DogFood Dogdeball

[Teks]

First time poster, can't wait to share this one.

Me: Safeway Cashier, 10:30 PM, 30 mins before closing.
CW: Manager
CW2: Courtesy Clerk
SC: Half Drunk Trucker looking dude

It was half an hour from closing, so I get over the intercom and say "Attention customers, we will be closing in 30 minutes."

There's only about 5 people in the store, and one comes up (SC) with a few 12 packs of soda, a medium sized bag of dogfood (I'd say a 15 pounder) and starts to unload his groceries onto the conveyor belt.

All goes smoothly, I say hello and he says hello and smiles back at me. Midnight shift customers are always the best ones, except for today. When I ring up the dogfood he points out that the price is wrong. I tell him to put in his Safeway card number and he does so, but the price doesn't go down. He starts to look infuriated, so I get my bagger to go check on the price, because prices being mixed up is not uncommon at my store.

So I continue with the order, then he points out that the soda should be buy 1 get 2 free. Which is not an uncommon deal in safeways lately, so I get my manager to check that price. My bagger gets back and tells me that the dogfood under it is on sale, not the brand he was talking about. As soon as he tells me, my manager gets back and says the sale is for Coke products, not Pepsi.

SC lost it. He picked up the dogfood and chucked it at my manager, my manager ducks out of the way and it misses, smashing against another checkstand, spilling kibbles and bits all over. He picked up a 12 pack and was about to chuck it at my bagger, who is a 16 year old girl. I was not going to have that, and neither was the cop who just entered the store. We both manage to take him down before he threw it at her, and he was arrested for assault with a weapon, and drunk in public. Woot!

But yeah, my store is located right next to about 4 bars and a night club or two. So drunks are common, which is also why cops like to stop in every night around 10 PM. I think this story is worth posting simply because an SC got put away for a long time, and he can no longer be an SC to anyone.

Anyone else have stories involving cops needed? I have a few more.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Actually, not too long ago, we had a kid driving a probably stolen car wipe out someplace near the swamp.

He ran into the store and hid in either the bathroom or the fitting room and called his friends to demand a change of clothes.

They brought him new clothes, he put them on, and tried to make his getaway. Meanwhile the police had the store surrounded with a couple K-9 units to boot, and caught him easily.

Other than that, nothing I can remember right now outside of garden-variety shoplifting cases.

[KorporateKitty]

Oh my...that is quite a dramatic story! He must have been quite trashed...I can't believe he'd attempt to throw cans at a 16 year old girl. What a douchebag, sounds like the cop came to the rescue just in time.

BTW welcome to CS!

[Salted Grump]

Actually, in my (admittedly limited) experience, the ones you have to watch out for are the ones that you know have been drinking, but don't have a full-on 'Buzz'.

At that point, they're still coordinated enough to Aim,but without the inhibition of common sense that says 'hey, it's a bad idea to chuck a 12-pack of soda pop at someone's head'

[fireheart]

We don't get cops in THAT fashion, but because most of the guys at work are strong enough to take down a shoplifter fairly easily, they become our security team. You know when there are shoplifters making a dash for it by the ribbon of uniforms trailing out the door. The cops only come in when we arrest them

[LillFilly]

I had to chase a guy once for the police, but we didn't get him and he was arrested when he came back later! Mostly, I've broken-up arguments; haven't had anyone take a swing at me yet.

My coworker was at an incident where the police had been called for an unruly subject. The kid had been asked to leave several times for innapropriate conduct and language and refused; he was acting...off. When the police came and started talking to him the kid FLIPPED OUT! I think he tried to swing at the police officer and they started grappling, but began falling towards a large plate glass window. The police officer pushed the kid away so he wouldn't go through the glass and the kid took-off running...right into the arms of my coworker who wrapped him in a bear hug and fell to the ground with him. The police officer sprayed the kid with pepper spray (soaking my coworker, who luckily for him is almost immune to the stuff) and began handcuffing him. At that point the kid began crying for someone to call his mom and threw his cell phone into the crowd.

It's just so stupid that the kid let the situation go that far, if he'd just watched his language when we'd told him to!

But yeah, throwing stuff at employees is completely not acceptable; no mercy there! Glad the guy missed!

[Teks]

That reminds me of a very recent story.

Get this, recently there has been a guy who just fills up his cart and leaves the store with a cart full of groceries. We aren't allowed to stop him, and the cops are always way too slow to respond to get him. After about a month of this guy coming in every few days and stealing a hundred dollars worth of groceries every time, my manager decides enough is enough, and he chases the guy.

Sadly, he catches the guy and grapples him to the ground. I say "sadly" because this is Safeway. And here at Safeway, we carry a "proud" tradition of putting the customer first, even if they are a petty thief ( I hope my sarcasm is detected ). The guy claimed he had sustained injuries when he was grappled, and is trying to sue.

My manager got called to corporate HQ one day, and we never saw him again. I put in my two weeks yesterday because of it. I don't like the fact that if I ever needed to defend myself I might get shit-canned and sued.

[Andara Bledin]

I was not going to have that, and neither was the cop who just entered the store. We both manage to take him down before he threw it at her, and he was arrested for assault with a weapon, and drunk in public. Woot!

Who says there's never a cop around when you need one?

^-.-^

[Kali]

drunk in public

DRUNK IN PUB-LICK!

[protege]

I haven't seen such spectacular pwnage...but I've read about it.

Locally, we had some idiot get shot for refusing to leave a certain gas station...which rhymes with Eetz. Seems he was down there with his buddies, loitering on the sidewalk. When asked to leave, most of them did. Except for this guy, who probably had "one dozen too many." He started getting loud, the cops were called, etc. They came, told him to leave, he refused, and then took a swing at an officer As he was being cuffed, he not only had a knife, but reached for one of their weapons. The female officer drew it, and shot him Didn't kill him though. IIRC the officer did get into trouble, but because of the video footage, it was later dropped.

[XCashier]

SC lost it. He picked up the dogfood and chucked it at my manager, my manager ducks out of the way and it misses, smashing against another checkstand, spilling kibbles and bits all over. He picked up a 12 pack and was about to chuck it at my bagger, who is a 16 year old girl. I was not going to have that, and neither was the cop who just entered the store. We both manage to take him down before he threw it at her, and he was arrested for assault with a weapon, and drunk in public. Woot!

Glad the cop was there! While I'm sure you could've held your own against this jerk, it's always good to have backup, especially a police officer. And now this SC gets to spend a lot of time thinking about what he did and why it was Not A Good Idea.

My manager got called to corporate HQ one day, and we never saw him again. I put in my two weeks yesterday because of it. I don't like the fact that if I ever needed to defend myself I might get shit-canned and sued.

That really, really sucks. It's unfortunate that Safeway is willing to endanger their employees for the Almighty Dollar.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

That reminds me of a very recent story.

Get this, recently there has been a guy who just fills up his cart and leaves the store with a cart full of groceries. We aren't allowed to stop him, and the cops are always way too slow to respond to get him. After about a month of this guy coming in every few days and stealing a hundred dollars worth of groceries every time, my manager decides enough is enough, and he chases the guy.

Sadly, he catches the guy and grapples him to the ground. I say "sadly" because this is Safeway. And here at Safeway, we carry a "proud" tradition of putting the customer first, even if they are a petty thief ( I hope my sarcasm is detected ). The guy claimed he had sustained injuries when he was grappled, and is trying to sue.

My manager got called to corporate HQ one day, and we never saw him again. I put in my two weeks yesterday because of it. I don't like the fact that if I ever needed to defend myself I might get shit-canned and sued.

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Safeway here, but I'm wondering if the firing was due to loss prevention procedures not being followed.

Generally LP and any other people authorized to pursue and detain shoplifters have to make damn sure somebody conceals something and still has it on them as they move throughout the store and then pass all points of sale without trying to pay for it. Meaning you have to be watching them at all times after concealment--if you lose them you can't make the stop.

Plus they'd much rather let a shoplifter go and have somebody get a license plate number instead of having somebody fight the shoplifter into submission. More possibility of injuries to the detainee or the detainer that way.

TL;DR version: The manager's firing may not be because corporate wants to make a point about customer service. It could be because he played fast and loose with policies that limit the company's liability.

[tropicsgoddess]

Damn! Chucking a 15lb bag of dog chow and a soda at employees over not having them on sale? What an ass. Glad he's in the clink!

[Nohbody]

It's unfortunate that Safeway is willing to endanger their employees for the Almighty Dollar.

That's hardly unique to Safeway. Pretty much any national chain of any kind has policies like that. People can and have been fired over it, even if the other option was getting seriously injured or killed.

(Mind you, depending on the specific circumstances sometimes "don't act" is the best policy. I know I wasn't inclined to go vaulting over the counter at the guy holding a .22 on me, when I was working at a gas station he probably robbed to feed a crack habit [guess from his shakes, general appearance, and the cheap-ass "Saturday Night Special" that might have been as much a danger to him as to me]. )

[SailorMan]

Actually, in my (admittedly limited) experience, the ones you have to watch out for are the ones that you know have been drinking, but don't have a full-on 'Buzz'.

At that point, they're still coordinated enough to Aim,but without the inhibition of common sense that says 'hey, it's a bad idea to chuck a 12-pack of soda pop at someone's head'

Something I just read, somewhere: "Yes, drinking does kill brain cells. And, in my experience, they are the brain cells that are in control of good judgement, your sense of shame, and your modesty."