[nhplowboi]

Don't you hate it when you are bald faced lied to, they have the audacity to shake your hand and then they lie to you again?!

A woman calls my store to report that unauthorized charges on her husband's credit card had occurred at my store. Let's just say her husband's name is John Pinocchio and he had told his wife he had lost his wallet/cards. The name was not familiar as they are from the next town/state over. She had cancelled the card, reported the fraudulent charges and just wanted me to know I would probably be receiving a charge back from my credit card processor.

I log onto my processor's web site and find there are only two charges to that card. One on the 21st of March for two cartons of smokes (let's say $110) and the other on the 26th of March for two packs of smokes (let's say $12.00). Both charges were for similar cigarettes. I really don't want to lose $122.00 so I investigate a little further.

As I said, I don't recognize the card holder's name. I go to the store cameras to watch the transactions. The cartons were sold to an older male and the packs to a younger female (let's call her Jane Doe). Clearly, we should not have sold the packs to Jane as the card was in Pinocchio's name. Okay, maybe I will be out $12.00.

Hooray for social media!! Next stop, Facebook to see if I can find any pictures of the card holder, John Pinocchio. Well hell, he does have a page and he sure looks like the same guy buying the cartons of smokes. Look through his pictures and those on his wife's site to see if I spot Jane. No luck.

I requested Pinocchio stop by and see if he recognized Jane and he DOES stop by! Show him the videos. Nope, he doesn't recognize Jane but yes, he was the one buying the cartons. I assured him I would get to the bottom of this and learn Jane's identity so charges could be pressed. We SHOOK hands, he thanked me and he left.

Today Jane comes in and one of my clerks scribbles down her vehicle's registration. I call John Pinocchio's home and leave a message to let the Pinocchio's know we now have the information needed so Jane can be identified and charges pursued. I stated if charges were not pursued, I would like to know as I was going to refuse service to her so I would not have any problems in the future.

I discuss the matter with my clerks but they misunderstood and thought Jane's ban was immediate. Jane shows up about two hours later and was told she was no longer allowed to shop at my store. Total shock....why not?
I get a phone call at home from the store and Jane would like to speak with me. I discuss her fraudulent use of Pinocchio's credit card. Jane proceeds to tell me Pinocchio had loaned her his card. I said no, he states he lost them. I ask her how she knows him and she says through work. I asked her why a married man was loaning her his credit card. Married.......he's single (according to Jane)! Um, no (according to his wife). Jane tells me she will have Pinocchio call to straighten this all out.

Pinocchio calls and proceeds to tell me, his son, unbeknownst to him, had borrowed his credit card and briefly loaned it to Jane. Right........ I call Jane one last time. Jane did Pinocchio's son loan you that card. No. Could you describe Pinocchio to me. Oh yeah she could! Needless to say when it was all said and done, Jane is now more than welcome at our store and I will no longer waste any more of my precious minutes on this earth dealing with Pinocchio's attempts at unfaithfulness to his wife. Oh.......unless it is to give Mrs. Pinocchio a phone call.