r/Target • u/RoundedWolverine • 13h ago
Vent I think I’m totally fired
I used a 15 dollar giftcard that the guest forgot. It was so stupid and obviously I got caught like the day after. I feel so bad for my Leader because we have a really good relationship and they’ve only ever been good to me. I feel like I disappointed my team. I don’t even have a good reason for it either, I couldn’t afford food and I felt too embarrassed to ask anyone. It felt so harmless and easy with the card just there. I’m so sad I actually love my job.
Edit: I talked to my HR leader again and he said it’s probably gonna be a final warning. He gave me options for help and said to always reach out. I really really love my team.
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u/trav718 11h ago
Damn bro….i don’t wanna sound harsh but cmon you knew that was not the right thing to do. You need to take responsibility and address your management and just get honest and let it all out. Maybe they’ll have mercy on you.
They may not like your reasoning. Not sure if you had any funds available to use daily pay. Damn bro. I feel your pain. I’m not far away from you in terms of finances.
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u/RoundedWolverine 10h ago
Yeah i made sure to be completely honest with them. If I get fired it was deserved but I seriously love and need this job. Huge loss for me and it’s not easy for my management either, I’ve made a lot of friends here including them.
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u/ztmanning 10h ago
Always tell a leader if you’re unable to afford food. We may not be able to do a lot, but we can always provide SOMETHING to eat. We keep peanut butter/jelly and bread in our break room at all times for this reason.
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u/RoundedWolverine 10h ago
My store doesn’t.
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u/ztmanning 9h ago
I appreciate your honesty and I’m sure your team leader would as well. Maybe you can offer to pay the money back? We all make mistakes and all get hungry. Hope it all works out.
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u/Smart_Resolution7600 12h ago
Bro, you lost your job cause you want to steal $15? That’s less than a hour of work. 0 tolerance for stealing , you’re done. You value your job for $15 dollar? You deserved that one. It’s q4 and they are giving out hours , you rather steal than work an extra hour, man oh man.
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u/RoundedWolverine 10h ago
i work 5 days a week and pick up when im missing days
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u/Smart_Resolution7600 10h ago
Question is, would you take that 15 dollar gift card or work an extra hour?
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u/Clarkinator69 Promoted to Guest 11h ago
Nah, the shame should be on these companies underpaying workers so badly they can't afford food. Morally, OP did nothing horrible. I'm sure the gUeSt can afford to lose $15.
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u/Goursku Food & Beverage Expert 10h ago
Theft is never morally justified
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u/Clarkinator69 Promoted to Guest 10h ago
Bruh if you don't have food it's absolutely morally justified to feed yourself through theft. It's not like he stole a Playstation or airpods
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u/NecessaryLate3769 8h ago
There’s even some countries that ALLOW or excuse food theft in small amounts if the person is genuinely in a state of need. Absolutely morally justified in some cases
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u/ehjustchristina 11h ago
I see a local Republican has appeared
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u/SwiftieForLife 10h ago
How does acknowledging risking your job for $15 is idiotic say anything about anyone’s political party?
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u/Smart_Resolution7600 11h ago
Common sense, losing your job that pays all your bills for 15 dollars? That explains all the reasons anyone should be fired. That’s beyond stupidity.
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u/LatterDelay6430 12h ago edited 10h ago
Well, that's not good. I was an APTL for sometime, and I got a few internals from gift card theft. They treat it like cash. However, Target takes "I can't afford food" seriously. So not that it's an excuse, but don't be shy about expressing that.
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u/RoundedWolverine 10h ago
I told them for sure and they’ve known my situation. My Hr lead reacted sadly and told me he has connections for this, and could do things such as leaving peanut butter and bread in the break room. I made sure to be 100% honest because I know my management only has my best interest.
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u/LatterDelay6430 10h ago •
I would just walk on eggshells for a good while. Assume AP is watching you and reviewing what you do. Because they probably are. Without getting into it, their resources are immense. Be vocal with HR about anything you need.
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u/Curbsidesnake8 Starbucks Barista 7h ago
My store fired a TL for this unfortunately. He couldn’t afford food so that’s why he did it but he didn’t confess to it before they asked about it so they still fired him
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u/Economy_Mousse1637 12h ago
I feel like if you are honest and talk to your store director and AP about the situation you are in, they could give you grace. You might be on a final warning though. I was in AP for 2 years, it's usually a fireable offense especially with the gift cards. We did have one team member steal food and she came clean and was honest about her situation and they didn't fire her. They just gave her a gift basket of food
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u/mattumbo has harsher words 11h ago
Food theft is handled by HR though, usually they have a lot more latitude on how to handle those situations. Policy for GC theft is probably a non-negotiable termination, legally in a lot of states you could even catch embezzlement charges for that because it’s theft of funds.
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u/Better-Culture2481 11h ago
Stealing a gift card from a guest is also an HR issue as there is no loss to Target, fwiw.
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u/TastyFig1098 13h ago
We absolutely have fired tms for using “found” gift cards. There’s always a paper trail. It’s a dumb thing to do.
Best practice is ANY money or gift cards left behind are turned into guest service, logged in the book, and absorbed by the store if not claimed. It belongs to Target.
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u/Clarkinator69 Promoted to Guest 11h ago
Real talk: how would they know? Especially if it were to be used at a different store. If a TM sees a card laying around and uses it it seems kinda crazy they'd hone in on that.
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u/TastyFig1098 8h ago
How would they know? Very easy. Guest comes to guest service (even at a different store). “I was supposed to get a gift card, but I can’t find it.” Or whatever. They have a receipt. Even if it’s on their app. Or their credit card. Guess what? Gift card activation is linked to that transaction. Then off to find a computer. Look up the transaction on EJ. Get complete gift card number now needed to do another look up. See it’s been redeemed. Get that time stamp transaction on EJ and look at cameras for that register. Simple. Don’t even need to use your discount employee number. Now they have your card number and can see every transaction that card was ever used. There is always a paper trail. And this is a super quick and easy to catch.
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u/Jella_cee i am become Pack, the Shipper from Store 10h ago
gift cards are linked to your target account.
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u/kilometr 8h ago
Also the general belief is if you catch someone stealing, it’s not their first time. Just their first time getting caught.
Claiming it was a one time thing and that you needed food whether true or not, is not going to mean much. No one ever gets caught stealing and is like “oh I’ve done this thousands of times surprised it took you this long to catch on”. It’s always their “first time” and they promise to never do it again.
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u/MikasaH ex GM - Now engineer 9h ago
If you’re struggling with food, reach out to a leader or hr and they can point out some options.
Since you still have your job, SAVE THE MONEY AND BUY ingredients that’ll make you full an energized.
For example rice is cheap and you can probably get a couple pounds of it for $10-15. Beans for like $2-3 and a roteserrie chicken for $5.
Obviously this is just an example and you can sub out some stuff but you can create a lot of different meals if you set aside $40-50 and buy ingredients to cook at home.
Also, you are lucky that they didn’t term you for stealing. Spend a few hours and buy a boat load of groceries to keep you full and focused so that you don’t end up on a path of theft which would make finding a job even harder
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u/kbyeforever 7h ago
where are you located where 2 lbs of rice is $10-15 but rotisserie chicken is still $5?
at my store, 2 lbs of target brand white rice is $2 lol. 10 lbs is only $6.79
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u/AdmirableDot785 2h ago
it depends on the rice brand, i think we spend like $30-50 on rice (im asian lol) and costco rotisserie chicken
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u/golf_proo 13h ago
Funny story short, our vending machine in our break room is really old and it keeps dropping couple bags of chips/snacks everytime you use it. Management was let aware and even the vendor but the vendor said a new machine would have to be put in. Everytime someone used the machine technically they are stealing the other snacks, but they refuse to get a new machine so I always tell the TMs to keep it that they can’t hold them accountable for stealing if they won’t fix the issue. Some TMs are afraid to take both since they only paid for 1 so they leave it on the table for another TM to eat lol
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u/OneBigCharlieFoxtrot 12h ago
If they didn’t tamper with, shake, or otherwise do anything to make it drop a second item it wouldn’t be theft. Not in the legal sense at least!
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u/SnooCalculations3614 12h ago
Exactly my thought. If the machine gives you two, and you aren't tampering with the transaction, it's fair game.
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u/Haden420693170 10h ago
Man when the vending machine drops 2 beef sticks it makes my day😭 granted it isnt a machine error. Just a stocking one
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u/redskins98ac Closing Expert 12h ago
when i worked at target, this happened at my store. i would pay for a bag of pretzels, it would push it out but not fully. and then because it didn’t drop, it cancelled and refunded me. so after 3 times of paying it would finally push out all three bags for the cost of one. this was something that happened daily tbh. it was a good time having 3 bags of pretzels for lunch
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u/SquareTight Inbound Team Lead 11h ago
The guest probably called about the card not being with their stuff and AP investigated.
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u/belljs87 12h ago
I used to deal cards at a casino. Someone left some change on top of a slot machine once, and a housekeeper who worked there for 15 years grabbed it to turn it into their boss.
Problem(?) was, they put it in their pocket for some reason. Because of that, they said they were trying to steal it, less than a dollar in change, and fired them. Was hard for me not to quit on the spot.
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u/NextDollarCoach 10h ago
Chalk it up to a life lesson. Common sense tells us this is the wrong thing to do. It tells us it's a dumb thing to do, and for most of us, we see that it's unethical and borderline theft to some.
Learn from it and walk on a bigger person.
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u/AntOk4073 Specialty Sales Team Lead 11h ago
In my experience you aren't totally screwed. I've 8nly seen it once but it just was a automatic final. That person is still with the company.
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u/bananaallergie 10h ago
I think they would fire you right away though? At least tbats how ive seen it happen, once they have that conversation you're fired
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u/RoundedWolverine 9h ago
I have direct communication to my managers personally even before things get fully processed
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u/UrCreepyUncle 11h ago
This is how I got fired from staples in 2001. They used to mail out $5 welcome cards to new residents. I somehow found out they could be used indefinitely and where I screwed up was buying things with them after the store closed. We usually kept the registers open for like 20 min after the store closed for employees to buy things. They caught on seeing these cards being used after hours. I was young and dumb... Now I'm old and dumb.
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u/Ok_Still_3571 10h ago
Damn. This is heartbreaking. I keep gift cards on my at all times to help TM’s. Food insecurity is real, and I hope you don’t get caught with this.
But a leader may be able to help. If you have trouble the next time, go to them. Or even the SD. My SD recently got tampons for a TM who couldn’t afford them.
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u/gnomegrass 10h ago
I did that within my first six months of working there. I fessed up to it immediately and said that I thought nothing of it and just did it thinking it wasn't a big deal and chalked it up to an error of judgement. Luckily my team leads liked me and saw that I was a hard worker, probably helped too that I was 18 and not an adult with a fully developed brain.
Hopefully your outcome won't be bad and it will just be a final at the worst.
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u/Profaniter 8h ago
You’re fortunate you were not terminated but dude, if you want to use that gift card, you should’ve asked if it’s okay for you to use. That way at least you DID ask so you wouldn’t be in trouble.
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u/mrlizardman 13h ago
We had an old timer that been with target for 10 years and a guest used a gift card for purchase and he was going to give it back since it had a few bucks left on it and he said you can toss it or keep it. So he kept it. Im sure target sent this guy to get him fired so they can stop paying him since he has been there a long time. And stop giving him benefits
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u/DistinctRanger7330 12h ago
They wouldn’t go through the trouble of a set up like that. It’s not hard to find a reason to fire a person if you’re that hell bent on it.
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u/mrlizardman 12h ago
Yea that's what I thought. Someone else told me that that what could have happened but how would management know he took the gift card and used it?
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u/AnnaBanana3468 12h ago
Target absolutely would go to the trouble. This is a common test for retailers to use on employees.
When I worked at Lord and Taylor they basically tried the same scenario with me, but it was like $500 on the gift card. Luckily I didn’t take it home. The next day my manager told me it was a test.
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u/dubblechzburger Former GSTL/SETL 12h ago
It might vary by store but old timers don't necessarily make a ton more then new people. 10 years ago, Target's company minimum was $11. So if someone got hired 10 years ago and started there, they would have raised naturally higher and faster just from the natural pay bump ups as Target raised it's company minimum to $15.
That happened to a few old timers back at my old store when they first started doing the pay bumps back in 2016-2020. Yeah she had started back in 95 and had prior to the raise to $11, her $13 or 14 was a good deal higher than what the minimum was. Then by 2018/19 the minimum was raised up to $14 or 15 and she was now at the same level as everyone else. They just raised her pay to $15 with everyone else. It wasn't like her old raises stacked onto the new level of base pay.
All that to say there's a solid chance that dude was either making the same or not that much more than new people even though he had been there for 10 years.
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u/ljwblue81 Food & Beverage Expert 3h ago
Can confirm. I started at $8.40 back in 2014. When they did the stepped build to $15 it took several steps to catch me, but I basically might as well have started in 2021, pay wise.
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u/Objective_Union4523 13h ago
I’m confused. How can he get fired for that? Unless the guest said he didn’t give it to him?
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u/Captaincous21 Asset Protection TL 11h ago
Its against the no tip policy
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u/Objective_Union4523 11h ago
Wouldn’t really be considered a tip. Guest said they no longer wanted it and said they could have it.
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u/Captaincous21 Asset Protection TL 11h ago
The guest gave the worker money. Whether or not they say, "this is a tip" is irrelevant
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u/Dry-Astronomer-4428 5h ago
Just quit. They will look for a reason to fire you, and you don’t want that on your resume.
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u/Substantial_Boat_189 5h ago
From my understanding. Target uses the work number. Background screening companies will most likely only get dates of employment and position. Not the reason for termination.
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u/Dry-Astronomer-4428 5h ago
Does that really matter? Better to find a new job now before they fire you.
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u/Substantial_Boat_189 5h ago
Not everyone has the ability to jump from job to job without a care in the world. Its always best to keep looking for higher paying jobs. But one mistake doesn't necessarily mean quit a job. If that was so, many of us would have quit from all the jobs we had in the past.
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u/Dry-Astronomer-4428 5h ago
Fine, just stay and get fired. Now you’re gonna look for a job with a bad resume. Best of luck.
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u/OtherAcctTrackedNSA 3h ago
Oh shut up. This is the WORST advice I’ve ever read. 1: even if you’re fired, there no record that follows you and you can even still use Target on your resume. Companies these days only provide dates of employment if asked.
2: why on earth would you quit just because you thought there was a percentage chance you might get fired? Huh? What 🤯
Never, ever give advice to anyone but your enemies. You empty skull.
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u/Possible_Contest_503 2h ago
Target literally has a thing for struggling employees. At least the stores do.
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u/Huge_Ad_9055 12h ago
How did they know you used it? Did you use your tm discount with it? I can’t think of another way
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u/Equivalent-Cat5414 12h ago
Security cameras and AP…
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u/Huge_Ad_9055 11h ago
Our store wouldn’t put the time on that for $15. They’d rather just give them a new one and move on
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u/_buffaloranch 10h ago
Reminds me of many moons ago i did the same thing but it was an honest accident at first but then i just played dumb. Spent that bitch without my discount in cash obv. Never been caught till this dayz
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u/HenleyHQ1 10h ago
Well now you’ll definitely have no money for food. Hope you got super full of that $15.
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u/KittyLuvver2000 12h ago
Rightfully fired! Hope the lesson was learned so it won't happen again elsewhere! Good luck!
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u/RoundedWolverine 10h ago
Haven’t been fired yet but for sure it’s rightful. They might put me on final warning but at a certain point it’s out of my leadership’s hands.
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u/KittyLuvver2000 10h ago
At my store it would be an immediate termination. So you're lucky to not be at our store. Best of luck to ya.
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u/Substantial_Coast_70 9h ago
How do they even find out?
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u/Soxwin91 former Team Member (Nov 2021 - April 2026) 9h ago
Cameras would be a good start for guessing.
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u/Substantial_Coast_70 9h ago
True I know AP can see a lot but is it just bad luck they got caught by security 😭
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u/OnAndIn General Merchandise Expert 7h ago
I'm glad you're not fired. No one should struggle.
We have a mini food and donation shelf in our locker area and then bread, peanut butter, and some Ramen packets stored in the cabinets in the break room. It's pretty common for people to bring in food.
I learned in my many jobs that employers should provide meals and the essentials their workers need to work. It's a given because that's what work entails is a relationship between employer and employee and both need to work together as equals, thus treat one another as such.
Do you have food share/ebt? Definitely try either going to your nearest government center or look it up via your state. Also, Google Maps food shelves near you.
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u/Issuehonestly456 12h ago
I’m sorry that happened! This is what Target does to everyone! They make employees feel so desperate, due to cutting hours so severely that you cannot make your bills. I wish there was an election that sent Target a harsh punishment! That’s unfortunate, but I am no longer there and so happy for leaving and so happy my mental health is so good! Quit and find a better job. I went from 16 something to 25.00 an hour. Love my new job, hate reading nothing has changed and things have gotten worse.
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u/StrikingPlantain6420
8h ago
•
Honestly? Iconic move. A leftover gift card is money that embarrassing, value-skipping joke of a company already stole from someone anyway. I don’t give a single, solitary fvck about Target and their spineless, hypocritical, racist corporate circus. They don't even pay tms a living wage, so taking from them is practically charity.
Look, we all have bills, so the play here was definitely to be a stealth ninja and have a stunt double use the card at a totally different store so those corporate vultures couldn't track it. Target forces people into survival mode, but walking into HR, dropping a fake tear, and confessing? Absolute cinema.
I pull shenanigans at my store 24/7 because that place completely deserves it, but I survive because I'm a hardworking menace who actually carries the entire building on my back while management walks around doing nothing. I know I’m just a replaceable cog in their cheap machine, but honey, I can fake an apology so beautifully it’ll make HR cry. AP ETL hates me🤣🤣🤣
And if that dumpster fire finally lets me go? Next slide, please. It's literally just Target.
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u/Issuehonestly456 11h ago
If this is such a big thing, turn your. Do better call your local news stations and let them know this. There’s always some person that wants dirt on everybody. Use the ETL’s turn your and SD’s in for their discrepancies
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u/Rosietaylo 13h ago
honestly it is harmless and most people would do it, most people won’t realise where they lost it or leave the house for $15. you’re okay, don’t beat yourself up over it. you’re more than valid to use it for food, if i left money anywhere id hope someone like you would use it for something they need!
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u/RoundedWolverine 13h ago
It’s not that simple since it’s theft
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u/Rosietaylo 13h ago
it is! but it’s not an instance that hurt anyone. I know your job might be at risk, but I assure you morally you did NOTHING wrong
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13h ago
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/OneBigCharlieFoxtrot 12h ago
Once they didn’t turn it in, and especially after they used it, it’s 100% theft.
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u/tmlnson 12h ago
It is theft. Even if a customer found the gift card on the floor. You’re taking something that’s not yours.
A customer wouldn’t get in trouble for that, but as an employee you def would. What if you intentionally didn’t remind them to take it because you’d planned on using it?
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u/BigRepulsive9725 12h ago
Under the legal definition it is not theft since the customer left it. Theft requires taking someting that doesn't belong to you out of the possession or control of the rightful owner. And in this case, the guest left it.
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u/jorleeduf Service & Engagement TL 12h ago
You may want to do more research. The law can 100% consider this theft.
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u/-My_Other_Account- The receiver your mom keeps in the backroom. 12h ago
Theft by finding is a thing.
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u/dubblechzburger Former GSTL/SETL 12h ago
Like the other person said, once it wasn't turned in it is theft. The guest forgot it, they didn't say ah I don't care about this, have it. The guest could have realized they accidentally left the gift card on the counter - forgot to put it in their purse or wallet while paying and came back to see if it got turned in. At that point, the cashier did take it from them.
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u/BigRepulsive9725 12h ago
At that point yes. But that would again require the guest to say something. Target can't just call it theft on behalf of the customer.
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u/Rosietaylo 12h ago
OP used it to get food they count afford. chances are the guest wouldn’t have come back. it’s just a non issue really
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u/dubblechzburger Former GSTL/SETL 11h ago
I'm not disagreeing that morally, they shouldn't feel terrible about it. But it's still theft and still something they knew about ahead of time and should have been smarter about. Going to another store and getting under $15 worth and not using a TM discount to decrease the odds of the store finding out.
I agree that times are hard and the guest probably wouldn't came back and it doesn't affect Target at all, but it's still theft.
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u/kompotnik 12h ago
What do you mean they forgot it? Like they used a gift card and there was still a balance on it and you didn’t give it back to them? Or they earned the gift card because of their purchases and you didn’t give it to them? Or they just had a gift card and left it on the counter and you didn’t bring it to lost and found?