Fraud from customer
I want to stay anonymous about this, so I will be slightly vague on some details.
Today, we had a customer come in, and I saw them come in the store from outside, and for context, the only thing they were holding was their jacket.
About 5 minutes later when I'm at the register, they bring up an item worth quite a bit, and ask to return it. Obviously doesn't have a receipt, phone number doesn't pull up anything, and original form of payment wasn't valid for a return. So I tell them that we can't take it since there is no proof of purchase, and of course they ask for a manager. Manager is right next to me, and they tell the customer we can take it since it isn't used or damaged, it'll just have to be store credit. The customer tries to "negotiate" like it's the bartering days, and asks for "a one time exception." Thankfully the manager tells the customer no, and that store credit is the only option. And as I was finalizing the return, thats when it hit me that this customer did not come in with the item, but in fact took it off the shelf when nobody was looking, and then played it off as a return.
I was pretty disappointed in myself for not speaking up, as I felt like I couldn't really say anything to this manager. They usually let things slide and go through just to avoid angry customers, which I fully understand, but now I look like the bad guy for telling this customer (who clearly was stealing) that they can't return this item, and the manager is letting them do it.
To top it off, the aisle with the item had been recovered shortly before it, and literally the only spot that didn't have an item right at the front of the shelf was the one that the customer "returned."
I'm so sick of trying to enforce these rules with customers, then having managers "let things slide" and then I look like the bad guy.