Advice on whether to report a theft from a Main Dealer site.
Discussion
I think I would have acted exactly as the OP, I wouldn’t report to police as let’s face it they have enough to deal with.
I find it a bit bizarre the people saying just ignore it as it’s only £3/£5, surely the dealership would want to know one of their staff is doing this, having happened twice its clearly a common occurrence, lots of people have a few pounds in various ashtrays etc for car park usage and this person is taking advantage of that.
I find it a bit bizarre the people saying just ignore it as it’s only £3/£5, surely the dealership would want to know one of their staff is doing this, having happened twice its clearly a common occurrence, lots of people have a few pounds in various ashtrays etc for car park usage and this person is taking advantage of that.
I'd like to ask the OP this:
Imagine that I come to your workplace, whether as a customer or a visitor. Whilst I'm there I take off my coat and leave it unattended ( on the back of a chair, on a coat peg, wherever ) . When I come to leave I notice that there is £3 missing from one of my coat pockets. If I reported this to your office or site manager, what could I expect to happen?
If you are concerned about the missing money ( i appreciate that it's the principle rather than the amount ) then by all means mention it, but I wouldn't expect a full scale investigation and a report of the outcome and I certainly wouldn't regard it as a police matter.
Imagine that I come to your workplace, whether as a customer or a visitor. Whilst I'm there I take off my coat and leave it unattended ( on the back of a chair, on a coat peg, wherever ) . When I come to leave I notice that there is £3 missing from one of my coat pockets. If I reported this to your office or site manager, what could I expect to happen?
If you are concerned about the missing money ( i appreciate that it's the principle rather than the amount ) then by all means mention it, but I wouldn't expect a full scale investigation and a report of the outcome and I certainly wouldn't regard it as a police matter.
ging84 said:
Mechanics really don't earn a lot i'm really not surprised some take a bit of loose change, i'm pretty sure I might
What I certainly would never do is try and bate someone by deliberately leaving loose change laying around. That to me seem like the sort of thing only someone with an over inflated self of self importance would do.
If someone is on low pay it is (in your mind) acceptable for them to steal from customers ?What I certainly would never do is try and bate someone by deliberately leaving loose change laying around. That to me seem like the sort of thing only someone with an over inflated self of self importance would do.
You might do the same ?
Please let me know where you are and what you do so that I can ensure you never come anywhere near me or my property.
Do you not understasnd the meaning of the word dishonest ?
Nobody has "baited" anyone here. Leaving a few quid in the ashtray is pretty normal for lots of people. That doesn't mean you can help yourself.
If you're not trolling then you are a simpleton.
Can’t believe how many apologists for thieves and victim blamers there are on this thread.
Stealing is stealing. If a thief gets away with nicking three quid, the next time they might take a fiver and so on.
Is it not best for all involved (including the thief themselves) to nip it in the bud before it gets out of control?
Stealing is stealing. If a thief gets away with nicking three quid, the next time they might take a fiver and so on.
Is it not best for all involved (including the thief themselves) to nip it in the bud before it gets out of control?
Wooda80 said:
I'd like to ask the OP this:
Imagine that I come to your workplace, whether as a customer or a visitor. Whilst I'm there I take off my coat and leave it unattended ( on the back of a chair, on a coat peg, wherever ) . When I come to leave I notice that there is £3 missing from one of my coat pockets. If I reported this to your office or site manager, what could I expect to happen?
If you are concerned about the missing money ( i appreciate that it's the principle rather than the amount ) then by all means mention it, but I wouldn't expect a full scale investigation and a report of the outcome and I certainly wouldn't regard it as a police matter.
I've been quietly watching the morality quiz the thread has become as well as some of the side stepping of direct questions asked of those who have expressed ''peculiar' views, but I'm happy to answer your question with reference to the last workplace/site I worked at. Imagine that I come to your workplace, whether as a customer or a visitor. Whilst I'm there I take off my coat and leave it unattended ( on the back of a chair, on a coat peg, wherever ) . When I come to leave I notice that there is £3 missing from one of my coat pockets. If I reported this to your office or site manager, what could I expect to happen?
If you are concerned about the missing money ( i appreciate that it's the principle rather than the amount ) then by all means mention it, but I wouldn't expect a full scale investigation and a report of the outcome and I certainly wouldn't regard it as a police matter.
I was a Paramedic in the NHS and if/when a theft was reported either from an ambulance the crew were immediately taken off-duty, the ambulance and the crew personally searched by a senior manager, all pockets and boxes and every crevice of the vehicle searched to ensure the person who felt there had been a theft was assured the matter was being taken with utmost sincerity and seriousness. Regardless of whether items were found the crew would have found themselves on a warning for being careless enough to be accused of theft. How's that?
When there was a theft from within a Station, the entire staff would be made to attend a dressing down and warning about theft and trust by the Station Manager and Area Manager. There inevitably followed a lengthy unpleasant period of distrust and unquiet amongst the staff as individual accusations followed and ill-feeling pervaded. In short, it was enough to make people transfer to another station.
Before that I was in the Armed Services where similar, if not more serious, measures were undertaken to ensure thefts and thieves were stamped out immediately.
I hope that answers your question. Given some of the reactions to my post I suspect those answers would surprise many who have posted who believe that nothing whatsoever should be left should people be tempted, or nothing should be expected to be done as the value is so small, and those for whom £3 being taken is too small to be worried about but then like to repeatedly side step the question about how much is enough to be worried about...
As others have said, theft is theft, and in many cases the first circumstance that is detected may be the latest in a long, long line and perhaps the smallest in value.
To answer another point, the money was not 'planted', it was simply there the first time and visually looked as though some was missing and therefore counted the second time to accurately assess whether any had been taken.
As I mentioned earlier, the Service Manager was very quick to suggest rigging a car with cameras so I imagine I am not the first to complain.
I have not heard from the Business Manager as yet but I will post if anything does happen.
@McGee_22
I've worked in a garage where someone was stealing change from customers cars. Following a few reports we had our suspicions and marked bait was left in a car when only the suspect had access to it and immediately after he had accessed it the bait was gone. It sounds like your Service Manager is taking your complaint seriously.
The description in your second paragraph of how your employer deals / dealt with it fills me with horror. I'd be wanting to get proper advice from HR before conducting personal searches without reasonable suspicion. I'd be appalled to be a member of staff there, placed under suspicion because I happened to have a combination of coins totalling £3 amongst the change in my pocket.
The outcome described in your third paragraph justifies why this would not be a constructive way of dealing with the situation in a commercial situation.
I've worked in a garage where someone was stealing change from customers cars. Following a few reports we had our suspicions and marked bait was left in a car when only the suspect had access to it and immediately after he had accessed it the bait was gone. It sounds like your Service Manager is taking your complaint seriously.
The description in your second paragraph of how your employer deals / dealt with it fills me with horror. I'd be wanting to get proper advice from HR before conducting personal searches without reasonable suspicion. I'd be appalled to be a member of staff there, placed under suspicion because I happened to have a combination of coins totalling £3 amongst the change in my pocket.
The outcome described in your third paragraph justifies why this would not be a constructive way of dealing with the situation in a commercial situation.
berlintaxi said:
bad company said:
ging84 said:
bad company said:
That speaks volumes about you.
Does it?Plenty of surveys have come up with more than 50% of people admitting to stealing at work.
Incredible.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Strange morals.
Alucidnation said:
Regardless, most people wouldn't leave 'valuables' in the car.
Not the case in my experience. Cars go into dealerships for work with all sorts in them, laptops, cameras, wallets, purses, shoes, boots, clothes, cash, credit cards in card slots, vans full of tools etc etc. All could be described as `valuables`.
bad company said:
Yes it does. You’re condoning theft from a person and admitting that you’d be likely to steal under similar circumstances.
Incredible.
You are misrepresenting my words.Incredible.
I did not i say I likely would, I said I might, but in reality I never would because my level of paranoia is high enough that I would be half expecting every collection of loose change to be a potential honesty trap left by a customer, but I can't judge someone too harshly who does something wrong that I might have done if I was a lot worse off and wasn't too scared to do.
I never condoned anything, I've made no comments what so ever suggesting I think it is acceptable, just that I think that this sort of deliberate baiting is definitely unacceptable.
Let me put it as simply as I can
I would not despise anyone purely for taking some of my loose change that they came across, particularly someone worse off than me.
I would however despise anyone who left loose change somewhere I would come across it purely to see if I would steal any or not.
The lose change might have been there to start with, but when you are mindful enough to think about it being stolen, and instead of simply taking it out, you count it and put it back you are setting a trap.
ging84 said:
.... but when you are mindful enough to think about it being stolen, and instead of simply taking it out, you count it and put it back you are setting a trap.
Yes, to try and stop yourself and others being stolen from by trying to find out who the thief is.Thank goodness the world is full of people like the OP.
ging84 said:
I did not i say I likely would, I said I might, but in reality I never would because my level of paranoia is high enough that I would be half expecting every collection of loose change to be a potential honesty trap left by a customer, but I can't judge someone too harshly who does something wrong that I might have done if I was a lot worse off and wasn't too scared to do.
Ah I get it. The reason you wouldn't is paranoia. The fear of getting caught. Your moral compass is clearly different from mine. As for being poor I have compassion for a beggar but very little for a thief.ging84 said:
The lose change might have been there to start with, but when you are mindful enough to think about it being stolen, and instead of simply taking it out, you count it and put it back you are setting a trap.
So what? To catch a fish one often has to bait the hook. Trawling is a very costly and inefficient method to land a singleton. Red Devil said:
ging84 said:
I did not i say I likely would, I said I might, but in reality I never would because my level of paranoia is high enough that I would be half expecting every collection of loose change to be a potential honesty trap left by a customer, but I can't judge someone too harshly who does something wrong that I might have done if I was a lot worse off and wasn't too scared to do.
Ah I get it. The reason you wouldn't is paranoia. The fear of getting caught. Your moral compass is clearly different from mine. As for being poor I have compassion for a beggar but very little for a thief.ging84 said:
The lose change might have been there to start with, but when you are mindful enough to think about it being stolen, and instead of simply taking it out, you count it and put it back you are setting a trap.
So what? To catch a fish one often has to bait the hook. Trawling is a very costly and inefficient method to land a singleton. You have literally just quoted me but for some reason left out the section of me saying I would despise someone for doing it to me.
You find it acceptable I clearly don't
Escort3500 said:
vaud said:
ging84 said:
Does it?
Plenty of surveys have come up with more than 50% of people admitting to stealing at work.
Where are these surveys that show people steal from customers (or colleagues) at work, please? Plenty of surveys have come up with more than 50% of people admitting to stealing at work.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/...
Stealing from the company, rather than stealing from customers or colleagues. Most are office supplies, IT and overtime?
Escort3500 said:
vaud said:
ging84 said:
Does it?
Plenty of surveys have come up with more than 50% of people admitting to stealing at work.
Where are these surveys that show people steal from customers (or colleagues) at work, please? Plenty of surveys have come up with more than 50% of people admitting to stealing at work.
So i'm not sure what you are waiting for, i guess you are just trying to stir stuff up because you don't like my opinion.
Why does it always go this way when you express a controversial opinion, everyone tries to score points by misrepresenting what you say and trying to undermine you, but completely ignore everything that is at the core of what you are saying.
My point was simple, I don't think he should have left a trap, I think it is was horrible thing to do.
If you want to convince me it wasn't go ahead otherwise leave me alone.
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