Where I come from, it's against the law to fiddle with unpaid merchandise.

[HALFHUMANHALFZOMBIE]

Also when I worked in family dollar it was very common for people to twist off the caps of coke bottles and take a swig.

Well one day this guy did that and well, guess what? When I went to scan it, I accidentally dropped the damn thing. It was all shook up and he had already drank out of it. He was stuck with it. I swear it wasn't on purpose and I was really embarassed. But had he not drank out of it, I would've given him another one.

Lol I did that with reeses peices and every one of them fell on the floor.

I've done this once myself. I was pregnant at the time, and while grocery shopping with Hubby suddenly felt dizzy and light-headed (low blood sugar). So I hurried to the deli, got some of their barbecue chicken nuggets (sold by weight, but they print a barcode sticker right there), and ate that. I made sure to keep track of the bag so we could pay for the chicken when we checked out. And I would never eat food that needs to be weight at the registers. I've been a cashier often enough to know that.

The customer that ticked me off most in this regard (aside from all the ones who hand me banana peels or half-eaten apples) was the lady who was buying gift cards for Christmas last year. She'd grabbed a few of the gift card holders too, which at the time were all about $2 or so (this was right before our Wal-Mart got some of the free envelopes you can put gift cards in). She'd already written salutations in two of them when she got to the register, and seemed highly irritated to be told that the card holders cost money (since they're apparently free everywhere else, despite being fancy greeting cards with gift card slots in them). She didn't want them, and since it was a busy day and there was a line, I didn't have the presence of mind to press the issue that she'd already written in them and rendered them unsellable to other customers. Argh.

I handle situations the same way no matter how busy it gets. Once I'm on the till I don't care what situations I've come across. I've had problems in which I did handle the situation differently but for this one I can paige management and security for someone who refuses to pay with something they have written one.

[Nekojin]

My take on it: If the customer is in clear sight of store employees (not like the "I knew you were watching" brat in the OP), and is heading toward the registers, AND has something that can be easily handled (soda bottles), it's no harm, no foul.

If it's something that could present a problem being scanned in an open state, like a bag of chips or a can of soda, it's no dice - wait until you pay for it.

And yes, I've drunk entire bottles of soda while waiting in line before, on extremely hot days. If management wants to make an issue of it, I'll give 'em a deposit until I can be rung up. Dehydration waits for no man.

[greensinestro]

Here is my take on this as well: If you open a can of soda, water, etc, while shopping, I do not see the problem as long as you keep the can or bottle with you at all times. It's the customers that drink the entire contents and then attempt to dump it in the trash can without being seen. As for people who open a bag of potato chips, or a bag of cookies, or those that "taste test" 18 grapes, there is no real reason I can think of for doing this. Everyone has to eat, but it's not a matter of life and death while shopping. On the other hand, if you are dying of thirst on those hot days, I can understand opening a drink - as long as you pay for it.

But people who open cards, sign them, seal them up, and don't pay for them first, that is just uncalled for.