At the amount of shoplifting that apparently goes on

[paperbattles]

Just been to the local garden centre, which has new security sensors, CCTV and security guard - the checkout person explained that so much shoplifting has gone on that they have had to install extra precautions. She said if an item can be moved people will take it, and loads of people do it - top of the list scented candles, alcohol and flowers. Am I completely naive to think that most people are honest and the odd few make a mistake or even steal a small item; or is it not thought to be bad behaviour? what is the reasoning? trying to understand what makes people do it, where do they draw the line?

In Sainsbury's today a member of staff was putting lots of alcohol back on the shelf. He told me a gang of 3 all came in and lifted over £700 worth of booze and goods! They split up, use distraction, take the security tags off the alcohol around the store and dump the tag...

I used to work in retail and people switching tickets was a big problem especially in one particular store. Always the same types and god were they agressive when caught out!

I really hate when shoplifting is assumed to be a victimless crime and big companies can afford to lose money. They really can’t, that’s why they invest in preventative measures which aren’t cheap. My ex’s auntie was anxious to take my then baby out shopping with her once. Wouldn’t let me go too. Why? Prolific shoplifter according to the rest of the family, it was an open secret said to me with an eye roll and a “honestly what is she like”. Wanted to be able to use the lovely big basket and the good on the pram. Needless to say I said no they’re a very up themselves lot as well.

Shoplift - what would be the implications if you were caught? Would you be sacked, in trouble with your family? What sort of age are you, assuming you are female? A bombardment of questions but interested in why.

It still happens alot!! People are suprisingly more upfront and bold with it to. We had a lady steal a dyson go into another branch for a refund, steal another on the way out.
People walking in and straight back out with anything from chocolate to tvs. People walking in picking up items and approaching desk for a refund. The other day 2 women cleared out a full rack of kids clothes bolted out of a fire exit and into a waiting van.
Sometimes people fancy cars business suits on just steal a paper and lunch. Really can be anyone in the shop at the time people you least expect ate often the worst x

What’s worse is that people will steal the charity boxes if they are not chained down.

I used to work for a big London museum on the gifts/retail side. It was astonishing the amount that went on, and the people who were doing it. Teachers on school trips! Wealthy foreign visitors. The lot.

One guy was quite a distinguished visiting academic, and our manager was sure that it must have been a mistake, and potentially very embarrassing. However, the police went to search his hotel room and it was full of stuff he had nicked from all sorts of places.

There's even loads from charity shops. Had to remove all the cds, vinyl and dvds from cases when volunteering

I have never stolen anything. But I have always wanted to . I'm not even short of money, I must have been a bad'un in a past life.

Check out this very recent thread about shoplifting www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3451220-just-saw-someone-shoplifting-in-wh-smith?msgid=83318528

I used to work at Icelands, the most popular items to be stolen were blocks of cheddar cheese and big legs of lamb, which they had to put in locked cases in the end.

Its rife. I work in retail and we have a range of 'types'
Professional thieves who target high end goods and are very well organised and equipped.
Teenagers who just have a go without much thought I suspect.
Surprising number of apparently middle class people who often give excuses when caught such as 'I come in her all the time, I'm a regular customer', I'll pay you back when I get paid', 'I didn't realise'
Yobs

I work in retail and our shop has lost nearly £15000 of alcohol in the last 6 months to one gang. They’ve cost the business nearly £100,000 in security and fire brigade call outs because they set off the fire alarm every time as a way to escape the shop and the fire service are automatically called when the alarm goes off.

My mum was run over by a shoplifter, she literally drove at her as my mum tried to stop her stealing £200 worth of candles from the shop she worked in. They drove off and left her for dead in the road
My mum was very seriously injured and is now disabled as a result. What made it worse is they had a child with them

And the ones that eat and drink stuff while walking around and dump the wrappers on a shelf. I once watched someone eat a whole box of Cadburys cakes and leave the box. No sign of any staff to report it to.

I remember working in a well known retailer in a shopping park. One Christmas a couple lumped a load of leather jackets into a trolley and walked out of the store with it. No security on the door so they got away.

What a lovely comment from the pp who said about a lot of shoplifting is done by retail staff. I work in a shop and neither i nor any of my colleagues would do such a thing. Apart from it being wrong you'd have to steal a lot to risk losing your job over. In 10 years i've known 2 staff to steal and both were sacked on the spot. It's not a victimless crime if we don't meet our figures or leakages (losses that can't be accounted for) are particularly high then our hours can be cut.

My current place of work (non retail) is rife for it I work in the care sector. We generally have huge quantities of meat and cheese stolen. 99.9% certainly staff theft. Highly doubt it's any of the residents or their families. Genuinely can't believe that people will steal from vulnerable, elderly people, let alone shops!

People just don't seem to care. My hometown Tesco express hard tags so much food, it's not worth using the self service.

What a lovely comment from the pp who said about a lot of shoplifting is done by retail staff. I work in a shop and neither i nor any of my colleagues would do such a thing.

A very significant amount of theft (it shocked me when told how much it was - it's huge!) is conducted by staff members; hence the very regular searches conducted of people, lockers and the right to search vehicles too. I have been searched three times at random within the last week alone at work.

I used to work in a supermarket that lost five figures per week in unknown loss (so theft) per week. Just that branch.

I used to work in retail and one clothes shop I worked at had loads of stock loss. Everything was security tagged but we were way understaffed. Sometimes the fitting rooms wouldn't be looked at by a member of staff for a whole day. We'd go in there and find loads of security tags in each cubicle. Some people would cut them apart with pliers. Others would have a massive magnet like we'd use at the tills and just take them off. We switched to those tags that contained ink which helped a little but if you have the right magnet they're easy to remove. What we needed was more staff so that everything taken in and out the fitting rooms could be accounted for. Never happened though.

You can see why shops prefer online these days. No rents, no utility bills, less staff and presumably substantially less theft.

On the subject of fake money watch your £20 pound notes. My niece gets paid in cash for her waitressing job. She put the money into the self service pay

at the bank and had a fake. The manager said as the new ones are coming in 2020 the counterfeit notes are heavily in circulation now.

I saw a fancy woman get caught in the Burlington arcade - with a huge amount of leather goods and scarves.
She kicked off massively and because hysterical to the point they let her go before the police arrived. I expect she did it a lot given the amount she had on her.
It is sad really - I understand people who are short of food. But not Hermes scarves!

I saw a guy in a suit on lunch break get caught in tesco for eating a pack of chicken as he walked round. His face was priceless.

I think some people think they're being clever and don't see it as a proper crime.