Money Moral Dilemma: Should I report cashier who used loyalty card on my shopping?

loobysmum

it could be a genuine mistake, I work on a checkout and if the person before has left their card on the side, you automatically pick it up and scan it thinking its the current customers loyalty card. so the previous customer probably got the points, (and lost their card), not the cashier. It is a sackable offence to do this so is surely not worth the couple of pence you would gain.

johnrobertson1

I don't know why you are even thinking about this. This is straightforward theft and fraud and the cashier could stand to make a fortune out of people like you who can't be bothered reporting it. Those posting and saying you shouldn't report it are quite obviously dishonest themselves.

Cookie1986

@judywoody

Just because people do not share your views does not need to condemn them as been nasty human beings. I would point out that most people who have recommended reporting the fraud have not cast dispersions on the cashiers personality. However you have been making rash judgements on people you have never meet.

Some people like myself have shared a view that the matter should be reported to the victim of the suspected fraud. This does not mean that the cashier is guilty it simply means that people feel that if you have information that suggests that fraud has been committed it is morally right to report it.

Your criticism that people would report the matter because it would make them feel superior is irrational, how do you know (and what gives you the right to presume) what people are thinking? I speak for myself but I would report it because I think it’s the right thing to do and for no other reason.

I agree that people deserve a second chance but surly this is for the victim of the fraud (if indeed a crime has been committed) to decide. If the cashier has committed fraud then they should face the same punishment as anybody else who commits the same crime, regardless of their circumstances. Reporting the matter does not mean the OP would be responsible for getting the cashier sacked. I’m sure if the dilemma asked should somebody be sacked for stealing 50p I would hope most people would advocate a second chance.

I would also like to remind you that you have contrived this scenario that the cashier is a poor defenceless person who has resorted to stealing. Many people work in a supermarket, some who live on the bread line and some who are comfortable financially because of other circumstances.

Your argument that everyone has committed a crime in their life is ridiculous. Many people live an honest life. Even if what you said was true that would imply that nobody should ever post on this forum.

Finally I don’t see the relevance of you trying to find out other posters jobs. Just because one has or has not struggled to pay the bills does not mean that they are not entitled to their opinion nor does it mean they can’t empathise with somebody when they have not been in a similar situation.

magentalady

This is a really interesting one. A lot of people are posting things like 'it's fraud, plain and simple' but this is being put to us as a moral dilemma, not a legal one. What the cashier is alleged to have done is clearly illegal, but the question is 'should I report her?', not 'is this illegal?'

Personally, I don't think I would report her as a one-off, because I could never be sure that she had definitely done what is suspected here. As someone else pointed out, if a previous shopper had accidentally left their own card behind then it would have been very easy for the cashier to mistakenly pick that card up and scan it, assuming it to belonged to the current customer. I supposed that if the store did an investigation into the matter then they'd be able to clear that up, but I'd feel awful for subjecting someone to that level of scrutiny if it turned out to be an honest mistake.

That's just me, though. I can definitely understand why other would take a much harsher view, particularly if it was a big shop where you were planning to keep the receipt and claim the points yourself at a later date. In that case, I still wouldn't make any direct accusations, I'd just go to the manager and say 'there seems to have been a mistake' and ask to have the points credited to my own account. What they then do with that information is up to them.

On a related note, I've seen people on these very boards talking about how they go around picking up discarded Tesco receipts so that they can claim the Clubcard points from them, and personally I think that's a bit of a moral grey area too. On the one hand I can understand the view that if the points are just going to go to waste, then why not grab them? But they're still not your points to claim, and the idea makes me very uncomfortable.

magentalady

scotty2c wrote: »

What shop was it?

I think it was HypotheticalMart ;-)

Any

I wouldn't report it personally if I wasn't going to want the points.
All shops are very clear on this, she will get sacked whether I report her or not.
They are not stupod, there are cameras in most shops, witnesses and clubcard record..
She, very unfortunately, had her days numbered when she didn't read her contract and policies properly..

leopold

For a hypothetical situation, there seems to be a lot of actual name-calling going on. Do you people (and you know who you are) do this in real life, or just from the safety of your keyboards? Just calm it down :beer:

Anyway, my view is this: What she's doing is referred to as "petty theft". Yes, it's stealing, but not in such a way as to cause any immediate or lasting hardship to the victim. It's like "borrowing" stationery from your employer, or breaking the speed limit by a few mph when it's safe to do so. If nobody gets hurt, what's the harm? I'd not report anyone else for grabbing a few pens out of the stationery cupboard any more than I'd dob in a cashier for swiping their loyalty card when I forget mine (and in truth, if I forget my card, I end up forgetting to go back anyway). As for "stealing" company time, well, yes, I'm guilty of that too - right now, in fact - but then again, my company has "stolen" eleven hours from me this week, hours they don't pay me for, so it's swings and roundabouts.

However, if my employer caught me doing it, I'd expect to be given a stern word or six about it. Just like I'd expect a traffic cop to pull me for going over the speed limit. You break the rules, you might get caught and, if you do, you face the consequences. Simple. If she's breaking company policy by what she's doing, sooner or later she'll get picked up and it's up to the company to deal with it. I'm not going to drop her in it and she's not answerable to me, so I'd leave it to her employer and her conscience.

But she should've asked first.

Fitzmichael

Why do these questions always attract the comparison with 'borrowing' from your employer? From the 1950s onward, in various employments but mainly education, I did work relevant to or necessary for my job in my own time at home. I can't imagine any employer objecting to my taking relevant materials home or stipulating
that not a sheet of paper or a pen/cil was to be used for any other purpose.

smudgepuss

jockosjungle wrote: »

I wouldn't report the person, would hate to be responsible for someone losing their job

But you're not the one responsible for them losing their job (if this is deemed a sackable offence), the cashier is. The OP isn't responsible in any way for the cashier's decision to do something against the terms of their employment, nor are they responsible for the consequences of that breach. The cashier has chosen to risk their employment by breaching the terms. If they weren't doing something wrong, there would be nothing to report.

Sorry to get on a soapbox, but I've seen too many 'how sad that promising person's career plans ruined by conviction' type stories when the easy solution is not to commit the crime in the first place, rather than condemming the person who reported it.

Young_Tug

Why not report it to the store manager without indentifying the person and suggest the issue is brought up in staff meetings or training. That way no one is sacked for a trivial amount but everyone is made aware of the seriousness of fraud/dishonesty.