-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Shoplifting.
- Thread starter Master Yoshi
- Start date
Pete the Ferret
Member
I used to work as a Store Manager at a very well known, pile it high, sell it cheap sportswear chain in the UK. Officially, if someone was seen shoplifting the guidance was ...make your presence known, make the lifter feel uncomfortable, call the Police to report the crime.
Unofficially...and from above...we were encouraged to apprehend at all costs. This involved chasing from the store...across mall carparks, across busy roads, through the side streets, over walls and often right through the middle of a local pub. As it was a big store, there would often be 10-20 colleagues chasing the lifters, some in cars, some on foot. Thinking back it was pretty stupid as one of the lifters could easily have pulled a knife but the satisfaction of rugby tackling a criminal to the ground and waiting for the Police to arrive was pretty satisfying!
Over the 5 years I worked there we caught hundreds, none of us got hurt thankfully and we always had the full support of the Police
Edit - I should point out that this applied to drug addicts, certain members of the travelling community who were well known offenders in the area and the usual ruffians. We generally didn't tackle little old ladies to the ground...
Unofficially...and from above...we were encouraged to apprehend at all costs. This involved chasing from the store...across mall carparks, across busy roads, through the side streets, over walls and often right through the middle of a local pub. As it was a big store, there would often be 10-20 colleagues chasing the lifters, some in cars, some on foot. Thinking back it was pretty stupid as one of the lifters could easily have pulled a knife but the satisfaction of rugby tackling a criminal to the ground and waiting for the Police to arrive was pretty satisfying!
Over the 5 years I worked there we caught hundreds, none of us got hurt thankfully and we always had the full support of the Police
Edit - I should point out that this applied to drug addicts, certain members of the travelling community who were well known offenders in the area and the usual ruffians. We generally didn't tackle little old ladies to the ground...
I used to work as a Store Manager at a very well known, pile it high, sell it cheap sportswear chain in the UK. Officially, if someone was seen shoplifting the guidance was ...make your presence known, make the lifter feel uncomfortable, call the Police to report the crime.
Unofficially...and from above...we were encouraged to apprehend at all costs. This involved chasing from the store...across mall carparks, across busy roads, through the side streets, over walls and often right through the middle of a local pub. As it was a big store, there would often be 10-20 colleagues chasing the lifters, some in cars, some on foot. Thinking back it was pretty stupid as one of the lifters could easily have pulled a knife but the satisfaction of rugby tackling a criminal to the ground and waiting for the Police to arrive was pretty satisfying!
Over the 5 years I worked there we caught hundreds, none of us got hurt thankfully and we always had the full support of the Police
Edit - I should point out that this applied to drug addicts, certain members of the travelling community who were well known offenders in the area and the usual ruffians. We generally didn't tackle little old ladies to the ground...
Is that you in pursuit?
HellforLeather
Member
When I worked at a retail chain, our ASM had to get stitches in his forehead after he had chased after a shoplifter and they got into a fight in the parking lot. He went down and hit his head on a cart on the way down, resulting in a nice gushing gash.
As far as some of these shoplifting stories...some people have no shame.
As far as some of these shoplifting stories...some people have no shame.
They are fucking scum. They could hit up retail stores worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars and not be called scum?
Shoplifters are the sole reason many stores go under. Fuck all of them, because at the end, they know what they are doing.
Nice try Sears shill.
Why bother? Didn't ask for your approval my dude.
Darklor01
Might need to stop sniffing glue
When I was younger, among the many retail jobs I had, I worked at a KB Toy Store. Some Tween aged kids pocketed a ton of candy as they worked their way through the store (Odd, pocket just candy from a Toy store?). This was in a rather large mall with underground parking as well as outside parking. Mall security was called. They informed me that I cannot touch them, and it is illegal for them to touch them, but they would call the police and follow them. They invited me to follow as the Manager on at the time. We tail them through the whole place, down to the underground garage and catch up to them. By this time, they'd emptied their pockets as they walked. After all this tailing, we couldn't hold them, charge them, or anything else because my store doesn't have video of this, and Mall Security claimed they didn't have any video proof they stole what they ditched as they walked.
problems include:
1). big businesses are not the sole sources of food.
2). losses at a store level are not dispersed across the bottom line of a whole corporation, stores that suffer extreme losses are cut loose, fail and its employees go out of work.
I used to work at a large electrical retailer and one of the assistant managers was caught backing a van up to the rear loading bay and loading up a bunch of TVs, and had been doing it for a while. The securirty guard who caught him was my brothers best friend so I got the juicy details.
During the investigation it came out he'd been giving the stuff to family members as things like wedding presents. Whilst the investigation was on going however he transferred everything he owned into his wife's name so that when it came to sentencing the courts could technically make no financial punishment against him, so his only punishment was a nominal ÂŁ1 fine. Didn't even get a custodial sentence even though it was suspected he'd taken tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods.
It was well known by some of us in the store that other staff members had either helped him, or had knowingly received stolen goods from him. I loved winding them up during the investigation by telling them I'd read in the local paper how the manager had struck a deal with police to turn in his accomplices. The momentary look of panic on their faces was priceless.
During the investigation it came out he'd been giving the stuff to family members as things like wedding presents. Whilst the investigation was on going however he transferred everything he owned into his wife's name so that when it came to sentencing the courts could technically make no financial punishment against him, so his only punishment was a nominal ÂŁ1 fine. Didn't even get a custodial sentence even though it was suspected he'd taken tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods.
It was well known by some of us in the store that other staff members had either helped him, or had knowingly received stolen goods from him. I loved winding them up during the investigation by telling them I'd read in the local paper how the manager had struck a deal with police to turn in his accomplices. The momentary look of panic on their faces was priceless.
Prophaniti
Banned
When I was a supervisor at Wal-Mart we would specifically tell employees not to say anything if it's food. Also never confront a customer. Let the person working the doors know and call theft prevention. Most of the time it's kids trying to steal beer anyways.
One time thieves stole a cart full of laptops and games. They had the whole placed mapped out. They blocked cameras, had a getaway driver set up by an emergency exit, plates on the car were covered with cardboard, and they waited for a shift change at a busy time.
We all laughed because we didn't have enough people to work the registers let alone checking receiptes or watching the door and our theft guys weren't in that day.
One time thieves stole a cart full of laptops and games. They had the whole placed mapped out. They blocked cameras, had a getaway driver set up by an emergency exit, plates on the car were covered with cardboard, and they waited for a shift change at a busy time.
We all laughed because we didn't have enough people to work the registers let alone checking receiptes or watching the door and our theft guys weren't in that day.
Tal Shiar Agent
Banned
I take it you vote Republican with that stark lack of empathy.
RodanCeros
Member
I just caught a shoplifter about ten minutes ago. He was a homeless guy stealing shoes; I got the shoes back and let him go with a warning. I absolutely love my job, I think I get as big of a rush catching people stealing as they do trying to get away with it. I'm walking around hunting for my next shoplifter right now as I type.
Wow. What garbage logic to justify theft. By this same logic, assuming you did shoplift it'd be fine if I just walked into your house and stole all your food.
Tal Shiar Agent
Banned
Yeah, fuck that victim of our failed society for doing what he has to do to survive!
RodanCeros
Member
... I got the shoes back and let him go with a warning. I could have easily sought prosecution and issued a civil fine. How did I fuck him exactly?
(I posted the details about his situation specifically to bring to light that not every theft is a matter requiring severe punishment)
first theft i can remember - Age 5
I stole my neighbor's huge papaya that she was growing in her yard during the night. gave it back the next day
2nd theft - Age 6/7
went to the hardware store with my dad when I was like 6 or 7, saw some flower seed packs near the counter, thought my mom would love these to grow in her garden, thought dad wouldn't buy them, so I secrertly slipped the pack in my pockets, store owner caught me, laughed about it told my dad, they had a laugh and he then gave me the seed pack for free lol
3rd theft - Age 8
went to walmart with dad again, this time when I was a huge pokemon fanatic, loved everything pokemon, my dad hated pokemon, thought the trading cards were a waste of money so I would be scared to ask him about buying me a pack well....i grabbed a pack from the card isle, took it to the fitting room, opened the pack up and FUCKING hell i got my self a shiny crobat card
...but a week later this card accidentally ended up in the washing machine
4th theft Age 8 still
Anyone remember the clothing store Marvin? don't think they exist anymore but i stole a pack of yugioh card from it, the pulls were super shitty though fucking yugioh cards
5th theft - Age 9?
stole a pack of Pokemon cards from Kmart, I can't remember if I got any good pulls or not
thats all i'lll confess to for now
I stole my neighbor's huge papaya that she was growing in her yard during the night. gave it back the next day
2nd theft - Age 6/7
went to the hardware store with my dad when I was like 6 or 7, saw some flower seed packs near the counter, thought my mom would love these to grow in her garden, thought dad wouldn't buy them, so I secrertly slipped the pack in my pockets, store owner caught me, laughed about it told my dad, they had a laugh and he then gave me the seed pack for free lol
3rd theft - Age 8
went to walmart with dad again, this time when I was a huge pokemon fanatic, loved everything pokemon, my dad hated pokemon, thought the trading cards were a waste of money so I would be scared to ask him about buying me a pack well....i grabbed a pack from the card isle, took it to the fitting room, opened the pack up and FUCKING hell i got my self a shiny crobat card
made it out like nothing happened lol
...but a week later this card accidentally ended up in the washing machine
4th theft Age 8 still
Anyone remember the clothing store Marvin? don't think they exist anymore but i stole a pack of yugioh card from it, the pulls were super shitty though
fucking yugioh cards5th theft - Age 9?
stole a pack of Pokemon cards from Kmart, I can't remember if I got any good pulls or not
thats all i'lll confess to for now
My mom has shared plenty of stories about shoplifters. People will fill their entire cart with food, usually meat, and walk out. Very little can be done anymore about it anymore. It's like the life hack that is waiting for an article or YouTube video to be made about it.
Out of curiosity what does security in most stores look like? Stores especially larger ones like Walmart have a lot a cameras and get very busy. Is it one or two dudes trying to Waldo the lifters or a team. Seems like something that would be hard to track during busy hours.
Out of curiosity what does security in most stores look like? Stores especially larger ones like Walmart have a lot a cameras and get very busy. Is it one or two dudes trying to Waldo the lifters or a team. Seems like something that would be hard to track during busy hours.
If you're hungry, yeah, you have a right to take food, doesn't matter much who it's from as long as it's not someone in worse circumstances than you. It's more ethical to steal from the massive businesses though because they barely notice the loss and they're probably already insured for that kinda thing. Nobody really suffers if someone snags a lobster or two from Walmart. If you sneak into my house and empty my fridge that really hurts me though, so it's less moral.
I'm basically saying Robin Hood ethics can easily justify theft from a moral perspective. Steal from the rich (businesses) and give to the poor (people). From another point of view stealing from the rich is just levying a tax. If you still feel my logic is garbage you can send a letter of complaint to the Italian judge who ruled thusly: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36190557
1) True. Stealing from a small business wouldn't be as easy to justify. If your concern is that the farmers/producers will lose their livelihood, the justification is: "the governement will subsidize them anyway, they're not in danger, if things get real grim the government can cut its massive military budget to help the farmers."
2) Tricky to justify but still possible. You could argue that no individual would be responsible for the extreme losses and thus no individual would be wholly to blame. Taking a sandwich from Walmart doesn't make me responsible for the boss of Walmart consequently sacking his employees and shutting down the store. The responsibility for extreme losses would be dispersed in small increments among the community of thieves, each thief bearing a small part of the blame. But you could argue that the chief responsibility lies with the government. Instead of wasting money on a massive military the government should be providing people with a small basic income or a food/shelter security program
Pete the Ferret
Member
Is that you in pursuit?
Haha now that's about spot on!
0ptimusPayne
Member
Worked Apple retail through College as a BOH specialist(Inventory). Best part of the job was investigating thefts and scams, especially If it was internal. On topic, your store needs a POS at the counter. At the end of the day If your superiors could careless about the store shrink, then don't take it to heart. Report it, and walk away its not worth it.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Except for the people who work there and have jobs dependent on folks not stealing en masse? The only person hurt if someone comes into your house to steal your food... is you. Thats a lot less people impacted.
And agree with other people telling the OP to not make it as big of a deal as he is if folks above him aren't taking the matter more seriously in general.
mmm called you a little bitch and you blinked.
Roland1979
Junior Member
I know I'm a genius and all, but I noticed this weak link in your defense system.
This is not some objective morality. Does it justify breaking into someone's places as well to steal it? Unless your life is directly at stake theft is never ok. And even then you have to go trough extraordinary lengths to get help instead of saying "the system sucks".
backflip10019
Member
Lot of assumptions here.
Yeah, if anything, you were probably too lenient with him. There are places where homeless people can go to get shoes for free.
Addressed this point in an edit to my previous post but can repeat myself. My (hypothetical) individual action of snagging a sandwich doesn't make me responsible for people losing their jobs. Though if people did lose their jobs due to thieving, the blame would be more or less equally distributed among the thieves. No individual would be wholly responsible but every individual would be partially responsible.
Still easy to justify though because in the end, why do people steal food? Usually it's because they're hungry and/or poor/in need. You could argue, if so many people are stealing that a store has to close down, it's actually the governments fault that people were driven to steal. The government should be buying food and giving it to people for free, along with some basic shelter such as tents/sheds. Instead the government spends billions on military and/or space programs and other less important things, so people are driven to theft
Maybe, it depends. In my opinion it would never be right to break into someone's home to get food if there is a big business nearby, and usually there are. If there are no big businesses close by then it kinda depends how hungry you are. If you're literally dying of hunger sure, we're agreed, but it takes an average healthy person like a month to actually die from hunger. If someone hasn't eaten for three days but they've been otherwise healthy, they're probably not in mortal danger, but it still might be justifiable to break into someone's home and steal food. Of course, it would probably be better to just knock on the door and ask first, since they would likely say yes.
Grimm Fandango
Member
Nvm I can't even read the thread correctly
EYEL1NER
Member
Or at the very least he could try to stop putting merchandise into his pockets; no chance you'll forget it if you haven't stashed it away.
I mean, I wouldn't ever think 'Mmm, my hands are full of items and I need to grab something else off the shelf, so let me temporarily store these things in my pockets,' because I know that with my luck, as soon as I did it I would hear a booming voice from behind me say "Stop, thief! What do you think you're doing with those items in your pocket???!!!"
Autumn Wind
Member
Home Depot does has such a lax return policy, they almost encourage theft. Buy a tool, use it, return it, and get your money back. People will buy patio furniture for a party, use it, and return it.
RageWaffles
Member
Some people treating shoplifting like an actual hobby. It's crazy.
The stores I've worked at (big national chains) had no cameras and were always run with a skeleton crew. SO many empty boxes on the shelves...
The stores I've worked at (big national chains) had no cameras and were always run with a skeleton crew. SO many empty boxes on the shelves...
Pilon taught you well.
The Faceless Master
Member
the biggest shoplifting thing i can remember was last xmas, 3 women stole 3 PS4 consoles and it was on the news with CCTV footage.
they literally unboxed them, stuffed them in their huge purses and walked out of the store.
they literally unboxed them, stuffed them in their huge purses and walked out of the store.
I worked at Wal-Mart in electronics and we always had people try to steal CDs or DVDs.
I caught one guy in the bathroom trying to open some CDs. He was trying to cover up him opening the plastic by singing loudly (and badly) in Spanish. I got one of my co-workers and he flung the bathroom door open, scared the shit out of the guy (who was in a stall with the door open, where we could see what he was doing in the mirror).
We stood by the layaway counter when the guy walked out of the bathroom and ended up finding the CDs in the trash.
We also had one lady who stuffed a cart full of electronic stuff (mostly TVs, the old CRT ones) and bolted out the door. The LP guy confronted her in the parking lot and she hauled off and punched him in the face.
I caught one guy in the bathroom trying to open some CDs. He was trying to cover up him opening the plastic by singing loudly (and badly) in Spanish. I got one of my co-workers and he flung the bathroom door open, scared the shit out of the guy (who was in a stall with the door open, where we could see what he was doing in the mirror).
We stood by the layaway counter when the guy walked out of the bathroom and ended up finding the CDs in the trash.
We also had one lady who stuffed a cart full of electronic stuff (mostly TVs, the old CRT ones) and bolted out the door. The LP guy confronted her in the parking lot and she hauled off and punched him in the face.
uncredited male
Member
She walk right through the door
There's shoplifting communities on tumbr, it's much worse too.
sooperkool
Member
I know a guy that stole a riding lawn mower by just putting a paid sticker on it and putting out on his truck
Vincent Grayson
Member
I used to shoplift candy and game demo discs at the grocery store when I was a teenager. I only got caught once, and of course acted like it was the first time.
The why was simple: the candy was about control, and the game demos were because I wanted them and didn't have money to buy the magazines.
In hindsight, it was pretty standard teen stuff. I probably wouldn't flip out on my kids the way my mother did when it happened, but they'd still be in trouble.
Amusingly, I still shop at that grocery store all the time.
The why was simple: the candy was about control, and the game demos were because I wanted them and didn't have money to buy the magazines.
In hindsight, it was pretty standard teen stuff. I probably wouldn't flip out on my kids the way my mother did when it happened, but they'd still be in trouble.
Amusingly, I still shop at that grocery store all the time.
The fuck? How does a grocery store have no form of security or loss prevention? No wonder you guys are getting robbed blind. Everyone in town thinks your easy bait
TheLastCandle
Member
I used to work for a local, fairly large grocery store chain back in the day. On your first day they showed you an onboarding video that said that for every 1$ in merchandise they sell, they expect to lose 1$ to theft.
That's god damn insane when you think about it.
That's god damn insane when you think about it.
SchrodingerC
Member
I know how you feel OP, it can be frustrating to watch people steal merchandise.
A tech store I used to work for had shoplifting problems all the time. A few shoplifters that were from other stores that used the same spider locks many retailers had would use the magnetic key, quickly hide the unlocked product in their coat or backpack and leave on their merry way.
We couldn't do anything about it, for safety reasons mainly.
The worst shoplifting(more like straight up theft) I saw was when a guy was buying a cheap $300 CPU and $1000+ CPU. I was the cashier helping him out at the time and found his purchase weird, but didn't think much about until he came back 2 days later. He was returning the expensive CPU for some reason, and once my manager signed off the return, the guy got his money and left. Shortly after, one of my coworkers discovered the box serial and the special serial code on the CPU didn't match. This person professionally removed all of the packaging without damaging any of it, peeled off the CPUs serial codes and switched them.
All the info we had on the guy was fake, of course, so tracking him down was next to impossible.
Guy successfully stole an expensive CPU and got back $1000 dollars. The unfortunate cashier who had made the return got fired. Honestly the manager who helped with the return should've been fired too, but regular employees are more expendable.
A tech store I used to work for had shoplifting problems all the time. A few shoplifters that were from other stores that used the same spider locks many retailers had would use the magnetic key, quickly hide the unlocked product in their coat or backpack and leave on their merry way.
We couldn't do anything about it, for safety reasons mainly.
The worst shoplifting(more like straight up theft) I saw was when a guy was buying a cheap $300 CPU and $1000+ CPU. I was the cashier helping him out at the time and found his purchase weird, but didn't think much about until he came back 2 days later. He was returning the expensive CPU for some reason, and once my manager signed off the return, the guy got his money and left. Shortly after, one of my coworkers discovered the box serial and the special serial code on the CPU didn't match. This person professionally removed all of the packaging without damaging any of it, peeled off the CPUs serial codes and switched them.
All the info we had on the guy was fake, of course, so tracking him down was next to impossible.
Guy successfully stole an expensive CPU and got back $1000 dollars. The unfortunate cashier who had made the return got fired. Honestly the manager who helped with the return should've been fired too, but regular employees are more expendable.
dead souls
Member
That's exactly what I thought when I read that comment too. Been Caught Stealing is obviously the theme song for this thread.
What's going on here? Where does he get the TV from when he gets to the exit?
EDIT: I see. The TV is under his arm the whole time. But CCTV can't pick it up due to the angle he walks at.
He's holding it the entire time, you just can't see it until the end because of the angle.
uncredited male
Member
That gif is a commercial. Like the spoon, there is no TV.
