Inebriatedcactus
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Oregon
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon
Alright, so I work at a large retail company and my employee discount is a blanket X% on most items. It is explicitly stated in the employee discount policy that we can use this X% discount to purchase gift cards for ourselves, friends, or family. Pretty good deal, huh? What I realized the other day though, is that you can use gift cards to pay for gift cards.
Let's say this discount is 50% off. That would mean I could buy a $200 gift card for $100, and save $100. Again, this is a completely legit use of the employee discount. However, I could also buy a $100 gift card for $50, and then use that $100 gift card to pay for the $200 card. In this case, I'd be saving $150 instead of $100. At a certain point, the difference between gift card amount increments becomes smaller than the difference between the cost of the gift cards with the discount, and I can pretty much get an infinite amount of multi-hundred-dollar gift cards for just a few bucks.
I've tried this with a small amount already and it worked, my item shipped. It's been about two weeks and no contact from HR or any sign that the company has noticed. This is all automated through their website, and the website allows me to do everything above. Clearly this is a loophole in the discount policy, and there aren't any oversights in their website to prevent employees from exploiting the loophole. I'm aware that if the company notices, I will most likely be fired. However, would the company have any grounds to take legal action against me for exploiting the loophole? It's highly unethical, but doesn't go against the discount policy and I'm not technically deceiving anyone to make a profit.
Thanks for your help!
Alright, so I work at a large retail company and my employee discount is a blanket X% on most items. It is explicitly stated in the employee discount policy that we can use this X% discount to purchase gift cards for ourselves, friends, or family. Pretty good deal, huh? What I realized the other day though, is that you can use gift cards to pay for gift cards.
Let's say this discount is 50% off. That would mean I could buy a $200 gift card for $100, and save $100. Again, this is a completely legit use of the employee discount. However, I could also buy a $100 gift card for $50, and then use that $100 gift card to pay for the $200 card. In this case, I'd be saving $150 instead of $100. At a certain point, the difference between gift card amount increments becomes smaller than the difference between the cost of the gift cards with the discount, and I can pretty much get an infinite amount of multi-hundred-dollar gift cards for just a few bucks.
I've tried this with a small amount already and it worked, my item shipped. It's been about two weeks and no contact from HR or any sign that the company has noticed. This is all automated through their website, and the website allows me to do everything above. Clearly this is a loophole in the discount policy, and there aren't any oversights in their website to prevent employees from exploiting the loophole. I'm aware that if the company notices, I will most likely be fired. However, would the company have any grounds to take legal action against me for exploiting the loophole? It's highly unethical, but doesn't go against the discount policy and I'm not technically deceiving anyone to make a profit.
Thanks for your help!
