Shoplifting

[MyGoofy26]

Thank goodness this isn't the policy at all stores. It doesn't even make sense. And isn't that why they have security cameras? So they can catch shoplifters?

I've only worked in a couple stores over the years that had cameras. The cameras don't catch everything so security has to be alerted so someone can watch the person without losing sight. So either someone physically goes and watches discreetly, or if the cameras move they point the camera at the thief and follow them. . . sometimes a combination of both.

 

[imadisneyholic]

I don't understand why the sales person didn't do anything about it if she knew the person shoplifted.

I use to work at a pharmacy/store and unless the rules have changed we were told under no circumstance were we to follow the person out of the store to confront them. It could put us in a very dangerous situation and I think the store was more concerned about that then whatever the person was stealing. We were told to alert a manager but as far as I know they too could not confront the person.

We had one situation where this thief kept coming back for the same thing. We finally got the ok to call the cops the moment she walked in the door.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Yep - everytime I've worked retail, you can't just go up to someone and accuse them of shoplifting. If you notice someone suspicious, they always say to get a manager or alert security so they can watch and then act, but if a regular associate does something improperly or falsely accuses someone, the potential loss is a lot less than potential litigation.

Oh, I absolutely understand this. It just seemed like the sales person in the OP did absolutely nothing. Maybe she did alert someone and we just didn't hear about it. That's what I was curious about. So, it's not as if sales people can't do anything. They just can't deal with it directly.

 

[Tazicket]

Exactly.. as stupid as it sounds. I could tell loss prevention or a manager, but unless they had seen them take the item and had them in their sight the whole time, they couldn't detain them. When I worked in retail, I was a customer service rep. I couldn't confront anyone about what I saw them take, I could just give them amazing customer service and hope they got spooked. I worked retail in 4 places and it was the same policy in every store.

I use to work at a pharmacy/store and unless the rules have changed we were told under no circumstance were we to follow the person out of the store to confront them. It could put us in a very dangerous situation and I think the store was more concerned about that then whatever the person was stealing. We were told to alert a manager but as far as I know they too could not confront the person.

We had one situation where this thief kept coming back for the same thing. We finally got the ok to call the cops the moment she walked in the door.

Yep - I used to work retail at a college book store. We had theives in there from time to time. We, as non-management employees, were not allowed to confront them. When we saw one of them come in, we'd alert management and they would keep an eye on the person. If they saw the person slip a book under their shirt (or into their pants ), then they could say something to them. Otherwise, we were instructed to just let them leave the store. It was corporate's preference that we not try to stop the shoplifters.

 

[Carys]

I think shoplifting shows a willingness in our society to only care if it affects ourselves. So many people don't see shoplifting as "real" theft, or a big deal, because it's supposedly victimless (which it is not). Having worked retail I can say they come from all walks of life, and the vast majority of the time they're not doing it because they're at their wits end to put food on their family table.

What really burns me is when I hear someone say that a shop deserves to be shoplifted because of "poor" customer service. That can be a symptom of thinking that everything is about them, and someone should pay if it's not. Frustration is not an excuse to turn criminal. (Not that I think poor customer service is ok!!)

We were trained to look for potential shoplifter type behaviors. We laughed when we were shown in practice because they looked so silly, or alternatively because we thought the trainer was the overly paranoid type. It's definately no laughing matter when you see someone try it for real. That's when you have to gird your loins and be as brazen as them.

We were trained to take the overly-helpful-friendly-I-saw-you-stuff-that-down-your-front-and-I'm-gonna-let-you-know-I-know-it-"oh, are you sure you weren't looking at the size 8 tangelo sunbreeze sweater just now? That's a personal favorite of mine too! You should definately try it on, but try it in green too because it would go with X better" salesperson route to them to give up the goods. If that didn't work and if it was caught on camera (sometimes people in the way blocked the view) once they left the store we'd call security who'd trail them in the mall, and activate the phone tree to alert the stores of the shoplifter. The best defence against shoplifting, aside from employee vigilance and security cameras, was keeping the store spotlessly tidy and "walking the floor" each morning to get familiar with stock levels.