Discounts while Off Duty

[Heiko]

I know this topic can get heated so here is a funny story:

A couple of investigators I worked with were in their usual shirt and tie, badge, gun, ensemble. They went into an eating establishment for lunch, the kind where you order at a counter and your food comes up or sometimes is brought to you. They order, sit down, get their food, and while eating, one of them notices that there is a 10% discount on the receipt.

Being a guy who maintained a strict no gratuity/discount policy, he took the receipt up and advised the young lady at the counter that they received a discount for being cops and they couldn't accept it. The girl told them no, the discount was not because they were cops. It was the senior discount.

[SkyStorm82]

What's the EA store?

[Andy Taylor]

Here is an interesting twist on the no gratuity policy.

I worked for a business that gave free coffee and soda to everyone. It was just something we did as part of "customer service." We had a restaurant and these were free in the restaurant as well, but restaurant wasn't our main business. One day while some officers from the local PD were there on a call, I think a customer's car had been stolen, we mention the restaurant and ask why none of the officers ever stopped in for lunch. We were informed that the Chief had ordered them not to eat at our restaurant while on duty because the free coffee and soda could be considered a gratuity.

[ap3572001]

There are places where they give discounts as a policy.Owners policy.

I recently had to deal with . Went for lunch with my son to place where they now what I do. (I was off duty). The bill came and it was 1/2 price. I started telling tham that I want to pay the whole thing. The owners son at the register said that His dad ALWAYS took care of cops, that He was a cop in His old country and that its just the way it is and that they have a right to do it.

I gave the waitress a huge tip.

[1911su16b870]

+1 if they will not take the full amount due to store policy, I make up the difference with a tip.

[ap3572001]

+1 if they will not take the full amount due to store policy, I make up the difference with a tip.

Yeah , the cashier stated that since its His and His dad's business they can charge what they want.

[yzErnie]

His and His dad's business they can charge what they want.

Or anyone's business and they (owners, manager, etc) can charge what they want.

This is exactly what the case law decision is about. A couple cops got fired for accepting a free meal at an eatery. The Chief somehow found out and fired both of them. They sued the Chief, City and Department and when it went to trial they called the eatery owner as their primary witness.

The Chief, City and dept attorneys brought up the Code of Ethics and dept policies the Judge/Jury decided that since they did not ask for the discount there was no violation. The Judge/Jury explained that any business owner can run the business as they see fit. The jury bought off on their "defense" and they won a hefty amount for wrongful termination and got their jobs back.

Wisely, they both lateralled to different departments after returning to work.

[ap3572001]

There are some places around that are "KNOWN" to "take care of" LEO's . On and off duty. Its been that way for years. And officers leave some BIG tips there too.

[Joewy]

Used to be a partner in a small hamburger shop in the Industry area years ago. We used to give discounts to LEO's and Fire personel. Times got tough and we dropped the discount. Couldnt afford it. It shocked me how beligerent some officers got when we could no longer give them a discount. Not all but a good portion of them. But a lot of the ones that said nothing never came back either. And we had GOOD food too.

[Tacobandit]

What's the EA store?

If you take the 405 south its right around 105, might be past it but you exit jefferson and go west about a mile or so and its a huge complex on the right hand side, says EA on the side, go up to the guard, show him your badge and ID and he will direct you to the employee store, you can get any of the videos games they produce for 10-20 bucks each and they have a ton of clothes and sports stuff in there too. Its pretty cool

[Gnome]

If you take the 405 south its right around 105, might be past it but you exit jefferson and go west about a mile or so and its a huge complex on the right hand side, says EA on the side, go up to the guard, show him your badge and ID and he will direct you to the employee store, you can get any of the videos games they produce for 10-20 bucks each and they have a ton of clothes and sports stuff in there too. Its pretty cool

You may receive a discount on most of their games. Some popular/high demand games may not be available for discount, or have a minimal discount. I believe there is also a limit on how may games you can buy.

[retired]

I recall one place that used to give the station leos a 1/2 price discount on meals. I'd go there once in a great while when I worked that particular city. I would always tip the waitress to make up for the difference.

We got a new Capt. one time and he went to that restaurant and told him not to give the leos a discount. The owner told him that he didn't tell the Capt. how to run his station, so he better not tell him how to run his business. He continued to give a discount.

I agree that asking for a discount on or off duty is wrong.

[j3c]

I used to work in a couple different food industries. At some places, it was company policy to give discounts out like crazy; discount for working in the mall (including mall security!), discount for being a corporate partner (almost any company was on this list including other food industry workers), and giving discounts to uniformed workers (LEO, post office employees, nurses, doctors, etc.). In all my time in that industry I've never had an officer turn down a discount (most of the time it was anywhere from 50-75% off, sometimes it was just complimentary) nor have I had an LEO ask for a discount. As some LEO were more frequent, I was often seeing them off duty with their families and would extend the same discount towards their bill because they were still appreciated for their work, just like all the other people we extended discounts to.

I don't see an issue with the discounts from my perspective as a food industry employee but see the potential implications that one could infer.


I've also spent time working in a retail store for a certain....fruity...technological company and know that there are various discounts that we've extended. The only discount I've ever been asked to give was a student discount, and never had seen an LEO ask for a discount, but would occasionally recognize some of the LEO I've come to know over my years in different industries. I would always extended discounts that were applicable to the individual and was never turned down, but also was never requested.

I don't necessarily think asking for a discount is tacky or wrong, but rather the expectation of receiving a discount is the root of the tackiness (and even worse is people asking for discounts they don't qualify for)

On a somewhat tangible sidenote, I also spent time as an Electrical Engineer at a semiconductor powerhouse that creates cellular technologies/chipsets for telecommunications throughout the world. We didn't get LEO in our buildings, but we did (they still do) have really large DoD contracts. The DoD always ask for a discount =X

-j

[geeknow]

Interesting perspective from the OP. Our policy is, when we feel that the customer might be LE, we ask. If they are, a discount is applied. Obviously, its easy to tell when they are in uniform. In either case, however, the discount is the same. It's our choice. We are appreciative for their service, recognize that it is a 24/7 job, and try to communicate that...on duty or not.

OP, here is another perspective for you. There really are people out there who enjoy meeting LE. Yes, sometimes off duty LE do ask for a discount. It has never occurred to me that this might be a 'bad thing'.

[goofcat]

Back in the day, when my family first immigrated to the US, we ran a small Chinese restaurant in a bad section of Carson (like there were good sections). We used to to give LEO's free drinks, side orders, even video game plays if there were into that. On duty or off, we got to know many of the Carson cops.

One night, we got a call from the alarm company that our store was broken into. By the time my parents got there (15 minutes), there were already 3 cop cars outside. The two punks that broke into our store were cuffed and sitting in the back of the cars! Nothing missing, everything was recovered.

One of the cops told us that when they got the call, everyone knew exactly where the store was and who we are. So they were on scene in less than 5 minutes!

I say we got a lot of value for a few free drinks and egg rolls!