Which of these people owes the money?

Question

A series of pre-teen girls came into my work today, wishing to return a DVD. Two of my co-workers were behind the counter. The girls brought it up to the first person, we shall call her Sari. Sari has been working at the store for two weeks. She informed the girls that she would not be able to give them money, that she had to give them a gift card instead, as is store policy. She took the DVD from them and noticed that it was wrapped strangely, but assumed that it had been rewrapped in the store. It had one of our store's stickers on it. Sari scanned the barcode, but it didn't work. She tried about five times, before announcing to her co-worker, Kris, who has been there for two months, that "it was being retarded again", as she had already had trouble with the till freezing earlier in the day. Sari ran off to go finish doing inventory, and Kris tried to scan the DVD, only to have it not work again. He decided that he would just manually type in the amount and print them off a gift card

He handed them their gift card, and they left. Later, our boss came out and looked at the DVD. He noticed that it wasn't wrapped properly, and got worried. He compared it to another copy that was in stock, and saw that the bar codes didn't match, which meant that it wasn't even from our store.

Which of my co-workers owes the money? Sari or Kris? Kris was the one who did the exchange, but Sari made him do it because she couldn't figure out out. She was dodging responsibility, and the day before, she had had a similar incident, because a man wanted to return a CD that did not have a price tag. She knew that she was supposed to compare barcodes, but I guess she just thought that it was only if the price tag had been taken off. Kris, on the other hand, has been with us for two months, so he definitely should've known.

Who should be charged for the price of the DVD?

"She took the DVD from them and noticed that it was wrapped strangely, but assumed that it had been rewrapped in the store." -- Prior to being sold to them, I meant. We do that if we/customers open things.

No one is getting fired, and I am not the owner of the store, nor in any position of power.

Answer 1

neither worker should be be docked for falling for a scam.
The policy of a gift card if done right and the cards bar code number was registered when sold. means the boss should be able to cancel the gift card so no money is lost.

if the gift card is not canceled and money is lost
and the boss wants the money back he should go to the police.
I assume the stores security video was working.
he should post the girls photo behind the register with the report of what happened.

Answer 2

It doesn't seem fair, but I have to say I think Kris should pay if anyone really has to pay for a mistake. My reasoning is that when he took over the exchange rather than telling Sari what she needed to do (compare the the code) he also took over the responsibility for how he handled it. It is normal that someone who has not worked there for too long would ask for the assistance of someone who had been there for a while if she didn't know what to do. She probably went to finish inventory because she knew she was supposed to be doing that and figured she'd get back to it as long as Kris had taken over the "case".

Once Kris took over the situation he had the "choice" to remember that checking the code was how it should be handled if the code wasn't "registering" or even calling the manager to ask about this particular return. Rather than making sure there was a way to make the code work (or otherwise address the issue of a code that wasn't working) Kris took it upon himself to make the decision to print the gift card, which was, essentially, "the easy way out" at the time.

Since he has worked there for a while it seems reasonable that he should have been expected to know to compare the codes rather than print a card without doing that.

Ideally, it would be good if there were a way to make that gift card no good before anyone uses it; but if someone must pay then I think the unfortunate thing is that Kris' willingness to accept responsibility for Sari's dilemma meant he was, in fact, accepting responsibility.

Answer 3

If the company policy is for the employee to pay in this type of situation, then I think they both should pay half. Sari noticed that something was off but didn't do anything about it, Kris also noticed that the barcode wasn't scanning so he knows that he should have taken a closer look at it. They are both at fault.

Answer 4

no one should pay-the company should. they hired these people. the employees are only human and make mistakes but a good manager would not take money from his employees-why look like a jerk over a few bucks-if it happens often then he needs to retrain or fire the people. as for the girl sari-hopefully the manager will soon notice that she is a worthless employee who pushes responsibility onto others-which she totally sucks for that. tell sari to put on her big-girl pants and join the rest of the world who know how to handle their business.
and by the way...busting those rotten girls out about trying to return a bunk dvd should be fun in the workplace. i know i would be looking forward to catching someone trying to pull something like that off. that's when dealing in customer service pays off and u can politely say(in a very smart-*** tone)" yeah, um, what's funny is you were thinking you were gonna walk in here today and try to trade this for money-that's awesome":)

Answer 5

It doesn't really matter how long they were both there. A retail job takes a while to master the register, store policies, etc. What they should have done is checked with the manager before doing the return if they saw something suspicious. Basic loss prevention.

The store should also consider changing policies so that all returns have to be authorized by a manager or supervisor.

Answer 6

The Boss will take the "wrap" from the owner while the two will take the responsibility since both are on it and also of their failure calling the Boss for the matter. Sari and Kris owes the money and depends on how they will share the consequences from their boss decisions.

Answer 7

Neither employee owes anyone any money - they were victems of a scam. I'm sure the store has videotape over the counter where this incident took place - why not go after the hoodlum girls who pulled this stunt?

does your store make employees pay back money that is stolen during a hold-up?

The two co-workers you describe were held up. they weren't held-up at gunpoint, there was no violence, but they were still victems of a criminal. It would be immoral, unethical and flat out wrong to make them pay for what happened.

Answer 8

As Kris has been there longer it is apparent that he needs a refresher course in what to look for and how to handle situations such as this. Sari needs training right away. Neither should be docked unless they do this sort of thing repeatedly. Mistakes happen. Learn from them and move on.

Answer 9

My vote is for them to fire you for even asking such a question.
Neither one of THEM should be fired!

Both of them should be PROPERLY trained.
The dvd's or whatever are a write off, the cost of doing business!
Please tell what store this is so that I can be sure NOT to shop there.

If I had the misfortune of working for you, and you pulled that crap on me, you would not even need to advertise because I would give you so much FREE advertisement...starting with reporting your ILLEGAL actions to the states attorney's office.
After that, it would be off to the media
'Yes, that is right Mr. OREILY, they docked my pay for refunding a dvd that was missing a barcode! Yes that is right they gave me the code to do a manual override', no I did not consent to have my money stolen.' ETC!

I wouldnt even need a lawyer, YOU WOULD!
corporate would fire you before the end of the lunchtime news segment finished airing.

Answer 10

I don't feel either employee should have to pay for what was simply a mistake. The manager should discuss what to look for in returns to avoid future mistakes like this and take the loss as a write-off. If either of them does it again, they should get a verbal warning, documented in their personnel file.