To lie about DD's age to get her in free?

[Kasterborous]

I'm prepared to be told I was being unreasonable. We took DD who turned three 24 days ago to our local Wildlife park today. Under three they get in free, over three it's £10.00 which seems a lot so we said she was two. I know it was dishonest and next time we will pay for her.

Mind, I found the one age you can't do it is around 3, if they are at all in earshot when the cashier asks, rest assured they'll be answering loudly 'I'm 3, and my sisters 4 and she's called Sarah.'

I'm not entirely sure it is an urban myth that a bus conductor once asked a small child 'how old are you?' and was told, 'I'm 4 but when we get off I'm 5'

This wasn't a eat all you like buffet (why do I think that's different ?) Just a smaller simpler meal.

Doc - as mentioned above, zoos will base prices partly on what people might be able to afford, but also on what they need to keep the place going. People expect standards now to be much higher than previously, and rightly so, but that entails higher costs (better medicines, sufficient heating, better quality food...).

It's a juggling act between getting an affordable price and one that will allow the place to make enough money to function.

The more people cheat by not paying the right amount, the higher the prices are to cover costs. We're not talking rolling in cash - we're talking about (for example) having enough money to replace an out-dated exhibit. For the benefit of the animal that lives in it.

I'll say it again - whoever said it's a victimless crime is kidding themselves.

I always used to lie about DCs age when I took them on a bus. Never felt guilty.

It's not victimless. Scammers who do this just increase price levels for everyone else. It's no different to shoplifting.

It's not the same as shop lifting. That's stealing stock that has been paid for. Sneaking someone in for free hasn't actually stole anything. If they hadn't gone there the park would have had no money. Apart from that £10 seems too much for a child.

Do some people really never do anything a bit ... naughty?

It's getting services by fraud. No different to shop lifting in my view because the losses from it are factored into pricing and it means increased costs to others. People who do it are just thieves.
And yes, the costs for children might be steep and that's hard, but it doesn't mean it's ok to steal the service.

You've bought food for the animals to eat. You've bought heating for them, and medicine, and paid staff to be there. Just because it's not a physical thing that you as a customer doesn't walk off with doesn't mean it was free for the place.
You could equally well argue that a shop wouldn't have any money if people never went there to buy things so it's ok to steal one thing as long as you buy six other things....

It's not someone that you as a customer gets to walk off with...

Crap - autocorrect and lack of proof-reading are conspiring against me.

Yes op, yabu, it's terrible and awful and you should be thrown to the dogs.

I've done it with my youngest (I could never have with ds1 as he was so big for his age people never used to believe he was 2 even when he really was), and for a lot more than a tenner tbh. Ds2 was '2' until he was nearly 4...we've been to quite a few theme parks/restaurants/swimming where under 3's go free so I dread to think of the total amount I've defrauded various companies.

I'm a nice person, I do a lot for charity (in money and time) and try to do a lot for people in general. I sleep ok tbh, I've never felt a moments guilt.

It's really been interesting to see how many thieves and scammers there are about.
Seemingly if you think deceit and fraud are ok you won't reflect on it or feel any guilt. Presumably many of those who practise this kind of deceit think it's ok to involve their children too.

What do you tell your children to say if they're asked how old they are? Age is a big deal for most kids. Do you tell them to lie if asked?

Anyone?

I did this for about 3 months after dd turned 3, who doesn't

I've done this with my dc too op, no big deal! Really don't see the point in getting worked up over it and I really don't think it's the same as shoplifting!

My DD is nearly 5... I say she's 3 to get her into the farm for free.

It's fine. People who don't do it are lying!

First...I never told ds2 anything. He was never asked his age, which was just as well I suppose.

Neither of mine were aware at all...they were too busy eating the chocolate/playing the super interesting game that I'd brought, to be distributed as we were going through the entry gate.

Seriously, give mine a (fairly rare) sweet or an I phone and they zone out. You'd be lucky if they could tell you their name never mind their age.

I'd do it it certain situations, yes.

Random I wonder about that too.

Pumpkin Quite a lot it seems

I'll see you in hell.

Wow, I thought Dolores Umbridge was fictional. Obviously not.

DD is small for her age. In places like Legoland where being small meant she missed out on many rides, yes I pretended she was 2 when she was 3. It seemed unfair having to pay full child price when she wasn't tall enough to go on most of the rides.
But for places like petting farms / zoos etc where her enjoyment of the attraction was not related to how tall she was, we paid up when she turned 3 as we felt this was fair.

I rather object to paying increased adult fees to accommodate thieves personally.
Still, no use really trying to make the point. People are quite obviously convinced that everyone else is dishonest too. That's how they justify their own theft and fraud.

ilovesooty, I don't think you do love Sooty. Surely he's too naughty and rebellious for you? I thought you would prefer Soo, although she's pretty insufferable.