Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:20 pm
When I'd first started working at Disneyland, back in March 2000, I was accused of "stealing a credit card"....it was a very strange incident.
It was my third shift ever working, I was at the Emporium of all godforsaken places, and it was INCREDIBLY busy. I hadn't stopped ringing guests the entire night...it was constant. Suddenly, a blonde woman comes up to me while I'm helping guests and she rudely tells me, "I want my credit card back!". I was stunned, but kept my cool, finished helping the guest, and then turned to her and assessed the situation. She insisted that I hadnt give her credit card back to her. Now, I remembered helping her...it had been about an hour since I'd helped her...but I honestly did NOT remember her paying with a credit card. I didn't tell HER that though, I looked ALL over for it...in the cash register, on the floor, in the trash...EVERYWHERE. Every time I tried to stop to explain that I didn't have it, she started to freak out and yell loudly that I stole it and I BETTER have it! So of course, I still have this HUGE line of people, all the cast members did, and I try to get the line to move over to the next cast member as I call the manager. The line of people is PISSED, and understandably so. Anyway, it takes like 15 minutes for the manager to get out there...in the meantime, this lady is now almost hysterical yelling loudly that I "stole" her credit card and she wants it back NOW and all that. I'm getting frustrated, guests are looking, people are pissed, she's yelling, her sister is yelling....I continue to look all around just in case she WAS right and had used her card. But there was NOTHING...not even a recipt...and she didn't have one either. She claimed I never gave it to her, which was ridiculous since I always gave the receipt back WITH the change or card! So I was totally baffled. By the time the manager got there, this lady was red in the face she was yelling so loud. The manager asked what happened, she yelled some more, and then I tried calmly to explain what was going on...but I started to cry. I'd never had an incident happen like that to me in my life and I was VERY frustrated. I turned away crying and the manager told another cast member to walk me to the back...the lady started to scream and point, "See!!! I KNEW she stole it!! She's crying because she's guilty and she knows what she did was wrong!!"....I was completely horrified. I went into the back and calmed down. The manager came to get me and asked me privately what happened, I explained, and then she took me back out there where the lady was. This lady then had this whole theory of how she KNEW I took her credit card and was planning on using it since I "looked like her"....the ONLY similarity I had to this nasty bitch was that we both had long wavy blonde hair. That was IT! I was 21 (though I looked about 16) and she was clearly in her late 30s. I think she WANTED to think she looked like ME, but it just wasn't so. I had no idea how to even use someone else's card even. So the manager had to take me back into the office and they had security there and everything. They literally had me searched. I was humiliated, but I totally complied with them because I had NOTHING to hide. They had me empty my pockets, had me patted down, had me take my shoes and stockings off and searched those....yeah....it was HORRIBLE. I had to write a full statement and I was just completely horrified. They told me they'd contact me about what they found out from the cameras, but they never did...and when I asked several times about it, they always gave me the run-around and sent me to different people.
Anyway...that's my insane experience. I was SO offended to be accused of stealing anything. It's a wonder I didn't quit after that...it was only my third shift ever working there!
It was my third shift ever working, I was at the Emporium of all godforsaken places, and it was INCREDIBLY busy. I hadn't stopped ringing guests the entire night...it was constant. Suddenly, a blonde woman comes up to me while I'm helping guests and she rudely tells me, "I want my credit card back!". I was stunned, but kept my cool, finished helping the guest, and then turned to her and assessed the situation. She insisted that I hadnt give her credit card back to her. Now, I remembered helping her...it had been about an hour since I'd helped her...but I honestly did NOT remember her paying with a credit card. I didn't tell HER that though, I looked ALL over for it...in the cash register, on the floor, in the trash...EVERYWHERE. Every time I tried to stop to explain that I didn't have it, she started to freak out and yell loudly that I stole it and I BETTER have it! So of course, I still have this HUGE line of people, all the cast members did, and I try to get the line to move over to the next cast member as I call the manager. The line of people is PISSED, and understandably so. Anyway, it takes like 15 minutes for the manager to get out there...in the meantime, this lady is now almost hysterical yelling loudly that I "stole" her credit card and she wants it back NOW and all that. I'm getting frustrated, guests are looking, people are pissed, she's yelling, her sister is yelling....I continue to look all around just in case she WAS right and had used her card. But there was NOTHING...not even a recipt...and she didn't have one either. She claimed I never gave it to her, which was ridiculous since I always gave the receipt back WITH the change or card! So I was totally baffled. By the time the manager got there, this lady was red in the face she was yelling so loud. The manager asked what happened, she yelled some more, and then I tried calmly to explain what was going on...but I started to cry. I'd never had an incident happen like that to me in my life and I was VERY frustrated. I turned away crying and the manager told another cast member to walk me to the back...the lady started to scream and point, "See!!! I KNEW she stole it!! She's crying because she's guilty and she knows what she did was wrong!!"....I was completely horrified. I went into the back and calmed down. The manager came to get me and asked me privately what happened, I explained, and then she took me back out there where the lady was. This lady then had this whole theory of how she KNEW I took her credit card and was planning on using it since I "looked like her"....the ONLY similarity I had to this nasty bitch was that we both had long wavy blonde hair. That was IT! I was 21 (though I looked about 16) and she was clearly in her late 30s. I think she WANTED to think she looked like ME, but it just wasn't so. I had no idea how to even use someone else's card even. So the manager had to take me back into the office and they had security there and everything. They literally had me searched. I was humiliated, but I totally complied with them because I had NOTHING to hide. They had me empty my pockets, had me patted down, had me take my shoes and stockings off and searched those....yeah....it was HORRIBLE. I had to write a full statement and I was just completely horrified. They told me they'd contact me about what they found out from the cameras, but they never did...and when I asked several times about it, they always gave me the run-around and sent me to different people.
Anyway...that's my insane experience. I was SO offended to be accused of stealing anything. It's a wonder I didn't quit after that...it was only my third shift ever working there!
No, I don't speak from my own experience, but have seen them accuse & pull Hitler attitudes with a CM I was close to. Their power is beyond belief. :twisted: Was anything pertaining to this incident ever filed in your Cast Records? I ask to view my Cast Records file yearly just to see what may have been slipped in without my knowledge. Your nightmare is one all too common. Guests REALLY NEVER UNDERSTAND A CMs STRESS. :(