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Stealing from Apple Store
- Thread starter baabaa
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If a store has lost prevention, then those security guards will go after people.
AFAIK, the Apple Store does not employee security guards throughout the day.. and, well.. if they did, then they would have been notified immediately (in the OP's case), rather than mall security.
I worked at a local grocery store while I was in high school and we had several people try and walk out with armloads of stuff, we were only allowed to verbally confront them, but we weren't allowed to use any form of physical force. Like mentioned before, I presume it is for the workers safety due to possible unknown risks.
I work in a grocery store, and we have people steal things all the time. Were not really supposed to do anything about it, but depending on the circumstances sometimes we will confront them. The Meat Department Manager gets VERY mad if he sees someone stealing, he will follow them to the front of the store, and as soon as they pass the register with the stuff (without paying) he say "you gonna pay for those steaks you put in your jacket," and basically just keep harassing them in a rather loud voice, sometimes this is enough to get them to give you back whatever they took, but really once they leave there isn't much we can do, sometimes we'll try to get the License Plate number and call the cops, but that doesn't really do anything.
We had this one lady and her boyfriend come into the store a few months back, we have a rack with DVDs, he started shopping around and she was looking at the DVDs. He came through my line, and bought a few items. She came walking up to my register with rectangle in her shirt. It was obvious she had a DVD in there, but I didn't say anything. I tried to be slow ringing her up and called the manager. I mouthed to him, to look at here shirt, but he didn't do anything. Technically no one saw her steal it so we couldn't really do much. He followed her to the parking lot and watched her take it out of her shirt, and she saw him watching.
Then she came back the next night with her mother and baby, as if we wouldn't be watching her. She had a diaper bag in the cart that looked rather empty. They walked around the store for a good 45 minutes, in and out of the baby formula, and Beauty supply aisle etc... One of the other cashiers told me she saw them put some stuff in the bag. They came up to my register again, and this time the manager was already up there. There were like 5 items in the cart, and the diaper bag was FULL. He told them "my cashier saw you put stuff in the bag" the mother got all bitchy, but the daughter only argued for a few minutes then opened the bag. There must have been about $100 or more worth of stuff in there. The manager let her pay for some of it, and she left. She came back a few days later and the other Manager told her to leave and never come back.
Sorry for the rant, but I type a lot when I get going
We had this one lady and her boyfriend come into the store a few months back, we have a rack with DVDs, he started shopping around and she was looking at the DVDs. He came through my line, and bought a few items. She came walking up to my register with rectangle in her shirt. It was obvious she had a DVD in there, but I didn't say anything. I tried to be slow ringing her up and called the manager. I mouthed to him, to look at here shirt, but he didn't do anything. Technically no one saw her steal it so we couldn't really do much. He followed her to the parking lot and watched her take it out of her shirt, and she saw him watching.
Then she came back the next night with her mother and baby, as if we wouldn't be watching her. She had a diaper bag in the cart that looked rather empty. They walked around the store for a good 45 minutes, in and out of the baby formula, and Beauty supply aisle etc... One of the other cashiers told me she saw them put some stuff in the bag. They came up to my register again, and this time the manager was already up there. There were like 5 items in the cart, and the diaper bag was FULL. He told them "my cashier saw you put stuff in the bag" the mother got all bitchy, but the daughter only argued for a few minutes then opened the bag. There must have been about $100 or more worth of stuff in there. The manager let her pay for some of it, and she left. She came back a few days later and the other Manager told her to leave and never come back.
Sorry for the rant, but I type a lot when I get going
It is absolutely a safety issue. When I worked for Borders there was a huge issue with a shoplifting ring that was hitting the area Borders and capitalizing on the weak loss prevention systems in the DVD departments.
One day an employee spotted the thieves and decided she couldn't stand it anymore, so she began following them through the store. When she turned to look towards one of the shoplifters at one point, he maced her and ran.
Needless to say, they spent a lot of time enforcing the "DO NOT CHASE SHOPLIFTER" rule after that.
I'm surprised you were able to last that long. I would ended the friendship after he stole the alcohol and the CDs.
It's probably been said already but most retail stores in malls are not allowed to approach suspected shoplifters because of mall policy.
My sister works at the Victoria's Secret in the mall by my house and routinely comes home with stories about people literally going in the dressing rooms with items and coming out with nothing in their hands. She said that employees aren't allowed to say anything except call mall security because stores cannot afford to run the risk of falsely accusing/harassing a customer.
It's ridiculous if you ask me. My sister has been cursed at by women she witnesses stuffing merchandise into bags and can't do anything about it. I don't understand it.
My sister works at the Victoria's Secret in the mall by my house and routinely comes home with stories about people literally going in the dressing rooms with items and coming out with nothing in their hands. She said that employees aren't allowed to say anything except call mall security because stores cannot afford to run the risk of falsely accusing/harassing a customer.
It's ridiculous if you ask me. My sister has been cursed at by women she witnesses stuffing merchandise into bags and can't do anything about it. I don't understand it.
Well, he was a central figure in our group of friends- I couldn't exactly cut him out of the group. Plus, we were friends since 1st grade- that's a lot of history to walk away from because of stolen CDs and booze. And he was a fun guy.
When I look back on my friendship with that group of people, I truly wonder why I was friends with them.
Eventually, I moved on with my life and a whole new group of friends came along.
And now you know why store theft is so rampant. It's so ridiculously easy, and "human rights" have made it so a store can't do anything about it. I'm sorry, but if I'm stopped by a store saying that they suspect that I stole something when I haven't, I'm going to let them check, then I'll be out the door when they don't find anything. If someone starts pitching a fit, it's probably because they are stealing...let's be serious here. People generally only get that upset when they are busted.
It IS ridiculous...it's as if the criminals have more rights than the store. Which, actually, I believe they do, and they use that to their advantage. You have to wonder how big of a problem this actually is...how many people never pay for anything simply because they don't have to? And as time goes on, how many more will pick up on this and start to do it as well, until stores simply can't be profitable any more because so many are stealing.
I could never be a manager or an employee in retail. I simply can't handle this type of activity...just watching it happen and legally not being able to do anything about it.
Of course he was a fun guy. He was getting half his life for free and lying his way out of the rest. I simply have no respect at all for people like that. I will not associate with them at all. The bigger question is...what is he doing now?
Someone that I was friends with in high school/undergrad used to steal things all the time even though his family had plenty of cash and he had a credit card that his parents would unquestioningly pay for.
He used to walk out of the LCBO with bottles of alcohol. He used to steal CDs. Stuff like that.
I remember when we were getting ready for our first year of university, he went to Ikea, loaded up his cart with boxes of dressers, night tables, a coffee table, kitchen table, chairs, shelves, etc. and just carted it straight out of the store. He did this a few times I think- he had to furnish his and his roommate's apartment
Another story about this guy, more related to stealing grades than things: When we were in 2nd or 3rd year, we had an exam in one of our classes (we were in the same major). We were able to get his hands on an old exam (passed down from friends who were a year ahead of us in the same major), and we used it as a study tool (well, I used it as a study aid, he just memorized the exam and hoped for the best). When we sat down to take the exam, the professor was lazy and actually used the same exam, EXCEPT he changed the numbers a little (for example, instead of using 0.96, the prof would use 0.69). My friend didn't notice the changes, and simply regurgitated the old exam solutions onto the exam paper using the old numbers for his calculations. Well, he didn't do very well (a D or something like that), but he went to the professor and convinced him to raise his grade....... and he ended up with an A.
Needless to say, our friendship ended because the differences between our ethics were just too vast.
Yep, it pays to be smart that's all folks.
At my old job I knew a guy whose son was constantly getting free electronic crap confiscated from major drug busts (he was in some sort of position in law enforcement, don't recall his title). These electronics often included computers, and yes there were Macs. Anytime a big-time drug dealer got busted, the cops would strip the residence bare, down to the carpet. He had quite the collection, iMac G3s, G4s, G5s and several iBooks, PowerBooks and MBPs.
Humorous side note: Apparently seeing a confiscated Mac was pretty rare, he said. It seems most drug dealers prefer PCs.
Anytime a big-time drug dealer got busted, the cops would strip the residence bare, down to the carpet. He had quite the collection, iMac G3s, G4s, G5s and several iBooks, PowerBooks and MBPs. Humorous side note: Apparently seeing a confiscated Mac was pretty rare, he said. It seems most drug dealers prefer PCs.
He's done quite well for himself. Although his ethics were questionable, and he was a fun/crazy guy, he was a really hard-worker when it came to school, and I'm sure that translated over to business. The last thing I heard about him is that he was a CA (Canadian version of a CPA) at a prominent firm. He's probably a manager or possibly even a partner by now.
Yep, it pays to be smart that's all folks.
I don't quite understand: do you mean that it pays to be smart at stealing?
people steal groceries because they are hungry,
and they don't have money.
what is wrong with this situation?
also:
If you are an employee for a company, why say anything if you see someone stealing? You're getting paid by the hour, and the company is banking from exploiting yer ass. What u want, a medal????????
and they don't have money.
what is wrong with this situation?
also:
If you are an employee for a company, why say anything if you see someone stealing? You're getting paid by the hour, and the company is banking from exploiting yer ass. What u want, a medal????????
As a convenient store worker when I was a kid who was threatened with death by someone who became a murderer later on I wouldn't second guess drawing down on someone if they asked for money/blatantly stole.
Well, the simple fact is that store employees are just that; store employees. They can't arrest you. If they even put a hand on you, that could be assault.
It's not a matter of management telling employees not to do anything, they just legally can't do anything. You haven't stolen anything while you are in their store.
Now, if they have a security guard or whatever, then they can stop you and apprehend you.
It's not a matter of management telling employees not to do anything, they just legally can't do anything. You haven't stolen anything while you are in their store.
Now, if they have a security guard or whatever, then they can stop you and apprehend you.
It is. And, in my country, this felon would have already been approached by the sales staff and they would already have apprehended him upon doing a body search. I've seen it happen before and the guy got arrested. That felon was just pure lucky.
EDIT: Well, at least this guy stole from an Apple Store. There's nothing valuable to steal at a Microsoft store anyway.
So I'm in Britain, but here's my 4+ years working in 2 different stores in the same shopping centre.
In both stores, company policy on shoplifting dictated:
1. You can't ask to look in someone's bag unless you've actually seen someone take something and attempt to leave the store without paying with your own 2 eyes. Cameras are only any use if someone is actually caught.
2. After this you cannot try to force them to come back to the shop. You have to ask them politely to come back inside. If they say no, you're stuffed.
3. You have to then ask to be allowed to look inside their bags, again if they say no you're stuffed.
4. If they threaten you or the situation gets even slightly dangerous you can't do anything.
5. You cannot attempt to detain the customer at any point. So if you get into their bags and do find shoplifted goods and go to call the police they can walk out.
Our centre security are constrained by exactly the same rules, so they're not going to be tackling anyone to the ground for me. They have tactics to get round this though, basically it goes:
We KEN ye took it, so jist show us. Jist show us, we've got cameras all over ye, just show us. We saw ye do it, jist gie us what ye took, gie us it, gie us it, gie us it.
This is a delivered in a kind of steamroller fashion which isn't stopped by answers such as "no" or "I didnae!"
Basically unless we're told that known shoplifters are in the centre I don't give a f- 'cause there's no point bothering.
^ This is one of the things I look out for. There's a family through in Glasgow (could be more of a gang) whose favourite trick is to distract shop assistants while someone else fills a suitcase full of merchandise and just walks out.
And just as an aside does anyone else find working in retail endlessly testing (or are my morals just not rock solid enough)? It would be so easy for me, as a member of staff, to steal from everywhere I've worked.
Especially since my current manager barely checks me when I leave ("ah hate goin' through lassie's bags"). I never have, but I'm not a fan of the endless temptation.
Wow, my experience has been completely different to yours:
1) Agree
2) I dragged someone out of his car and then held him on the floor till the cops showed up. Also escorted a few people back in to the store, although without touching them. If they refused someone called the cops and then they would handle it. It is easier to delay someone until the cops turn up then manhandle them. Safer as well
3) True, although if they said no, and we were sure, the cops were called (non-emergency but they responded pretty quick)
4) Someone was drinking on the site (customer) which the licence didn't cover, so I asked them to leave, he throw a couple of bottles at me and a colleague, cops were called while me and said colleague were trying to catch him, but he got away. Also had my manager thrown thru security barriers by someone high on drugs
5) People who I have had problems with in the past that came back in to the store were taken to a room and always had two members of staff present. Those that wanted to stay outside were told if they did then the police would definitely be called. This normally enticed them back in to the store. The police were always called either, depending on the value of the items shoplifted either.
Basically, I have escorted people in and out of the store, dragged 1 out of his car and detained numerous people for shoplifting. They were all at least banned (sometimes for life) and some were arrested and charged.
For those that were banned, as its private property, if they then came back and stole and were caught again then it could potentially go to burglary which could result in jail time.
We had guards go to court as well to testify against people.
Sounds like there are some noticeable differences between UK and Scotland in terms of what people can and can't do.
Also, in terms of staff, we caught loads with drugs and lifting money out the tills. They were sacked and the ones taking money often had a visit from the Police as well
Same thing happened to me at Walmart this black friday. people (well just one guy
No kidding? The Wal-Mart my older son used to work at had "Loss Prevention Staff" that looked like they were recruited from the Kansas fullback country. They wore plain black t-shirts, not one of them under 2X. All they needed was an opening montage and a kicky theme song and they'd have their own series...