Terrible Parents

[Moosenogger]

I work in an airport, so I get customers of all kinds. One night, there was a family of about 3 kids and 4 adults standing outside our store. I was busy stocking, so I didn't see the kids come in, but I noticed them suddenly running around the store with 3 medium sized plush dolls (priced at $19.95 each). The dolls all still had their tags attached, so I immediately assumed that the kids had just picked them out of the fixture and were carrying them around.

I watched the kids for awhile, and eventually they left the store, toys in hand. A bit shocked, I watched to see if the adults sent them back to replace the toys. However, none of the adults said or did anything. The kids continued to come in and out of the store, still holding all three plush. Since I was almost certain the dolls hadn't been paid for, I had a coworker keep an eye on the kids to make sure they didn't make off with anything else.

The family eventually left, and yes, the kids left with all three plush. :/ Assuming they didn't come into the store with them (seriously, what kid leaves the tags on their new toys?), the parents basically let the kids steal $60 worth of merchandise without blinking.

[Teefies2]

I'm wondering why you didn't confront the parents? Are you not allowed to do so?

Still in all, that sucks

[NotAlBundy]

At my store, we have to follow 5 specific steps before we can attempt to apprehend a shoplifter (to limit lawsuits). OP might have same issue at their work. However, the moment I see someone attempt to conceal something (step 3) I just flat out say, "Hey, I can hold that up front for you" without accusing them of stealing.

Here, I am guessing you could have said something like "Oh, would you like me to cut those tags off after I ring them up? That way everyone will know you paid for them."

[Cosmart Security]

Hahaha Palease, confronting anybody, about anything now days, can earn you a big fat pink slip, i remember some kid, i think it was as a larger Supermarket, got fired, because he stopped a guy from beating his wife in the store, and if i am not mistaken, if it wasn't for public outcry, the guy would have remained unemployed.

Also not to mention if you do make a suggestion, or confront anybody, you are either a Racist, harassing them, violating some special right or opening yourself up to all kinds of a liability that neither the company or your supervisor will back you up on, short of being sworn under oath.

[Moosenogger]

I'm wondering why you didn't confront the parents? Are you not allowed to do so?

Still in all, that sucks

We have to be very careful about reporting people. We do have police very close by, but if we call them and they don't find anything on the person (i.e. the person discarded it somewhere), then the store is open for a lawsuit. The person has to be caught red-handed by the police in order to be liable.

Since I wasn't 100% sure if the kids had brought the toys in, I didn't say anything. (Plus they didn't spend very long in the store at one time - they kept coming in and out.)

[Gizmo]

because he stopped a guy from being his wife.

Serious subject so I won't take that error where my brain wants to.

I've seen a friend in the UK get hurt due to tripping (pure accident - no store safety issue and no employee being an idiot either) whilst trailing a shoplifter and got fired for trying to apprehend the guy.

We even watched a video training in the supermarket entitled "Its just not worth it" saying to let them get away with it (and also covering hold up situations but I really can't remember what we were supposed to do with those now). I was in that supermarket again tonight and the guards wouldn't even approach a customer who had a problem tag and kept setting the barrier off - the customer was actually waiting there trying to find them to sort it out and the guards were totally uninterested.

[Opalin]

Urgh. That was something that came up in the rules when I worked back at GameStore. We weren't supposed to defend ourselves or protest if someone came in to rob the store, but they still yelled at us if we were missing product.

[BrenDAnn]

Same at the C-store. Someone comes in to rob the place, let them have what they want. A soon to be ex CW worked at a...Mart of Walls...in Texas, I think, and she says they told her i they were robbed, the cashier was supposed to pretend to faint. I don't know how true or even useful that is though!

[NoMoreRetail]

When I worked in retail we also had to follow a 6 step process before would could apprehend anyone. Unfortunately they would always get us in the fitting room, the one place we couldn't watch them. During my last week as a store manager, the district manager was visiting my store. We had three girls get us in the fitting room. The fitting room attendant knew how many items had gone into the fitting room and none of them had come back out. Since it happened in the fitting room technically we couldn't do anything about it. I was so pissed off, that I went to my DM and said "this is one of the reasons why I am leaving this company! You want me to keep my shrink down and stop shoplifters and here I have 3 girls who I know stole stuff but because they did it behind a closed curtain we can't do a damn thing about it!" At the point my DM, who was upset that I was leaving the company, said "I am tired of it too!" She grabbed one of the management trainees and followed the girls out into the mall. Security joined in and the girls were cornered in the bathroom. My DM yelled through the doors that she was calling the police. They eventually dropped all of the stuff, some of it being shoved into the toilet and trash can and they were let go. Unfortunately most of the items had to be damaged out, about a 100 bucks worth of stuff, but at least we could write that stuff off. I really wish that we could have pressed charges but with the laws being what they are we wouldn't have stood a chance. At least those girls were scared shitless that day and maybe just maybe they learned a lesson...but I highly doubt it.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Where I work, we are discouraged from confronting shoplifters, but not cuz of lawsuits. It's cuz of our own safety; I was told this when I started working there that a cashier had apprehended a shoplifter who had then drawn a knife and stabbed her. She didn't die, but obviously it's not something you want to risk. If we see someone thieving, we're meant to press the panic button to summon security.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

If we see someone thieving, we're meant to press the panic button to summon security.

And let me guess: when seconds count, security is minutes away amirite?

[Lace Neil Singer]

How did you guess? XD

Back when the new panic buttons at the petrol station were installed, they kept on going off by themselves for a while. The average response time for security on hearing the panic buttons was two hours.



To put it bluntly, had we been actually physically attacked by a crazed SC, we could have been dead by the time they pulled their fingers out and came over.

[Merriweather]

When I worked in retail we also had to follow a 6 step process before would could apprehend anyone. Unfortunately they would always get us in the fitting room, the one place we couldn't watch them. During my last week as a store manager, the district manager was visiting my store. We had three girls get us in the fitting room. The fitting room attendant knew how many items had gone into the fitting room and none of them had come back out. Since it happened in the fitting room technically we couldn't do anything about it.

Logic would make you thnk that if an employee counts the items they take in and give them a tag with that number on it (as so many dressing rooms do), then if they come out with less than the number on the tag, security could be called. Seems like logic has so little to do with anything these days.

[fish3k1]

Logic would make you thnk that if an employee counts the items they take in and give them a tag with that number on it (as so many dressing rooms do), then if they come out with less than the number on the tag, security could be called. Seems like logic has so little to do with anything these days.

Indeed. You have to wonder what the point of the system is if you can't do anything about it anyway. I don't really believe 'deterrents' work. In the retail store where I work, many items are 'secured' by a small plastic tag that fits through the part of the item's packaging where you'd hang it from a peg. Bear in mind, many of these items are packages in cardboard, and can literally be opened and have the item removed without even having to go near the 'security' tag.

[AccountingDrone]

I bought a cassette tape back in 1990 or so, and the clerk was an asshole about me not wanting her to swipe it on the magnetic degausss thingy to inactivate the electronic tag. I had to force her to get a manager and gently explain to them exactly WHY that was a bad idea with an audio cassette issued on *magnetic tape recording media*