Question by myspaceisntreal: Is this considered “stealing”? Please help!?
I am a assistant manager at Sprint, and I need your opinion. So at my store, we have real working phones on display for customers to test out and so forth. One of my employees took one of the REAL WORKING display phone and have been using it for three weeks. He lied to me and said that he purchased the phone from his friend. However, today I found out that he secretly took it while I wasn’t looking, and my other co-worker helped him hide the story.
Please let me know. Thanks!
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
hmmmmm he took a phone without permission……lied about it saying that he purchased it somewhere else……and you are questioning if that is theft or not?….. no offense but thats a big fat DUH…. i would fire him in a second.
Of course it’s stealing. He didn’t pay for it. He converted the phone from a store display model and is now getting a benefit from it. Fire both him and the other co-worker who helped him. If they are willing to steal a phone from the store, they are also willing to steal other stuff, stuff that belongs to either the store or the workers or the customers.
Let your manager know NOW what’s going on. If you don’t, then you might very well be fired as well, because you will be considered an accomplice too.
Yes, this is stealing. Report this to the police and your superiors, as well as to security. And then, if you have the authority, fire both employees. Good luck/God bless!
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Addendum: This property is not your’s therefore you do not have the right to “forgive the theft” or refuse to prosecute. You must act in the best interest of the store and its owners, not in your best interest or the best interest of your subordinates.
Yes, it’s stealing. You should decide whether you want to report him to the manager or give him a break and let him off with a warning. To safeguard your job, you should really report him to the manager and let the manager take action or issue him a warning. He needs to return the phone to the display in either event. Both him and your other co-worker are not trustworthy. Watch your back (and the store merchandise). Actually, you should report both of them. The other co-worker is an accessory to the stealing crime. Stealing the phone is different from say stealing post-it notes from work (although I realize now both are stealing…I am guilty of the latter along with a few pens and a couple pads of paper, maybe some staples. Note to self: do not steal again.
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of course it is stealing or it is unauthorized use which legally is not technically the same as stealing but it is still against the law.. Stealing often requires monetary gain of some sort. A teenager who ‘steals’ a car for a joyride but then abandons it is not a car thief as legally defined in many states but would be charged with unauthorized use
no crime has been commited he simply used the phone as a customer would
I can’t help but wonder why this would not be considered stealing by anyone with some degree of morals fire the person and be done with it this one can not be trusted and one can not succeed with thieves
What does the policy and procedure manual say? That determines whether this person can be disciplined for the behavior.
Whether or not it was criminal depends on the penal code and the value of the time he used.
Probably not a good idea to be asking for advise on Yahoo, though.
Fire them both . It will mean more then a stealing investigation.
Dishonest employees will find other ways to be dishonest.
It is stealing. Period.
Yep that is stealing and he should be fired. Was it his phone – did you pay for it – is he paying for the service – all no so yes it is stealing.
yes it’s stealing, he taking things that doesn’t belong to him
Yes.
No, not stealing.
I’d say it’s more “Borrowing without asking and not having the intention of returning.”
Yes. It’s stealing. Also lying.