self checkout stealing

[starshipsweremeanttofly]

Yes IABU.
I started this around 2 weeks ago, a shop I visit several times per week. The first time, I can't remember if it was an accident or a conscious choice. I put through most of the items and threw one in my bag unscanned. This shop doesn't weigh the items on self scanner and doesn't have security bleep things on the exit. I have been maybe once since where I paid for everything.
Has anyone else done this sort of thing? It's partly a rush I guess, sounds cringey to say it. Partly driven by money worries. I'm not in a great place mentally.
It's a big chain, not excusing it, just I'm sure someone will say I'm stealing from a small independent shop.
I'm just trying to understand myself and try to bloody stop.

@heartsonacake

PhilSwagielka It doesn’t matter that it was a small shop. I mean, Oxfam is multinational, but that’s rather irrelevant. Independent or big chain, cash handling policies should be watertight. Nothing about business should be casual.

Age is irrelevant; late teens/early twenties can make good managers/supervisors if they have the right skillset and attitude, same as anyone of any age.

What’s shocking is that everyone had access to the safe. How do they expect to run a business like that?

Tbh I was quite proud of the fact that the management gave me responsibilities like training and stuff. I was 15 when I started working there and was supervising at 17/18.

It was my first job so I didn't really think anything of it. They also used to send people to the bank at the end of a shift to hand in the bank book and some other stuff, I forget what but you had someone carting a box of money through Chester city centre. I can't remember if we had to go in groups or not. Our manager at the time was pretty laid back and then we got some deputies in and they were a lot stricter.

Pretty much anyone could volunteer, and I do mean anyone. We had some very odd people working there.

[quote GunsAndShips]@KatherineParr4 sadly we are not unusually well provided for where I live. Statutory services are at breaking point, one of our county's two hospitals is in special measures and waiting lists are deplorable. But we do have two extremely busy voluntary sector organisations with dedicated projects and excellent links with GP services. It's not nearly enough, there are postcode lotteries for some services and there are terrible gaps in services but we do have addiction and MH support available in some capacity.[/quote]
Glad to hear it. I suspect your area is in the minority though.

Good one to do is put vegetables through as cheaper vegetables so for instance peppers can be quite pricey but if you accidentally press the onion button then. . . Oops

I haven’t ever needed to steal food to feed myself or our children, I am genuinely sorry for anyone that has had to. I mean “had” to.

Well thanks for stealing from my earnings.. I work in retail

You do realise that some retail chains have a means of checking your theft don't you? A member of staff sees you stealing something no matter how small, they report it and you are then on the watch list. Do you drive to the store? If so your number plate will be flagged on the system, that is any store in their chain in the country by the way. They build a record then hand it to the police. You get a knock at the door...

I did it recently at M&S. I had a single item of clothing hanging on the back of the trolley and couldn't find anything else I wanted, so took a trip into the food section at M&S to do some food shopping. I paid at the self-scan till but completely forgot about the item of clothing and walked out of the store with it. The alarms didn't go off or anything. I was just leaving the building through the main exit to the car park, when I realised it was there. I went back to the M&S store person who was locking up and apologised and handed it back to him. He seemed surprised and grateful. Following on from that, I have had a couple of issues with the Sainsburys which is in the same building as the M&S and they face each other. It's probably a coincidence, but I have been stopped a couple of times since at Sainsbury's and had my self-service items rescanned randomly by the cashier overseeing the area and the security guard seemed to have taken more of an interest than usual on my last 2-3 visits. Funnily enough the M&S don't bother with me, it's more the Sainsbury's and I am regular shoppers at both. I guess it's possible that they noted my car registration after the incident with the clothing, who knows. If it's a genuine accident, I don't see the issue if you apologise and return it immediately/ASAP. If you knowingly decide to keep it after mistakenly walking out with it, or you realise before leaving the shop that you haven't paid for it and still continue to leave, then that's a different matter entirely.

Ew. This thread is so trashy/gross. Lol @ the actual thieves on this thread trying to take the moral high ground

You will get caught if you continue, shops do actively watch out for shoplifters. Especially supermarkets with their self service tills and scan and go systems. Every time I visit my nearest large Tesco there’s chaotic scenes in the car park. Usually someone gets confronted by several security guards at their car, where they’re frogmarched back into the store with a large trolley full to the brim of items - assuming they abused the scan and go handsets.

In fact I’ve seen an increased amount of shoplifters since lockdown generally, as in random people getting caught stealing whilst I’m a customer at the same shop! I used to work in retail so I am alert to shoplifting behaviour, but it’s certainly skyrocketed. I’m constantly seeing thieves leg it out of stores, security chasing people, police liaising with staff etc. You’d be silly to attempt to steal as they’re on the ball.

@TheFuckingDogs

Good one to do is put vegetables through as cheaper vegetables so for instance peppers can be quite pricey but if you accidentally press the onion button then. . . Oops

Pathetic person

It's a thrill thing but I guarantee at some point you will get caught. You won't be arrested or go to court the police aren't interested (look this up) unless it's 100s of pounds but you may be barred from the store or asked not to use the self checkout. Some stores use some kind of face recognition I think. Facewatch or thirdeye may be the systems. Is it worth it for a packet of biscuits or some cheese?

@TheFuckingDogs

Good one to do is put vegetables through as cheaper vegetables so for instance peppers can be quite pricey but if you accidentally press the onion button then. . . Oops

Good one? Seriously?

My partner’s son did this and got caught eventually. He wasn’t allowed in that supermarket and any other of their stores again. He was stealing food out of need though, but they were going to call the police. He managed to talk them out of it by saying he would tell them how he was bypassing the self service.

If it’s not an accidental steal, and it’s done regularly they will notice. A famous chef got caught doing it, and they prosecuted him.

It was Anthony Worrall Thompson, wasn't it, @dentydown? Iirc, he stole some cheddar!

"Good one to do is put vegetables through as cheaper vegetables so for instance peppers can be quite pricey but if you accidentally press the onion button then. . . Oops"

@TheFuckingDogs - can you explain to me why I (and every other honest shopper) should pay extra for our shopping so you can steal peppers from the supermarket?

The supermarkets don't absorb losses by shoplifting from their profits or their shareholders' dividends - it comes from shrinkage, which is a percentage added to every price in the shop, to cover loss by theft, breakage, spoilage etc.

If there was no shoplifting, the shrinkage percentage would be smaller and we would pay less.

So go on - explain to me why you think theft is such a good and clever thing. Explain why I should fund it.

Don't supermarkets make losses from the tonnes of food they waste every day?

Yes, they do - but that isn’t a justification for shoplifting. Shrinkage covers the losses through wastage, but it also covers losses due to theft - if people didn’t steal, the shrinkage percentage the shops charge wouldn’t have to cover loss through theft.

In fact, I am wrong - the supermarkets don’t make a loss due to wastage - we pay it in the shrinkage. But the rest of my point still stands - loss through theft is covered in the prices we all pay, and I don’t appreciate paying for others to thieve.

Youre a thief, end of. I know someone who did this in asda, they were watching her for a while and she got done for it. Criminal record later she lost her job (local authority healthcare- senior position) and now can't get a job.

I do like how shops let you steal for a few occasions after they’ve noticed you then nab you later on. It means your plausible deniability goes out of the window - you can’t say it was an accident or it was your first time if they’ve got several instances captured on camera!

Not going to lie, when I worked in retail dealing with shoplifters was quite fun at times - makes you feel like a pseudo detective was definitely more interesting than the typical mundane shifts

Our security staff were quite nice and would let people off easily though. I don’t think my old company ever let people steal on a few occasions to nab them later on.

I went through a shoplifting phase in my late teens - the rush is very much real and I can see how it would become a habit. I had no real justification, other than being from a very, very poor household and wanting nice things for myself.

If you can self refer for counselling in your area, do, and put strategies in place so you're not as tempted - remind yourself before you go in each shop of the embarrassment or consequences of being caught, only used manned tills, look up at every security camera you see so you know your face is on there and remind yourself you're not anonymous, treat yourself to something nice (paid for!) for a month without any stolen items?

It's a habit or compulsion and you need to break it like you would any other, whatever mixture of carrot and stick works for you!

Well this thread is a shit show, isn't it? Somebody asks for help and gets told that they're a shitty person who deserves everything they're going to get. Kleptomania is a real thing, you know? I'm not surprised OP hasn't come back, though I'm genuinely very worried about her wellbeing now. Not once did she try to justify what she was doing, she just asked for people to help her understand it. Sometimes MN can be a wonderful, supportive place but this thread is certainly an example of MNers at their absolute worst.

Don't supermarkets make losses from the tonnes of food they waste every day?

And we waste food because our automatic ordering systems say we need 5000 onions to cover the ones we sold this week ... only we actually sold only 2500 onions and the other 2500 were other "mis-scanned" items ... so when we have 300% of the onions we dont need we end up having to throw them out because we cant sell them before they go bad