We didn't know.....

[momo]

I think I posted this once before a long time ago, but I got to thinking back on it so here it is again. I used to work for a video rental chain that's pretty much dominated the industry for a while now (rhymes with Blockbuster). Anyway, I was working a 9-5 shift one day with my SM and ASM. They were doing their managers thing and I was on register. I had a line maybe 2 or 3 deep when this young girl goes through the sensors and sets them off. I calmly say "Ma'am" implying that she needs to step back through. Not this one, she just keeps on walking. I say it again this time a little more strongly, no dice. I follow her out the door and say flat out "Ma'am, come back in the store right now." Again, she just keeps right on walking to what would later turn out to be her friends car and gets in the back seat. I stay right behind her and go to the back of the car and write down the plate number and head back to the door. As I'm walking in her two friends are walking out. One of them has the nerve to say to me "Oh no, you are not writing my plate number down." I tell her "Too late, I already got it." "You need to tell your friend to come back inside now." As I am walking in I see my ASM already on the phone with the cops. I go back to my register and apologize to the lady I had been helping and send her on her way. While we're waiting for the cops to come we're looking at the two girls talking to the other girl in the car when she drops her purse and out spills close to thirty DVD's she took out of the cases. Cops get there and they bring the girls back inside and the SM decides to let them off with a warning and bans them from the store. So the cops are talking to the one girl while her "friends" were saying "We didn't know she was going to do that." Now some time during the lecture the other two girls slip away and go back down the isles. I didn't think much of this at the time, thought maybe they were just waiting for them to finish up. They finally do and they send the girls on their way. Not too long after the cops leave I'm thinking that something wasn't right with those other two just walking around like that. So I go to where they were and I find close to sixty more DVD's they had dumped so as to not get caught. Now the real kick in the ass about that was the girls called the store on their way home and thanked us for not throwing the book at them. Go figure.

[Canarr]

Damn. Talk about being greedy...

So, you have the DVDs out on the floor in the US? Here, all you get is the cases, and the DVDs are behind the counter.

[Crafty1289]

Did they really think they would get out of the store undetected? How old were they?

Here, we have the master dvd case on the shelf (with the pictures/description) with the blank "take me to the counter to rent/buy" cases behind, all the actual disks are in the cabinets behind the counter. The DVDs are put in the blank cases when you get to the counter.

[pbmods]

Your shallow gratitude is *not* appreciated.

They called to thank you for not pressing charges? Oh how nice.

They didn't put the DVDs that they tried to steal away? Oh, **** that. Is it too late to bust their asses?

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

We used to have at the Blockbuster chains, DVD cases that locked. Nowadays they've stopped using them and yes, the DVD's are in cases on the shelf.

My question is that since you can't put the security tab on the DVD itself (as far as I know), what set off the sensors?

Mongo

[blas]

Even though it might take a bit more time and effort, I can't see why the DVDs can't be all behind the counter, or anywhere out of a customer's reach.

Would you rather have more work or more stolen DVDs/games?

I think every video rental place should do it that way now.

[momo]

This happened about four years ago when they still had generic cases behind a picture coverbox. Now, I've noticed they switched to the covers on all of the cases. They still have locking strips the put in the cases but there are still many ways around them. As for setting off the sensor, this was not too long after they stopped putting tags directly to the discs so there were still a few of them that had them on there. I had also told them many time that keeping them behind the counter was the way to go but for them it would have been too much trouble. Even thought it would cut down on shrink they just didn't care enough.

[Canarr]

It's always been that way in Germany, as long as I can rememer; even the old VHS tapes were always behind the counter. You picked out a movie in the store, took the little plastic part with its number on up to the counter, they'd pick out the tape (or, later, DVD) to go with it - and presto.

I've never seen a rental store NOT stow their movies behind the counter. Especially now with DVDs, you need hardly any room at all!

[ChanceNCinny]

All the video stores in my area have the DVD's in cases on the shelf. But the DVD cases have this locking bar thing on them the only way to open them is to get the store to remove the bar. I have gotten one home with the bar still in (some how they forgot to take it out). We tried everything to get that thing out and open it short of breaking the case. Ended up having to take it back to the store to have them remove it.

[rdp78]

Wow, they must have some very big purses if they fit the many DVDs in them and no one noticing that. Anyway how stores keep there DVDs is just really depends on what kind store it is and if it's a rental. Like discounts stores sell their DVDs with no lock and they are easy for anyone to get to but they don't have a lot anyway. Now video rental stores do have DVDs on sell (usely prevouisly view) with no sercuity lock and all the rental cases are empty. For intance if it's store like Warehouse or Best Buy where they do have bigger selection of DVDs then discount stores but they don't rent I think they have some kind of sercuity lock but I'm not sure. I also go into some smaller, privately own stores that do DVD rentals but they also sell too and all of their DVDs are behind the counter.

[Kogarashi]

The Price Chopper in my home town rents out movies, and even back when VHS was prevalent they kept the movies behind the counter. I've been to one Blockbuster that had the movies on the shelf, but they had the lock strips; every other one shelved empty cases. I think even the video game store I frequented in Utah kept a lot of the high-popularity used and new games in a locked cabinet and shelved just the empty cases (when they weren't shrink-wrapped).

Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. usually rely on the shrink wrap and security stickers to delay shoplifters enough to minimize shrink. You either waste time trying to get into the DVD case and risk getting caught, or you run out of the store and set off the alarms.

[Imogene]

Just remembered this bunch of morons.
The setting? Chesterfield, the night, don't remember, the scene, myself and the Nice AM working the floor, dead slow, so, we're busily straightening stuff.

In walks a group of five morons. One of them catches AM in the Comedy section, asks for Beavis and Butthead Do America. AM looks, finds none, offers to order it. Guy says sure, they go up to the counter to order it. The other four wander a while.
Guy gets his order slip, and rejoins the rest. They walk out, and set off the alarms. Now, the only one who'd bought anything was the guy with the order, and paper doesn't set off our alarms. AM and I both beeline for the door, as they're standing between the sensors, still setting it off!
Usual questions of "Do you have a cell phone? Pager? Items from other stores?"
Guys just have blank expressions on their face, still in the sensors... One guy suddenly breaks away from the group and walks to the back of the store, AM follows him, and I'm left to watch the rest of the group, who are no longer setting off the alarm. So I let them know, while we're waiting for their bud to return, "None of you are welcome to set foot in the store again. If you do, we will happily ring the police and have you arrested for trespassing."

Bud and AM return to the group, they walk out, no ringing... Hmmm... now I know I heard the AM telling the Bud that he couldn't just replace the movie and assume all was okay...
Group leaves, AM and I wander to the back of the store to look for the out of place DVD. No big deal finding it, it was the porn in the discount DVDs, no needle in the haystack here.
While we're busy looking, Guy 1, who ordered the Beavis & Butthead, comes back in the store, and asks if he's barred from the store to get his movie?
AM says No, you can come get that when it comes in, but after that, we never want to see your face.

Guy leaves.

A few weeks later, I call to let him know his movie is in.

And in it stayed until the store closed. Yup, he never came in to get it. He knew his friend was gonna try to steal, and was just distracting us.