To hand our soft play entry code to a couple with kids as we left?

[WanderingTrolley1]

DP wasn't impressed.

Should I not have given it to them?

If someone offered it to me I would politely decline it. I wouldn't see it as an option to use it as it would be stealing. To me it would feel the same as if I took money from the till.

I do not pretend to be perfect at all but where there is a simple right or wrong then I try and do the right thing. I'm one of those people that never fibbed about the kids ages when we went skiing or to theme parks. Again, there was no moral dilemma for me. I just chose the 'not stealing' option.

I wouldn't want to give mixed messages to my DC.

well our soft play is dire

mostly young staff,cheaper NMW i guess

lack of staffing

it smells

needs a good clean

charges silly prices for ice creams etc

is busy as its the only local one in the area

some parts are tatty and need replacing and maybe against health and safety

it's been going for ages so here must be a good profit to be made

have given up going anymore thank god,but am informed it's pretty much the same still

so no i would not feel bad about giving a code away,

I run one of these kind of businesses. So many people tell me how great it looks and they would be interested in opening their own.

There's no money in it ultimately. So many people try to get in without paying, steal and break equipment. I have my own family to feed, clothe and keep a roof over their head. To me, every penny that goes in the till is the difference between paying rent and losing a home and business.

I know freebies are great, but it's frustrating so many see soft play as fair game.

so it seems ok to steal from larger companies and those that make more money. By inference it is also ok to burgle the rich.

stampy I bet you wonder why you bother.

theft is NOT a nice thing to do. I hope all those who think so are happy to be burgled and not report it.

take your kids to the park, which we all pay for out of taxes which are a lot harder to dodge.

Missing the point entirely, but I am bemused at the idea of car parks not having any maintenance costs.

I would do this. The same as I hand a parking ticket to someone (if possible...most of my local car parks now have the reg shown on the ticket so you can't).

We went to Oakwood Park in the summer (£23 entry pp) and when we went in we were handed vouchers where we could buy four tickets for £10 each on that same day, for use by the end of the week if we wanted to 're-visit'.

As we were going through the gate I jumped on facebook and put a status asking if anyone wanted me to buy them 4 tickets for £40 for use that week. I nearly had my hand chomped off, I had about 20 inboxes by the time we left. So I suppose I defrauded the theme park as a work colleague of mine got her and her family in for £40 instead of £92.

I sleep ok tbh.

I wouldn't do it. I'm amazed that some people see it as a "nice thing to do". You are just giving someone the opportunity to effectively steal from another person. Some may think it isn't a terrible crime but it can hardly be described as "nice".

I think its fine. You cant predict when someone walks in the door how long they will stay, they could all stay open til close. By charging the next person when someone leaves after an hour you are charging for what someone has already bought.
Would i feel guilty staying all day :no as there would be times i leave early.
You could just as easily curse the annoying people who stay too long.
However if you wanted to close the loophole a hand stamp.
It might be different if the place was full, as the free one would stop another paying one but as the next one would pay.
I would say its like renting a place out and the tenant moves out early - you didnt know when he would leave so you can put another tenant in, but i think if tenant wanted their mum to stay that week you cant complain (though im sure they may do)

If you wanted to be nice, you could have bought new tickets for the new people. Then the money would have come out of your pocket instead of someone else's. You were being "generous" with someone else's money with no cost to yourself.

No. It was cheating. The centre was cheated out of the money these other people would have paid.

Thank you for your responses.

We were in the soft play for 30 minutes, maximum.

I won't lose any sleep over this.

The Op isn't guilty of theft, it would be the peop[le using the entry code without paying (if they did) who would be.

Well intended but not good for the ply centre

It's not theft if I give my no longer needed travel card to someone on leaving the station, I have paid for it, only going in the bin. Ok slightly different for soft play.

It's not theft, it's obtaining services by deception. It isn't a piece of card (or a code) that you've paid for. It's a service under certain terms and conditions. If someone else intentionally attempts to avail themselves of that service by presenting a travel card (or code) as though they entered into the contract which allowed them to use that service, then that is deceptive. And if you knowingly help them to do it then you are also a part of that deception.

My goodness there are some very sanctimonious people on here. I can do what the hell I want with my travel card it's not in my name ffs. I have paid fir it, it's not fare evading, it's a valid travel card that I no longer need, that someone can make use of. I will continue giving my no longer needed travel card if I go to London.

Eye rolls, only on Mumsnet. I think we should consult mumsnet before we even leave our home.

same with parking ticket that has a bit of time on it too. My goodness they charge enough for it.

I wasn't being sanctimonious. I can't get worked up about it. I was merely pointing out that regardless of how you view that piece of paper, it's still illegal to treat it like a book you've bought and pass it around. You can indeed do what you like with it (within the laws of physics), I won't think you're a terrible person if I see you passing it on and you are unlikely to get caught. It's still defined as criminal by our laws though.

well I don't think I will loose sleep over it. I don't think it is, it is has been bought and payed for legally, its in nobobodies name. It would be different if somebody was using my train pass which was in my name, now that would be illegal.

YANBU......but of course you'll always get perfect people telling you how dishonest you are.

You definitely shouldn't loose sleep over it! This is mainly pedancy. Many travel tickets of any type are not yours. They state, either on them or in the organization's terms and conditions (e.g. National Rail's Conditions of Carriage) that the tickets remain the property of the issuer. So it isn't even your piece of card to give away - you haven't bought it at all! You've paid for a particular service, for which the terms and conditions are very unlikely to allow transfer part way through use. Just as an all you can eat buffet doesn't allow you to pass your plate on to another diner when you've eaten your fill.

A very lovely gentleman gave me his family VIP ticket to use in Disneyland Paris a couple of years ago. I thought he was a fab chap for doing so

There was a case re passing on travel cards R v Marshall, Coombes and Eren at the Court of Appeal in 1998. The appellants convictions for theft were upheld.