The 'stolen' turkey dinner... UPD #331 p23

[TootsNYC]

Because they're the ones who sold it. So they'd contact the store and say, "Oh, come on--you surely don't want to create a bad situation here by not honoring the coupon!"

[Sharnita]

Because they're the ones who sold it. So they'd contact the store and say, "Oh, come on--you surely don't want to create a bad situation here by not honoring the coupon!"

That would be reasonable but most people seem to expect far more.

[CreteGirl]

This is so interesting that i am just posting for updates.

[Hmmmmm]

I don't think guessing on what happened to the dinner would be fruitfull.  I'd contact the church, let them know what happened and ask for them to remedy the situation.

How would they do that? I mean, do they hire a private detective to track down the person who got the turkey?  Why would this be their responsiblity and not the store's?

The buyer of a auction item  for charity should not be responsible for resolving the issue.  The church knows who donated the item, even if it was the store who donated the item.  They would also be the only ones who have the records to indicate who was the authorized buyer.  So yes, it is their responsibility to follow up with the store to resolve the problem. 

I'm not sure why you felt the need to seem snarky with your private detective comment.

[Sharnita]

I don't think guessing on what happened to the dinner would be fruitfull.  I'd contact the church, let them know what happened and ask for them to remedy the situation.

How would they do that? I mean, do they hire a private detective to track down the person who got the turkey?  Why would this be their responsiblity and not the store's?

The buyer of a auction item  for charity should not be responsible for resolving the issue.  The church knows who donated the item, even if it was the store who donated the item.  They would also be the only ones who have the records to indicate who was the authorized buyer.  So yes, it is their responsibility to follow up with the store to resolve the problem. 

I'm not sure why you felt the need to seem snarky with your private detective comment.

I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely not sure how else they would track down who got the dinner.  Yes they know who donated it - I don't know that there is any evidence that the donor was the person who picked it up.  The business is the one who basically gave a dinner to somebody who didn't have any sort of voucher for it.  The church could call and say "We expect you so honor your coupon/voucher/whatever" but how on earth would you expect them to be able to find out more about who got the turkey from the deli than the deli who saw the person and handed it to them? 

[Roe]

I agree, the OP needs to start at  the church.  As one point out, the church has record of who donated the item and has record of any communication between church and store. 

If the store still refuses to honor the coupon, I hope the church reinburses the OP's money.  I can see a situation where others no longer bid on items if there is a chance they can get ripped off.  At that point, the church loses so it's to their benefit to clear up this situation and make it right for the OP's sister.

[Harriet Jones]

Whether or not they figure out who actually took the dinner, this needs to be reported to the church. 

[LifeOnPluto]

I also think the deli is at fault here, so that needs to be the OP's sister's first port of call.

I'd call up the store and ask them - in light of their mistake - if they will still honour the coupon (or make it up to me with a $50 voucher).

If the store refuses, I'd then go to the church and ask them to either (a) reimburse me; or (b) sort it out with the store so that I get my prize.

If the church refused (and told me it was my problem, not theirs, etc) then I'd get mad. I'd write an angry letter to the pastor, and the organisers, and let them know that I'm never participating in their charity events again.

[Sharnita]

I also think the deli is at fault here, so that needs to be the OP's sister's first port of call.

I'd call up the store and ask them - in light of their mistake - if they will still honour the coupon (or make it up to me with a $50 voucher).

If the store refuses, I'd then go to the church and ask them to either (a) reimburse me; or (b) sort it out with the store so that I get my prize.

If the church refused (and told me it was my problem, not theirs, etc) then I'd get mad. I'd write an angry letter to the pastor, and the organisers, and let them know that I'm never participating in their charity events again.

I might also add a review of the deli mentioning that they gave away my dinner to somebody else.

[yokozbornak]

As someone who has been responsible for a few silent auctions in the past, I would definitely want it reported to me first so that I could try to fix it before creating ill will with the business and with the buyer.  If one of my team members did what is suspected here, I would want to know so I could handle it on my end.  Businesses that are kind enough to donate something don't deserve the headache of trying to resolve a situation they didn't create, and buyers certainly need to receive what was promised to them. 

[Sharnita]

As someone who has been responsible for a few silent auctions in the past, I would definitely want it reported to me first so that I could try to fix it before creating ill will with the business and with the buyer.  If one of my team members did what is suspected here, I would want to know so I could handle it on my end.  Businesses that are kind enough to donate something don't deserve the headache of trying to resolve a situation they didn't create, and buyers certainly need to receive what was promised to them.

The business gave it away to somebody who didn't have the voucher and apparently after a day of suspicious behavior to tip them off - I would say they do deserve the headache of trying to resolve it, assuming the manager's story was truthful to begin with.

[Girlie]

But if the original purchaser IS the one who picked it up, he or she would have had a receipt. For a store, that's better than a voucher for proof of ownership. It's also possible that if it was a prepared dinner, it was ordered under a particular name, like, "Mrs Jane Doe for First Baptist Churh Silent Auction." Then the store would have new on the lookout for Jane Doe OR for someone who asked for the Silent Auction turkey dinner OR who had the voucher.

[Hmmmmm]

I don't think guessing on what happened to the dinner would be fruitfull.  I'd contact the church, let them know what happened and ask for them to remedy the situation.

How would they do that? I mean, do they hire a private detective to track down the person who got the turkey?  Why would this be their responsiblity and not the store's?

The buyer of a auction item  for charity should not be responsible for resolving the issue.  The church knows who donated the item, even if it was the store who donated the item.  They would also be the only ones who have the records to indicate who was the authorized buyer.  So yes, it is their responsibility to follow up with the store to resolve the problem. 

I'm not sure why you felt the need to seem snarky with your private detective comment.

I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely not sure how else they would track down who got the dinner.  Yes they know who donated it - I don't know that there is any evidence that the donor was the person who picked it up.  The business is the one who basically gave a dinner to somebody who didn't have any sort of voucher for it.  The church could call and say "We expect you so honor your coupon/voucher/whatever" but how on earth would you expect them to be able to find out more about who got the turkey from the deli than the deli who saw the person and handed it to them?

No where do I state they should try to track down the person who picked up the dinner.  I stated I saw no value in trying to guess who the culprit was.  I only stare the church should be responsible for providing a remedy.  That could either be refunding the money or working with the deli to provide a replacement dinner.  I guess the church could waste time trying to identify the turkey thief but I doubt they'd be able to unless the deli kept some type of record.

[Sharnita]

I would hope the deli would make it right anyway.  Ithink part of the problem I see is that OP mentioned public shaming as part of her idea of making it right.  There seems to be the assumtion that it is the donor and that it is important that her reputation takes a hit through the church in the process of making it right.

[Lynn2000]

I also think this is really interesting.

I think I would go to the store first, with the idea that they need to honor their voucher, even if it costs them money due to some kind of confusion on their end. The point is to actually obtain a turkey dinner, or equivalent cash/store credit, right? So if I go directly to the store and I obtain my item, I don't necessarily care who the "turkey thief" is, or what investigations happen behind the scenes after I leave.

If the store won't honor the voucher in some way, then I think I would need to go to the church, and explain that I either need another document the store will honor, or I need my auction check back. Whichever is easier. And again, once I've got my item/money, let someone else sort it out behind the scenes. (Although personally I would be VERY curious to know what was going on!)

For me, $50 is not make-or-break money, but it is too much for me to just write it off.