Policy for sneaking chips into a game

All short-sales of Paulson chips come with this warning.

Although customer information is generally confidential, I needed to come up with a policy to discourage cheating with my products. It is always “complicated” so I never choose sides. In fact, I don’t really care who dun it. I just don’t want it dun with my chips! So, here is a typical example of how I deal with it.

Someone, let’s call him Suspect, buys some loose Paulson chips from me, usually the $100’s or $500’s. This happens every once in a while and it is not that uncommon since people like to have samples for chip tricks. I hear from somebody else, let’s call him Accuser, inquiring about recent purchases of loose Paulson chips. Accuser believes that someone sneaked in some chips into his game and wants to catch the bad guy.

I first ask Accuser if he can give me the name, or a list of names, of the person that he suspects is the culprit. That is my preference. Sometimes, I provide a list of 5-10 first names (assuming the names are common) and ask Accuser if one of these matches his hunch. Some of the names are decoys (they didn’t buy Paulson chips). If Accuser suspects someone on the list, he needs to give me the full name of the person and some other identifying information. I do not reveal customer information or confirm or deny any purchase at this point.

I then go to that Suspect and tell him that he has been suspected of sneaking chips into a game. I don’t tell Suspect who Accuser is at this point. I do tell Suspect that if he did anything wrong, he needs to come clean with the Accuser. This is his chance.

If the Suspect admits guilt to me, then he has a few days to come clean with the Accuser, or I will reveal the Suspect’s name to the Accuser. This gives the guilty person the opportunity to come clean on his own. If guilty, the Suspect then tells me when it has been resolved. I then ask the Accuser, “Has it been resolved?” If the answer is “no,” then I get back to the Suspect. If the answer is “yes,” then it’s finished. The Suspect can still be anonymous at this point if he chooses to pay anonymously.

If the Suspect does not admit guilt, then I get back to the Accuser and tell him so. After a brief conversation, I then decide whether or not I will reveal the Accuser and Suspect’s names to each other. This is a little tricky and I use my discretion. I’m not the judge nor jury. Keep in mind, it pisses me off when I have to deal with this so don’t expect a lot of sympathy from me whether you are the Accuser or the Suspect.

So, customer information is confidential up to a point. If enough evidence points to cheating, then customer information will be revealed, but only after the two parties have a chance to sort it out on their own.

By the way, you can avoid this problem by either getting new friends or getting custom chips. I never reprint a label or similar design except at the original customer’s request.