Follow-up
Posted by captainobvious on .
Well, it's been two weeks, and nothing has happened to me. I have been totally unaware of any further action regarding this incident that might have occurred.
I quit working so I could focus on school. I had been planning to only work for the summer and quit a few weeks after school started. Maybe that's why I didn't hear anything, I was quitting soon anyway.
To the friend-not-using-her-own-card idea, a reasonable excuse is, "Oh, it's OK, my husband let me borrow his card." Store policy is to believe the customer is telling the truth and accept the card. It isn't our job to secure the card; it's the responsibility of the owner of the card and the issuing company.
And the console doesn't suggest we check signatures every time, so catching it just the right time might take a while.
Along with the honest-customer thing, we have prices ring up wrong all the time (whenever something just went on sale), so we are allowed to sell an item for whatever the customer says. (You didn't hear that from me.)
Point is, we take "The Customer is Always Right" literally. The store can survive a few fraudulent cases, as long as it keeps the majority of honest people happy.
Or maybe: If you get away with it, you're happy and will return. If we catch you, you'll get mad and never return (I don't wanna go there, they don't like me).
If it ever comes to court, I'll say I was following company policy as best as I knew how. At this point legal action doesn't seem likely. (I think I would have heard something more if I were still in trouble)
I've had a realization, though--To the "Why are you checking my ID?" I don't think he meant, "Why *DO* you check ID?" (which is what I answered), but rather, "Why are you checking *MY* ID?"
People are smart enough to realize what security looks like, but there's always the matter of, "Why am I special?," especially when faced with something new and personal.
So, instead of saying, "To make sure your card isn't stolen" I think I should have said, "Because the console told me to." Too late now.
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I quit working so I could focus on school. I had been planning to only work for the summer and quit a few weeks after school started. Maybe that's why I didn't hear anything, I was quitting soon anyway.
To the friend-not-using-her-own-card idea, a reasonable excuse is, "Oh, it's OK, my husband let me borrow his card." Store policy is to believe the customer is telling the truth and accept the card. It isn't our job to secure the card; it's the responsibility of the owner of the card and the issuing company.
And the console doesn't suggest we check signatures every time, so catching it just the right time might take a while.
Along with the honest-customer thing, we have prices ring up wrong all the time (whenever something just went on sale), so we are allowed to sell an item for whatever the customer says. (You didn't hear that from me.)
Point is, we take "The Customer is Always Right" literally. The store can survive a few fraudulent cases, as long as it keeps the majority of honest people happy.
Or maybe: If you get away with it, you're happy and will return. If we catch you, you'll get mad and never return (I don't wanna go there, they don't like me).
If it ever comes to court, I'll say I was following company policy as best as I knew how. At this point legal action doesn't seem likely. (I think I would have heard something more if I were still in trouble)
I've had a realization, though--To the "Why are you checking my ID?" I don't think he meant, "Why *DO* you check ID?" (which is what I answered), but rather, "Why are you checking *MY* ID?"
People are smart enough to realize what security looks like, but there's always the matter of, "Why am I special?," especially when faced with something new and personal.
So, instead of saying, "To make sure your card isn't stolen" I think I should have said, "Because the console told me to." Too late now.
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" "
Here's an honest question you can ask. What should you do if the card is clearly stolen? For example, if a white woman hands you a credit card which reads "Enrique Gonzalez". Is it your store policy to knowingly perform a fraudulent transaction?
If the cop is an ass and tries to get you fired or something, you could always do an expose. Make a purchase with a friend's card (preferably of the opposite sex) and record the whole thing (audio is easy, video is trickier). If they don't even challenge you, do it repeatedly over a long period. Documenting each trip with a picture of you and the the purchase (with receipt) would combine with the audio to prove you made the purchase, and the credit card/bank statement of your friend would prove how you purchased it. I'm sure a local newspaper or news station would love to see your results.
If you think the store might be suspicious of you, you could always get a friend to make the purchases with your card instead. A different last name of the opposite sex would be ideal since it's clearly not their card.
And if you want to get fired, you can always write the cop an apology letter like "I apologize for following what I thought was store policy to protect customers making large purchases over xx dollars. Rest assured that if your credit card is ever lost in our store we will make no attempt to prevent someone else from using it."
If you know you're right don't be afraid to stick up for yourself, just make sure you have a backup plan if things go wrong. As the paragraphs above should show, I think a little differently than most.
If the cop is an ass and tries to get you fired or something, you could always do an expose. Make a purchase with a friend's card (preferably of the opposite sex) and record the whole thing (audio is easy, video is trickier). If they don't even challenge you, do it repeatedly over a long period. Documenting each trip with a picture of you and the the purchase (with receipt) would combine with the audio to prove you made the purchase, and the credit card/bank statement of your friend would prove how you purchased it. I'm sure a local newspaper or news station would love to see your results.
If you think the store might be suspicious of you, you could always get a friend to make the purchases with your card instead. A different last name of the opposite sex would be ideal since it's clearly not their card.
And if you want to get fired, you can always write the cop an apology letter like "I apologize for following what I thought was store policy to protect customers making large purchases over xx dollars. Rest assured that if your credit card is ever lost in our store we will make no attempt to prevent someone else from using it."
If you know you're right don't be afraid to stick up for yourself, just make sure you have a backup plan if things go wrong. As the paragraphs above should show, I think a little differently than most.