WWYHD

[cst2cst]

I took DD1 to the mall to do some Christmas shopping today. We went to a learning toy store where she picked out a gift for her little sister. We stood in line, paid, put the item in a reusable shopping bag I had with me and left. We were about two stores down from the toy store when I heard a man, an employee from the toy store, asking, "excuse me, do you have your receipt?" I was a little confused, thinking maybe I had forgotten it and checked and said yes. Then he said he needed to see it. Still confused, I showed it to him. I asked why he needed to see it and he said something about making sure it was paid for. Then it occurred to me that he thought I had stolen the item. I said, "you think I stole this." And he said something about people using reusable bags to take items without paying for them.

At this point, what would you have done? There is a chance I overreacted.

[sarahbear]

Well, that's ridiculous. I'd probably give him a dirty look and tell him to watch his store more closely so he's not accusing innocent customers of shoplifting. Then I might email corporate.

[hisno1girl]

Today, I would have told him to piss off.

If they thought I was stealing why wait until I'm a few stores away?

Any other day, I probably just would have shown him the receipt.

At one of the shops in Comerica Park where the Detroit Tigers play, everyone must show a receipt when leaving with merchandise.

[jinkies]

I would have carried on with my shopping. What else was there to do?

[cleo29]

I don't think I would have been upset. I can see how stores can be ripped off in this manner.

[oliviapope]

Well, I think it's really weird he confronted you at all because when I worked retail that was a huge no.

I probably would have just showed my receipt and gone about my day though. And if I couldn't find it, also go about my day.

I'm curious what your reaction was though.

[rosiebear]

It's not fun to be accused of stealing, but unless I felt unfairly targeted, I don't think I'd be mad at the guy doing his job.

ETA: After reflecting a minute I realize that i would not be mad and that I'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt because I am privileged enough to not be unfairly targeted.

[iheartbanjos]

The dude was just doing his job. I would not have taken issue.

[lilybug]

I would have showed the receipt... And said, well, I paid, have a nice day! What's the other option?

I'd assume they're supposed to check everyone with a non-store bag, and this person was falling down on their job or busy, so they had to chase you down to save face because someone else was watching them and you. I wouldn't take it personally.

[RoxMonster]

Did he look like he was with LP (often in plain clothes) or was he obviously a cashier/employee you saw out in the store? I'm just curious because I worked at several retail stores and a regular employee confronting/accusing anyone of shoplifting was a huge no-no, much less chasing someone down outside of our store. LP might do this if they actually watched someone pocket something and then leave the premises with it.

I honestly probably would have said something about it not being a great practice to go running after customers to ask for a receipt and then left it at that.

ETA: My issue would be more with the company's policy being to do this than this particular employee. I mean, it's putting the employee in a really awkward situation to chase down people and ask for receipts.

[sml0609]

I would've showed him my receipt, and then carried on. It wasn't personal. I'm sure he was told to check shoppers receipts on the way out if they used reusable bags. He probably missed you on the way out and without thinking approached you. I'm surprised he did because most stores I've worked at have a hands off /no questions policy. maybe if it was a smaller toy store without that kind of policy he was afraid he'd get in trouble for not asking. It wouldn't have offended me by any means, unless I guess he was really rude. Costco checks every receipt on the way out the door, and I'm there every week, so I guess I'm used to it.

[honeychai]

I've been stopped a few times leaving stores and asked to show a receipt.
I just show it, and carry on.

This is what these loss prevention specialists are paid to do.

[Deleted]

Personally, I would have been confused but would have let it go.

I think some of that is my white privilege though... I've never been suspected of stealing before so I'd assume it was a fluke. I imagine I'd feel differently if I had been targeted before due to my race, appearance, etc.

[sparkythelawyer]

Most stores have policies that do not allow employees to chase a customer outside of the store. Let alone down several stores. He could be fired for that. I would have been pissed. I would have wanted his name and the name of his manager. I would not have been pleasant.

[RoxMonster]

I would find this way less weird and even normal if you were still in the store or on your way out, kind of like how Sam's Club or WalMart will check your cart against your receipt on the way out. But I have never in my life been tracked down when outside of a store and walking around the mall to show my receipt from a previous store.

[miso]

My reaction would depend largely upon whether the guy had been doing this to other people, whether he was targeting only me, and/or my gut feelings re racial and/or class profiling if I was dressed somewhat shabbily.

Most of the time, it's benign in my case, and I wouldn't think much of it.

How did you react? And has this happened to you before?

This has happened to me in higher-end stores if I'm dressed like a slob. They don't think I belong.

[honeychai]

Oh wait, he followed you out of the store?!
Sorry, I didn't read as closely as I should have.
No- that's not cool.
I would have been tempted to go back and return what I purchased.

[yourmother]

So you were already out of the store and in another store? That would be upsetting to me. I don't know if this is a regional thing or what but these responses are puzzling to me. I would be calling a manager or corporate or something.

[cst2cst]

Yeah...well...I overreacted. I went back to the store and returned the item. I could get it cheaper online but chose to pay more because I wanted to support the store. I had been given the choice to take a store bag or use my own, and after the return the manager called the employee over, so I don't think it was policy. I didn't see anyone else get checked. I got pissed when he accused me of stealing in front of my four year old and I had to explain what was happening to her.

It was a store employee in uniform.

And the situation also made me think about my privilege as this is the first time this has happened to me and people don't generally think I steal based on how I look.

[yourmother]

I'm a POC so maybe that's why I'm taking this personally (projecting a bit). It would embarrass me if I were the only one being asked.

[sarahbear]

Dec 11, 2016 21:31:49 GMT -5 cst2cst said:

Yeah...well...I overreacted. I went back to the store and returned the item. I could get it cheaper online but chose to pay more because I wanted to support the store. I had been given the choice to take a store bag or use my own, and after the return the manager called the employee over, so I don't think it was policy. I didn't see anyone else get checked. I got pissed when he accused me of stealing in front of my four year old and I had to explain what was happening to her.

It was a store employee in uniform.

And the situation also made me think about my privilege as this is the first time this has happened to me and people don't generally think I steal based on how I look.

I don't see anything wrong with your reaction. You didn't throw a brick through the store window or something crazy like that.

[oliviapope]

I don't think that was an overreaction, a lot of my reaction would depend on the entire approach. I don't know his demeanor and I'm sure that contributed to the situation.

I do think he was wrong for following you out of the store, because that just wasn't something that was done in my retail days. We would actually be quizzed on this by our DM.

I don't think a call to corporate would be out of line either. They need to train their employees.

[TR]

I probably would have just gone on wth my business bc I'm non-confrontational by nature, but I don't think you overreacted at all.

[TR]

And yeah, when I worked retail, once the suspected shoplifter was out the door, that was it.

[yourmother]

Dec 11, 2016 21:31:49 GMT -5 cst2cst said:

Yeah...well...I overreacted. I went back to the store and returned the item. I could get it cheaper online but chose to pay more because I wanted to support the store. I had been given the choice to take a store bag or use my own, and after the return the manager called the employee over, so I don't think it was policy. I didn't see anyone else get checked. I got pissed when he accused me of stealing in front of my four year old and I had to explain what was happening to her.

It was a store employee in uniform.

And the situation also made me think about my privilege as this is the first time this has happened to me and people don't generally think I steal based on how I look.

Maybe I'll be flamed, but I have a lot of pride and I sure as shit don't blame you for doing what you did. 

[sml0609]

Okay, so now knowing that this person wasn't actually "assigned" to check personal bags, and didn't ask anyone else.. yeah I'd not be happy with that. I'm not very good at confrontation though, so I'd probably have just left. You going back isn't an overreaction at all, and hopefully the employee is appropriately dealt with.

[fernweh]

Dec 11, 2016 21:31:49 GMT -5 cst2cst said:

Yeah...well...I overreacted. I went back to the store and returned the item. I could get it cheaper online but chose to pay more because I wanted to support the store. I had been given the choice to take a store bag or use my own, and after the return the manager called the employee over, so I don't think it was policy. I didn't see anyone else get checked. I got pissed when he accused me of stealing in front of my four year old and I had to explain what was happening to her.

It was a store employee in uniform.

And the situation also made me think about my privilege as this is the first time this has happened to me and people don't generally think I steal based on how I look.

I don't think this was an overreaction at all. I worked in retail until recently and falsely accusing someone was a big no no. The policy was that you had to see where they put it and have eyes on them at all times. It was really discouraged for anyone that wasn't LP to approach even management.

[sewf]

I would have been annoyed that he chased after me out of the store. I get it, I work retail (in fact, I am in charge of ordering and merchandising for my store, and we specifially do not put reusable bags for sale on the sales floor to avoid situations like this), but it is on the employees to watch for these kinds of things IN THE STORE. AND, it is drilled into our heads over and over, that you DO NOT accuse anyone of stealing unless you have concrete evidence.

If he thought you had stolen something, he should have told his manager, and then been more vigilant in the future.

But I recognise my white privilege here, and can understand how a POC would feel targeted.

[lostrn]

Yeah, it's one thing to check receipts on the way out the door, another to follow you through the mall and stop you. At the point even if you had stolen something, a regular employee should not be stopping you. And if he noticed you putting an item in your bag, didn't he also notice you were at the cash register when you did that? I would have been annoyed at a minimum and most likely pissed off. I could just imagine my ds at 4 years old would make sure to spread the word that mom's stealing stuff from toy stores.

[ciescalove]

Dec 11, 2016 21:44:04 GMT -5 lostrn said:

Yeah, it's one thing to check receipts on the way out the door, another to follow you through the mall and stop you. At the point even if you had stolen something, a regular employee should not be stopping you. And if he noticed you putting an item in your bag, didn't he also notice you were at the cash register when you did that? I would have been annoyed at a minimum and most likely pissed off. I could just imagine my ds at 4 years old would make sure to spread the word that mom's stealing stuff from toy stores.

All of this, especially the bolded. No matter how many times I explain to my 4 year old that we paid for the item and were not stealing, when she retells the story (because she would retell the story) it will be "mommy stole a toy for my baby sister" to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen to her. Lol.