Last night I was shopping at CVS. A kid around 17 or 18 was walking towards me with batteries, pills, and something else (I couldn't tell what) in his hand. As soon as he was directly in front of me (I am guessing I was in the way of the camera) he looked me in the eye and slipped the items down his sleeve and walked out the front door.
I immediately went up to the man who was manning the self-checkout kiosks and told him. However, when I told my friend this story at dinner last night he told me that it was just the cost of business and even though it was wrong of the kid he wouldn't have said anything. He also said it depended on how the kid looked. Thoughts?
Post by yellowbrkrd on Oct 2, 2012 14:52:30 GMT -5
I once watched someone stealing DVDs at a big chain store. When I told the workers at the front, they told me "thanks, but we can't do anything about it". I guess it's against policy for them to pursue anyone, probably because of liability?
ETA: Obviously I did say something and would if I saw it again. I was sharing my experience.
Yes, I would. And while it's true that many places can't stop a person, there are other things they can do to minimize the risk. Basic customer service is enough to make most casual shoplifters drop the stuff and leave.
I would have told. But it's also true that they can't do anything in many instances, whether because of liability issues (usually the primary reason) or because of state law (if they don't take it past the door it's not yet theft). But if they're not made aware, they can't change procedures or protect their assets. And shrinkage does affect the consumer by driving the prices up to make up for losses by theft.
I once watched someone stealing DVDs at a big chain store. When I told the workers at the front, they told me "thanks, but we can't do anything about it". I guess it's against policy for them to pursue anyone, probably because of liability?
ETA: Obviously I did say something and would if I saw it again. I was sharing my experience.
When I worked in the pharmacy at CVS and PathMark, it was against policy for employees to go after theft, but not for the manager. We had to report it to the manager who then would get security (if the store had one). Most of the time, it was too late. They’d be gone.
You should definitely still report it. Even if they can’t stop the theft at the moment, it alerts them to what items are being stolen often & that perhaps they should move the items or secure them in a different way.
The man told someone else but nobody left the store to go after him. It looked like they were on the phone. I'm not really sure.
I was totally judging my friend too!
I'm pretty sure that once they leave the store, there isn't anything the store can do. I vaguely remember this from my days working retail in high school that the store could get in trouble for going after him... I think? I could be wrong.
There may be different laws in different states. In my store, they definitely went after people outside. They’d often catch them in the parking lot since it wasn’t close to any road. Stupid people forget the cart wheels lock up past a certain point!
One time, the manager ran after him & the two crashed into a chain link fence. A glass bottle in the cart broke & the manager came back with cuts on his legs & hands. It was a mess. No way worth it.
I wasn't really sure what this meant either. This friend is an immigrant and grew up in the inner-city. I think he is probably sympathetic to kids from situations similar to his.
I would have said something too. But when I worked at a mall store back in the day, we weren't allowed to approach someone about shoplifting unless we had seen them do it. The only thing we could do was call mall security and they would follow the kid, and if they pulled out their stolen item, the security guard could approach them about it. But we always appreciated when customers would say something; at least someone in that situation had some morals.
When DH was working retail, a guy came in and stole a cell phone. One of his employees was by the doorway helping another customer. The thief tried to run out the door but the kid was in the way, so he hit the kid in the face so he could get out of the store. The poor kid didn't even do anything but when the regional manager looked at the tape, it looked like he was trying to stop it and that's against company policy. So he was fired.
if not it would be b/c i don't want to get involved in possible violence, etc.. if my kids were with me i wouldn't take the risk for sure - that they'd chase the guy, he'd freak and pull a gun or something- just not worth the risk.
I would say something. I work at a grocery store and theft causes affects everyone's bottom line. When a product is stolen we lose it's counted as shrink which takes hours away from the employees of the department that the item was stolen from.
They might not be able to chase him, but sometimes just saying "hey, whats in your sweater?" is enough to make the person put it back. No stealing. Who cares if they get caught/go to jail? Just stop the activity and save the product.
I would have told. I have no patience nor filter now (while pregnant) so I probably would have said something to the kid right there. What a little shit to feel so brazen as to do it while looking straight at you.
A kid looked at me while I was working in the store and then put his finger to his lips "shhh" while he put a chocolate bar in his coat. I looked back at him and laughed and then said "hell no!"
Rikki- did you live here a few years ago when that Longwood CVS worker was stabbed to death? He chased a guy who stole toothpaste or mouthwash (something insignificant) and the guy stabbed him outside the store and fled. The worker was 19-20 years old.
I think he thought he was doing the right thing, but stores have policies in place regarding shoplifting. As much as it sucks, I dont think there is much they actually do other than filing a report for theft of small items.
I would probably tell someone, but not confront the thief myself. Especially is it was my regular CVS.
Post by phunluvin82 on Oct 3, 2012 10:17:43 GMT -5
I would say something. To me, what they (the store employees) are or are not able to do about it due to policies, legalities, etc...is beside the point. Like some PP mentioned, just b/c they probably won't chase the person down, doesn't mean they aren't going to do anything and it was useless to even mention it. They can pull his image and let employees know to keep an eye out if he comes in again. They can re-position certain products and/or their security cameras, etc.
What they do about it is up to them, but I'm not going to NOT say anything out of an assumption that they aren't going to do anything about it anyway.