A Retail Theft of a Different Color

As I entered the store finally after a day long stay at the District Court, the employee behind the service desk flags me down. Any time a coworker seeks me out, it is sure to be an interesting story. She begins her story by pulling out a receipt with a handwritten note stapled to it. I fear its going to involve math, but fortunately my fear was unfounded.

The receipt is a return that was done for a customer who wanted to return a comforter. The employee was for some reason suspicious of the customer. She had no receipt, but that isn't too unusual after the holidays. She could only add that it "just didn't seem right." So, I am always up for a little investigation, so I take the information and receipt, and disappear behind my office door, and proceed with my own episode of Retail CSI.

I check the time of the receipt and punch that into my DVR. On the video I see the petite white girl with long brown hair at the counter, with a package almost as big as her. With a click of a few other buttons, I review the front door activity within the hour and see the same petite customer entering the store. However, one would think that if you were returning a comforter, you would walk into the store with it. Well, not the case this time. The small girl enters the store clearly empty handed, with a small pocketbook over her shoulder. Within five minutes, she is seen approaching the service desk from the opposite direction, hands full of comforter.

As it turns out, she takes the comforter right off the shelf, takes it to the desk where she claims she lost the receipt. In return she is handed store credit for the amount of the comforter.

Sort of like walking into the bank and making a withdraw.

Hey, let's keep this method between you and I...deal?