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Original poster

Shoplifting..... So desperate at Christmas

324 replies

stubbs0412 · 20/12/2013 12:33

Not me btw
Whilst waiting in supermarket queue someone was escorted out by the police...."shoplifters" says the cashier. "Well, people are just so desperate this time of year aren't they?" Says the person in front of me. I could feel myself actually agreeing, is this u? R my morals slipping? I honestly don't think I would report someone I saw shoplifting food either.

OP posts:
Original poster
stubbs0412 · 20/12/2013 13:03

I hadn't though of black market, drugs etc
Immediately my heart went out to those who really, really can not afford basic "Christmas" I agree "if you can't afford it, you shouldn't have it" but it's very difficult explaining this to young children where there is an expectation sown from peers, tv, Christmas is everythere.

OP posts:
RunRabbit · 20/12/2013 13:03

I agree with livinginawinterwonderland. Celebrating Christmas isn't a need.

And there is no way to tell what someone's intention is by what they steal.

sparkle101 · 20/12/2013 13:06

Shoplifting is theft. Regardless of the reasons. My shop is constantly targeted and as a result we are visited often by the loss prevention officers and investigated and disciplined because our loss is too high. We do everything we can but people will always steal. Sorry but I would report it regardless of the circumstances.

WooWooOwl · 20/12/2013 13:06

Stuff wouldn't be so over priced if shops didn't have to spend so much on security. Paying for security guards, cctv, plastic security tags and boxes on so many things is expensive, and that's what thieves are making everyone else pay for.

Businesses are entitled to make a profit, and to not have their property stolen.

IThinkThat · 20/12/2013 13:11

I would always report it. I'd let the shop, the police or the courts decide if the person needed prosecuting.
I know that I couldn't ever steal. I suppose I would beg if I had to but I couldn't steal.

NinjaBunny · 20/12/2013 13:11

My GM was a store detective back in the 60's and she followed a student around the store on Christmas eve. He stole a small turkey, a few vegetables, a tiny christmas pudding some cream and hid the items under a huge overcoat he was wearing.

Stories like that make my heart actually ache.

:(

Original poster
stubbs0412 · 20/12/2013 13:11

Sparkle ... I assume your shop doesn't sell food?

OP posts:
otterface · 20/12/2013 13:18

"On the other hand some low lives steal gammon, razors, batteries, etc to sell so they can buy drugs."

I really fucking hate the dehumanizing way that some people talk about people with addictions on here (and elsewhere). "Low lives"? Really? Try human beings, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, parents, in the grips of a fucking tortuous illness that makes them miserable and sick and about as desperate and worthy of empathy as any other person desperate enough to steal.

Does it mean they should get away with it or that anyone should turn a blind eye to theft? No. Is stealing to feed a habit the same as stealing to feed your children? No.

But "low lives"? There's no need for that.

paxtecum · 20/12/2013 13:20

I did know 'naice' people who ordered goods from shoplifters.

I'm just grateful that I have never been desperate enough to steal.
Though I have been very short of money at times.

leftkidney · 20/12/2013 13:21

The stuff is over priced anyway and asda make a huge profit. Arguably it is because of corporations like that that some people are so poor (not singling out asda, as it is probably one of the more 'ethical' supermarkets) but the profit motive ensures that there will always be some people who do not have enough to live on.

This is a post full of contradictions. Asda make a 'huge profit' because they have a lot of shops selling a lot of stuff. Their margins are less than 5%.

If the stuff is 'over priced' at a profit margin of under 5%, presumably you want the shop to reduce the prices by lower their costs by squeezing their struggling suppliers further, or paying their employees less? More use of 0 hour contracts and free workfare labour perhaps?

Is there a list of MN approved shops to steal from somewhere, I must have missed it. I always thought 2 wrongs didn't make a right.

sparkle101 · 20/12/2013 13:22

No it doesn't, although Christmas gets drawn out as an excuse when we catch shoplifters. It was the same when I've worked in food retail though, the spotlight is on you and you're the one in the firing line if people decide to steal from you.

There are schemes and such like set up to help people suffering at Christmas. Theft is inexcusable in my mind.

MrsDavidBowie · 20/12/2013 13:23

As someone who was the manager of many retail shops in the eighties, I spent so much time trying to prevent shoplifting. We had no security guards, although we had tags, and were on constant alert.
If results were bad at stocktaking, ie over 1% of stock lost, as management our jobs were on the line.
I have been threatened with knives, syringes and generally abused by shoplifters.

Statistically, there is more stock loss is from employees.

Cheerysnowman · 20/12/2013 13:31

Genuine question- PP mentioning black market for items such as cheese... Is that true, I could see meat, razor blades etc being stolen to order. Who orders cheese on black market (and does black market mean some guy in a pub trying to offload stuff?). No offence meant- just interested to know.

formerbabe · 20/12/2013 13:36

Stealing is wrong...and there are 2 types of shoplifter imo. Some steal tons of stuff to sell it on...I have seen therm stopped by police before and the stuff is piled up on the pavement! Some people are just desperate which is so sad. I wouldn't report them...I would pretend I hadn't seen it...

Original poster
stubbs0412 · 20/12/2013 13:41

I see your point sparkle, if I was an independent retailer I would be annoyed with people pinching my stock, forgive my ignorance but do you not have insurance to cover this??? I started the thread/discussion in response to a genuine sadness I felt for those in real need at a time when most of the country will shut down for the "festive" season. I stand by what said at the beginning, I wouldn't report someone I saw shoplifting from a supermarket.

OP posts:
jonicomelately · 20/12/2013 13:47

What about the theiving shops who avoid/evade paying tax? Why are the authorities not bothered about them? The parents living in poverty and drug addicts (who are the ones to be most pitied nor scorned imo) are an easy collar. It's a disgrace.

leftkidney · 20/12/2013 13:51

I suspect a lot of parents living in poverty would be a bit put out to be lumped in with drug addicts..

jonicomelately · 20/12/2013 13:55

I haven't lumped anyone together, but in my experience desperate parents and drug addicts are well represented in shop lifting offences.
Some people are offended by anything Shock

sparkle101 · 20/12/2013 13:57

There is no insurance. If there was it wouldn't stop the investigations/disciplinaries and constant being in the spotlight.

I understand your point. I think with me it's just a non negotiable.

jonicomelately · 20/12/2013 13:57

And just to clarify, the people I pity the most are drug addicts who are not some sub-species but imo the victims of the most incidious of crimes to blight the western world. The cultivation and distribution of drugs.
Hth.

shouldnthavesaid · 20/12/2013 14:05

When I worked in a shop we had a mum who came in with a sports holdall regularly and was caught nicking nappies, toilet roll, etc. She had a lot of children, always on her own with them, she always looked tired/stressed and the kids were never quite clean..

I suppose you might feel sorry for her based on the fact that she was apparently a struggling mum..

but

She owned a people carrier, her husband owned his own business and she was a company director. She and her husband were looking into purchasing a mansion house. She was in no way destitute or desperate.

Some people are very, very good at pretending to be something they aren't.

On the back of that I don't tend to feel very sorry for those I see shoplifting etc. For every "desperate" person there will be dozens of others with a false sob story.

leftkidney · 20/12/2013 14:08

TBH I've always been under the impression that those who suffer most from the drug trade are not westerners but those innocents who live with the death and destruction caused by the cultivation and gang warfare in the source countries. If I've missed something I'm all ears but I can't muster up the same sympathy for anyone who has ignored the mass of public education on the subject of drugs here and has made a choice to consume toxic chemicals anyway.

OHforDUCKSchristmasCake · 20/12/2013 14:09

Someone at a toddler play group stole £20 out my wallet and £15 out of someone else's wallet the following week, in November. The only way I could get my head round it was if I figured it must have been someone who was desperate, what with Christmas coming up.

PresidentServalan · 20/12/2013 14:09

I wouldn't hesitate to report a shoplifter if I saw one. I don't care what they steal, it's a shitty thing to do and costs everyone else in the long term.

JinglingRexManningDay · 20/12/2013 14:10

I used to live near a big supermarket and a known drug den. Addicts would often go knocking door to door selling cheese,ham,toiletries and razors. It was a place where most people were on benefits or just scrapping by,so the lure of a bit of ham or some days a joint of beef would prove too much. Toys were robbed and sold at Christmas.