2024-04-20 16:34:43
Tadas lives in Vilnius for the portal lrytas.lt said that he often goes shopping at the “Rimi” store on Linkmenų Street during lunch, but what he saw on April 18. around 12 o’clock, he had not yet seen – one cashier with scissors scrapes money from the “Save the Children” donation box.
“At first, I think maybe some kind of repair is going on – I see the cashier, scratching the box of the children’s support fund with scissors. He inserts the scissors with the pointed end, presses the coin against the wall and pulls. I see that the saleswoman is already accumulating quite a few euros in her hands,” said Tad.
The man from Vilnius hastened to ask the seller herself what she was doing here.
“She told me in Russian that she didn’t understand what I was asking. Then I asked in Russian what she was doing here. He replied that he was collecting money because there was a lack of money in the cash register. I say, “Seriously?” She confirmed. As far as I could see, maybe 12 or 15 euros were collected, they attracted bigger money, one or two euros each,” he said.
Then, according to Tad, the said seller transferred the money to another. After counting the catch together, they loaded it into the cash register. The man from Vilnius managed to film the entire macabre incident.
“When you know that the children’s fund money is here, you tremble. Usually, when you have cash, that’s where you donate it. And saleswomen take money from children and correct their shortcomings and mistakes.
Since it happens in the middle of the day, when there are other customers and employees, it means that this is their usual practice, because she explained to me with a cold face that she collects money at the cash register,” Tads is convinced.
The man admitted that he was frozen and did not know what to do.
“I didn’t know who else to turn to. I was lost. The fact is that it is an injustice,” Tad added.
Money is very important to children
Rasa Dičpetrienė, the general director of the public organization “Gelbėkit kiųs”, which owns the donation boxes, was speechless when she heard about the behavior of the sellers.
“I’ve been working for fifteen years, we’ve had donation boxes for even longer – everything has happened, money is stolen, and boxes are broken, but I’ve never heard of a case where money was stolen by a seller,” said R. Dičpetrienė.
The interviewer assured that she would contact the management of “Rimi” to clarify the situation.
“We are extremely grateful to the person who noticed this and reported it, because the easiest thing to do is to turn and walk away,” she added.
According to R. Dičpetrienė, only cashiers have permission to open boxes and take money from there.
“Not even any of our own employees touch the donation boxes for the sake of transparency. When the boxes need to be emptied, we call the collectors. They transfer the money to our bank account, we never touch the cash,” said the general director of Save the Children.
The public organization has about 2,000 donation boxes throughout Lithuania.
“That money is very important to us. Donation boxes at the cash registers give people a convenient way to donate. To people, cents sometimes seem insignificant, but when you add a cent to a cent, it becomes a really solid amount”, said R. Dičpetrienė.
Will conduct an internal investigation
Rimi also responded to the situation. Eglė Krasauskienė, head of public relations and corporate responsibility of the trade network, assured: every euro or item donated by the buyer to any organization or project reaches those for whom it is intended.
“Without a doubt, we always strive and will strive to ensure a transparent charity process. The seller’s possible behavior is impermissible and intolerable, so we will immediately conduct an internal investigation and, if such a violation is confirmed, we will take appropriate procedures against the employee provided for in the Labor Code and demand compensation for the damage caused,” commented E. Krasauskienė.
2024-04-20 16:34:43