LogFAQs > #888708611

StealThisSheen posted...

As somebody who has worked loss prevention at a few places, it's actually a fairly common scam in retail when people have gift cards and seem like they aren't paying attention/have a high total and may not notice

Basically, the total was $80. What this guy did was pretend the total was $80 AFTER using the gift card, implying the total was originally $110. Thus, he was hoping they'd pay the $80 like they did and then he could keep the unused gift card.

When people have a high total, a lot of things, just plain aren't paying attention, etc... People who run this scam will pretend that they already used your gift card, and that the total they tell you is the total after the gift card amount was taken off... When actually, it's the entire total. Then, if the customer pays the amount and doesn't say anything, the employee gets to keep the gift card.

The reason it's common is that it's hard to catch unless the customer catches it, since the register will not show anything weird about the transaction. All pulling the records will show is: Total was $80, customer paid $80. If they notice, it's pretty easy for the employee to say it was a mistake.

Pretty much this. Also, to clarify, when confronted the guy did not look at the receipt or the card. He just handed the card back and said it's on the card. It's possible that it wasn't a scam as Corrik said but I highly, highly doubt it based on how the whole thing went down. Sorry for being a bit confusing jn the initial post, I was on the bus trying to write while still pretty bemused by the situation.

And for further clarification, I had $30 on the card. My bill was $80 when, had the gift card been used, it should have been $50.
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