Greggs shifts food behind counters to stop thieves

[SerendipityJane]

I'm old enough that my DM was more used to this sort of operation than the new fangled "self service" that appeared in the 60s.

Once again the feeling of travelling backwards in time doesn't seem to quite go away.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17r52rvj2lo

When returning items from Argos, the process takes longer, especially with certain products - iPads is the best example here. As the serial number on box needs to match with the one on the iPad (physically switch it on and look under settings). As people have bought an iPad then return it placing an older model in the box.

Then at an Argos, someone returned a PS5, staff member looked in the box and it was full of children's books. The customer thought that bring back the box, scan it and get their money back....

This is what my relative who retired last year from Sainsburys told me.

I have a young relative who works for a well known sports chain. They have to challenge shoplifters and get told off if they don't! The security guards aren't allowed to though!!! I was fuming when they told me this 😡 I told them it shows you how much they don't care about their staff that they'd put youngsters in harms way to protect a pair of trainers. They agreed tbf 😁

Did you email the school? Or did the staff member? Maybe they have before and the school didn’t do anything.

In some parts of America some stores shut because of the amount of stealing as it was affecting profit margins. It left some poor communities without anywhere to shop but they are business not charities. Walmart shut 20 stores across America in 2023 including Chicago where my brother lives. Didn’t affect him as it was the Southside.

The criminal minority ruined it for the majority.

Plus people mentioning the police not doing anything, my best mates DS is a police officer. They are very stretched. They have to attend risk to life situations first. DV and MH issues take up almost all their time, plus missing persons.

Even with Amazon. My brother bought an expensive Lego set and when it was opened it was full of dirty old Lego bricks. Not the actual set. They eventually refunded but it was a battle as they basically thought my brother was behind it.

It is crazy.

A few shops with deli counters in Ireland have installed a piping system, like willy wonka chocolate factory, you take your ticket, your roll is transported directly from deli to the cash till in an overhead pipe.

It's funny but awful that they need them, they were suffering big loses with people stealing from the deli counter.

They won’t know which school

There's no consequences, if police arrest and charge, courts hand out suspended sentences, there is no space in prison, throw sob story in and the previous convictions are excused.

Why they're not building more is a mystery.

Proper order.

NIMBYs

When SLs go to the courts, they sob about they had lost their grandmother, father has cancer etc.

Thousands of us have relatives dying and have cancer. Do they all shoplift? No.

Good, thieving sods. It's not a bloody free-for-all.

“Becoming a low-trust rather than high-trust society is a terrible development for the UK. And no I don’t think it’s about poverty - it’s about there being zero consequences for this kind of crime and people not giving a shit.”

exactly this

Bet they’d soon challenge me if I tried to run out with a trolley-load later today x

I worked in retail for years and was often alone in the (small) shop. I'd be terrified to do that now.

It is not shops fault for stealing in any way.

I could walk into an empty shop and I still would not steal. I have had expensive products missed at the till and I told them, because it was the right thing to do regardless of if I could get away with it.

I've seen it happen a couple of times in the Greggs near my office. Really brazen.

It's a shame that they feel they have to implement these measures but can't say I blame them. We are all paying for the stolen items!!

Do shops not hire store detectives anymore? I was a Saturday girl in Boots in the 80's and Beryl the store detective was the stuff of legends!

Although I am obviously not for shop lifting, at least this might mean the end of getting rid of staff and replacing them with self serve.

Sometimes the complete lack of staff invites shop lifting, I was in Boots the other day, trying to buy one item, no available staff and self serve wasn't working, the few members of staff were stocking shelves elsewhere! I literally could have walked out and no one would have even noticed. In the end I had to go find someone. This is a ridiculous way of running a shop.

People are stealing food because they are hungry. To judge them is nonsensical. To judge a government that has allowed, no, CAUSED this to happen is appropriate.

My DH works in a shop and the stories are shocking. Often, even when confronted (and my DH is a big stature of a man) they’ll just deny it and still refuse to pay and even refuse to leave, it’s a huge problem for us all.

The running costs for retailers/producers is rising and we’re subsidising the shoplifters. There’s some items that are stolen more than purchase - ie red bull, so it’s not worth putting them on the shop floor.

Colleagues stealing, offering staff discounts to everyone, marking items down is also an issue.

I was on a day out so even if I could have seen their school badge I would have had no idea where it was from but as I said they had black hoodies on with the strings pulled.
The people who work there would know better than me where they come from.

I saw one of those piped systems in a McDonalds in a service station somewhere in the North West of England, wondered what on earth it was until the girl explained it to us.

If you believe this you’re seriously naive. The most common items in one store of DH’s is red bull and tetley tea. They steal to resell.

I’ve seen this when waiting to buy my lunch they pop in pick up a few baguettes then go to drinks fridge which is closest to the door and walk out. A staff member called out a hey you need to
pay for that but he kept going. Apparently it happens a lot they must lose a fortune.

I imagine a very small percentage of people are stealing because they're hungry, most I imagine they're doing it because they can

(I know someone who nicked a £100 electrical item - spoiler they didn't eat it!)