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A Mistake That Keeps on Going

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  • 11-17-2008, 06:45 AM
    jones6141
    A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio
    I worked at a retail store and made a huge mistake; I rung out a customer and forgot to take payment. Three weeks later I am confronted with the video tape and am accused of knowing the people and theft. I was told that if I sign a confession and statement (Which I had to re-write 3x before they accepted it) they would not persue any legal action against me. Now 6 weeks later I get a letter from an attorney demanding payment of $200 in 15 days, also the letter states that if I do make payment the company can still press criminal action against me.
    This was a mistake in which I did do and I offered to pay the $40 (amount of actual items) at the time of confrontation. I feel that promises were made and then broken and that I was forced to sign these papers in fear of prosecution if I did not. What can I do now?
  • 11-17-2008, 06:52 AM
    Security Consultant
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    You made the confession. If you didn't commit the crime - you should'nt sign. The civil demand is legal. If you don't pay it they may sue you in civil court.

    If you truly feel you wrote and signed the confession under duress, you should talk with an attorney.
  • 11-17-2008, 07:13 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    How do you forget to take money from a customer? How do you clear the register for the next sale if you don't ring out your customer? Why didn't you tell a manager the second you realized you hadn't charged your customer, instead of doing whatever you did... opening the drawer and pretending to put money in the register, voiding the transactions....
  • 11-17-2008, 08:06 AM
    cyjeff
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    Agreed.

    No modern POS system allows you to forget to take payment.

    You stole. You got caught. Now you are paying the piper.
  • 11-17-2008, 12:17 PM
    jones6141
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    I can honestly say that I did not intentionally steal. I also do not remember that day at all, events etc. Our cash registers went down a lot during that time..I do remember because I got called a lot of different names by customers. Believe me if I realized what happened at the time I am not a person who just shruggs it off, I am an honest person by nature, it was a mistake and I admitted to it ( I saw it in black and white on the video, how could I not confess to it?). My question is why is it now $200 and what if I do not pay the $200 but pay what the items actually costs? Also Being told that they would not file any legal action against me if I filled the forms out just so? Also can they go back and file criminal charges against me? I am very concerned because I am almost finished with a degree in Human Services and with this on my record I would not be able to find a job.
    Again let me say I have no idea how I forgot to take the money or what happened afterwards...voids etc. (they did not disclose that information to me.) I did what I did and am willing to pay for these items, again I will not lie to get out of something I am an honest person who made a mistake.
  • 11-17-2008, 01:25 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    With no offense intended, "I don't remember how I forgot to charge a customer" isn't a convincing excuse. "Our registers went down sometimes" is a cute one, but if that had anything to do with this incident that would have been obvious from the video. And it still wouldn't explain letting a customer walk off without paying, whether or not you remember doing so. I'm normally quite happy to take somebody's word that there was a mistake or misunderstanding but, unless you're about to tell us that you were so stoned that day that you can't remember anything, there's a point at which I have to say, "Please don't insult my intelligence."

    When there's good cause for your employer to believe that you were stealing, your employer has every right to take the evidence to the police and to seek your prosecution. What your employer will choose to do given what's on the videotape and given its policies regarding cases of suspected employee theft? I can't answer that; you would have to ask your employer.

    As for why the civil demand is in an amount greater than the value of the amount allegedly stolen? The law permits a merchant to seek a greater recovery, due to the fact that the costs of theft and loss prevention operations are not $0 - it's more than fair for merchants to shift some of that cost onto people they catch stealing.
  • 11-18-2008, 05:51 AM
    jones6141
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    Thank you for your advice and insight into this matter. I appreciate the blunt honesty.
  • 11-19-2008, 11:11 AM
    bam!
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    That crap happens all the time. Cashiering is monotonous and cashiers sometimes bag up merchandise and say "thank you come again". Especially if the customer swipes a card and it doesn't register, a bored cashier can think payment went through.

    The real question is...were the items scanned through the POS system? IE did you actually ring up the items and forget to take payment or did you just put the stuff in a bag?
  • 11-19-2008, 03:24 PM
    cyjeff
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    Quote:

    Quoting bam!
    View Post
    That crap happens all the time. Cashiering is monotonous and cashiers sometimes bag up merchandise and say "thank you come again". Especially if the customer swipes a card and it doesn't register, a bored cashier can think payment went through.

    The real question is...were the items scanned through the POS system? IE did you actually ring up the items and forget to take payment or did you just put the stuff in a bag?

    he said he "rung out a customer". I assume that meant through the POS.
  • 11-20-2008, 08:56 AM
    bam!
    Re: A Mistake That Keeps on Going
    Quote:

    Quoting cyjeff
    View Post
    he said he "rung out a customer". I assume that meant through the POS.

    I did too. But then again, he could have rung out the customer and then voided total, discounted the entire order, forgotten to accept payment or a number of other things.

    I think we are on the same page, this doesn't sound right, but it is up to the OP to tell us the truth.

    Was the store busy? We need details OP.
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