Woolworths, the Australian gambling house, has fessed up to some questionable activities. An investigation revealed that employees at several poker machine venues operated by the company’s Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) subsidiary were routinely spying on customers and, on a number of occasions, even offered “high-value” customers extra free drinks in order to keep them at the machines. In recognizing that the activities took place, Woolworths has said that it has fired “a number of staff” at more than 22 venues, including 20 Queensland hotels.

The investigation first came to light in February when gambling opponent and Parliament member Andrew Wilkie publicized allegations that Woolworths employees were spying on customers in an effort to maximize profits. He quoted one whistleblower, who said that the employees were following many customers to learn the “ins and outs” of their lives.

Another whistleblower confirmed the activity, stating, “We’re actually writing it down so that we can get people to stay for as long as possible, to put as much money into the machines as possible.”

When Wilkie brought the subject to the forefront, Woolworths said that it would investigate. It has now come back and admitted that a “customer service program” ran for six months last year out of some facilities in Queensland, as well as in pubs in South Australia and New South Wales. The program “gave rise to instances of ALH employees recording descriptive information about gaming customers in a manner that was below ALH’s expectations and contrary to its policies.”