In the following has either Jane or Lucy (not their real names) broken any law at all in any way? Are there any laws that protect customers from being lied to? Are there any money handling laws that have been breached? Is any part of this considered theft?
something happened between two colleagues:
In a retail environment workers use counter tills handling money all day. Jane (not her real name) was serving a customer who paid in cash for a service and asked if there was any chance Jane could check her till for any Commonwealth Games $2 coins and if so, could she in her change have that $2 coin instead of an ordinary coin. Jane thought, ‘well such a coin is just like any coin, it’s currency, and as my job is to delight my customer, if there is one I’ll do as she asked.’ Jane checked her till and saw that all the commonwealth games coins had were separated from the other $2 coins in the till, clearly the previous user of the till had done so. Jane had seen this done at other places she worked in the company, and so she knew that often other staff members would keep the coins aside so that later they could exchange it later for themselves without giving the general public a fair chance of receiving one in their change. Jane also knew, that rather than doing the exchange on the same day, often they would separate all the collectible coins and keep it in their till for sometimes months even, not letting even one go to the general public in their change. They often had 10 of the exact same coin, and kept it for them to exchange later with intention of later selling the coins at coin traders. The coins never labelled as being set aside for someone specifically, they were not in an envelope, they did not have anyone’s name on it. Jane thought it would be wrong to lie to her customer, she thought it was wrong that counter operators kept things from the customers deliberately for their own selfish gain, and she thought that technically they didn’t belong to anyone yet. They were not labelled, they weren’t in anyone’s purse. Only the shop has temporary custody of the coins, until it ends up in someone’s change. Jane also thought that there was a chance that the coins were separated for timed when customers specifically asked for them as part of their change. Jane knew she can’t always satisfy everyone but she could at least satisfy her customer. Jane had the mentality of first-in first-served. So she gave her customer the special coin as part of her change.
Lucy (not her real name)- The staff member who set aside the coins - walked in to begin her first shift of the day.
When she realised one of the commonwealth games coins had been given she became angry and told off Jane saying
“I keep those coins for myself, they are deliberately set aside for me. They are mine! How dare you give it out to the customer. They are not yours to give” (Lucy continued to drill this into Jane 8 times that day despite Jane apologising after the first rebuke).
Meanwhile Jane thought ‘and it’s not yours to keep until it is in your purse’.
something happened between two colleagues:
In a retail environment workers use counter tills handling money all day. Jane (not her real name) was serving a customer who paid in cash for a service and asked if there was any chance Jane could check her till for any Commonwealth Games $2 coins and if so, could she in her change have that $2 coin instead of an ordinary coin. Jane thought, ‘well such a coin is just like any coin, it’s currency, and as my job is to delight my customer, if there is one I’ll do as she asked.’ Jane checked her till and saw that all the commonwealth games coins had were separated from the other $2 coins in the till, clearly the previous user of the till had done so. Jane had seen this done at other places she worked in the company, and so she knew that often other staff members would keep the coins aside so that later they could exchange it later for themselves without giving the general public a fair chance of receiving one in their change. Jane also knew, that rather than doing the exchange on the same day, often they would separate all the collectible coins and keep it in their till for sometimes months even, not letting even one go to the general public in their change. They often had 10 of the exact same coin, and kept it for them to exchange later with intention of later selling the coins at coin traders. The coins never labelled as being set aside for someone specifically, they were not in an envelope, they did not have anyone’s name on it. Jane thought it would be wrong to lie to her customer, she thought it was wrong that counter operators kept things from the customers deliberately for their own selfish gain, and she thought that technically they didn’t belong to anyone yet. They were not labelled, they weren’t in anyone’s purse. Only the shop has temporary custody of the coins, until it ends up in someone’s change. Jane also thought that there was a chance that the coins were separated for timed when customers specifically asked for them as part of their change. Jane knew she can’t always satisfy everyone but she could at least satisfy her customer. Jane had the mentality of first-in first-served. So she gave her customer the special coin as part of her change.
Lucy (not her real name)- The staff member who set aside the coins - walked in to begin her first shift of the day.
When she realised one of the commonwealth games coins had been given she became angry and told off Jane saying
“I keep those coins for myself, they are deliberately set aside for me. They are mine! How dare you give it out to the customer. They are not yours to give” (Lucy continued to drill this into Jane 8 times that day despite Jane apologising after the first rebuke).
Meanwhile Jane thought ‘and it’s not yours to keep until it is in your purse’.
