shoplifting lady visiting from another country

[minkysmom]

This well dressed african lady frequents the store I work at (large department store) last week she returned a pair of RL Jeans and she said she lost her receipt and was trying to get another pair. they were size four and she is at least a size ten, I didnt think anything of it as there were other Africans visiting the week before who had brought tons of clothing to take back to their families. Well anyway, I gave her the store credit and she went on her way.

Fast forward to monday, the same lady came back with a store bag with a bunch of designer dresses in it, wanting a store credit, now that gave me some pause, but I did it anyway, as I couldn't see any sign that the sensor was forcibly removed or anything. My gut reaction was that something wasn't right, but they want to please customers so badly that if I called a manager they were going to tell me to do it anyway as I could not prove that she had stolen the items and loss prevention never answers when we call.

this lady got a store credit of around 275$ from me and she was so damn greedy she went to another department, stuffed a brand new designer hoodie and jeans in her bag and tried to return them! the girl who she tried to return them to refused her return as she had put out the shirts herself and noticed that out of 5 one was missing! again, there was nothing LP could do because they couldn't catch her pocketing the items on camera. she was not able to get another store credit, but she will return with the items and try to return them again.

ugh, what makes her the absolute worse is that after all that she keeps going to the well. she stole another dress and came back with it wednesday night and tried to return it but she was refused the return, so she took it to another store and returned it.

I cannot understand why she is so greedy? she already got all that free merch that I returned for her, not even counting the stuff she stole that other people returned for her. I turned in her name and adress but there isn't anything that can be done until they catch her pocketing merchandise.

I hope they catch this b! and she gets deported. how bad does it look to the university you were invited to, that you come and steal from one of the town's most popular stores? smh, it's not like these are poor people either, these people have money and she is in the store stealing that hard. once i got away with it once i wouldnt do it again.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

She's greedy because she's getting away with it.

It's going to take some time for LP to build their case against her and I suspect they will let the dollar amount get nice and high so it becomes a felony offense. They may already have all the proof they'd need to bust her.

[minkysmom]

honestly, I mostly dont care if someone is stealing something, that is lp's job and Im not being paid enough to get into an altercation with somebody over stealing stuff that isnt mine. I am not going to let someone pocket something right in my face, but I dont purposely seek out shoplifters. But this lady, I hope they catch her. She preyed upon employees trying to be nice and trying to satisfy the 'customer'. I hope this lady makes it so if we say no to customers, the managers will back us up now instead of tellng us to 'make an exception just this one time.'

[WishfulSpirit]

She'll slip up eventually. One way my manager at Jeers dealt with this was to allow the "store credit" return, but as soon as the customer walked away, hit the "void last transaction" button the register, draining all the ill-gotten money off the gift card the customer just received. When confronted, she'd say "I'm sorry, our system only allows so many no-receipt returns. You must have hit the limit."

[mathnerd]

She'll slip up eventually. One way my manager at Jeers dealt with this was to allow the "store credit" return, but as soon as the customer walked away, hit the "void last transaction" button the register, draining all the ill-gotten money off the gift card the customer just received. When confronted, she'd say "I'm sorry, our system only allows so many no-receipt returns. You must have hit the limit."

That is brilliant!

Though I can also see LP letting it go on long enough so that it's a felony charge. That does make some amount of sense.

[WishfulSpirit]

To clarify, she'd give back the ill-gotten items, but no more store credit for our thieves. Lots of times the shoplifters would steal stuff that clearly didn't fit them or they didn't want, but could be returned for the most money. They often just (metaphorically) threw the stuff at us and stormed out. So we got the money back and the clothes. Even if we took a loss on the stolen clothing, though, it was worth it to have them get the message they'd need to do their stealing elsewhere from now on.

[minkysmom]

I should mention voiding the transaction to the manager after she leaves. If her store credit doesnt work, i would hope she would have enough sense not to make a big fuss, then again she might . I just want to confront her.

[WishfulSpirit]

Don't confront her. Those types can turn violent if caught. It isn't worth risking your safety. Of course, you could follow her around asking if she needs help every 30 seconds or so.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I just want to confront her.

You'll only get yourself in trouble; possibly fired.

Confrontation is LP's game, not yours. Nobody's life is worth whatever it is she's ganking.

If you want to help get her busted, notify LP any time you see her in the store, before she comes to your counter.

[Shyla]

I don't know if you mean she is a student at the university or a guest lecturer or what, but would you get in trouble for telling them?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

OP has no actual proof of her shoplifting and she hasn't been charged with, much less convicted of, any crime. She shouldn't say anything to the college; it could jeopardize whatever case LP is building and get her in legal trouble.

As I said, the only thing she should do is notify LP if she sees her in the store.

[Enjis]

OP has no actual proof of her shoplifting and she hasn't been charged with, much less convicted of, any crime. She shouldn't say anything to the college; it could jeopardize whatever case LP is building and get her in legal trouble.

As I said, the only thing she should do is notify LP if she sees her in the store.

This. If LP knows she is in the store, they can both watch her on cameras and assign someone to watch her. The sad fact is that only what the LP agent sees counts in court. I was told this many times when I, too, knew deep down that someone was stealing. Many do get caught, eventually, but it takes manpower...which most depRtment stores are sadly lacking in these days.

[minkysmom]

when I say confront, I just want to go up to her and be like 'psst... stop returning stuff you stole' I wouldn't risk my job by yelling at her or chasing her or reporting her to the college that she is visiting. she will be on her merry way and I will be the one with no job. all I can do is tell lp when she is in the store so that they can actually see her conceal the merchandise and catch her.

[Dreamstalker]

Careful with saying anything to her; she might decide to accuse you of something (profiling, stalking, whatever).

I was always trained to approach them as being helpful ("oh, the system didn't pick that up, let me scan it for you, it's supposed to beep/go all the way down the belt").

[mjr]

This thread is a classic example of why the "please the customer no matter what" philosophy is severly flawed.