to lose my job and pay a fine out the ass just so he can get information he is not entitled to.