How to get away with stealing

[Gibbo]

We traced the details of a car that was used in a drive off and the police went round to the owners house to have a word with him. He then came into our store ranting about how humiliated he was because his neighbours saw the police at his house and was going on about how he would never go there again (note how he doesn't deny doing it).

Our store manager, who will not stand up to a customer whatsoever, said that he would write off the theft and gave him a gift voucher for his "inconvenience".

Is keeping people happy really that important you have to ignore blatant acts of theft? Apparently so. There'll be a big celebration when he eventually leaves as he is despised by everyone.

[Anakah]

Your manager should get suspended for doing that. That's ridiculous! What was the point of even pursuing the theif if he was going to be rewarded for stealing!? That guy isn't a customer, a customer PAYS for items. It's okay to not give a cookie to him for stealing. The manager might as well pull money from his/her pocket and tell him to have some more fun!

Would it even matter if the higher ups knew? They'd probably congradulate the manager for a job well done. That makes me ANGRY.

[IT Grunt]

Heartily agreed.... there is no reason whatsoever he should have caved, 'customer satisfaction' be damned. Once he drove off, he wasn't a customer, he was a thief, and was treated appropriately. That manager should deal with consequences IMHO.

[Plaidman]

I nearly puked in my mouth in rage there.

Man, I wish I was that manager. Then I'd laugh at the fucking scum, and let him know that I'm going to press for even more charges for threatening, and trespessing.

I. Fucking hate thieves. Seriously. Let them burn.

Very few thieves in this world deserve to live.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Is keeping people happy really that important you have to ignore blatant acts of theft?

It is if you're a piece of breathing meat.

I forsee a sharp increase in the number of thefts and drive-offs at your gas station.

[BrenDAnn]

Suddenly, I'm glad to have the non-nonsense, follow-the-rules-to-the-t manager that I do. She would NEVER have done what the manager in the OP did! The manager may as well have opened the till and handed the guy money from there, too, FFS! WTF was the point in having the cops go to all that trouble, if the manager wasn't going to follow through? Had it been me, and the guy came in complaining about his neighbors seeing the cops at his place, I would've reacted something like this:

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you commit a crime like stealing. Now then, did you bring the money with you to pay for the gas that you failed to pay for last time?"

End of story. No freebies. Pay for the stuff you stole, leave, and don't ever come back!

[underemployeed]

I can see if he honestly forgot, we have that happen all the time, but we usually catch them. My one neighbor always gets sidetracked and drives off quite regularly from the one local station but they just charge him the next day. Of course everyone out here pretty much grew up together so they know he is going to pay. I can see offering a small voucher in terms of good customer service, but screw writing off the whole incident. A happy customer won't bitch to all his friends and get bad PR.



..... And yeah I don't really believe anything I just wrote except for my neighbor doesn't do it on purpose, but paying theives so they stay customers is BS that only management would see as a good idea, yet Im not supposed to do a price override when something is two for price X ONLY if you buy two, well when one is available, I say screw it and give them half the sale price because if they indicate they would have bought two, i much rather please a person who already happy.

[ExRetailDrone]

I simply do not understand managers like that! I really don't understand why a company would think spineless weenies would make good managers in the first place, because those with no spine seem to inevitably lose a company money by trying to make repeat customers out of those people who really should never have any human contact with anyone ever.

[The Last to Know]

I can honestly say this does not surprise me - back in 2000 when I worked at a station (shortly before moving to the truckstop owned by the same people) I had a guy drive off - I had the tag number - called the police & they went to his house. Apparently, after they told him he didn't pay - the thief managed to get the owner on the phone (on a weekend while AT HOME) and pitched such a fit they actually sent the guy an apology letter with over $100 in gift certificates & then sent a copy of the letter to the manager of each station they owned who was instructed to let each employee read it so they would be clear on what they were allowed to do if they had a drive-off in the future - what the letter said was "our employees do not have the authority to contact law enforcement unless they are certain the person driving off is intending to do so"

I was so furious when I read the letter - it still makes me mad to this day. They rewarded the guy for stealing gas & then told their employees we expect you to be mind readers & KNOW that the drive-off was intentional.

[Rine]

Wow...that made me so mad reading it. I hate managers that cave in. Hate hate haaate. I can understand if you forgot, but just own up and pay! There's no reason to be upset about the cops at your house.

Once the gas station across the highway thought my dad did a drive off and they came to our house, but we had a receipt proving we paid. When we called, that gas station's manager was freaking out and trying to give us all sorts of goodies, but we said it was no prob and we'll be in for a free slushie later on.

[LillFilly]

So much fail. The managers in the first story, and the one before my response, suck so much (insert bad words here)! It really did make me sick!

And here we have upstanding citizens arrested because they accidentally put a loose pair of shoes in the wrong box and are accused of switching boxes to get a lower price, even after they say oops and offer to pay the difference.

[i4wolves]

So, based on your manager I should never have to pay for gas ever.

I will just drive off and complain when the stores calls the police and demand something for free.

When the guy said he was never coming back I would have told him good we do not want someone who steals gas back at the store. What is wrong with managers that they will award someone for stealing?

Why do managers not award nice customers who pay for there stuff and do not complain?

[MaseMan]

Is your station part of a chain? I would let the district manager or someone else in authority know about what he did.