So, is this stealing?

[here757]

My first thought: the customer was a stereotypical "People of Walmart."

At a Walmart in Florida this past week, I noticed a woman letting her kids eat the grapes from a package. I'm pretty sure they were sold by the pound, so yes, I consider that stealing. The strawberries in the above example? Tacky, but not necessarily stealing.

By the way, this was Sunday May 1 at about 1130pm. The place was packed, many people with small kids. Shouldn't they be asleep at that hour? DH pointed out that it was most likely the day EBT cards were refilled.

Learned this first handed one month... One kid gets in line at 11pm.. Rest of the group splits up and gathers stuff and meets back... Speechless

 

[RedAngie]

Learned this first handed one month... One kid gets in line at 11pm.. Rest of the group splits up and gathers stuff and meets back... Speechless

Luckily, this Super Walmart near Ft.Myers had about 8 or 10 self check-outs, with an orderly queue and an employee directing traffic to the next available one. Even with about 20 people in the queue, the line moved quickly. But, OMG, the regular checkouts. . Maybe 4 or 5 were open, and each seemed to have about 10 customers with full carts, extending into the women's clothing area.

Now I know what people are complaining about when they say Walmart doesn't open enough registers. I always thought those stories were exaggerations. My local non-super Walmart usually has enough registers open whenever I visit. Sometimes, a cashier or two are even standing out in front of the checkouts waiting for customers.

 

[tarheel618]

based on your description of events- Yes I would considering it stealing.

 

[justgrace]

I think we can all agree that some weird stuff goes down at Walmart. Just a couple days ago, there was an open container of muffins from the bakery that someone left on a display table that only had two muffins left (because someone either stole or ate the other 8 or so muffins that came in the package). I've also seen people go to the deli and get cooked chicken and eat the chicken while their shopping. Most then proceed to leave the empty container in the store somewhere. Makes me mad when people pull this kind of stuff, because it brings prices up for everyone else.

To the OP, that's definitely stealing.

Also, IMHO - it's in poor form to open up packages of fruit (strawberries, etc) and pick out the bad ones and replace them with good ones from other packages. Is it stealing? Well no, but it is in poor taste. Most of the strawberries are visible from the the outside packaging and it is easy to tell if you have a good or bad batch. It grosses me out to think other people were digging through my package of strawberries with their germy hands to pick out the best of the best to add to their container.

Regarding the eggs - if there is a cracked egg, I don't replace it with a good one from another container. I pick out a non-cracked carton of eggs and leave the cracked egg carton open so that other unsuspecting customers don't grab it or so that a passing worker can see and take care of it. It doesn't make sense to open up a container, see a cracked egg, pick up cracked egg, open another carton, grab a good egg, replace with cracked egg, and place good egg in original carton.

 

[bcla]

Same here. Driscoll is one brand--they are packaged as 1 pound packs. Sometimes there is space on the top where one could add more. But you are not supposed to. Since they are scanned and not weighed at the register, the cashier isn't going to realize there is an issue as she tries to scan the order quickly.

Driscoll's is one brand (from California BTW) that has a large supplier/distribution network. They actually sell in lots of different packages. I've seen their 2 lb clamshells as well as 4 lb clamshells at Costco. Some specialty produce retailers even have their specially selected long stem strawberries.

They're supposed to be packaged by weight. Also, the contents are purposely sorted. That it's rare to find perfect contents is no accident. They want to even out the ripeness such that nobody picks and chooses individually.

The berry size may have a lot to do with room. Smaller berries can be packed with less dead space. One lb of those will take up less volume than a lb of larger berries. I've seen some clamshells with lots of space, and they weren't cheating the consumer.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I was at Meijer once and asked the produce guy about the containers with moldy strawberries. He told me to switch them out and then proceeded to go through removing moldy ones, throwing them away, and combining containers. So...

That's where I was 1st told to switch out bad ones, too. Our Kroger also does this. If they see you holding up containers and trying to check the fruit on the bottom, they will tell you to open them and replace anything that looks bad with some from another container. I've never had a container that had room for more than an extra berry or two unless you were taking some out.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I think we can all agree that some weird stuff goes down at Walmart. Just a couple days ago, there was an open container of muffins from the bakery that someone left on a display table that only had two muffins left (because someone either stole or ate the other 8 or so muffins that came in the package). I've also seen people go to the deli and get cooked chicken and eat the chicken while their shopping. Most then proceed to leave the empty container in the store somewhere. Makes me mad when people pull this kind of stuff, because it brings prices up for everyone else.

To the OP, that's definitely stealing.

Also, IMHO - it's in poor form to open up packages of fruit (strawberries, etc) and pick out the bad ones and replace them with good ones from other packages. Is it stealing? Well no, but it is in poor taste. Most of the strawberries are visible from the the outside packaging and it is easy to tell if you have a good or bad batch. It grosses me out to think other people were digging through my package of strawberries with their germy hands to pick out the best of the best to add to their container.

Regarding the eggs - if there is a cracked egg, I don't replace it with a good one from another container. I pick out a non-cracked carton of eggs and leave the cracked egg carton open so that other unsuspecting customers don't grab it or so that a passing worker can see and take care of it. It doesn't make sense to open up a container, see a cracked egg, pick up cracked egg, open another carton, grab a good egg, replace with cracked egg, and place good egg in original carton.

I would agree with you, but the OP said that the other customer was adding more than she took out. She didn't just replace the bad strawberries. Her container ended up overflowing so that it would not close.

Which means she was paying for the amount printed on the container, not the amount that she received.

That is why it is stealing.

 

[RedAngie]

Well, nobody was rooting thru the strawberries last night. They're sold by the pound container. From North Carolina.


But I saw this in the soft drink aisle.

 

[mom2rtk]

That's where I was 1st told to switch out bad ones, too. Our Kroger also does this. If they see you holding up containers and trying to check the fruit on the bottom, they will tell you to open them and replace anything that looks bad with some from another container. I've never had a container that had room for more than an extra berry or two unless you were taking some out.

They probably appreciate not having to take care of that themselves.

 

[bcla]

I bought a couple of "1 lb" clamshells of strawberries yesterday. I figured I'd weigh them on a digital scale. Both were over 1 lb - 2-3 oz over. I weighed an empty clamshell at 0.9 oz. So in general I would expect a little bit more from these prepackaged containers. I thought that part of the bargain was that the consumer gets the package as is. In some case I've seen that explicitly stated that there might be bruised or moldy berries. If that's not acceptable, everyone I saw would look over each container.

 

[Poohlove]

I will admit (I have my flame retardant suit on) that I am that shameless person who tastes a grape before I buy a bag at 3.99 per lb. to make sure that they aren't gross. I also take the broken eggs out of a dozen and co-mingle them with eggs in another package that may already have broken ones in it. Why have 2 unsellable cartons. If I can not find a package of strawberries that looks good I will remove the rotten ones and trade them berry for berry for another. If I am at a farmers market or stand I will ask if it is ok to swap them out and most of the time they are good with it. If not I just don't buy them that day. Call me a "person of Walmart" or whatever you want but I get tired of buying produce and having to feed half of it to the compost pile within a day or two because it goes bad so fast. For example I bought a zucchini on Sunday that I was going to make with dinner tonight and yesterday it was already limp, what a waste!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I will admit (I have my flame retardant suit on) that I am that shameless person who tastes a grape before I buy a bag at 3.99 per lb. to make sure that they aren't gross. I also take the broken eggs out of a dozen and co-mingle them with eggs in another package that may already have broken ones in it. Why have 2 unsellable cartons. If I can not find a package of strawberries that looks good I will remove the rotten ones and trade them berry for berry for another. If I am at a farmers market or stand I will ask if it is ok to swap them out and most of the time they are good with it. If not I just don't buy them that day. Call me a "person of Walmart" or whatever you want but I get tired of buying produce and having to feed half of it to the compost pile within a day or two because it goes bad so fast. For example I bought a zucchini on Sunday that I was going to make with dinner tonight and yesterday it was already limp, what a waste!

I don't think anyone would mind if you're swapping berry for berry in the clamshell packages, it's those who are trying to stuff more berries into the package that are stealing from the store. They now have light packages that another customer may buy thinking that they are going to get their full monies worth. When you're swapping berry for berry, unless you're intentionally choosing the largest berries in the swap container, you're staying pretty close to the base weight you started with.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I will admit (I have my flame retardant suit on) that I am that shameless person who tastes a grape before I buy a bag at 3.99 per lb. to make sure that they aren't gross. I also take the broken eggs out of a dozen and co-mingle them with eggs in another package that may already have broken ones in it. Why have 2 unsellable cartons. If I can not find a package of strawberries that looks good I will remove the rotten ones and trade them berry for berry for another. If I am at a farmers market or stand I will ask if it is ok to swap them out and most of the time they are good with it. If not I just don't buy them that day. Call me a "person of Walmart" or whatever you want but I get tired of buying produce and having to feed half of it to the compost pile within a day or two because it goes bad so fast. For example I bought a zucchini on Sunday that I was going to make with dinner tonight and yesterday it was already limp, what a waste!

No flame suit needed.

Swapping isn't a problem. Taking from one to over stuff yours would be a problem.

The only thing I read that could be seen as stealing is eating one grape. I can't imagine you being convicted of eating ONE grape.

In the original post, the person was taking more strawberries than she was paying for. Imagine forcing 15 eggs into a carton. (Without crushing them) Then only paying for one dozen eggs. That would be a fair comparison to what the OP was witnessing.

 

[bcla]

I don't think anyone would mind if you're swapping berry for berry in the clamshell packages, it's those who are trying to stuff more berries into the package that are stealing from the store. They now have light packages that another customer may buy thinking that they are going to get their full monies worth. When you're swapping berry for berry, unless you're intentionally choosing the largest berries in the swap container, you're staying pretty close to the base weight you started with.

I'm not sure of that. Packers consider size and condition, and are often instructed to even out contents. Picking out bruised fruit and concentrating them in a container could mean that someone not so picky buys a package with well below average contents. I wonder if they'll ever get to the point of using sealed clamshells. I've seen these in packages of baby lettuce. They can be resealed after a zip-strip is pulled. Or perhaps lightly heat sealed clamshells. The industry apparently calls them "tamper evident", couching it in terms of food safety.

I've personally gone over packages for condition or total weight, but I don't swap. About the only exception is for broken eggs, but typically I'll just pick another carton and either leave it open or tell an employee.

 

[bcla]

The only thing I read that could be seen as stealing is eating one grape. I can't imagine you being convicted of eating ONE grape.

There was a rumor going around that a well known independent supermarket/produce store was instituting lifetime bans for "samplers". They claim it's not true, but that they have done so for shoplifters. They did ban the reporter who made the claim.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2008/10/01/did-berkeley-bowl-ban-reporter-for-life

 

[Poohlove]

If I were sampling candy or from the salad bar I could understand there being an issue but I will gladly give them back the dime for the grape and not purchase the whole bag than spend $10 on a bag of grapes and have no one eat them because they are bitter or mushy.

These days I prefer to purchase my produce from Sams or Aldi where it is sold by the package as opposed to the pound. Their produce tends to keep longer and is more cost effective because we are able to use more of it.

 

[bcla]

If I were sampling candy or from the salad bar I could understand there being an issue but I will gladly give them back the dime for the grape and not purchase the whole bag than spend $10 on a bag of grapes and have no one eat them because they are bitter or mushy.

These days I prefer to purchase my produce from Sams or Aldi where it is sold by the package as opposed to the pound. Their produce tends to keep longer and is more cost effective because we are able to use more of it.

I don't know. My wife likes Costco produce, but sometime we have it and end up wasting much of it due to spoilage. It's not so much the freshness, but that our family of three may not be able to use it all before it goes bad.

 

[Poohlove]

I don't know. My wife likes Costco produce, but sometime we have it and end up wasting much of it due to spoilage. It's not so much the freshness, but that our family of three may not be able to use it all before it goes bad.

I wish I had a Costco near me, the closest is 45 minutes away. We also only have three but I have two teenagers who thankfully like to eat healthy. My daughter is on a smoothie kick and my sister and I split some stuff so I have been pretty lucky so far with spoilage. My local grocery store's quality has been lacking with the produce and meat/seafood.

 

[bcla]

I wish I had a Costco near me, the closest is 45 minutes away. We also only have three but I have two teenagers who thankfully like to eat healthy. My daughter is on a smoothie kick and my sister and I split some stuff so I have been pretty lucky so far with spoilage. My local grocery store's quality has been lacking with the produce and meat/seafood.

I guess I'm somewhat spoiled since I live in California, which supplies much of the fresh produce throughout the country. Strawberries were mentioned, and over 80% of strawberry harvest in the US is from California. We have good prices and excellent freshness. Even then, logistics can be an issue. The place I go to sometimes has entire crates of produce that's near spoilage at a deep discount. Sorting through those packages would sort of defeat the purpose of the discount. I've also seen some interesting produce that was excellent but seemed odd. One was California blueberries labeled for sale in Japan. The label showed a metric weight and I couldn't tell from that who the distributor was, although that was stated on a sign. I guess they had a special relationship with the distributor, and perhaps a shipment was cancelled or rejected.

That being said, there is produce that is still imported. For some reason all I can find recently are Chilean grapes. There must be some shortage of garlic in California since the signs around here note that white garlic is from Spain.

 

[Poohlove]

I guess I'm somewhat spoiled since I live in California, which supplies much of the fresh produce throughout the country. Strawberries were mentioned, and over 80% of strawberry harvest in the US is from California. We have good prices and excellent freshness. Even then, logistics can be an issue. The place I go to sometimes has entire crates of produce that's near spoilage at a deep discount. Sorting through those packages would sort of defeat the purpose of the discount. I've also seen some interesting produce that was excellent but seemed odd. One was California blueberries labeled for sale in Japan. The label showed a metric weight and I couldn't tell from that who the distributor was, although that was stated on a sign. I guess they had a special relationship with the distributor, and perhaps a shipment was cancelled or rejected.

That being said, there is produce that is still imported. For some reason all I can find recently are Chilean grapes. There must be some shortage of garlic in California since the signs around here note that white garlic is from Spain.

My strawberries are from California I noticed that garlic is very expensive in the store right now and they don't have the kind they normally carry. I work in logistics and we deal from time to time with imported grapes and mangoes. It is interesting for sure. Some of the things that people try and do whether its a switcheroo on the label or something along those lines you would not believe it.