Help and staff discount offered at Game

[wynn]

please tell your kids to be aware???

Some poor kid from out of town went into our local Game to buy a laptop.
on his way to the checkout he was approached by a guy wearing what looked like a Game uniform, he offered help and asked the kid if he wanted a staff discount because he could wangle it.

Long story short he took the laptop and the kids money and told the kid to meet him at the goods entrance at the rear of the shop, needless to say he never pitched up and the kids money was gone.

[Dave A]

Ouch!

[rfnel]

B*st*rd!

Unfortunately, if something seems to good to be true, it often is. Do they have cameras in the store?

[wynn]

B*st*rd!

Do they have cameras in the store?

Yes but apparently nothing could be seen!!

[3x-a-d3-u5]

Yes but apparently nothing could be seen!!

probably an ex employee and knows the camera's blindspots...

[daveob]

On the other side of the coin, shouldn't it be reasonable to expect the "victim" to be savvy enough to know that what he was trying to do was just a little illegal, or at the very least, dishonest ?

And given that, he was himself party to a crime / fraud. The fact that it went horrible wrong for him suddenly turned him into the "victim".

So, as bad as this sounds, he entered into a criminal or fraudulent activity willingly for the sole purpose of personal benefit at the expense of another ( in this case, the store ) - he got what he deserved.

Kind of like if I try to buy something that fell off the back of a truck, but get duped out of my cash. Do I have the right to complain even if I was being dishonest at the time ?

[mbsmit]

How old was the child? Perhaps the child did not know that it constituted fraud to abuse the employee discount system? I don't think the kid deserved to lose his hard earned savings, but I do think that this is a good life lesson for him (maybe worth more than cash he lost?).

It seems that the child entered the store with the intent to make an honest purchase, and was deceived and convinced by an adult with criminal intentions, to take up an offer to use his employee discount.

[adrianh]

What parent lets his kid go shopping with R3-5K cash?
I'm with doavob - if the parent is doff enough to let their kid go shopping on his own with that kind of money then one can't really expect the parent to teach the kid to think for themself!

[Citizen X]

B*st*rd!

Unfortunately, if something seems to good to be true, it often is. Do they have cameras in the store?

I emphasize the aforementioned! It's really a terrible thing to have happened within what is perceived to be a safe environment. I'm actually asking myself, what would I have done if somone in a Game uniform approached me and offered a staff discount on a laptop. If I were to safe R500 I would have taken the deal, but I would have followed him and not let him out of my sight..

[tec0]

This is how criminals work now. See it is simple the fact is the criminal needs there victim to feel or to be guilty of something wrong thus they will not report the crime. Was the victim really guilty? The answer is no.

See firstly if a staff member of game comes to you and talk about a possible discount and that they can make it happen it is not criminal! You do not know what game's policy is. Also a discount is not steeling...

Here is the facts; a person walking around in game with a game uniform but he is not actually a employee? And the security didn’t spot him? Really? All those cameras and not the staff nor the security noted him? Surly a staff member would have known if that person is a coworker or not?

So game failed to notice a criminal warring a game uniform and that person stole the victims money? The only reason why this happened is because the criminal had access to the victim inside the store. The victim had no reason to question anything.

What I do question is this: Why didn’t anyone working for game report this person after all he was not really an employee?

Why didn’t the security pick up on him, taking a customer's money wasn't a red flag?

In all honesty it looks to me as if the criminal had real help blending in…

[Dave A]

Also a discount is not steeling...

However fraudulent use of a discount is fraud

When I've been in these situations, I've always tipped off the owner or manager. But then I recognise that I could be a victim of this sort of thing from my staff too, so maybe I see things differently from most.

[tec0]

However fraudulent use of a discount is fraud

When I've been in these situations, I've always tipped off the owner or manager. But then I recognise that I could be a victim of this sort of thing from my staff too, so maybe I see things differently from most.

If the policy is not stated in big letters for the customers to read and to be informed that Game staff my not offer discount or to buy things at the customers behalf then they left that door open. Yes if the victim was informed that this type of thing is not legal then sure it is fraud I will agree.

But if you enter a shop and you are offered a staff discount in plain sight and there is nothing to say otherwise? Can one say definitively that you are doing something wrong? Who is not to say that the employee where given special permission?

Then the possibility also exist that it is a sales tactic? Car salesmen for example give you discounts all the time and for some reason that is perfectly legal?

In truth it is the company/business responsibility to make sure that the customer is informed.

Now to be clear I would not have given the employee my money but the situation exist because the company/business failed to keep me the customer safe and informed.

[daveob]

If the policy is not stated in big letters for the customers to read and to be informed that Game staff my not offer discount or to buy things at the customers behalf then they left that door open.

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In truth it is the company/business responsibility to make sure that the customer is informed.

Now to be clear I would not have given the employee my money but the situation exist because the company/business failed to keep me the customer safe and informed.

Time for a new sign at the entrance.

Please leave all Stupidity at the parcel counter upon entering these premises.
Please enter only if you possess a common sense certificate issued by the school of life.

[tec0]

Time for a new sign at the entrance.

Please leave all Stupidity at the parcel counter upon entering these premises.
Please enter only if you possess a common sense certificate issued by the school of life.

I fully agree it is stupid to think that an educated person would be naïve enough to fall for a trick like this. However your common sense and someone else's thinking may not be the same thing.

This criminal could have targeted an elderly person asking if he can go and pay for the goods on her/his behalf and also walk away with the money. It is really that simple…

Fact is the business/company needs to note that they have problems in their security and that there staff behaved questionably… Yes this time around the customer happened to be in the wrong but next time they may not be so lucky.

It is always so easy to say someone is stupid until it happens... Remember that this type of criminal will target a gullible person that is what they do. And they are good at it.