Posted on 12/14/2006 5:07:03 PM PST by publana
I forwarded your mail to my Dad to get him to take photocopies and to get a police report filed so there will be a record of the incident (and maybe motivate them to go after the woman.)
It should be noted to anyone who buys, gives, receives or uses a gift card of any kind --- write down the gift card number and keep it in a safe place somewhere separately from the card!
Agreed. IF my Dad had done this, it would be much easier to get his money back.
We have followed instructions given with respect to dealing with Walmart and are waiting to hear from them.
Another freeper is a friend of Mr. Murphy of Murphy Oil and gave me his email address. Murphy Oil called me this morning and is trying to track down the card for me so they can kill the card and re-issue. I was pleased that Murphy Oil is now going to attempt to get the pertinent info for us.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks again to everyone for all your help and ideas. They have been invaluable to me and my parents.
I forwarded the OP to my father who pointed out several discrepancies. It was a long story that I shortened and got a few things wrong. You might want to fix it for anybody to whom you post to warn about the scam. I'm not sure if it makes that much difference.
The police did not make the woman return the card. The woman volunteered to return it while the police were there and gave him the wrong card at which point the police told my Dad the situation is resolved and to leave Walmart property.
The older/newer discrepancy, I've already posted.
My Dad does not know who called the police, but assumed it was a customer.
Also the receipt/card typo.
Sure, what usually will happen in a case like this (a class B misdemeanor), assuming the employee quits, the case will be turned over to a financial or misdemeanor detective. He will review the evidence and then attempt to contact the suspect. If she doesn't come in and talk to him he will get a warrant issued and either go get her if he knows where she is, or wait until she gets pulled over or has some other police contact. (Trust me, if she is a thief, she'll run into the police sometime in the near future). If she is taken in on a warrant she will either sit in jail until her arraignment or make bail with a bond company. Most likely she'll plead guilty and pay a fine, restitution and if it's her first offense (or more likely the first time she has been caught) she'll get probation. Your parents will not have to go to court. Even if she wants a jury trial, wal-mart will be the victim not your dad (they could call him as a witness, but it is unlikely because it will be on video tape).
I will tell you this though, most of these people are repeat offenders. I had one who stole $50 cash out of the register and then walked out of the store. I charged her with theft of the cash, her wal-mart smock, name badge and her employee discount card for a total of $80. She was arrested 2 weeks later shoplifting at JC Penney. She had 4 prior theft charges and fought with the JC Penney LP's when they tried to apprehend her. She plead guilty to the judge and was sentenced to 5 years. She decided to withdraw her plea and demanded a jury trial. The jury gave her 6 months for the wal-mart theft and found her guilty of robbery for the JC Penney theft and gave her 15 years. She will have to do 5 1/2 before she can get out for good behavior. She would have only had to do 18 months if she had excepted the judges sentence.
I just love a story with a happy ending!
But people please---DONT BUY WAL-MART GIFT CARDS!!! I know that it seems like a good idea, but the risk is too great. I would suggest those new Visa or American Express cards you can buy, they are safer and easier to get your money back if they are lost, stolen or used fraudulently. Tell you dad to use cash or write a check at Sam's.
I don't mean this to be a dig at Wal-Mart, I have plenty of other reasons to bash Wal-Mart for things they are responsible for, but Wal-Mart does try to protect themselves from dis-honest employees but a lot slip past them especially when they are hiring temp help for Christmas. I hope everyone reads my prior post (#119) before deciding to buy gift cards.
Or a lazy cop. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference because lazy cops disguise themselves as dumbass cops.
Awesome info. Thanks, txroadkill!
Well, if your father won't hire a lawyer, he is refusing to take the ONLY course that will result in him getting his money back.
You can't help him if he refuses to help himself.
This is pretty easily done with any gift card. I don't use them or give them, personally.
ping
Ping to you too! Hi, Tom! :)
What price per hour lawyer do you propose?
Yeah, I would use the terms interchangeably and there's really probably no difference between them.
He's changing his mind about it. If Walmart/Murphy do not come through, he wants me to find him a lawyer. The more he's "stewed about it", the angrier he has become.
He had to make 3 extra trips to Walmart yesterday trying to track down the card number. He also made 2 trips to the police station.
I made a mistake about a report not being filed, btw. The SECOND trip to the police station, he did find a helpful policeman that gave him the form to file a complaint so there would be a record of the event. He didn't tell me this last night, or if he did, I didn't register anything other than the cops that were AT Walmart refused to file a report which they did refuse; thus the two trips to the station.
I hope I can find one that will up the amount to the point that my Dad gets his $415 and the lawyer gets his percentage above and beyond that without paying a bunch of money up front. It might not work that way, but surely there is a lawyer there in Dallas that will take his case without an arm and a leg to boot.
... and I have great hope that either Walmart or Murphy will come through making a lawyer unnecessary.
That is excellent news, and frankly I was hoping you'd come back to tell us something like that!
I'm very glad a report did get filed, though. That must help.
This sounds like it will all be worked out in the end, and if Publana Dad is getting angry, that's even more impetus for it to go his way!
I received the following from Murphy today. This is good news because going the Walmart route was going to take me a week to get to this point... "The Loss Prevention Manager."
Thanks, we have it and I have turned it over to our loss prevention manager. We will get back with you asap.
Wes
----- Forwarded by Wesley Price/ELD/MOC on 12/15/2006 -----
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.