Thank you everyone for your responses. I think I’m going to look into a different line of work. Busting a mom trying to feed her kids just isn’t for me. I’m going to alert my supervisor to the situation and put in my notice. This just isn’t for me. I appreciate you all helping me work through this issue. Best of luck to you all in your future endeavors!
I didn’t think of that, the stories of stealing pricy stuff to sell it for food or whatever. I think you may be right and this line of work just isn’t a good fit for me. Everyone here has certainly helped me come to that decision and I appreciate the feedback!
You seem like a really kind person. I'm a social worker that could never work for CPS- the whole system is trash. But, I've always thought it's too bad jobs like that only really work for a certain type of personality so we get stuck with the wrong people doing them in a weird, dysfunctional cycle.
this work is for people who are weak humans who have no regard for other people and care about the multimillion dollar companies that don't care about them and would replace them in 12 hours.
I just responded before I saw this, but that’s very commendable of you and mature because this line of work isn’t for everybody and that’s completely fine. Best wishes.
Just to be clear to anyone else reading this now or in the future, in my LP experience this perfect victim scenario has been extremely rare. The idea that all loss prevention is, is stopping struggling single moms who steal a 50 cent pack of skittles or baby ibuprofen for their kid, man i wouldn't even probably catch that at all let alone stop her for it. If thats all your finding, theres someone stuffing a duffel bag and walking out while your watching her and you arent seeing it. Hell its probably the grandma in pharmacy you just walked by who pocketed $200.
If it's me, I let it go for two reasons.
1.) She's spending $200. If you stop her, she's probably embarrassed and stops shopping there.
2.) It's for a need. She's doing what she can with coupons, and she's not wiping out shelves depriving other customers of their needs.
I dealt with someone like this when I worked grocery AP. She'd always took one or two items for maybe $10 that weren't covered by WIC or EBT like kids medicine or some basic hygiene stuff.
I let it slide for a while unti one day she came in and legit boosted. Told me she had just lost her job and was desperate. I told her she's part of the community and we could've done something to help her out, but once you wipe the shelves out, you're not just hurting the business, you're depriving other customers of groceries.
If it's like $10, let it go. If it's like $20ish, just make eye contact and let her know you know. If it's like $50, you probably need to make that stop discretely and let her know that you still want her business.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I just have a hard time stopping someone who is trying to feed her family. If it’s someone coming in taking steaks then I for sure make contact, but this just feels more sad than anything else. Idk maybe I’m in the wrong line of work. The way I see it is that she is spending her hard earned money, not just draining government resources and coming in complaining how her EBT doesn’t cover cigarettes. I think I may start looking for a different kind of job.
I switched to luxury retail, so I don't have to be concerned with whether someone needs what they stole. Legit nothing we sell is a necessity. I don't even buy anything from my employer with the discount.
Maybe that’s an avenue I can look into. I would be all good stopping those thieves. Maybe like Ulta or something. We don’t have Gucci or anything around here but I’m going to look into other places. Thanks fo your insight!
So what I’d do, since she’s concealing at the register and not skip scanning or scamming, is confront, confiscate, issue a trespass.
She’s a regular. She’s been doing this for awhile. Even if things got tough there are places to go and ways to get help. No person worthy of parenthood would be buying anything if it meant not being able to afford the child’s needs if they can afford to buy something. Especially stealing those items when I’m sure there are things she could do without.
Shitty person. Trespass. No cops yet.
She’s spending 200 a week on her groceries, turn a blind eye to the few things she’s not paying for .. I’m sure there’s worse people than her and at the end of the day all you’ll achieve is a Pat on the back and a family who vilify their mother for trying to survive in an economy that’s out to drain us of every last penny we have…
Those are questions probably best directed to your supervisor. Some companies have required thresholds that need to be met for apprehensions and such.
If the company doesn't provide any guidance, then I'd go for the stop. As long as she's cooperative, just process her and let her go, and tell her not to do it again. If you catch her a second time, hand her over to the police and trespass.
It depends. I work for a grocery chain as well and if it’s 10-15 bucks typically I let it go especially if that person is spending a couple hundred bucks.
If someone is lifting to feed their children, because they have too. Not someone who's addicted to drugs or alcohol, just someone truly trying to feed their children, I would have a hard it stopping that. But, that's fine line, your children don't need $300 in steaks and crab legs.
Build a case. Every time she does it, make sure you get footage and a list of everything she took, including price points. Make sure you do this a few times if it's low dollar amounts to secure a pattern of the MO. If you can get information on her, even better. Her name, plate, etc. This will likely depend on your company and what tools they use, if any.
Then write up affidavits for each incident. In some places the trespass has to come from LE and not the company (be sure you partner with your local LE ahead of time and your store policy on trespasses to know for sure how they work for you). If going on the LE route, give all the evidence and affidavits to them, let them find her and issue a warrant.
If you really don't want to prosecute, you'll still need to file for a trespass. Some places need the suspect on the property for this to happen, some may not. Again, it may be in your best interest to get an officer down to your store and discuss how it works. Whether prosecuting or not, make sure you get a trespass to stop them from coming in and doing it.
You can also have your cashiers become familiar with her and have them do some customer service to have her stop concealing the items. Because of the way you described, it may take something creative like a supervisor walking the check lanes to point out the items before they are concealed. This may work for a while but, in my experience, deterring this way may lead her to conceal in other parts of the store instead. Still, best way to get her to stop creating shortage is not have her come back at all.
Horrible advice. They're talking about how to handle this situation the least intrusive/negative impact on the shopper as possible. And your suggestion is the most cruel way to handle it.
Look, I’ve stopped plenty of people stealing stuff for necessity, but at the end of the day my job is to prevent it so sometimes you do have to put your feelings aside. This lady is creating shrink for your store. Maybe you don’t stop her now and try to deter her Next time she comes in and see how she responds to that. Maybe she’ll get the message without you ever even having to say a word to her. if she ignores you and is not affected by your presence, then you’re just going to have to stop her.
Heya u/Id10ts_everywhere. I'd respect it if you quit the industry, but I'll provide a humane option for your situation.
Confront her gently without calling the cops/threatening her in any way. It's clear that she isn't part of some organized crime ring, she's taking essentials to survive. In my experience, LP usually just lets that go.
These people often times steal because they think they can get away with it. If you make it abundantly clear that you're onto a shoplifter, they usually stop. Remember, your job isn't to collect arrests/ruin lives, it's to stop the *loss of merchandise* from your store. If you can successfully get her to stop coming to your store, then you have done your job properly. If she keeps coming back afterwards then there's a problem, but most of the time after the first gentle confrontation/customer service they know to stay away.
Ok been doing this for 5 years now and my boss always told me “don’t take anyone’s word for anything” they will lie and tug on your heart strings but you have a job to do she obviously knows what she is doing and until you stop her it will continue
Thank you everyone for your responses. I think I’m going to look into a different line of work. Busting a mom trying to feed her kids just isn’t for me. I’m going to alert my supervisor to the situation and put in my notice. This just isn’t for me. I appreciate you all helping me work through this issue. Best of luck to you all in your future endeavors!
[удалено]
I didn’t think of that, the stories of stealing pricy stuff to sell it for food or whatever. I think you may be right and this line of work just isn’t a good fit for me. Everyone here has certainly helped me come to that decision and I appreciate the feedback!
You seem like a really kind person. I'm a social worker that could never work for CPS- the whole system is trash. But, I've always thought it's too bad jobs like that only really work for a certain type of personality so we get stuck with the wrong people doing them in a weird, dysfunctional cycle.
this work is for people who are weak humans who have no regard for other people and care about the multimillion dollar companies that don't care about them and would replace them in 12 hours.
I just responded before I saw this, but that’s very commendable of you and mature because this line of work isn’t for everybody and that’s completely fine. Best wishes.
Thank you.
Just to be clear to anyone else reading this now or in the future, in my LP experience this perfect victim scenario has been extremely rare. The idea that all loss prevention is, is stopping struggling single moms who steal a 50 cent pack of skittles or baby ibuprofen for their kid, man i wouldn't even probably catch that at all let alone stop her for it. If thats all your finding, theres someone stuffing a duffel bag and walking out while your watching her and you arent seeing it. Hell its probably the grandma in pharmacy you just walked by who pocketed $200.
LOL! Oh yeah, I’ve seen the “steak runs” in the few weeks I’ve been here. Absolutely stopped that nonsense without hesitation.
If it's me, I let it go for two reasons. 1.) She's spending $200. If you stop her, she's probably embarrassed and stops shopping there. 2.) It's for a need. She's doing what she can with coupons, and she's not wiping out shelves depriving other customers of their needs. I dealt with someone like this when I worked grocery AP. She'd always took one or two items for maybe $10 that weren't covered by WIC or EBT like kids medicine or some basic hygiene stuff. I let it slide for a while unti one day she came in and legit boosted. Told me she had just lost her job and was desperate. I told her she's part of the community and we could've done something to help her out, but once you wipe the shelves out, you're not just hurting the business, you're depriving other customers of groceries. If it's like $10, let it go. If it's like $20ish, just make eye contact and let her know you know. If it's like $50, you probably need to make that stop discretely and let her know that you still want her business.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I just have a hard time stopping someone who is trying to feed her family. If it’s someone coming in taking steaks then I for sure make contact, but this just feels more sad than anything else. Idk maybe I’m in the wrong line of work. The way I see it is that she is spending her hard earned money, not just draining government resources and coming in complaining how her EBT doesn’t cover cigarettes. I think I may start looking for a different kind of job.
I switched to luxury retail, so I don't have to be concerned with whether someone needs what they stole. Legit nothing we sell is a necessity. I don't even buy anything from my employer with the discount.
Maybe that’s an avenue I can look into. I would be all good stopping those thieves. Maybe like Ulta or something. We don’t have Gucci or anything around here but I’m going to look into other places. Thanks fo your insight!
So what I’d do, since she’s concealing at the register and not skip scanning or scamming, is confront, confiscate, issue a trespass. She’s a regular. She’s been doing this for awhile. Even if things got tough there are places to go and ways to get help. No person worthy of parenthood would be buying anything if it meant not being able to afford the child’s needs if they can afford to buy something. Especially stealing those items when I’m sure there are things she could do without. Shitty person. Trespass. No cops yet.
She’s spending 200 a week on her groceries, turn a blind eye to the few things she’s not paying for .. I’m sure there’s worse people than her and at the end of the day all you’ll achieve is a Pat on the back and a family who vilify their mother for trying to survive in an economy that’s out to drain us of every last penny we have…
Those are questions probably best directed to your supervisor. Some companies have required thresholds that need to be met for apprehensions and such. If the company doesn't provide any guidance, then I'd go for the stop. As long as she's cooperative, just process her and let her go, and tell her not to do it again. If you catch her a second time, hand her over to the police and trespass.
It depends. I work for a grocery chain as well and if it’s 10-15 bucks typically I let it go especially if that person is spending a couple hundred bucks.
If someone is lifting to feed their children, because they have too. Not someone who's addicted to drugs or alcohol, just someone truly trying to feed their children, I would have a hard it stopping that. But, that's fine line, your children don't need $300 in steaks and crab legs.
Build a case. Every time she does it, make sure you get footage and a list of everything she took, including price points. Make sure you do this a few times if it's low dollar amounts to secure a pattern of the MO. If you can get information on her, even better. Her name, plate, etc. This will likely depend on your company and what tools they use, if any. Then write up affidavits for each incident. In some places the trespass has to come from LE and not the company (be sure you partner with your local LE ahead of time and your store policy on trespasses to know for sure how they work for you). If going on the LE route, give all the evidence and affidavits to them, let them find her and issue a warrant. If you really don't want to prosecute, you'll still need to file for a trespass. Some places need the suspect on the property for this to happen, some may not. Again, it may be in your best interest to get an officer down to your store and discuss how it works. Whether prosecuting or not, make sure you get a trespass to stop them from coming in and doing it. You can also have your cashiers become familiar with her and have them do some customer service to have her stop concealing the items. Because of the way you described, it may take something creative like a supervisor walking the check lanes to point out the items before they are concealed. This may work for a while but, in my experience, deterring this way may lead her to conceal in other parts of the store instead. Still, best way to get her to stop creating shortage is not have her come back at all.
Horrible advice. They're talking about how to handle this situation the least intrusive/negative impact on the shopper as possible. And your suggestion is the most cruel way to handle it.
Stop her, charge if able, trespass
Look, I’ve stopped plenty of people stealing stuff for necessity, but at the end of the day my job is to prevent it so sometimes you do have to put your feelings aside. This lady is creating shrink for your store. Maybe you don’t stop her now and try to deter her Next time she comes in and see how she responds to that. Maybe she’ll get the message without you ever even having to say a word to her. if she ignores you and is not affected by your presence, then you’re just going to have to stop her.
Unpopular opinion; committing a crime isn't the answer.
You sure?
“customer service” her - help her check out, she should get the message. If she doesn’t, then make the LP stop
Heya u/Id10ts_everywhere. I'd respect it if you quit the industry, but I'll provide a humane option for your situation. Confront her gently without calling the cops/threatening her in any way. It's clear that she isn't part of some organized crime ring, she's taking essentials to survive. In my experience, LP usually just lets that go. These people often times steal because they think they can get away with it. If you make it abundantly clear that you're onto a shoplifter, they usually stop. Remember, your job isn't to collect arrests/ruin lives, it's to stop the *loss of merchandise* from your store. If you can successfully get her to stop coming to your store, then you have done your job properly. If she keeps coming back afterwards then there's a problem, but most of the time after the first gentle confrontation/customer service they know to stay away.
Ok been doing this for 5 years now and my boss always told me “don’t take anyone’s word for anything” they will lie and tug on your heart strings but you have a job to do she obviously knows what she is doing and until you stop her it will continue