If you're planning to commit fraud....

[Dave1982]

....then for the love of all that is Holy, do NOT open your big mouth and tell someone else about it!!!!!!

Had a guy in the store today looking at flash memory cards for cameras. I approached him and asked if I could help him.

SC: No. I have a $50 gift card for Staples and I was looking for something i could buy, then return at Wal-Mart so I can get xBox Live.


Me: Um, you DO know you aren't supposed to do that, right?

SC: Yeah, I know, but it works.

Me: Ah.....you know that it's ILLEGAL, right?

SC: Yeah, I know.



SC girlfriend: Do you carry xBox live.

Me: No.

I fixed the guy with the best "you're a dumbass" look I could muster. I mean seriously, that's just NOT the sort of thing you tell someone. For all he knows, I could be a cop working a second job to make ends meet (I'm not, but he has no way of knowing), in which case I'd bust your ass for that.

However, I did do the next best thing. I took his description down, obtained a duplicate of his receipt, then I called the Wal-Mart down the road and gave their MOD a heads up about the guy.

Me: I'm sure you probably have different UPCs for these, but I wanted to give you a heads up. He bought [mem card] and [different mem card] and [sticky notes].

Wal-Mart MOD (sounding resigned to her fate): Well unfortunately, if they're in my system, I may not be able to stop it.

Me: OK. I just wanted to let you know.

WM MOD: Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. Have a nice day.

With any luck, they took my warning seriously, AND the items didn't scan in over there, and this idiot and his GF got busted for theft by deception.

Of course, knowing how screwed up the retail world is, they probably succeeded in their scam.

[Iris Kojiro]

Well, you did the best you could do in that situation. It's in their hands now. Kudos to you for at least doing your best, though. ^_^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

...so Wally World still issues refunds (or store credit) for items returned there without a receipt? I thought my store was one of the last to do that.

"No receipt, no return" ought to be the rule, but that makes too much sense.

[CiggyStoreClerk]

Actually, Wally World has crazy return policy. They'll take used used diapers if you say you bought them there

[chainedbarista]

the 'no recieipt, no return' should include a 'you broke/used it, you bought it' policy with strict enforcement. too bad that will never happen .

[Mara-chan]

I've done that before. Since we have lots of stores nearby, we always get people trying to scam stuff. I watch which way they walk and either call the mall, Toys R Us, Circuit City or Target.


We did have one a couple of months ago where someone was trying to do a return without a receipt. The girl left, kinda pissed off. I was actually at work on my day off (to say hi and go to Toys R Us), so I told the MOD I'd follow her and get a license plate. We followed her to Target and I got chatting with the Target security staff (nice people, KILLER security setup!). They've seen the two of them try to steal stuff before.

We watched as she met up with her boyfriend (?) and he left and reentered the store FOUR times while we watched. She left, went to Circuit City and returned. We watched her yelling at him outsite by the bikes. Apparently no one would do the return (since we warned everyone). We were waiting for him to steal something on his 5th entry to the store, but they gave up and headed to the mall.

I wish we had the security cameras like Target! High-res, tilt/pan/zoom and about 40 of em.

The SCs/Criminals haven't been back since.

[Sonoma]

When I worked for (car manufacturer's customer service), we'd occasionally get a customer who was very irate with their particular dealership. On occasion there would be people who would announce that they were going to go drive their rig through the front door of said dealership, or some other act of violence.

Hey Einstein, before you can get down there, I'm already on the phone with the General Manager of the dealership, letting them know about the threat made against their staff & property. Did they think that they'd ever be welcomed at any of the dealerships in their area again?

[KrytenKoro]

Ummm....what about people who receive gifts they don't want or can't use? Are they just screwed then? Or should people be encouraged to include receipts with the gift?

So long as the item is still in sellable condition, what exactly is unethical here? The store is rebuying the item for whatever they usually sell it as (which is probably actually less at Wal-mart, anyway), and at worst are making 0 profit when they resell the item, which would happen whether the customer had the receipt or not. The original store still has their profit.

I understand refusing the refund without receipt if the item is damaged, but...if you can put it back out on the sale floor, especially if you can put it back at full-price, there's no logical reason why it could be considered unethical. At least, as far as I can see.

[Rapscallion]

Ummm....what about people who receive gifts they don't want or can't use? Are they just screwed then? Or should people be encouraged to include receipts with the gift?

Since I tend to only return when something doesn't work, I've only ever heard about these, but apparently there are 'gift receipts' that don't show the price unless the item is returned - barcode on it contains the information of price for when the return is made.

So long as the item is still in sellable condition, what exactly is unethical here? The store is rebuying the item for whatever they usually sell it as (which is probably actually less at Wal-mart, anyway), and at worst are making 0 profit when they resell the item, which would happen whether the customer had the receipt or not. The original store still has their profit.

I understand refusing the refund without receipt if the item is damaged, but...if you can put it back out on the sale floor, especially if you can put it back at full-price, there's no logical reason why it could be considered unethical. At least, as far as I can see.

Well, you've got the unethical side of someone buying from one place and returning elsewhere to make a profit. They're not a shop, they're not paying taxes on the money they earn, they're not paying rent and rates. For a ten dollar difference on a product, someone could feasibly make a living by buying from one place and going to another place to make a profit on a dozen different items - take about two or three hours and do that twice a day. Good money, but untraceable for tax and making other people work in those shops when they're not actually making a profit for the company so the company can pay them.

I don't mind paying taxes on what I earn as long as everyone else does is part of it. I don't mind working for an employer as long as it generate the revenue for them to pay me.

Am I making sense?

Rapscallion

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ummm....what about people who receive gifts they don't want or can't use? Are they just screwed then? Or should people be encouraged to include receipts with the gift?

Two words: Gift Receipt.

So long as the item is still in sellable condition, what exactly is unethical here? The store is rebuying the item for whatever they usually sell it as (which is probably actually less at Wal-mart, anyway), and at worst are making 0 profit when they resell the item, which would happen whether the customer had the receipt or not. The original store still has their profit.

I understand refusing the refund without receipt if the item is damaged, but...if you can put it back out on the sale floor, especially if you can put it back at full-price, there's no logical reason why it could be considered unethical. At least, as far as I can see.

Stores don't exist to sell things at 0 profit. Unlike you, I see no good reason why they should have to take money out of the cash register for items they didn't even sell in the first place.

The fact he was going to buy something else with the money from the return is irrelevant.

Something else thieves do is steal items and return them to the store for the cash value, claiming they got the items as gifts or some such. One of the guys in receiving at my store did this video games as they came in by UPS. He made several grand doing this before finally caught.

In these tough economic times, I'd much rather see stores clamping down on this kind of thing than closing stores and laying off employees.

[BookstoreEscapee]

If I buy something at Staples and then exchange it for something else at Target, Target loses money. They are giving out merchandise in exchange for something they didn't sell in the first place. They are then left with an extra piece of merchandise that may or may not actually sell in the future. If it does sell, then I suppose they break even, but if it doesn't sell, they're stuck with it.

[Bramblerose]

Ummm....what about people who receive gifts they don't want or can't use? Are they just screwed then? Or should people be encouraged to include receipts with the gift?

Mom in law hangs onto all her receipts she gives as gifts just in case.

Otherwise one asks for a gift receipt, which has store name blah blah and a code of some sort (the last place I worked it was a bar code).

[Kogarashi]

Unfortunately, I at least still have relatives who don't give gift receipts, and occasionally either give us something we don't actually need (massaging travel pillow, for one), or give us a duplicate gift.

[Fiyero]

I am pretty sure in England you can't sell a returned item as new, even if it is mint condition.
Items returned at PC-World seem to be sold for 10% off or thereabouts so the shop would make a loss even if they sold it.

If we start justifying such items then it is a slippery slope. Returning an item from another store is OK, swapping price tags is OK, using discount you aren't entitled to is OK, taking things that won't be noticed is OK, taking anything you want is OK.

At my local Currys (electrical store) they can look you up on the computer if you know when you bought an item. I would think a system like this should be the only get-out when you have no receipt.

[MoonChild2007]

SC: No. I have a $50 gift card for Staples and I was looking for something i could buy, then return at Wal-Mart so I can get xBox Live.


Me: Um, you DO know you aren't supposed to do that, right?

SC: Yeah, I know, but it works.

Me: Ah.....you know that it's ILLEGAL, right?

SC: Yeah, I know.

I'm sorry, I'm lost, what's illegal and what was his scam?