Kohls may have the more retarded register system ever

[Exterous]

We were out doing some shopping for a local giving tree and they ask that you provide a gift receipt when you give clothes. Almost as soon as the regular receipt starts printing the printer jams and the end result in an illegible accordion mess.

No matter - just have them re-print it right? Well apparently that means a trip to the back of the store to wait for a manager who has to go into a little room as that is the only place the receipt can be re-printed and only mangers are allowed to reprint receipts

Well, at least it was just one stop right?

Wrong. Now we have to walk back to the register we left to print the gift receipts because the only register capable of printing a gift receipt is the one the transaction was done on!

This seems crazy to me. When I worked in retail most associates could reprint a receipt and a gift receipt could be printed from any register and this was 6 years ago.

Is this some sort of crazy anti theft\fraud thing?

 

[Scarpozzi]

It may be fraud prevention for their policies or they could have had their point of sale system programmed custom. Custom systems often lack flexibility due to the way they're designed. I worked on one 15 years ago for 1300 stores and half of it was garbage written in 3 weeks by consultants that had never met. We spent years untangling that mess.

 

[CPA]

It's fraud prevention. If a cashier was in cahoots with a customer, he could print out multiple receipts, customer shoplifts clothes, returns them to multiple stores and gets cash back for each receipt.

BTW, I'm not talking out of my ass on this. My wife has been in retail management and as an auditor in some major retail chains and confirms this is the reason.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled talking out of my ass.

 

[Sluggo]

Kohls may have the more retarded register system ever

Not as retarded as this thread title.

 

[Exterous]

It's fraud prevention. If a cashier was in cahoots with a customer, he could print out multiple receipts, customer shoplifts clothes, returns them to multiple stores and gets cash back for each receipt.

I completely get the reprint receipt part. But why not just restrict who can do that then? Have the manager be able to reprint a receipt AND a gift receipt from the same register. Thats the biggest thing that gets me as I can't really see how making the manager go to two different registers in two different locations really helps prevent fraud. Unless they don't trust their managers to print gift receipts behind closed doors.....

 

[alkemyst]

It's fraud prevention. If a cashier was in cahoots with a customer, he could print out multiple receipts, customer shoplifts clothes, returns them to multiple stores and gets cash back for each receipt.

BTW, I'm not talking out of my ass on this. My wife has been in retail management and as an auditor in some major retail chains and confirms this is the reason.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled talking out of my ass.

QFT, my ex-wife worked in retail as well and getting reciepts 'reprinted' took a manager to do.

That is exactly the MO though. On many POS systems reprinting receipts are enabled for retail all it takes is someone to print off a bunch of receipts and help a friend steal that order multiple times then go around and return.

Eventually it catches up usually. Sometimes it takes a while.

At a local bar here 2 bartenders and a waitress were playing with the POS devices with 'cash' drinks. They'd steal the cash and put those drinks on other's large tabs. Those that got questioned they just took off the bills.

It was something like $350k in a year they swindled before getting caught. The owner noticed the cash business was way down and also his liquor shrink was up.

 

[BrokenVisage]

lol title grammar

 

[Leros]

Sure beats my experience with Wal-Mart many years ago. I worked for a small business and was told to go to Wal-Mart to buy about $1000 of stuff using the company credit card.

After making the purchase, the receipt failed to print. The cashier did something to make the receipt print again. It failed again and they tried to make it print again. The cashier did this many times and eventually it worked.

As I was driving back to the business, I got a call from my boss asking me why a fraud prevention guy from the credit card company was saying that there were nearly 30 $1000 charges from Wal-Mart.

 

[Exterous]

lol title grammar

:awe:

 

[quikah]

I am going to go with seasonal help who doesn't know what they are doing. Kohls tracks the transactions shop printing multiple receipts will do nothing for you, they are tied to the same transaction. They so this do they can pull back kohls cash if you return the item.

if you use your kohls charge they can look up the transaction withou a receipt even.

 

[IkebotXP]

Fraud prevention.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Meh, you should check out how fubared the systems are in healthcare. They'd make Kohl's look like a shining light. Some hospitals use runners because there is no way to get information from one system to another even though both are online.

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

They could void the transaction once the printer is fixed and do a re-ring.

 

[gorcorps]

It's fraud prevention. If a cashier was in cahoots with a customer, he could print out multiple receipts, customer shoplifts clothes, returns them to multiple stores and gets cash back for each receipt.

BTW, I'm not talking out of my ass on this. My wife has been in retail management and as an auditor in some major retail chains and confirms this is the reason.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled talking out of my ass.

You don't even need a receipt if you want kohl's stuff. The people I know who work there say people just take shit off the racks and go return them. No receipt so you're stuck with something at kohl's, but who cares? I don't know if they've changed their system or policies by now, but it used to be policy that you couldn't say anything or stop them in case they're dangerous. I think they put a lot more security badges on stuff these days but it was a huge problem. Shoes too... they go try them on and never take them off hoping nobody will notice.

 

[BikeJunkie]

It's fraud prevention. If a cashier was in cahoots with a customer, he could print out multiple receipts, customer shoplifts clothes, returns them to multiple stores and gets cash back for each receipt.

BTW, I'm not talking out of my ass on this. My wife has been in retail management and as an auditor in some major retail chains and confirms this is the reason.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled talking out of my ass.

Except isn't there a "sale #" or something to that effect? Even if I have 100 copies of the same receipt, wouldn't the system prevent me from returning the same item twice by way of said #?

 

[BikeJunkie]

At a local bar here 2 bartenders and a waitress were playing with the POS devices with 'cash' drinks. They'd steal the cash and put those drinks on other's large tabs. Those that got questioned they just took off the bills.

It was something like $350k in a year they swindled before getting caught. The owner noticed the cash business was way down and also his liquor shrink was up.

No doubt... not a bad MO if you ask me. Huge liquor tab + drunk customers = easy pickins.

 

[CPA]

You don't even need a receipt if you want kohl's stuff. The people I know who work there say people just take shit off the racks and go return them. No receipt so you're stuck with something at kohl's, but who cares? I don't know if they've changed their system or policies by now, but it used to be policy that you couldn't say anything or stop them in case they're dangerous. I think they put a lot more security badges on stuff these days but it was a huge problem. Shoes too... they go try them on and never take them off hoping nobody will notice.

Drug users care. They want cash not other Kohl's crap.

Look, I'm just telling you what my wife of 30 years of experience said. I'm not looking for an argument.

 

[CPA]

Except isn't there a "sale #" or something to that effect? Even if I have 100 copies of the same receipt, wouldn't the system prevent me from returning the same item twice by way of said #?

Sure, however, there's still the human element. If a "customer" throws a huge fit, arguing "But, I have my receipt", the store can and sometimes will do an override. I can't remember if Kohl's writes on the original receipt after a return or just staples the return receipt to the original. I know Lowe's writes on their's.

And while Kohl's may have real-time receipt updating, system issues do occur. Just like other types of security, it can be considered a redundant system.

My wife worked for JC Penney's and they had to do the same thing. She also worked at Old Navy, and for years their system did not update receipts. "Customers" would actually copy legitimate receipts on receipt paper, steal the identical clothes, then return them for cash.

The ingenuity of some "customers" would astound you.

 

[Rakehellion]

Kohls may have the more retarded register system ever

This is the more retarded grammar ever.

 

[Rakehellion]

I completely get the reprint receipt part. But why not just restrict who can do that then? Have the manager be able to reprint a receipt AND a gift receipt from the same register. Thats the biggest thing that gets me as I can't really see how making the manager go to two different registers in two different locations really helps prevent fraud. Unless they don't trust their managers to print gift receipts behind closed doors.....

Managers commit fraud too.

 

[NoTine42]

On the other hand, you can walk into a Menards, swipe your credit card at a kiosk, and reprint any receipt of items purchased with that CC.

 

[quikah]

Sure, however, there's still the human element. If a "customer" throws a huge fit, arguing "But, I have my receipt", the store can and sometimes will do an override. I can't remember if Kohl's writes on the original receipt after a return or just staples the return receipt to the original. I know Lowe's writes on their's.

And while Kohl's may have real-time receipt updating, system issues do occur. Just like other types of security, it can be considered a redundant system.

My wife worked for JC Penney's and they had to do the same thing. She also worked at Old Navy, and for years their system did not update receipts. "Customers" would actually copy legitimate receipts on receipt paper, steal the identical clothes, then return them for cash.

The ingenuity of some "customers" would astound you.

I have witnessed people throwing a fit at Kohl's and getting shot down. They will tell you , the item was returned at store X on X date. Kohl's even gives you the receipt back along with a return receipt when you do a return. Kohl's system is actually pretty good, it even orders the coupons you use automatically to Kohl's advantage (will do a $ off first, then % off even if they scan the % off first).

I have seen people return stuff that seems like they just grabbed it off the shelf. Return without a receipt are a pretty bad deal though, they give you the lowest price they sell it at which is a pretty huge percent off the marked price (Kohl's inflates their prices like crazy, never buy an item at full price). And it is just merchandise credit.