Capitalism: The Charity Loophole

(I work in the outlet store for a very popular clothing brand. We have just started a donation drive for a local charity, and as it is the first time we’ve ever done this, we are still working through some of the issues with it. The way we are raising money is by offering a ten-dollar discount whenever a customer makes a donation of any amount. We have one couple on the first day of donations who realizes that if they buy a ten dollar shirt and donate a dollar it will essentially only cost them a dollar. After realizing, this they come back several times, all to different cashiers, before we catch on. For this reason, we have decided to limit the number of discounts to two per person. The following exchange takes place the next day.)

Coworker: *over walkie* “Hey, I think the same couple who bought all those shirts yesterday is in here again.”

Manager: “Really? Are you sure?”

Coworker: “Yeah. They’re literally wearing the exact same outfits as yesterday. And they brought friends this time.”

Manager: “Okay. Just keep an eye out when they come up to the register, and don’t let them do more than two transactions.”

(About half an hour later, they end up at my register with arms full of clothing.)

Customer #1: “Hi. I’d like to ring all of these items up separately and put a donation on each.”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, but we are actually only allowed to let each person do two transactions a piece.”

Customer #1: “Really? I was in here yesterday and I was able to do more than that.”

Me: “Yes. Unfortunately, we had too many people abusing our donation system, and we are no longer allowed to split transactions in order to add the discounts.”

(The group of customers then spends several minutes trying to convince me otherwise but eventually leaves to regroup. When they come back, all four of them line up separately with two items a piece, and I end up ringing them out again. Although they still continue to argue with me about the two-transaction rule, they eventually pay for their purchases and leave. About two hours later, the two women from the group return, giggling, thinking we won’t remember them. They eventually end up back in line, and I time it out so that they end up with me as their cashier again.)

Customer #2: *as I begin ringing all of their items together* “Oh, no. I want you to ring up each item separately, and add a dollar donation to each.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but you’ve already used your two donation discounts for the day.”

Customer #2: *dumbfounded that I actually remembered them* “Oh. I wasn’t aware that was how it worked. I don’t want any of it, then.”