Employee Charged with Embezzlement
- Thread starter Shane
- Start date
Seriously, this is a problem with today's society. When you think something is ridiculous and you let people slide. Honestly, at most being $3,100 that is still $3,100 even if it were 3,100 $1 refills, it is still a lot of money. If someone stole that much from you, you would want them arrested and charged too.
I actually think it was rather nice how park management warned him specifically not to continue doing it. When you get caught and you're warned not to do it again, that is the only compassion he should have gotten.
Any way, sad to see this happen.
I'm wondering how they traced it to him in particular. I assume they keep track of the daily sales and noticed that more people were parking in preferred than the amount of preferred spots sold. I also don't really understand why he did it, was it just because he could? Or is there some hidden reason that I'm missing here? It seems like he would have nothing to gain from this. It reminded me of when my friend got in trouble for giving things away at a retail store he worked at, basically he wouldn't charge people for everything that they brought to the counter. In the end he had to pay for products, once he was caught.
I'm pretty sure if this is like any fast food place or even their eateries, then the employee must sign into the POS system and then it's calculating by how many tags they started with and then ended with like Shane said, then they compare that to how many was purchased through the system.
Shane said:
This plus the register keeps track of every transaction.
I will say I talked to a few people who said a full investigation was in the works back in September.
A common cashier theft is legitimately selling the product, but not putting it in the system and pocketing the cash. I'm not sure if this was the motivation but I bet it is easy to do since their is so much commotion around the parking booths and very little supervision.
Hmmmm... It's the day after election day, so here's my opportunity to vent
Prior to seeing the light and going Platinum:idea:, I always joked that I could re-use my parking passes that were piling up in my car. I had every color under the rainbow floating around in there. Even though they write the date on there, you could simply turn it around and hang it backwards. I never did it, as it certainly isn't worth being caught and kicked out over $10. Not to mention the fact, it seems the older you get, the more wiser and honest you get. :s
As far as the employee is concerned, maybe he was making his own passes and selling them? I've said on numerous times I could make those things on my printer at home. I don't think he just 'gave them away'. I think he saw a way to pocket some quick cash and thought he'd never get caught.
Here is where it gets ethically and personally sticky. Did he steal? Yes.
I think we ALL did a ton of stupid things when we were that age, and a majority of us never got caught. This kid, if convicted, will have an embezzlement charge on his record, which will basically ruin his life until he can let enough time pass to get it expunged from his record. I think this is a bit harsh. I think Busch Gardens should drop the charges, as long as he pays back the money and agrees to like 200 hours of community service.
Prior to seeing the light and going Platinum:idea:, I always joked that I could re-use my parking passes that were piling up in my car. I had every color under the rainbow floating around in there. Even though they write the date on there, you could simply turn it around and hang it backwards. I never did it, as it certainly isn't worth being caught and kicked out over $10. Not to mention the fact, it seems the older you get, the more wiser and honest you get. :s
As far as the employee is concerned, maybe he was making his own passes and selling them? I've said on numerous times I could make those things on my printer at home. I don't think he just 'gave them away'. I think he saw a way to pocket some quick cash and thought he'd never get caught.
Here is where it gets ethically and personally sticky. Did he steal? Yes.
I think we ALL did a ton of stupid things when we were that age, and a majority of us never got caught. This kid, if convicted, will have an embezzlement charge on his record, which will basically ruin his life until he can let enough time pass to get it expunged from his record. I think this is a bit harsh. I think Busch Gardens should drop the charges, as long as he pays back the money and agrees to like 200 hours of community service.
horsesboy said:
They absolutely have cameras there, and there are people watching. In fact, there are hundreds of small, hidden cameras all throughout the park. Imagine you're on The Truman Show, and that's the type of security operation there. It would be very easy to catch this guy.
He was probably pretty fed up with the park/his job for some reason, and wanted to get back at them through some kind of twisted vigilance. I've known people in jobs that haven't charged customers for items because they think prices are ridiculous. It's wrong, but people do it.
I think we've all been to restaurants where the server didn't charge for a soft drink, etc.
Sometimes the server forgets to put it on the bill.
Sometimes the server just feels like giving out a freebie.
Sometimes it's the server's way of getting a bigger tip.
Sometimes it's encouraged my management as a way of increasing customer satisfaction for their regulars.
I think it's a big difference whether this guy was giving out freebies, or pocketing the money customers were paying for the parking.
If it's the former, I think it's like the restaurant scenario above, and he shouldn't be criminally charged. (Maybe he thought he was helping BG by increasing customer satisfaction.)
But, if he was pocketing the money, I don't see how you could argue against prosecution.
Sometimes the server forgets to put it on the bill.
Sometimes the server just feels like giving out a freebie.
Sometimes it's the server's way of getting a bigger tip.
Sometimes it's encouraged my management as a way of increasing customer satisfaction for their regulars.
I think it's a big difference whether this guy was giving out freebies, or pocketing the money customers were paying for the parking.
If it's the former, I think it's like the restaurant scenario above, and he shouldn't be criminally charged. (Maybe he thought he was helping BG by increasing customer satisfaction.)
But, if he was pocketing the money, I don't see how you could argue against prosecution.
With the amount of freebies he gave out over such a short period of time, I disagree. There's still a big difference between whether he pocketed the money or not, but it's still very wrong. Seeing as how he's being charged with embezzlement, though, I have to think he kept the money for himself.
I have since heard/confirmed that he gave away the preferred passed for free, so the idea of pocketing $$ from the customer is no longer the case.
On the flip side, they don't say whether he was somehow pocketing money from Busch Gardens in some way. So, it comes down to either he gave them away for free without making a cent, or he gave them away for free and somehow fudged BG's books and took BG's money for the 126 preferred passed he gave away.
Why do I always get in the wrong line?
On the flip side, they don't say whether he was somehow pocketing money from Busch Gardens in some way. So, it comes down to either he gave them away for free without making a cent, or he gave them away for free and somehow fudged BG's books and took BG's money for the 126 preferred passed he gave away.
Why do I always get in the wrong line?
He gave the parking passes away free and he took no actual money.
He still stole product and gave it away without charging. No matter how much perfume you put on a pig, its still a pig. That is like someone working at a store, stealing 3,000 candy bars and giving them away for free. Theft is still theft. There should be no gray area at all. He was warned a first time not to do it. He was arrested the second time after he kept doing it.
I will say there have been situations in the park where something like this happens. In Ireland, some of the Grogan's Grille cashiers would not charge their coworkers or friends or family for the meals, after some investigation, managers started asking random patrons for their receipts to prove they were not just handed free food.
Oh and there are not security cameras all over the park. While in the park, the only cameras are placed in/on the games and in the shops and stores. Other cameras outside are placed near the security gates, one being the turnstiles. So yes there were cameras inside the toll booths that they actually do monitor, but mostly when they are suspicious of something.
He still stole product and gave it away without charging. No matter how much perfume you put on a pig, its still a pig. That is like someone working at a store, stealing 3,000 candy bars and giving them away for free. Theft is still theft. There should be no gray area at all. He was warned a first time not to do it. He was arrested the second time after he kept doing it.
I will say there have been situations in the park where something like this happens. In Ireland, some of the Grogan's Grille cashiers would not charge their coworkers or friends or family for the meals, after some investigation, managers started asking random patrons for their receipts to prove they were not just handed free food.
Oh and there are not security cameras all over the park. While in the park, the only cameras are placed in/on the games and in the shops and stores. Other cameras outside are placed near the security gates, one being the turnstiles. So yes there were cameras inside the toll booths that they actually do monitor, but mostly when they are suspicious of something.
Party Rocker said:
I'll have to disagree here. If, in his mind, he was being a good employee and giving people surprise magic (if this were Disney, I'd say pixie dust) as a way of increasing joy/increasing customer satisfaction, it would not be theft (you have to know you are stealing something to be guilty of the crime of theft).
Also, unlike the candy bar example, he didn't really cost BG, or steal, $3100. In fact, BG lost little, if any revenue (how many of those who received the tags would have paid for the upgrade; probably not many). In fact, a case could be argued that, in the long run, BG will financially benefit from his actions. Some of those who received the tags may decide that, having experienced the preferred parking, they will pay for future upgrades, thus increasing future sales. Also, he did generate some good will among those who got the freebies, and that, too, could result in increased future revenue.
However, the fact that he was warned not to do this, and continued anyway, seems strange to me, and certainly weakens my above points.
PrincessArlenasDad said:
It does not matter if he was giving people "surprise magic". The company forbids any team member giving away free preferred parking. He was fully aware! He was told do not do this or bad things will happen and he continued to do it! That is theft!
PrincessArlenasDad said:
No, in both the example and what he did was losing profit. Despite the fact it may gain future profit, currently he could have made the company $1,200 to $3,100 but because of his actions he wasn't even able to gain $1,200 thus he lost money from the company. This lost money is considered theft since the product was given but no money received.
PrincessArlenasDad said:
Exactly! I understand some businesses may allow this, but those businesses monitor these type of things and keep things accounted for. It can be great for future profits, but at this particular company they don't keep track of that because they don't allow it.
If Busch Gardens lost any money on this it was no more than $20-$30 maybe $100 at the most, I guarantee those people wouldn't have paid the premium and it doesn't cost the park anything if you park in Preferred or Regular. In fact I could argue that it costs the park more if you park in regular because they are paying for the fuel in the tram to take you to the gate instead of you using your own two feet but I am splitting hairs. The difference here is the park has more than paid for those parking spaces well over 35 years ago, and parking is PURE profit. The parking space is not a physical product that can be "stolen" like a candy bar. At the end of the day the parking space is still right where it was. I'm not saying he wasn't wrong, but the park is taking it way over board.
I guess really the only argument against it would be if the park ran out of preferred parking and someone willing to pay for it couldn't park there. In the end, Busch Gardens and virtually every other amusement park is raping their guests' wallet for a few hours of occupation of a rectangular piece of asphalt. The prices for parking are truly rape, there is no question about it.
I guess really the only argument against it would be if the park ran out of preferred parking and someone willing to pay for it couldn't park there. In the end, Busch Gardens and virtually every other amusement park is raping their guests' wallet for a few hours of occupation of a rectangular piece of asphalt. The prices for parking are truly rape, there is no question about it.
Shane said:
They can't even complain about this because they let people who didn't pay for preferred parking all the time. When I visited in June or July, during the 2 of my 3 visits we were directed to the preferred parking lot and we only got the regular parking.
I've witnessed this many times as well. Are they going to start locking up the people who direct traffic?