"seems to be rewarding deviousness" There is a common misalignment of values, between that which is 'practical' and that which is 'right'. You see this with arg

"seems to be rewarding deviousness" There is a common misalignment of values, between that which is 'practical' and that which is 'right'. You see this with arguments about such things as safe injecting rooms or wahtever. I think this is a great practical solution. They are not being rewarded with a free product (they have that already), they are being rewarded with shame and/or understanding. The shame of being caught out may make them stop stealing. The understanding may encourage them to stick with the product and buy when they do have the money, or recommend it to others. Win / win solutions are rare and beautiful and should not be discarded for spurious moral values.