Damn con artists! (long)

The BBQ Pit
1

So, I work in a bookstore.

A couple of weeks ago, a guy came in and asked if he could return a couple of books. We asked for his receipt and told him it was our policy to only give store credit. He didn’t have his receipt and wanted cash for it. Well, he managed to get it, with an admonishment to save his receipt next time.

Today. He comes in around 5:30 (meaning I’m off in a half hour after a long day of work). Opens his pack and pulls out two hardcover (read expensive) books. Says he bought them for his mother but she doesn’t want them or something. That he bought them that morning from another employee who he described. I asked him for his receipt. He searches a while and doesn’t come up with it. I told him out policy was only store credit, so he asked for a manager. I was more than happy to pass it off.

So I call someone else over to deal with it (who can be a hard ass at times). “B” looks in the computer to find out whether we sold those books this morning. Turns out: 1) the first book we hadn’t sold any copies of in three weeks 2) the second book we had NEVER sold any copies of.

Now, these books had our tags on them, so “B” says “I’m sorry sir, but our computer says we haven’t EVER sold this book, what’d you do, take it off the shelf” (and FYI, our price tags have a special system and don’t look like other bookstore’s tags). The guy gets really defensive, starts screaming about how we’re accusing him of stealing, that he has money, he doesn’t need to steal, etc etc.

So “B” calls one of the owners up to handle it. Now the owner is a really nice guy, but he looks at the situation and comes to the same conclusion “B” did. Fact is, we never sold the book. We can’t physically ring the sale without it going into the computer. Yet it had our tag on it. So the guy, in fact, had picked it up off the shelf and tried to “return” it, which makes my job a living hell because I’m the one who has to return books to publishers…if the computer tells me we have a book which in fact we don’t, then I’m going to go nuts looking for it, which it was just this screwball fucking with our inventory to get a couple of bucks (and this is an independent bookstore, not a chain, so we don’t have a lot of cash to throw around, very little at all in fact).

So, the end result is that the owner gave the guy the money for the cheaper book, basically to get him to go away (the whole time the guy kept saying he would never ever come back and owner was saying "yes well maybe that’s a good thing). At least now we’re on to him, but goddamn! If they’re going to rip someone off (not that I’m saying they should)…can’t they pick the stores that can afford it!!! And what gives him the right to yell and kick and scream and thoroughly make a scene? A customer even came up after that and told me she knew (or felt, she didn’t actually know for a fact…) that he was full of shit. I mean, it was pretty obvious to everyone around that he was lying, but just couldn’t let it go and walk out before it go ugly.

I had the damn shakes for a half hour afterwards, and I wasn’t even dealing with the guy most of the time!

2

Wow. I’m not sure about this, but perhaps there is legal recourse for your store? Probably not now, after the fact, but I would think if this happens in the future you should call the cops – letting the police take a look at your computer records ought to be proof enough.

3

Heh.

We had a guy come in our store who wanted to return merchandise without a receipt. And the merchandise was still at his home. But he wanted his money back anyway. He was apparently drunk. When he started getting violent, the manager called the cops and had him hauled away.

Maybe a similar solution would be in order, should the moron come back and try the same thing yet again.

4

Since it’s a small store with a small number of employees, we all talk amongst ourselves…and this guy was pretty distinctive. I’m pretty sure it’ll never happen again. But it pissed me off nonetheless. I mean, here I am earning minimum wage (though I do love the job) because the store can’t afford to pay much more than that, and some stupid idiot comes in and pulls shit like that!

5

And you guys didn’t call the police because?

6

Ever consider sticking to store policy and telling him to either come back with a receipt or just give him store credit? Isn’t that what those policies are in place for - to specifically prevent this kind of incident?

Esprix

7

Well, tecnically yes. Although in my experience as a retail clerk (thankfully long past), the policies basically only apply to polite people. If people are jerks, and are willing to complain long and loud enough to reach the higher ups, the management will typically make an exception for them just to get them to shut up and go away. (At least they would where I worked, at a major chain book store.)

8

Oh, I certainly agree that the squeaky wheel, etc., etc. My point is that since both the manager and the owner knew this guy was scamming them, the easiest thing would have been to point at the sign and say, “sorry, store policy” and the guy wouldn’t have gotten any money. I’m surprised the owner of all people would actually give this guy money when he knew it was a scam.

Esprix

9

Well, there wasn’t a sign, it was just a verbal policy, but I think it was mostly what Ferrous pointed out…the owner just wanted the damn guy to go away and stop acting up so badly. He has told me that if that customer ever comes in again, then we’re to let the owner know and I can assure you, he won’t get away with it again. I described the guy (as best as you really can) to the other booksellers, so hopefully they’ll be able to spot him. ugh.

10

If you just let him go away, though, he is still stealing the books :frowning:

I’d call the cops next time.

11

Did he have proof that he came into the store with the book? I mean, what’s to stop you from calling the cops, telling them that this guy came up to the counter with this book and tried to return it, then show them that the book had not in fact been sold?

I know, I know, too much effort, but I bet the cops would have sided with you!

12

This is one thing I have never understood about “the customer is always right” policy. I used to work in a pharmacy and you would get these crack hoes trying to get percocet without RX and the pharmacist would be nice and try to accommodate in every way but to actually give them the drugs. My question was always, why the F bother? These are not really paying cusomers we should be worried about alienating. They want drugs! In your case the fool was stealing books and bringing them back. He obviously was not a valued customer, so why bother with him? Tell his ass to hit the road, preferably with his face.

13

Cops Cops Cops Cops.

Police. Pigs. Boys in Blue. Guy with a Gun. Black and White Box Special.

They are good folks and most of the time the words “Sir, if you can’t control yourself, I’m calling the cops” do wonders. (If you’re the nice, sweet, polite type. I just pick up the phone and dial 911 and my first words are “This is the Rite Aid on Murray, I’m being accosted by a customer. S/He’s about x foot x, x pounds and … oh never mind s/he left, sorry to bother you.”)

They don’t pay me enough to deal with that shit.

14

Argh.

Siva, I feel the pain, and I want to shake your hand. And the owner’s, as well.

It still throws me for a loop when these folks come into my store. Not the fact that that they’re trying something, but it’s just scary seeing them react when the neat scam they had planned goes balls up in their face.

The most common one is folks returning movies we don’t sell. "Yeah, too bad you don’t want it, and yes, it’s unopened, so normally I’d have no problem doing the exchange, but you see-- it’s street-dated next tuesday, so take it back to the flea market and see if you can get your money back from the guy that boosted a case of 'em off of our truck…

Keep your receipts, folks. We clearance out older products pretty fast, and that $59 phone without proof is only worth what it scans, even if it’s down to $10…

If you act like a shithead, I’m gonna treat you like one. If you’re a normal person, I’m the best fucking saleman you’ve ever met, as I’m not working on commission, and honestly want you to be able to fire up that DVD player when you get home-- No return trip for the RF modulator here.

Jeez, I ran a bit off-topic there. I think what I wanted to say was something like “If you are returning an Item, understand that the four fucknuts in line ahead of you are the problem, go easy on the employees, okay?”

15

Unfortunately, his scammed worked. Your boss gave him money.
He WILL be back. Probably in about 5 months. By then, you will have probably forgotton him, or will have a new employee working the register. He will come in when it’s busy, when you will be even more eager to get rid of him. He knows that all he has to do is make a scene and he’ll get cash…

16

Well in this case, the owner will definitely not authorize cash, and if I’m still working there, I most certainly won’t. I could only hope a new person wouldn’t take it upon themselves to do that (as right now I’m the new person, so I called someone else). I sure as hell hope he doesn’t get away with it again, because the owner has told me that the guy won’t get away with it again. And if he tried it, I’ll just try to slough off my nice polite girl and be mean as hell!

17

As scams go, this one seems pretty pathetic; how much could you clear from doing that? If you try it over and over eventually you’ll get arrested.

Of course, most small-time scam artists could probably make more just working at an honest job, but I guess they get a particular thrill from ripping people off.

18

I would have detained him and called the cops. Of course, I would have done it just for the thrill of doing it to him, whether the cops could have done anything or not.

I used to call cops to get the bums kicked out of the Subway Sandwiches I worked at downtown. They hadn’t really done anything, and often there were no customers for 2 hours at a time in the evening, but I’d do it just to have a little fun hassling the bums. They smelled like ass, had various unsightly skin diseases, dressed in muddy sweat clothes, and…well, they were bums. I also carded people for liquor (at the grocery store I worked) more vigorously if they came in wearing fraternity or sorority letters.

Basically, I’ve used every job I ever had to take pleasure in tormenting, inconveniencing, and otherwise hassling people I don’t like. So if someone had come into a store where I worked and tried to pull a scam like that, I’d have gone all out to make that dude’s afternoon a living hell. And I’d have loved every second of it.