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Okay, I'm gonna try to be as vague about details as possible, since this is an ongoing investigation at the wholesale club.
The perpetrator is a man we'll call FR. Technically, we can say it stands for Fraudulent Return, or you can pick something less kind, if you want.
FR comes into our store with an empty cart. He passes by our FDLP team member, CR, who pays him no mind. FR goes into the store, picks up some expensive item-- and dodges around to another aisle when my coworker Hoss walks past doing reshops-- and then heads up to the service desk to do his return.
Everybody's least favorite employee Herself (aka Ol' Scarface) was supposed to be manning the desk, but instead she left Miss Newbie in charge. This was seriously Miss Newbie's first day at the desk, and she hadn't been fully trained yet. As a result, Miss Newbie processed the "return" for FR and gave him a couple of gift cards for store credit.
FR then goes out onto the floor, picks up a couple of steam trays (for serving food), comes through my line, pays with the gift cards, and leaves.
Then our LPM EC realizes what has just happened. She starts questioning the employees, asks CR if he remembers the guy, asks for details about the return from Miss Newbie, asks Herself about it, and asks me about the guy. She specifically asks me if I'd remember him when I saw him again. I gave her an honest answer: "Maybe."
(Because, to be honest, if someone has not done anything to really make the transaction that memorable, I will promptly just file all details into the back of my head. Maybe I'll recognize FR again, maybe I won't.)
Herself tried to get CR in some trouble over this, asking why he didn't catch this. This, of course, is blatantly stupid of her, and she was called out on it, since CR isn't going to notify the desk about a man coming in with an empty cart.
Most of the front-line employees are going to defend Miss Newbie if she's brought before judgment for this, since we don't feel it would be right to punish her severely for making a mistake (granted, one that cost the store over $100 in gift cards) on her first day, when Herself should not have abandoned her to run the desk alone.
Hoss also pointed out to EC that when he briefly saw FR on the floor, FR ducked down a different aisle when he saw him, and suggested that-- in the future-- when employees are out on the floor doing re-shops, they should not be wearing their vests, to further obfuscate matters for would-be shoplifters. (Since baddies look for uniforms and the like before trying to commit their crimes.)
EC really wants to take this guy down for his fraud, and I'm hoping we can eventually track him down. Fortunately, FR's transaction with me was a tax-exempt order, and as such, there was a copy of the receipt in my drawer, which I promptly turned in to EC when I pulled my drawer at the end of the day.
The perpetrator is a man we'll call FR. Technically, we can say it stands for Fraudulent Return, or you can pick something less kind, if you want.
FR comes into our store with an empty cart. He passes by our FDLP team member, CR, who pays him no mind. FR goes into the store, picks up some expensive item-- and dodges around to another aisle when my coworker Hoss walks past doing reshops-- and then heads up to the service desk to do his return.
Everybody's least favorite employee Herself (aka Ol' Scarface) was supposed to be manning the desk, but instead she left Miss Newbie in charge. This was seriously Miss Newbie's first day at the desk, and she hadn't been fully trained yet. As a result, Miss Newbie processed the "return" for FR and gave him a couple of gift cards for store credit.
FR then goes out onto the floor, picks up a couple of steam trays (for serving food), comes through my line, pays with the gift cards, and leaves.
Then our LPM EC realizes what has just happened. She starts questioning the employees, asks CR if he remembers the guy, asks for details about the return from Miss Newbie, asks Herself about it, and asks me about the guy. She specifically asks me if I'd remember him when I saw him again. I gave her an honest answer: "Maybe."
(Because, to be honest, if someone has not done anything to really make the transaction that memorable, I will promptly just file all details into the back of my head. Maybe I'll recognize FR again, maybe I won't.)
Herself tried to get CR in some trouble over this, asking why he didn't catch this. This, of course, is blatantly stupid of her, and she was called out on it, since CR isn't going to notify the desk about a man coming in with an empty cart.
Most of the front-line employees are going to defend Miss Newbie if she's brought before judgment for this, since we don't feel it would be right to punish her severely for making a mistake (granted, one that cost the store over $100 in gift cards) on her first day, when Herself should not have abandoned her to run the desk alone.
Hoss also pointed out to EC that when he briefly saw FR on the floor, FR ducked down a different aisle when he saw him, and suggested that-- in the future-- when employees are out on the floor doing re-shops, they should not be wearing their vests, to further obfuscate matters for would-be shoplifters. (Since baddies look for uniforms and the like before trying to commit their crimes.)
EC really wants to take this guy down for his fraud, and I'm hoping we can eventually track him down. Fortunately, FR's transaction with me was a tax-exempt order, and as such, there was a copy of the receipt in my drawer, which I promptly turned in to EC when I pulled my drawer at the end of the day.
I hope that, if anyone has to pay for this in any sense, it's Herself.
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