Would you have said something? Shoplifting...

[Jaimee]

Today DS 6 and I stopped at Walgreens. I told him that he could pick out some workbooks or activity books because we were going to a friends house and I know he'd be bored. So we went to the toy aisle. There was a woman and 2 kids, the boy was about 7-8 the girl was 4-5. They were also picking out workbooks. We stood there, all together for about 5 minutes, DS and her kids were kind of chatting, deciding what book to get etc...So, I went down another aisle to pick something else up and walked to the checkout. The mom and the kids were directly in front of us. SHe had a bunch of makeup, hair color kits and some perscriptions. The kids were still holding their books (they each had 2 in their hands..) the checkout girl asked if she could ring those up and the boy started to hand them to her, and the mom says "NO (really loudly) the pharmacist gave those to them, I guess they're free...." the checkout girl (she was pretty young 16-17) kind of hesitated and then said ok. Her total was about $50 for all the make up and hair stuff... She paid and left. Then DS and I got there and I paid for his books (the same one the other kids had...) and she kind of hesitated again, like she knew she should have made her pay. I didnt say anything...Would you have done differently? It made me mad that she could spend $50 on make up but couldn't spend $2 a piece for the books, and it REALLY upset me that she did this in front of her kids. I didn't want to embarass the kids though, and I have no idea how this woman would have reacted. Was I right?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I probably would have said: "Gee, what a great deal. (To clerk) Can you call back there and see if my books are free as well?" That would have given the clerk the opportunity to call and check while the woman was still standing there. It's hard to say how many times that woman has pulled that stunt -- probably at every store in town!

 

[chadfromdallas]

YOU should have said something!

Each thing stolen, no matter how small or inexpensive, ends up costing us(the consumer) more and more money for resellers losses.

So much hate for these types of people.

 

[shortbun]

I am right there with you....trying to protect those kids, except
from what? No way I would have been clever enough to
figure out what to say without calling her a thief in front of
her children. Awful predicament to be in. Creepy. That one is
going to stay with you for a while. Did your son figure it out?

 

[Breezy_Carol]

When something like that happens, it is hard to react and respond in the few seconds you have available. I am sure that with time to think about it there will be plenty of answers here. At the time, being put on the spot, I would have stood there in stunned silence.

 

[Beth76]

The girl should have called her manager to "verify" that they were "free". I don't think I would have said anything either to avoid a possible altercation. Did you read MosMom's story?

 

[missyc]

Originally posted by Beth76
The girl should have called her manager to "verify" that they were "free". I don't think I would have said anything either to avoid a possible altercation. Did you read MosMom's story?

(link link)

 

[Laurajean1014]

I would have said something.

I did, when I saw someone steal a sweater from a mall boutique.

The boutiique clerk said they can't do anything about it. The woman left and the alarm went off, but no-one did a thing!

The clerk was trained to not chase or interfere.

That was a disturbing experience for me, as I paid full price for my items. (I could never contemplate stealing.......)

 

[chadfromdallas]

Originally posted by Laurajean1014
The clerk was trained to not chase or interfere.

Yup, the stores risk being sued if employees are told to and happen to get hurt in the process.

 

[Buckalew11]

That was a tough spot to be in. You just didn't have enough time to think it through. It really wasn't your responsibility, it was the clerk's.

I caught a teenaged boy stealing a bottle of colonge at Wlamrt just last year. Like a fool, I approached him. We had a short talk, he returned it to the shelf. He acted scared to death of me, and I hope he was and will never try to steal anything again, but who knows?

A couple months agao I saw a young boy about 9 or 10 sticking collector cards up his shirt near the check-out counter. The clerk went over and talked to him that time. I guess stealing is more common than I thought.

 

[Jaimee]

I'm not very vocal to begin with...and there was just 30 seconds or so when I could have spoken up. I guess in hindsight I should have said something...My son didn't notice because he was reading his book, but I was so shocked, on the way to the car I started talking about it. He said "that's bad that she did that, now her kids might grow up to be robbers" lol. At least I know he knows that was wrong I guess. Thanks for the replies!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by calypso*a*go-go
I probably would have said: "Gee, what a great deal. (To clerk) Can you call back there and see if my books are free as well?" That would have given the clerk the opportunity to call and check while the woman was still standing there. It's hard to say how many times that woman has pulled that stunt -- probably at every store in town!

I'd probably do this.

I agree. It's sick that she could spend $50 on vanity items for herself but not $2 on workbooks for her kids.

 

[Disney Princess 6]

The clerk should have been the one to verify her story. I can see where it would have been very hard to think quickly of the best thing to say.

 

[miste76]

I kind of have a big mouth anyways.... and standing in line at the check-outs - I often get into conversations. I hope I would have said something - especially since someone needs to teach the child.
To address the issue of protecting the child - If the child was embaressed because the mother was caught, maybe the child would be too afraid to go through that embaressment again. It could be a learning experience for both the Mother and the Child.
Hindsight is always 20/20... I wish I could think of these things while they're happening and not two hours later!!!

 

[Keli]

You know, I'm pretty sure I would have stood there in shock and not said one word to that woman. I'm not good at confrontation and I don't always think quickly on my feet so I wouldn't have been able to think of a more tactful way of saying "Hey you're stealing!" LOL.

The one time I did point out to someone that they were stealing something it truely was an accident and I thought my dh was going to kill me, lol! We were out of town, had to go to a store in a rough area late at night for an item and I pipe up and mention to the man in front of me that he has missed all the items underneath his shopping cart. I didn't realize he was trying to steal them, I've put stuff down there myself at times and then picked up my bags and left the store without them! He gave me a very scary look and paid for them and left. My dh wasn't thrilled about us walking through that dark parking lot to our car after that.

 

[Serena]

People pull that crap all the time. It makes me angry. If I had time to think, I would have held up the books that I had and just looked at her and shook my head.

She should have known that they weren't free anyway. She didn't want to press the issue for some reason. Probably fear.

 

[katerkat]

Honestly, I wouldn't feel bad if I were you. I work in retail and it would be MY fault if, as a cashier, I didn't call back and check on that. I don't do anything like that without verfiying it with a manager first. So while it would have been nice if you had said something, ultimately it's the cashiers responsibility to verify.

And, as a retail employee, if I'm EVER giving someone a discount on a book, I walk with them to the register and explain it to the cashier. So there's no confusion.

 

[chadfromdallas]

alright....kinda funny, but when posted my first comment on this thread..... I was downloading a movie

and a few mp3s!

 

[Disney Doll]

I would have probably been too stunned to think of anything to say.

I think it's a shame when people get away with stuff like that because everyone is afraid there'll be a scene or they'll get sued. I am sure the cashier was thinking "for $2, I'm not going to get into it with this lady". Part of me can't blame the cashier, but I get too caught up in the principal of the thing sometimes, and will cut off my nose to spite my face.

 

[Jeafl]

Devil's Advocate here...

Are you POSITIVE they were the same workbooks that you had seen them look at? I know for a fact (I used to work for Walgreens corporate) that the pharmacists have FREE coloring books that they can give out to kids. They keep them behind the counter. They are a special assortment just for this purpose, they are not the larger coloring books found in the magazine aisle. My kids get a few free ones every time we go pick up an Rx.

If, in fact, they were the workbooks that were for sale than that is inexcusable, and I would probably have mentioned it to the clerk.