Wunderkind hactches a foolproof plot....

[GiftShopGirl]

....But she's foiled by talking about too loudly.

So today in the gift shop, I was working the ticket register when two teenage girls ask me if they can use a credit card in the gift shop. I say yes, and the two walk away giggling. Then I actually overheard them say this:

Girl 2: So are you really going to use it?
Girl 1: Yea, momma don't know I took it. She'll just sue for fraudulent card use or something anyway. It ain't no thing.
Girl 2: Cool, let's go stock up!

I ran behind merchandise desk and told CW that if anyone came through her line with a credit card who looked underage, she had to check ID. Sure enough, as I'm standing there, the two girls come through with their merchandise. We ring it up and girl whips out a credit card.

CW: Thank you; may I see your ID?
Girl 1: I forgot it.
CW: I'm sorry, I can't authorize this sale unless you can prove this is your credit card.
Girl 1: Well, I was born in 1996 if that helps.
Me: That only makes you 13 years old. You're not old enough to have a credit card.
Girl 1: Look, I'll get my dad on the phone and he'll tell you it's my card.
Me: I'm sorry, you have to prove with a valid ID that this is your card. If this isn't your card, and we actually swipe this, then you are committing identify theft and that's very illegal. So can you prove that this is your card?
Girl 1: No.
CW: Then you need to leave. Have a nice day.

Should we have called the police?

[Broomjockey]

Well, if it was the parents' card, I don't know the police would have actually done anything, considering it a family matter. Shoulda kept the card, imo, though.

[Kiwi]

Shoulda kept the card, imo, though.

Agreed, then little miss priss would have to explain exactly why the credit card is missing.

[Red_Dazes]

I think you should have let her call her daddy and then asked him to call his wife and ask her if she KNEW her kid was trying to purchase items with her card.

[sexiphatchick]

I would've had her call her father and asked to speak to him myself, and tell the father what you heard her saying.

But then that may not have been the best thing to do.

[wagegoth]

I think you should have let her call her daddy and then asked him to call his wife and ask her if she KNEW her kid was trying to purchase items with her card.

They could be divorced and daddy doesn't care or would think it was a way to get back at the ex.

[Aethian]

Agreed, then little miss priss would have to explain exactly why the credit card is missing.

Thirded here. Shoulda kept it and then handed it over to law personal as a 'stolen' card since, it was.

[mharbourgirl]

Not the best thing, no, simply because there's no way to be sure that's her actual Dad on the other end of the line.

Hopefully her parents have some kind of fraud protection on their card. They're about to get an expensive lesson in the necessity of teaching your children right from wrong. Instead of just assuming it will happen because they're breathing.

[Enjis]

....But she's foiled by talking about too loudly.

So today in the gift shop, I was working the ticket register when two teenage girls ask me if they can use a credit card in the gift shop. I say yes, and the two walk away giggling. Then I actually overheard them say this:

Girl 2: So are you really going to use it?
Girl 1: Yea, momma don't know I took it. She'll just sue for fraudulent card use or something anyway. It ain't no thing.
Girl 2: Cool, let's go stock up!

?

That only works if the parent is willing to prosecute their own child. A friend of mine used to work for a credit agency. She said she used to get parents calling in, saying their kid used their card, but they did not have permission, so the parent felt they did not have to pay for it.

The agency said that was true, as long as the parent cooperated in the arrest and prosecution of the one responsable...their kid!
You'd be surprised (not) at how many such cases were settled by the parents paying for what the kid 'stole' with their card.

[lupo pazzesco]

Thirded here. Shoulda kept it and then handed it over to law personal as a 'stolen' card since, it was.

Fourthed! QFT

[freeatlast]

We used to get that at the Call Center from Hell. Many of the music club memberships required credit card prepayment when submitted via the website. Kids would enroll using their parents' credit cards and then Mommy or Daddy would call us and want the club membership cancelled (which we would do if they are a minor) and the credit card refunded. I would always tell them that the product had to be returned in order to refund the credit card. Many of them felt they shouldn't have to return the product, so I would then tell them that in order to have the card refunded, they would have to contact the issuer and explain that little precious stole their card and used it without authorization. They would then either agree to return the product or decide that the money was not that big a deal.

[bainsidhe]

See, I don't know. As much as I enjoy the idea of keeping the card by saying miss tween-thang couldn't prove it was hers, I don't think it's a wise thing to do. Not only will your store (and by that, I mean YOU) get in trouble, but an argument could be made that you were trying to steal the card and that's why you kept it. I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole.

If you wanted to do something, the wiser course of action would be just calling the cops. Tell them you overheard a conversation about a stolen credit card and now a customer was trying to use it. At the very least, refuse the sale, which is exactly what you did.

[MergedLoki]

Calling police prob wouldn't have been useful as the card didn't get used so they didn't ACTUALLY commit fruad.

also. if she was 13, parents would have toa gree to press charges and really how many parents (rightly or wrongly) actually agree to press charges agains their 'precious lil kids' no matter how much they fuck up?

[OfficeSlug]

Ever see those parents who thinks it's cute to 'teach' their 5-6 year olds how to use the credit card machine at the registers, complete with PINs?? Or those parents that 'let' their kids sign the slip (to which I say, "no, I need YOUR adult signature")???

That's just ASKING for trouble in about 8-9 years (and sometimes I'll say so, to which the parents seem SURPRISED that yes, this could become a problem, DUH)!!!

Stupid.

[jjllbb]

Since all the registers have a pin pad for people to swipe their own credit cards we don't check ID anymore.

One day I had this woman with what looked like her two kids with her.

She lets the young boy swipe a card to finish his purchase and I assumed it was one of those visa gift cards that we'd had a lot of kids using lately.

Just as the receipt is printing out she actually turned to me and said: "He's using his mother's credit card today. She let him borrow it while she was at work."

My smile dropped off and I said: "I really wish you hadn't told me that. You just admitted that he is illegally making a purchase."

I was SO pissed off.

She kind of faltered in her smile and just shrugged and they left.

I couldn't believe it. This was a grown woman. I didn't know what I should have done.