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Ethics: Is this stealing?

Ethics: Is this stealing?


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If the customer declined the receipt, it is store property, I suppose if she purchased the equipment and receipt paper, it would be hers.

This same type of situation happens often at betting parlors. So much so that the policy is clear. If someone tosses a winning ticket away, the janitor is not allowed to cash the ticket. But it's fair game to a patron who finds it.

Retailers (and OTB's) factor in gains from uncashed freebies and gift certificates as part of the cost.
 
This same type of situation happens often at betting parlors. So much so that the policy is clear. If someone tosses a winning ticket away, the janitor is not allowed to cash the ticket. But it's fair game to a patron who finds it.

Retailers (and OTB's) factor in gains from uncashed freebies and gift certificates as part of the cost.

I used to hunt lotto tickets and found many winners, if I made the rounds around town and picked up a couple hundred at gas stations, I would generally find 40 to 60$ but I don't anymore unless I happen to be there. To many other people do it, to go chasing it.
 
It's certainly unethical, and I believe she knew it or she would have spoken with her supervisors in advance, asking if it was permissible. She didn't. Fraud, stealing, whatever; I'd have fired her too.
 
Ethics: Is this stealing?

Scenario: My wife works for a large big box retailer. A long-time cashier, 10+/- years, at her store got fired earlier this week for stealing.

The chain has a rebate program where you can get a certain percentage of your purchase back to you in the form of a store gift card, good only at that chain. When a customer would check out she would ask if they wanted their receipt. If they said yes she'd give them their receipt. If they said no, she'd pocket the receipt and cash in the rebate and get the gift cards for herself. Then spend them in her store, which seems incredibly dumb, but I digress. Anyway, is that stealing? (In YOUR opinion, absent opinions or conclusions from others.)

The company feels it's stealing, as is their right. She does not feel it is because the customer was offered their receipt and chose of their own free will to decline. She sees it as no different than finding a dollar bill on the sidewalk.

What say you? Who's right?

1) Yes, this is stealing.
2) This is kind of a gray area.
3) No, this is not stealing.
4) Undecided/Other.

Side note: I believe she was just fired, and no charges were pressed. I don't know if this would be technically illegal, but the legal aspect is not part of the question anyway. Ethics is the question.

ETA: No, it was not my wife that was fired.



Depends.

Did she know it was against policy and considered stealing?
Did the customers know what they were giving up by declining their receipts?

Ethically murky at least, shaky ground at best.

Dunno that I'd say "stealing" exactly, if customers willingly declined knowing what they were passing up.


But these days most big-box stores consider any money on the floor or pkg lot "theirs until proven otherwise" and consider taking it by employees theft, so she probably should have known better.


Not something I'd be comfortable doing, personally...


Once upon a time there was a thing called "gleaning". After harvesters had cleared a field, the poor could come in behind them and take anything they'd missed. Refusing to allow this was considered stingy and greedy. Similarly, picking up seed spilled on the road (to plant) was considered "gleaning". One could construe this action as a sort of "gleaning", but only if all parties involved knew what was going on and were ok with it, which was apparently not the case.


Wal-mart considers the contents of its floors, parking lot and dumpsters to be Wal-Mart property, and any employee taking anything even from the trash is considered stealing.
 
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I would suspect there is something, somewhere in some employee manual prohibiting this behavior. Probably most of the employees aren't even aware of it.

What do you think of a pizza delivery driver who carries a bunch of $2 off a large pizza coupons and when someone pays cash for a pizza with no coupon, substitute a coupon in and take $2? I don't really see that as much different than said cashier.

When I delivered, there were people who did that, and got fired for it.
 
Depends.

Did she know it was against policy and considered stealing?
Did the customers know what they were giving up by declining their receipts?

Ethically murky at least, shaky ground at best.

Dunno that I'd say "stealing" exactly, if customers willingly declined knowing what they were passing up.


But these days most big-box stores consider any money on the floor or pkg lot "theirs until proven otherwise" and consider taking it by employees theft, so she probably should have known better.


Not something I'd be comfortable doing, personally...


Once upon a time there was a thing called "gleaning". After harvesters had cleared a field, the poor could come in behind them and take anything they'd missed. Refusing to allow this was considered stingy and greedy. Similarly, picking up seed spilled on the road (to plant) was considered "gleaning". One could construe this action as a sort of "gleaning", but only if all parties involved knew what was going on and were ok with it, which was apparently not the case.


Wal-mart considers the contents of its floors, parking lot and dumpsters to be Wal-Mart property, and any employee taking anything even from the trash is considered stealing.

Most wal marts have a compacter, greedy bastards.
 
Ethics: Is this stealing?

Scenario: My wife works for a large big box retailer. A long-time cashier, 10+/- years, at her store got fired earlier this week for stealing.

The chain has a rebate program where you can get a certain percentage of your purchase back to you in the form of a store gift card, good only at that chain. When a customer would check out she would ask if they wanted their receipt. If they said yes she'd give them their receipt. If they said no, she'd pocket the receipt and cash in the rebate and get the gift cards for herself. Then spend them in her store, which seems incredibly dumb, but I digress. Anyway, is that stealing? (In YOUR opinion, absent opinions or conclusions from others.)

The company feels it's stealing, as is their right. She does not feel it is because the customer was offered their receipt and chose of their own free will to decline. She sees it as no different than finding a dollar bill on the sidewalk.

What say you? Who's right?

1) Yes, this is stealing.
2) This is kind of a gray area.
3) No, this is not stealing.
4) Undecided/Other.

Side note: I believe she was just fired, and no charges were pressed. I don't know if this would be technically illegal, but the legal aspect is not part of the question anyway. Ethics is the question.

ETA: No, it was not my wife that was fired.

I have a rule that I have always adhered to.

Never take anything you didn't earn for yourself.

I could have been like 75% of the schleps who retire out of the military with a Bull**** 20% disability (cranky lower back, collapsed lung, and a damaged right hand missing my pinky knuckle from a engineroom accident)

No way!
 
Would it be theft if the customer payed with cash and then told the cashier to "keep the change"?

If she put the change in her pocket, then most companies would consider that theft and rightfully so.
 
Yes, because she isn't entitled to them.

Keep in mind, she used to receipt to ring up the gift card rebate herself. Had she shown the receipts to managers and asked for the gift cards, she likely would have been told no, right?
Does the company have a rule in place that says customers are not allowed to combine their receipts to get a gift card? I doubt they do but if they do they could rightfully deny her the gift cards but if they don't she is just as entitled to take advantage of their promotion as any of their other customers. If the company does not like it, they should ban employees from being eligible for their promotions

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Does the company have a rule in place that says customers are not allowed to combine their receipts to get a gift card? I doubt they do but if they do they could rightfully deny her the gift cards but if they don't she is just as entitled to take advantage of their promotion as any of their other customers. If the company does not like it, they should ban employees from being eligible for their promotions

She isn't a customer. She's taking the receipts of customers and claiming rewards she is not eligible for.
 
I would suspect there is something, somewhere in some employee manual prohibiting this behavior. Probably most of the employees aren't even aware of it.

What do you think of a pizza delivery driver who carries a bunch of $2 off a large pizza coupons and when someone pays cash for a pizza with no coupon, substitute a coupon in and take $2? I don't really see that as much different than said cashier.

One was caught.
 
Most wal marts have a compacter, greedy bastards.

Most are not aware but companies, say Kraft have stringent policies on disposal of stale dated products. Next anything on a companies property belongs to the company. If it was stale product dated for disposal, the company has at times stringent contractual obligations it must follow for disposal, or return to the vendor, if it was a wallet, the company to find the owner and if the owner not found turned over to the police. Why do so many have difficulty understanding this. Companies are private properties.
 
She isn't a customer. She's taking the receipts of customers and claiming rewards she is not eligible for.
If she buys their products than she is also one of their customers too. Its possible to be both.

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If she buts their products than she is also one of their customers too. Its possible to be both.

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She is using others purchases. So no she is not that particular customer. She is a thief.
 
Ethics: Is this stealing?

Scenario: My wife works for a large big box retailer. A long-time cashier, 10+/- years, at her store got fired earlier this week for stealing.

The chain has a rebate program where you can get a certain percentage of your purchase back to you in the form of a store gift card, good only at that chain. When a customer would check out she would ask if they wanted their receipt. If they said yes she'd give them their receipt. If they said no, she'd pocket the receipt and cash in the rebate and get the gift cards for herself. Then spend them in her store, which seems incredibly dumb, but I digress. Anyway, is that stealing? (In YOUR opinion, absent opinions or conclusions from others.)

The company feels it's stealing, as is their right. She does not feel it is because the customer was offered their receipt and chose of their own free will to decline. She sees it as no different than finding a dollar bill on the sidewalk.

What say you? Who's right?

1) Yes, this is stealing.
2) This is kind of a gray area.
3) No, this is not stealing.
4) Undecided/Other.

Side note: I believe she was just fired, and no charges were pressed. I don't know if this would be technically illegal, but the legal aspect is not part of the question anyway. Ethics is the question.

ETA: No, it was not my wife that was fired.

Most stores have a policy that every customer must get a receipt (not should get a receipt (haha)). This is done for a number of reasons. If that is the case, then the cashier has no right to even ask the customer if they do or do not want their receipt.
 
No its not stealing unless the company says that the rebate is non-transferable. Your wife is essentially being a white collar dumpster diver.

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More than likely though she broke at least one part of their employee handbook, if not more. Cashiers don't get to make up their own rules.
 
She was scamming. BUT, if there is nothing in the company policy book, she was a case for wrongful firing. The policy book needs to be read by an employment lawyer, and if her offense is not covered, she can pitch for an out of court settlement in exchange for not splashing a new scheme on the internet headlines!

More than likely she broke at least one rule in the employee handbook, if not more. However, the employee handbook would also cover the punishment process. An employment lawyer would show her the door and tell her to go try collecting unemployment. She will win or lose that depending on what is in the employee handbook.
 
If she buys their products than she is also one of their customers too. Its possible to be both.

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You can't be two things at once. Most companies have a rule that you cannot buy things while punched in on the clock.
 
I'm more curious how they caught her. Cause she had a lot of giftcards?

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She is using others purchases. So no she is not that particular customer. She is a thief.
Do the rules of the promotion state that only the specific person who made the purchase is eligible

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More than likely though she broke at least one part of their employee handbook, if not more. Cashiers don't get to make up their own rules.
Sure its possible she viilated a company policy but what she did was not stealing and i doubt it was fraud either

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Most are not aware but companies, say Kraft have stringent policies on disposal of stale dated products. Next anything on a companies property belongs to the company. If it was stale product dated for disposal, the company has at times stringent contractual obligations it must follow for disposal, or return to the vendor, if it was a wallet, the company to find the owner and if the owner not found turned over to the police. Why do so many have difficulty understanding this. Companies are private properties.

Sure, if you are an employee. You also have private/public property. IE..even though it is private property, it is generally understood that the public is welcome.
 
Ethics: Is this stealing?

Scenario: My wife works for a large big box retailer. A long-time cashier, 10+/- years, at her store got fired earlier this week for stealing.

The chain has a rebate program where you can get a certain percentage of your purchase back to you in the form of a store gift card, good only at that chain. When a customer would check out she would ask if they wanted their receipt. If they said yes she'd give them their receipt. If they said no, she'd pocket the receipt and cash in the rebate and get the gift cards for herself. Then spend them in her store, which seems incredibly dumb, but I digress. Anyway, is that stealing? (In YOUR opinion, absent opinions or conclusions from others.)

The company feels it's stealing, as is their right. She does not feel it is because the customer was offered their receipt and chose of their own free will to decline. She sees it as no different than finding a dollar bill on the sidewalk.

What say you? Who's right?

1) Yes, this is stealing.
2) This is kind of a gray area.
3) No, this is not stealing.
4) Undecided/Other.

Side note: I believe she was just fired, and no charges were pressed. I don't know if this would be technically illegal, but the legal aspect is not part of the question anyway. Ethics is the question.

ETA: No, it was not my wife that was fired.

100% stealing.

Unless the store states that customers that volunteer that to the employee... but just taking it? Stealing.
 
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