Fraud update from my store. Spill over into social media

[BigMass]

could been sympathetic and talked it out and worked out a deal along the lines of %25 off any purchase up to $1000. That would be a win/win IMO

[rob the knob]

Originally posted by cycosis
So who would you guys handle this?

Backstory: Had some fraudulent credit cards used by some dick heads to buy some gift cards at my store. Said gift cards went onto kijiji. We finally figured out what was going on after we got scammed for about $4500. Zeroed the rest of the Gift Cards involved. Filed police report.

Now one of those gift cards has turned up from an un suspecting person who bought it on kijiji. I informed the couple that the gift card they bought in a parking lot somewhere was fraudulent and the value was zero. They were understandably upset and I gave them all the case report information and constable contact info to include their portion in the case filing. But they lay the blame on me.

Who the fuck thinks a $1000 gift card purchased for $500 cash is legit???

Anyways, this showed up on our FB tonight. Respond? Delete?

Any feedback is appreciated.

"If you go there, NEVER trust the cashiers or the young guy who claims to be the owner. THERE IS NO SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS STORE. I bought a gift card from someone and before paying to him, we went together to the store and said the cashier that I want to buy this card, would you please check it for me? The cashier checked the gift card and said it is valid and contains $1000.00 of credit. I paid the guy, got the gift card, checked it again with the cashier and she assured me that the gift card is legit and contains $1000.00 and there will be no problem at all. Now, after a couple of weeks, I went to the store to buy a stroller for my yet-to-born boy, and after ten minutes of checking, a young guy came and claimed to be the owner, said that the BALANCE IS SET TO ZERO BY HIM, because the credit card used to buy the card at the first place had problems. He claimed that they have found the problem after one day, which was a lie, as we have talked to the woman who had the card on a Friday and bought it on Monday, at least three days later. Furthermore, he said that THEY DON'T HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITY ABOUT THE CARD, EVEN THOUGH THEIR CASHIER HAS CONFIRMED THAT THE CARD IS LEGITIMATE, AND EVEN THOUGH THE CARD IS REALLY LEGITIMATE!!!! And if we are upset, we should go to police and file a complaint against them, which we surely will do. However, if you don't want headache, if you want a little bit of mutual responsibility, NEVER GO THERE. NEVER EVER EVER!!!"

1) did person come into store to verify gift card
2) did your store verify that there was credit on gift card
3) when did store tell person that gift card is good
4) when did you cancel the gift card
specific timeline is very important

[A790]

Originally posted by loweg



Didn't want him to give away 500.00. But for a customer that could very well have been heading in for bedroom set, mattress, stroller(s), car seat(s), and all that other crud I bought when having my first, could very well be able to knock 500 from the price and still make some money (again no idea on the margins in this industry). Retain a customer that you may have given a discount for quantity purchased.

And all on all 500.00 is pretty cheap in terms of advertising these days . Like I said spam the shit outta it on Facebook.

A $500 customer acquisition cost would put most retail shops out of business. The customer would have to spend $3,000+ to break even, and if that customer is getting pissed about the discount gift card they bought on Kijiji not working, I doubt they're the type to drop that kind of coin.

[300zxfairlday]

Originally posted by A790

A $500 customer acquisition cost would put most retail shops out of business. The customer would have to spend $3,000+ to break even, and if that customer is getting pissed about the discount gift card they bought on Kijiji not working, I doubt they're the type to drop that kind of coin.

Really? So people that like to save money and get upset when there scammed for doing absolutely nothing wrong and everything right by checking the said balances are too poor to spend 3000+ ? Most idiotic statement ive heard in a while

As for OP if your cashiers varified the amount on the gift card, just because you got scammed and your cashiers didnt do a good enough job while selling the gift cards and have allowed over 4500 in theft..... already makes you just as bad for now scamming the purchaser of the gift card in my books. I would avoid any business with you .

[FraserB]

I like A790's response. Post it to Facebook as a comment.

I'd also post something about buying gift cards from third parties. Something along the lines of if someone wants to buy off a third party, you encourage them to meet at your store to verify the amount. When its verified, you'll transfer the balance to a new card free of charge to avoid any potential issues.

[FraserB]

Originally posted by 300zxfairlday


Really? So people that like to save money and get upset when there scammed for doing absolutely nothing wrong and everything right by checking the said balances are too poor to spend 3000+ ? Most idiotic statement ive heard in a while

As for OP if your cashiers varified the amount on the gift card, just because you got scammed and your cashiers didnt do a good enough job while selling the gift cards and have allowed over 4500 in theft..... already makes you just as bad for now scamming the purchaser of the gift card in my books. I would avoid any business with you .

You can't make that kind and of statement since we don't know how soon the cards were zeroed or even if the person tried to verify the card amount.

I'd be telling the person that if they can provide the date and time when they supposedly verified the balance, he can check the tapes. If an employee incorrectly told them it was valid, OP could then refund the $500 they paid for the card. If they didn't try at all, then post that fact to Facebook as well and not supply any compensation.

[01RedDX]

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[rob the knob]

5) do you have video of when he come into your store to verify to confirm date and time

[BrknFngrs]

I'm with a lot of the other posters here; while you may not be required to help this person out, not doing so seems like a significant missed opportunity to generate some goodwill for your business. If your staff did in fact confirm the amount for her then she did her due diligence and I can understand her frustration with you and the store.

That being said, I think you've worked yourself into a corner now. What could have been great publicity for your store and an incredibly happy customer who would have told all her friends about this would likely just be seen as you caving to social media pressure at this point if you tried to help her out.

[roopi]

You as a business cancelled the card after she verified it. Give her a $500.00 credit. She uses it to buy product in your store. That product only cost you $250.

How are you even liable for the charges on the stolen credit cards?

[The_Rural_Juror]

There is a minimum legal standard of telling the customer that he/she is SOL, then there is the higher moral standard of splitting the difference between the customer and the store. The good will is well worth it, and the business would have gained a few customers for life through word of mouth.

This is no different than MemEx honouring an employee website pricing error many years back. I heard that they sold over 30 hard drives at something like $200 lower than they wished. Probably gained a few supporters there.

True cost isn't really $500. They're still obligated to purchase a product from the store, and I believe it can be worked into a tax credit. Bad publicity costs way more than that.

I doubt that $500 would put the store out of business. It just means that the owner eats out less for the next little while. The business model is arguable flawed if $500 is the difference between in business and out of business at this size.

The concert/airlines analogy isn't comparable because they can't sell the same seat more than once.

Many people like Kacz Kids and often go out of their way to support their business, but the business could do the same in unusual circumstances like these. Otherwise, people might as well purchase from faceless online stores that deliver for free to their doorstep.

That being said, I am going to drive a few clicks out of my way to impulse buy more silly stuff that I don't need from them next week. I really do wish all parties (except for the criminals) well.

Good luck OP!

[Tik-Tok]

So since the "customer" didn't do their due diligence, and then lied about checking the gift card balance, they should be rewarded for their stupidity. Fuck that shit. Hell, for all he knows, this person could be an associate of the scammer.

A790 has a good reply. Also perhaps ask which employee "verified" the card. Personally It would be hard for me to not put a little dig in there about buying gift cards from sketchy people in parking lots.

Maybe also post on your website, or FB, the gift card numbers that are in-valid.

[nickyh]

If it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is. The person buying a heavily discounted gift card should question why they got such a good deal.
After all the stories on the news about fake hockey tickets and gift card scams, the person should know they are sol.

I like A790 reply, i would reply with that and be done with it.

Personally, it's up to you to decide if you want to do a goodwill gesture for the customer, you have both been victims of this fraud. I would probably do something small for them just to show you are a standup business but nothing over $100.

I know this is rewarding stupidity but giving them something vs nothing could translate into repeat business vs them outright boycotting and slagging your store every chance they get.

Btw, I like your new website, it's a huge improvement.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by A790


EDIT: It's pretty funny how many people seem to think that the OP should honour the GC. Are concerts obligated to let you in when you buy fake tickets? Do you think United Airlines would honour a ticket purchased with a stolen credit card? Give your head a shake.

These days, the backlash from social media for something like this will be a drop in the bucket and forgotten about tomorrow. The OP didn't do anything wrong. Stolen merchandise is stolen merchandise, and saying that the OP should honour the stolen gift card basically amounts to you saying that the OP deserves to be out even more money. Give your head a shake.

He's not obligated to honor it obviously, but given the circumstances I personally think it's the best choice from a business perspective.

There are pretty much two outcomes here: 1) he doesn't honor it, and the customer tells their friends that the store defrauded them. 2) he does honor but explains he's taking a loss as the card was bought with a scammed credit card. Now the customer leaves satisfied, and tells their friends that said store backed it even though they were defrauded. Imagine if the store continues this type of service over years, that's how they can build up an amazing reputation. This is how word of mouth works.

This is an opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good one. Given the markup on retail, you can likely do this without losing too much money from your own pocket. Think of this as an investment in your reputation.

I have this view because I grew up a family that's had an auto body repair shop since the 1950s. My grandfather started it and now my brother runs it. It's consistently rated in the "top" lists of best auto repair shops in print and television -- in a metropolitan area of just under 4 million. You should see the stuff they do for free there, that other shops charge for. I've posted on here about it before, some people were criticizing that prectice but then again they don't have a shop that's been a massive success for 70 years.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by black_2.5RS
Give them the amount they paid $500. Make the customer whole. You will get the money back.

But not from Beyonders who were hounding you for a discount.

[FixedGear]

So,

1) two shady looking guys enter said store and purchase abnormally large GCs using a credit card. said store made sale to shady looking guys, apparently without requesting ID.

2) a GC is then sold for 50% discount on Kijiji, following an in-store verification of the value.

OP was obviously defrauded, but shares some responsibility too (i.e. not asking for ID, and validating the card value). OP you need to realize this and take some responsibility too.

Again, I think you should bite the bullet here and use this as an opportunity to build your reputation, rather than destroy it.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by FixedGear


2) a GC is then sold for 50% discount on Kijiji, following an in-store verification of the value.

I doubt he went in-store for verification, considering OP and all his employee's knew about the scammers.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


I doubt he went in-store for verification, considering OP and all his employee's knew about the scammers.

The customer did say "The cashier checked the gift card and said it is valid and contains $1000.00 of credit. I paid the guy, got the gift card, checked it again with the cashier and she assured me that the gift card is legit and contains $1000.00 and there will be no problem at all. "

but maybe they're lying. Still, if it was me, I'd honor the GC.

[euro_racer]

Post a bulletin or PSA on your Facebook page informing all current and future customers about the ongoing situation with fraudulent cards. That will present your side on the matter in a more official manner since judging by that review you are just some young guy claiming to be the owner, also it will warn all for future occurrences.

After that, respond to this customer with the facts and refer them to the bulletin. Delete their comment once the issue is resolved. (IMO since your clerk verified the card I feel for that customer)

[01RedDX]

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