Posted on 12/14/2006 5:07:03 PM PST by publana
My parents who are in their seventies, retired, and on Social Security stopped at Walmart on US Hwy 80 in Mesquite, TX to get gas. After paying at the pump with a Walmart Gift Card and retrieving the receipt, the woman in the booth comes over the speaker and asks him how he intends to pay.
My Dad tells her he has already paid and shows her the receipt through the window. They argue a bit, then she asks him to see the $500 Walmart Gift Card. Instead of telling her to buzz off, he hands her the card. She tells him the card isn't any good and she isn't returning it. He shows her the balance of $414.18 printed on the receipt and demands the return of the receipt. Another customer sees what is going on and calls the police.
The police come, run his license to see if they can arrest him for anything, takes the woman's side and does nothing other than to tell her to return the card. My parents leave. After driving about a mile, my mother says to go back and complain to the manager at Walmart.
The manager at Walmart looks at the card and checks it. It shows a zero balance. It also is a much older card than the card my Dad had recently purchase. It had a creation date of October. It dawns on my Dad that the woman switched the card. Although, the manager agrees with my Dad, he says there is nothing he can do. He suggests he calls the police for the woman's theft.
The police come back and do nothing. They say it's a matter for Small Claims Court and refuse to file a report. My Dad wants a report filed because he realizes this woman has a great scam going. Switch cards, keep the one with the money. The customer will not notice the money is gone until the next time he goes to Walmart to make a purchase with the card. By that time, the person will not even remember handing the card to the employee.
My parents, being retired and on social security, could not afford to lose $400 at Christmas time.
Be careful out there!
bump
Do not believe I have read this question here!
bump
He says he's not sure what she was wearing.
Sue, sue sue. Sue them til you can't sue them no more. THIS IS ELDER ABUSE. and the walmart gas clerk is responsible too.
We had good news today. Wesley Price from Murphy Oil called this morning. He is sending my Dad a check for $415. He said they are going to further investigate for prosecution purposes Brittny Johnson because it does indeed appear that she took my Dad's gas card. The card was zeroed out immediately and the money was put on a new card inside Walmart. It appears that she had an accomplice because, according to Murphy, their attendants do not have the capability. It would have to be a Walmart employee. He also stated that Walmart is not being cooperative at all with them (which I find an odd statement since I'm assuming the Loss Prevention Manager is a Walmart employee unless Murphy has their own.)
My Dad is happy to have his money returned and asked me to thank you guys at Free Republic because he feels positive he would never have received a refund without having to hire a lawyer and go to court if it wasn't for all of you.
Thank you so much! I have never been so grateful to be a member of Free Republic as I am today. :)
Congrats on the happy ending.
Murphy Oil probably has their own Loss Prevention manager. I do find it odd WalMart isn't being cooperative since Mr. Price has managed to track down what happened with the card after it left your Dad's possession.
I'm wondering (to myself kind of) how their attendants don't have the capability of zeroing out the card. Years ago I worked for Exxon in their credit card center. Occasionally we'd have a crooked service station attendant who would run off two tickets for the same amount. They then would be able to take the cash for one of the tickets out of the register where the register would balance at the end of the day. It wouldn't be noticed until an alert customer reviewed the charge copies which (then) came with their bill and they'd notice a consecutively numbered (as well as same day) charge.
Anyway. sorry for the long explanation but I'm now curious as to what kind of protection they have to prevent an employee from doing a second charge there in the booth which would zero the card out.
Did Mr. Price say where the card was zeroed out? It could be a second charge done on the same register, especially for that large an amount might trigger an alert of some sort.
I'm just being nosy because my curiousity has been aroused. I'm very glad Murphy Oil is going to send your Dad a check! Before I read Murphy Oil was going to make good, I was getting really ticked on your Dad's behalf. Based on the way WalMart has handled the gift card, I'll definitely be telling friends and family to beware.
I believe he said the attendant zeroed the card. This confused me because I would think (and never working as a cashier I have no direct knowledge how this works) that if the attendant could zero out the card, she could have issued herself a card. Or maybe she doesn't have access to add money but only remove?
I don't know... the whole concept of ripping off customers is confusing to me, but I do know I will NEVER purchase or allow a store to give me a refund or discount with a gift card again!
Glad Murphy Oil did right by your Father.
I know I sound petulant, but after thinking about it all, I wish Murphy would have offered to give my Dad a little more extra than 83 cents. The reason is that my parents spent money going back and forth to Walmart 3 times, plus driving to the police station twice. Not to mention the stress. I'm grateful he got his money back, but I wish they'd done it immediately instead of putting him through all the trouble. I'm still rather ticked at both Murphy/Walmart over the deal. Some of the details I left out before was that Walmart manager said he couldn't do anything about it while my Dad was there and when the manager called Murphy to pass it off to them, they said it was Walmart's problem.
It seems to me they could have told him they would investigate and get back with him instead of making my Dad run around town several times begging all to help him. If it wasn't for your guys help, he wouldn't have ever received a refund.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you guys earlier that the reason Murphy got on the stick and handled the matter quickly is that evidently quite a few of you called and emailed Murphy. LOL Thank you ALL so much. I'm still laughing at the site of their faces with emails and phone calls coming through. Free Republic is a wonderful thing!
Glad to hear it! Still kind of odd, chances are that WM is only appearing to not cooperate while they conduct their own investigation. Smart move on removing the gift cards from your life.
BTTT
Good news
I love FR
I didn't help to get this resolved, but I read the thread as it went along and watched for updates. What wonderful news to hear, especially at this time of year. A Free Republic Christmas miracle.
Thank you all you dear Freepers for helping out publana and her (his?) father. Kinda puts a tear in my eye.
And God bless you, publana, and your lovely parents. Your father sounds fierce, and his offspring is a chip of the old block.
Oh, on a final note, do not second guess the results. Even though your father had a lot of stress and worry and trips to and fro, the fact that he actually received his entire refund is cause for celebration. It truly was a cheap lesson, not only for your father, but for all of us. I, for one, will not use a gift card ever again. Before this I had no thoughts about it one way or another.
Very true. After the situation was resolved, I began replaying all the events in my mind and became angry all over again. It didn't last long. ;) I remembered to count my blessings and go on.
I agree with your philosophy. And in a related vein, why is everybody sopetrified of saying "Mind your own business!" these days? It seems like anyone is allowed to ask any innappropriate question they like, and if you object, YOU'RE the one being rude.
Here is a long thread with a happy ending referencing using Walmart gift cards: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1753710/posts
Gift cards buyers beware.
I have about $3.50 on a WM giftcard... do they sell slurpee’s??
Remember: EVERYTHING about that transaction was documented. It’s on video recordings, transaction records were stored, etc. Press charges, noting that the video shows the card being used, the financials recorded that a $500 card was inserted and marked down to $414.18, video shows the woman confronting and taking the card, etc. No doubt there are other similar instances surrounding her.
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.