Dishonest customers are the reason the innocent ones suffer

[repsac]

you can still find Babbage's floating around, if you know where to look. It's like any major franchise buy out. 90 percent of the stores change over, but there's always those few that don't. I think, there's one in Brunswick Ga in fact.

[Retail Associate]

"Dishonest customers are the reason the innocent ones suffer."

With all the theft going on at our store I seriously doubt there is such a thing as 'innocent' customers.

When I worked in the garden center many moons ago, we used to sell torn bags of potting soil, top soil, etc at a reduced price. One day this POS woman comes in and I watched her as she repeatedly put her fingernails through the bags and ripped several of them open. She approached me with her newly torn bags and wanted them at a reduced price. I very happily told her that I could not reduce the price for her because I personally watched her rip open each and every bag.

She was pissed.

[greensinestro]

When I worked in the garden center many moons ago, we used to sell torn bags of potting soil, top soil, etc at a reduced price. One day this POS woman comes in and I watched her as she repeatedly put her fingernails through the bags and ripped several of them open. She approached me with her newly torn bags and wanted them at a reduced price. I very happily told her that I could not reduce the price for her because I personally watched her rip open each and every bag.

She was pissed.

That's a great story. Next thing you know, when a woman like this pops up, check her fingernails first before ringing up the item. By the way, did she buy the bags of soil, or just leave them behind while fuming for being caught?

[greensinestro]

Actually, your aunt isn't the only one to do this. Electronics stores have noticed that sales of big-screen TV's increase in the days leading up to a big game (ie: the Super Bowl) and then returns of big screen TV's spike the day after.

As well, I remeber reading a Maxim How-To guide, for how to throw a great Super Bowl party. For the TV, they recommended renting one, or buying one and returning it on Monday.

I think this should be quoted being the big game is coming up next Sunday! I have a 57 inch Sony big screen that I bought in 2004, and it works great. It was our little "gift" to ourselves when we moved to our present house. I bought it not because I watch a lot of football games, but because I wanted something for my children to enjoy their programs on, as well as myself and the wife.

I never would have thought of buying one and returning it, just for the game. I'm not a thief, so I guess this is why.

[TNT]

And the people who buy a big screen for the Superbowl and take it back after the game often involve the cable company... after all, what use is a big screen HD TV without reliable HD service? Last year (the first I worked for cable), a lot of people called up to get a free install of an HD box... followed a few days later by an equally free uninstall of said converter. So, when you figure my time, the tech's time, etc., it ran into some serious money for us.

And then we have the people who call up and order, say, HBO... and call an hour later and have it removed because they didn't like it. Oddly enough, that hour was the precise hour the Sopranos was on. And even more odd, precisely one week later, they'll call and say, "You know, I think I'll give that HBO thing another try."

Going back to software, I used to buy a lot of it at Electronics Boutique... it was the only software store in town in those days. I never had a problem with returns. The manager always said, "I know how much you buy, and I know how little you return... I don't have a problem here."

[greensinestro]

Well said, TNT! I also worked for the cable company and dealt with things like this. I also dealt with the people who would call in to order a football game that was blacked out in their area, then precisely right at the moment the final score was announced and the game was over, these people would call back in bitching that they ordered it, but nothing was seen on the TV, plus they want their $19.95 fee refunded for that. What always got me on this was friends of mine that had seen the same game and lived within a few miles of these customers were able to see the game just fine, and some ran off the same facilities as these other people did.

The cable companies certainly cannot profit off people like this. There are no ordering fees to add HBO for one night, and by the time the bill goes out, the customer has no charge for 30 days ahead because of the prorated charges being credited back. Which is why the cable rates are going up!

[Lace Neil Singer]

It has been done. It's harder to do without a body. One example is http://www.sdreader.com/php/ma_show.php?id=515 .

Or the murder of Gay Gibson. James Camb was still convicted of her murder, even tho he pushed her body thru the porthole of the ship cabin he killed her in. Or Haigh the Acid Bath murderer; he dissolved the bodies of all his victims in acid, so there were no bodies. Despite him telling the police that they couldn't prove murder without a body, he was convicted of murder and hanged.

[end threadjack; I'm very interested in true crime as you can probably tell.]

[uthdentroll]

one of my ex gfs used to buy dresses and returned them after the parties or weddings and stuffs. I am in a retail business and if customers keep on returning items how am i gonna pay for the workers and rent. i tried to explain it to her "how do you feel if your bf's customers keep on returning stuffs for refund?"
but she refuse to listen, apparently she has that "customers always right" mentality. And i broke up with her soon after. you know whats the most embarassing part. most of the time when she returned things there were the same sales people who sold the dresses to her.

[GayleShy]

I'm not sure if Sears does this any more or not, but someone who used to work there told me that they had a "no wear" policy, meaning that the clothes that a parent bought for their child weren't supposed to wear out, and if they did, Sears would replace them. Now there are several large families in the town I live, because it's a hot spot for a certain group that doesn't believe in birth control and some of these families would return the clothes after they had been handed down to every child in the family. She knew this because the clothes would be something that they hadn't sold in 6+ years, but had sold at one time. They had to replace the clothes and start the whole cycle over again.