Naughty numpties

The latest round of autumn-winter press days has just begun and amongst the booty we can look forward to in our goody bags are vouchers to spend at the high street department stores. A while ago, certain stores decided (correctly) that we’d far rather be given gift vouchers to spend on items of our own choosing than the usual scarf, bag or necklace. (Actually, we’d rather have the cash but that would be a bit too greedy.) Alas, an unfortunate turn of events has taken place that may put an end to the gift voucher tradition.

Four press officers for a well-known department store have been sacked following an investigation into a gift voucher scam. It seems these hapless PRs were ordering rather too many gift vouchers for phantom ‘competitions’ and then spending them themselves. So did they go to an off-radar branch of their store to spend said vouchers? No, they spent them in the Oxford Street store, mere yards from their press office and were caught on camera committing the offence. Doh! Still, it’s not as bad as the PR for another high street chain (clue: it’s the one that has sales hat start at 5’oclock in the morning) who was sacked for selling press samples on a market stall. Euww, how common!