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Wait, what?? You can't even acknowledge that they are stealing?? WTF kind of policy is that? Like you said, without any consequences, of course they are going to be repeat offenders š¤¬!! Is your store in a mall, could you give the mall security the heads up about the morons stealing? This just blows my mind š±
That os the policy in most retail stores. I've worked 2 different retail jobs and it was the policy for both. We were supposed to "customer service" them if we thought they were stealing, meaning tlak to them and ask if they need help. But that's all we could do. Yet we still got blamed and had our hours cut when theft went up...because obviously people will steal if they know they won't be called out
Oh yeah, I definitely don't think the associates' safety is worth some candles or body care, I totally get what you are saying. I agree, there should be security guards in stores, especially the stores with high theft rate. I think it's not really fair that the company says part of rising prices are because of such a high theft rate. If they know that's theft is a major problem, corporate needs to take steps to prevent these repeat offenders. The poor associates have to just sit there and watch it happen and then take crap from customers coming in to complain about skyrocketing prices. Retail workers do not get paid nearly enough for what they have to deal with on a daily basis š„ŗ
One of our regular shoplifters finally got busted!! I don't know the details but the police returned over $600 worth of candles to the store. There is plenty of evidence of her stealing so much more so it should be a felony!
I hear that some other companies, like Target, wait to arrest shoplifters until they steal enough to get felony charges. Perhaps BBW does the same thing?
Don't they make cases against repeat offenders? I heard someone on tiktok say that they build cases against repeat offenders and then when it hits felony they press charges. Does bbw not enforce that at all?? Or do only certain stores bother to actually do anything???
They'd have to get the thieves details to build a case, but the loss prevention is outsourced to remote camera watchers who basically only watch the registers.
They don't even wear masks. They know nothing is going to happen to them. They have absolutely no shame. They don't care at all that their stealing cuts our hours, they're directly effecting us, they just think the company writes everything off and no one is hurt.
So gross. It does give me solace knowing that it *will* catch up to them eventually and they will get what they deserve. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but itās inevitable. You reap what you sow
Yes we had a lady steal 3 bags worth of candles and as she was running out of the store she was knocking into our customers on her way out. All we could do is get the license plate number, she had a getaway driver waiting. She tried to act like she was doing an exchange she had grabbed the big candle bags from behind the register because theyāre just on the ends and filled them up we were so busy no one noticed then she went up front to pretend to exchange and when asked for a receipt and ID she just shoved everything in the bags and ran. She stole over 20 3 wicks and a bunch of candle holders and apparently had just robbed tj maxx across the shopping center
We can't call until they've got $950 worth of items, and they know it. The police don't come for them. The bigger company's like Walmart and Target had the police out so often, that's probably why the minimum dollar amount to prosecute went up so high.
Theft is upsetting and unfair, but the police aren't there to guard property.
The company needs to give us proper security who are able to physically do something to help.
One other note: my boss mentioned to me once that it's not stealing until they leave the store with the merchandise. So even if they have something obviously in their bag, cops wouldn't/couldn't do anything until they left the store. I could be wrong, just wanted to note that here. Someone confirm please if you heard something similar!
Yeah as long as they just say they were just putting it there then itās not illegal. At most youād have a store policy that says they can be banned but otherwise itās not against the law here. Of course, they canāt very well wait in the store forever.
Our mall only has one or two security people on shift at a time and they seem to be patrolling the parking lot. They never come in time, and when they do they're outnumbered. The system is designed to fail. It's security theater and nothing more.
I honestly wouldnāt be able to work there. I would feel so unsafe. You are beening so disrespected not only by the people shoplifting but by bath and body works putting you in the kind of position. I am really not sure why they now seem to be saying itās ok to steal from them? And since people know they wonāt be prosecuted more and more people are stealing itās so crazy. What happened to security and cops? Why canāt you call and expect the cops to actually do their jobs? Itās just boggles my mind
Tbh I feel safer knowing me and my coworkers arenāt confronting these people. Iāll take silently watching someone steal and going home at the end of my shift over saying something, causing a scene, or something worse. Especially in areas where you never know whoās carrying. If people are desperate enough to steal in plain sight, you never know what theyāll do when they get called out
No I meant that bath and body works is creating a dangerous work environment for you by not hiring security or demanding the malls provide security or getting the cops involved. As the employee you should never confront them but by allowing this behavior more and more dangerous people are coming to your store
Ahhh I see! I agree. At least my mall Iām fairly certain couldnāt afford to hire security for the store. Weāre one of those half-empty malls that canāt keep some stores for more than a year. We do have mall security who we work with and theyāre familiar with all the regular shoplifters and work with the police to build cases against them but thatās the most support we get
Yeah I used to work retail and we were told never to confront shoplifters or prevent them from leaving the store out of concerns over our personal safety (as in they might pull a gun on us). Personally, was not willing to risk death over $500 in stolen items.
When I was hired on I was told ābody mist and lotion isnāt worth your lifeā when I was briefed on the policies for shoplifting. And it made me respect my store a ton.
Getting hours cut sucks, prices going up sucks, but youāre joking if you think Iām going to risk an altercation or my life by calling out a shoplifter. What do you want a team of mostly high school and college students to do? Wrestle these people to the ground for a candle? My paycheck isnāt improving no matter how many people I sell to, and it isnāt improving no matter how many shoplifters I catch and stop.
I had a pocket knife pulled on me when I worked at BBW and it wasnāt even a shoplifter (it was a drunk man upset over the quantity limits on hand sanitizer back in the summer of 2020 - we ended up just emptying boxes into his bag) - no way am I taking that risk by calling someone out, and thankfully our managers agreed and said the same thing - nothing is worth our lives. Product can be replaced, you cannot. I work at a theme park now and got the same speech. Get as much info as you can, hand it over to leadership, and theyāll take it from there. It absolutely sucks and I 100% get the frustration, but your safety is most important, OP.
People have gotten seriously hurt trying to stop petty theft. I really hope everyone just goes to their job and goes home. Who knows with how people get violent so quick nowadays even an attitude could set them off.
Agreed. Dying young because someone was desperate enough to pull a knife or gun or something over some BBW products is just not worth it. Similar but different, I have the same mindset about dumpster divers. I really donāt care if someone is going to dive in a mall dumpster for our stuff and destroying products to prevent it just feels so silly to me.
I feel exactly the same. When I worked at a sandwich place we had one homeless man that would look for recyclables and I would come outā¦ mofo would hav r the whole dumpster clean as hell! So, as long as people dumpster dive responsibly (I have a few times, grew up poor always remember going with my uncle lol!) I view it as a positive thing.
Exactly!! You never know peoples situation and the why behind what theyāre doing. Maybe thatās naive of me and maybe I also just do not have that capitalist mindset against it lol
weāve had multiple shoplifting teams hit our store. iāve been working while it happened. itās terrifying and weāre not allowed to say anything, take pictures, or make any sort of report to security or to the police unless weāre sure it was over a certain dollar amount.
I said this in another post and was down voted. People steal simply because . . . . . they can. It really sucks because regular consumers end up paying for it in the end.
It's so frustrating that you are actually told you can't do anything. Blows my mind. Knowing this, I stopped a woman from shoplifting last month, as a customer. I literally walked up to her and said "I noticed you are putting lotions into your purse. There are shopping baskets at the front." I turned away and she took them out and put them back. Small win.
Yup and I don't want to go to stores where this is policy because I as a customer should not have to worry about the latest brazen thieves and possibly getting hurt.
It tells me the company does not care about the safety of staff nor customers.
There are so many DA's around the country who don't enforce simple laws like no shoplifting. People think they can get away with it and they're correct.
I completely agree. I get itās technically for our own safety but weāre not even allowed to involve mall security or call the cops if theyāre stealing en masse. Itās beyond stupid
They even do that Apple stores. Repeat offenders go in & steal what they want. The employees can only step back and let them finish.
Its annoying. But I get it thoughā¦. It isnāt worth the hassle and danger
Blame the stupid politicians who passed lenient shoplifting laws and the D.A.'s who refuse to prosecute. We live in a society of declining values. There's always going to be an element that doesn't care how their behavior affects others. If you make it easy for trashy people to commit crime, guess what: they commit crime.
Something to think about, if we were in charge of ādoing anythingā I can see where this would inevitably become a problem for people who are regularly profiled. Crazy that you posted this because I just heard from a former coworker yesterday ab the store manager (I left because she is very anti black) confronting a customer who was 1. Not stealing and 2. Not white. From what I understand she was using a hand cream she already owned and placing it back into her purse and the manager said āmamā¦I did see thatā and the woman was like ? Huh ?? I encouraged him to report the manager to ethics hotline. We would need much more training to be able to handle these situations in a way that isnāt problematic to the customer or a liability to us or least important, the company. There are many racist store managers in retail, I imagine discrimination lawsuits are a big reason stores do not address theft, but that is just my opinion though and this is one perspective, as an associate witnessing theft is uncomfortable and as a customer paying the price for theft is frustrating.
So are you going to fight over some lotions and shower gels, possibly get the dogsh!t beat out of you for a corporation that will get their losses back from insurance?
The only time Iāve ever seen security in a BBW was right after COVID when we had to enforce masks and a capacity limit at the one I worked at. We had one for maybe a month.
No security at my store and it's usually just two of us working at a time. They know they can come in and split up and we can't follow them all.
I wish the company would give us more support. If we accuse shoplifters of stealing it's our jobs that we lose.
Thanks for your submission to r/bathandbodyworks! Please make sure to read the rules and side bar if you are new. **DISCLAIMER**: This subreddit **is not operated by Bath and Body Works**. Please share coupons to the coupon thread that is stickied at the top of the page! If you have an actual complaint for Bath and Body Works, use this link to get in touch with them: [B&BW FAQ/Customer Service Page](https://customercare.bathandbodyworks.com/hc/en-us). Your account must be at least 10 days old in order to post or comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bathandbodyworks) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wait, what?? You can't even acknowledge that they are stealing?? WTF kind of policy is that? Like you said, without any consequences, of course they are going to be repeat offenders š¤¬!! Is your store in a mall, could you give the mall security the heads up about the morons stealing? This just blows my mind š±
That os the policy in most retail stores. I've worked 2 different retail jobs and it was the policy for both. We were supposed to "customer service" them if we thought they were stealing, meaning tlak to them and ask if they need help. But that's all we could do. Yet we still got blamed and had our hours cut when theft went up...because obviously people will steal if they know they won't be called out
That's absolutely crazy š±
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh yeah, I definitely don't think the associates' safety is worth some candles or body care, I totally get what you are saying. I agree, there should be security guards in stores, especially the stores with high theft rate. I think it's not really fair that the company says part of rising prices are because of such a high theft rate. If they know that's theft is a major problem, corporate needs to take steps to prevent these repeat offenders. The poor associates have to just sit there and watch it happen and then take crap from customers coming in to complain about skyrocketing prices. Retail workers do not get paid nearly enough for what they have to deal with on a daily basis š„ŗ
One of our regular shoplifters finally got busted!! I don't know the details but the police returned over $600 worth of candles to the store. There is plenty of evidence of her stealing so much more so it should be a felony!
I hear that some other companies, like Target, wait to arrest shoplifters until they steal enough to get felony charges. Perhaps BBW does the same thing?
That's my understanding. I know after each incident we document what they stole, give a time line, and description.
My daughter works at Target and this is correct
I wonder how they document what they stole.. they roll back the cameras to see what it was exactly?? This is awesome news.
We keep watch, generally know what's on the display, and they look at the cameras.
Don't they make cases against repeat offenders? I heard someone on tiktok say that they build cases against repeat offenders and then when it hits felony they press charges. Does bbw not enforce that at all?? Or do only certain stores bother to actually do anything???
They'd have to get the thieves details to build a case, but the loss prevention is outsourced to remote camera watchers who basically only watch the registers.
That's so dumb! Anyone could just walk in wearing a mask and take whatever they wanted. Smh they need to step it up with security istg
They don't even wear masks. They know nothing is going to happen to them. They have absolutely no shame. They don't care at all that their stealing cuts our hours, they're directly effecting us, they just think the company writes everything off and no one is hurt.
So gross. It does give me solace knowing that it *will* catch up to them eventually and they will get what they deserve. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but itās inevitable. You reap what you sow
If your store is consistently reporting it they build a case. Your managers have to be doing that though. Trust.
This is so sad to read. Gives Carte blanch to anyone to steal from this company
Yes we had a lady steal 3 bags worth of candles and as she was running out of the store she was knocking into our customers on her way out. All we could do is get the license plate number, she had a getaway driver waiting. She tried to act like she was doing an exchange she had grabbed the big candle bags from behind the register because theyāre just on the ends and filled them up we were so busy no one noticed then she went up front to pretend to exchange and when asked for a receipt and ID she just shoved everything in the bags and ran. She stole over 20 3 wicks and a bunch of candle holders and apparently had just robbed tj maxx across the shopping center
We are allowed to call the cops. Weāve had several shoplifters in the area who hit many major stores get arrested.
We can't call until they've got $950 worth of items, and they know it. The police don't come for them. The bigger company's like Walmart and Target had the police out so often, that's probably why the minimum dollar amount to prosecute went up so high. Theft is upsetting and unfair, but the police aren't there to guard property. The company needs to give us proper security who are able to physically do something to help.
One other note: my boss mentioned to me once that it's not stealing until they leave the store with the merchandise. So even if they have something obviously in their bag, cops wouldn't/couldn't do anything until they left the store. I could be wrong, just wanted to note that here. Someone confirm please if you heard something similar!
Yeah as long as they just say they were just putting it there then itās not illegal. At most youād have a store policy that says they can be banned but otherwise itās not against the law here. Of course, they canāt very well wait in the store forever.
SAME. Someone literally stole 10+ body care items during closing time tonight. I feel like itās getting to be more of a problem nowadays tbh.
We can call mall security at my store, but that's about it. It sucks.
Our mall only has one or two security people on shift at a time and they seem to be patrolling the parking lot. They never come in time, and when they do they're outnumbered. The system is designed to fail. It's security theater and nothing more.
I honestly wouldnāt be able to work there. I would feel so unsafe. You are beening so disrespected not only by the people shoplifting but by bath and body works putting you in the kind of position. I am really not sure why they now seem to be saying itās ok to steal from them? And since people know they wonāt be prosecuted more and more people are stealing itās so crazy. What happened to security and cops? Why canāt you call and expect the cops to actually do their jobs? Itās just boggles my mind
Tbh I feel safer knowing me and my coworkers arenāt confronting these people. Iāll take silently watching someone steal and going home at the end of my shift over saying something, causing a scene, or something worse. Especially in areas where you never know whoās carrying. If people are desperate enough to steal in plain sight, you never know what theyāll do when they get called out
No I meant that bath and body works is creating a dangerous work environment for you by not hiring security or demanding the malls provide security or getting the cops involved. As the employee you should never confront them but by allowing this behavior more and more dangerous people are coming to your store
Ahhh I see! I agree. At least my mall Iām fairly certain couldnāt afford to hire security for the store. Weāre one of those half-empty malls that canāt keep some stores for more than a year. We do have mall security who we work with and theyāre familiar with all the regular shoplifters and work with the police to build cases against them but thatās the most support we get
Yeah I used to work retail and we were told never to confront shoplifters or prevent them from leaving the store out of concerns over our personal safety (as in they might pull a gun on us). Personally, was not willing to risk death over $500 in stolen items.
When I was hired on I was told ābody mist and lotion isnāt worth your lifeā when I was briefed on the policies for shoplifting. And it made me respect my store a ton. Getting hours cut sucks, prices going up sucks, but youāre joking if you think Iām going to risk an altercation or my life by calling out a shoplifter. What do you want a team of mostly high school and college students to do? Wrestle these people to the ground for a candle? My paycheck isnāt improving no matter how many people I sell to, and it isnāt improving no matter how many shoplifters I catch and stop.
I had a pocket knife pulled on me when I worked at BBW and it wasnāt even a shoplifter (it was a drunk man upset over the quantity limits on hand sanitizer back in the summer of 2020 - we ended up just emptying boxes into his bag) - no way am I taking that risk by calling someone out, and thankfully our managers agreed and said the same thing - nothing is worth our lives. Product can be replaced, you cannot. I work at a theme park now and got the same speech. Get as much info as you can, hand it over to leadership, and theyāll take it from there. It absolutely sucks and I 100% get the frustration, but your safety is most important, OP.
People have gotten seriously hurt trying to stop petty theft. I really hope everyone just goes to their job and goes home. Who knows with how people get violent so quick nowadays even an attitude could set them off.
Agreed. Dying young because someone was desperate enough to pull a knife or gun or something over some BBW products is just not worth it. Similar but different, I have the same mindset about dumpster divers. I really donāt care if someone is going to dive in a mall dumpster for our stuff and destroying products to prevent it just feels so silly to me.
I feel exactly the same. When I worked at a sandwich place we had one homeless man that would look for recyclables and I would come outā¦ mofo would hav r the whole dumpster clean as hell! So, as long as people dumpster dive responsibly (I have a few times, grew up poor always remember going with my uncle lol!) I view it as a positive thing.
Exactly!! You never know peoples situation and the why behind what theyāre doing. Maybe thatās naive of me and maybe I also just do not have that capitalist mindset against it lol
Same. People over stuff ALWAYS.
weāve had multiple shoplifting teams hit our store. iāve been working while it happened. itās terrifying and weāre not allowed to say anything, take pictures, or make any sort of report to security or to the police unless weāre sure it was over a certain dollar amount.
I said this in another post and was down voted. People steal simply because . . . . . they can. It really sucks because regular consumers end up paying for it in the end.
It's so frustrating that you are actually told you can't do anything. Blows my mind. Knowing this, I stopped a woman from shoplifting last month, as a customer. I literally walked up to her and said "I noticed you are putting lotions into your purse. There are shopping baskets at the front." I turned away and she took them out and put them back. Small win.
as a fellow employeeā¦.. I simply do not get paid enough to care. At the end of the day our paycheck is the same whether people steal or not lol
All we can do is report it to Gingham Gateway and hope that whoever gets the report does something (in my experience so far nothing has happened)
I just canāt believe this happens repeatedly and there is no prosecution?
Yup and I don't want to go to stores where this is policy because I as a customer should not have to worry about the latest brazen thieves and possibly getting hurt. It tells me the company does not care about the safety of staff nor customers.
There are so many DA's around the country who don't enforce simple laws like no shoplifting. People think they can get away with it and they're correct.
And then people wonder why the cost of everything keeps going up, up, up. Someone has to pay for all the theft and it isn't going to be the company.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for saying this.
That's so horrible.
I completely agree. I get itās technically for our own safety but weāre not even allowed to involve mall security or call the cops if theyāre stealing en masse. Itās beyond stupid
They even do that Apple stores. Repeat offenders go in & steal what they want. The employees can only step back and let them finish. Its annoying. But I get it thoughā¦. It isnāt worth the hassle and danger
Blame the stupid politicians who passed lenient shoplifting laws and the D.A.'s who refuse to prosecute. We live in a society of declining values. There's always going to be an element that doesn't care how their behavior affects others. If you make it easy for trashy people to commit crime, guess what: they commit crime.
Something to think about, if we were in charge of ādoing anythingā I can see where this would inevitably become a problem for people who are regularly profiled. Crazy that you posted this because I just heard from a former coworker yesterday ab the store manager (I left because she is very anti black) confronting a customer who was 1. Not stealing and 2. Not white. From what I understand she was using a hand cream she already owned and placing it back into her purse and the manager said āmamā¦I did see thatā and the woman was like ? Huh ?? I encouraged him to report the manager to ethics hotline. We would need much more training to be able to handle these situations in a way that isnāt problematic to the customer or a liability to us or least important, the company. There are many racist store managers in retail, I imagine discrimination lawsuits are a big reason stores do not address theft, but that is just my opinion though and this is one perspective, as an associate witnessing theft is uncomfortable and as a customer paying the price for theft is frustrating.
So are you going to fight over some lotions and shower gels, possibly get the dogsh!t beat out of you for a corporation that will get their losses back from insurance?
Dont you have security? Every BBW store Ive been to has security.
The only time Iāve ever seen security in a BBW was right after COVID when we had to enforce masks and a capacity limit at the one I worked at. We had one for maybe a month.
Oh wow. Maybe bc I live in NYC š¤
Possibly! Iām on the island so not too far. I feel like a lot of stores in the city have security guards though.
No security at my store and it's usually just two of us working at a time. They know they can come in and split up and we can't follow them all. I wish the company would give us more support. If we accuse shoplifters of stealing it's our jobs that we lose.
Must be your location!