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.

Again, what help?

@KatherineParr4

addictionsuk.com/types-of-addictions/shoplifting-addiction/

That's from a cursory Google. Also, where I live a GP WOULD help. They'd explore underlying mh issues and refer appropriately to one of our local services offering MH and addiction support.

@melj1213

Loss due to theft doesn’t come out of the supermarkets profits or their shareholders’ dividends - it comes out of my pocket and every other honest shoppers’ pockets.

Not just shoppers, it also comes out of shop floor staffs pockets too when our shrink target is missed and it costs us our (meagre though it is) annual bonus. Last year my bonus was £700, this year £250 because our shrink target was missed, that's nearly £500 taken out of my pocket because people are thieving little shits who think that they are stealing from a "faceless corporation" so it doesnt matter. It does matter to the shop floor workers on not much more than minimum wage who lose out.

Not to mention it can cost people their jobs - the store I work in had a colleague who was sacked because too many thefts were happening on his shifts when he covered the self scan machines, which meant that, as far as the management were concerned, he wasnt doing his job properly and so was sacked. Obviously that wasnt the official reason he was sacked but the warnings and disciplinary notes he had received for not being careful enough at watching for theft/ensuring tags were only removed from high value items after they were paid for etc meant that they could sack him for what would otherwise have been a warning offence. Granted, he may not have been the best worker we ever had but he didn't deserve to lose his job because there were too many shoplifters on his watch.

Sports Direct do this too. They penalise people who don't catch shoplifters.

Of course, when you mention shrinkage to the Tumblr crowd you get 'oh, it's not my fault the capitalist pigs are ripping you off' and 'loads of workers steal too'. I'll say. My mum used to work in M&S and she saw a senior member of staff, like management level, being frogmarched out by security after she was caught stealing money.

Incidentally, when I worked in Oxfam I got blamed for money going missing from the safe one time. I was distraught because I'd never do anything so low as thieve from a charity shop (we had break-ins and shoplifters a good few times). I think it was actually a couple of teenage girls from the local posh girls' school who were volunteering that day who nicked it, they were the only people who conceivably could have done it.

I think it was actually a couple of teenage girls from the local posh girls' school who were volunteering that day who nicked it, they were the only people who conceivably could have done it.

PhilSwagielka Why did volunteers even have access to the safe? Why did you? Only one person at a time should have a key to the safe and it should be recorded as such.

put through all veg as Onions lol

This is wrong. Avoid temptation by shopping online.
Seek counselling.

@heartsonacake

I think it was actually a couple of teenage girls from the local posh girls' school who were volunteering that day who nicked it, they were the only people who conceivably could have done it.

PhilSwagielka Why did volunteers even have access to the safe? Why did you? Only one person at a time should have a key to the safe and it should be recorded as such.

Because I was responsible for cashing up. I can't remember the entire procedure as it's been years since I worked there but I think we kept the float in the safe at the very least. Cashing up was part of training for volunteers who did afternoon shifts. That had nothing to do with me, it was shop policy. I think pretty much all volunteers knew where it was.

If its the rush of shoplifting that you are enjoying, then put the items in the foodbank trolley by the door.

You still get the rush but they cant prosecute (items have not left the premises), just make sure that you get the nice stuff tho, fuck the value beans, go for the poshest biscuits you can find. A few of us do this round here, I suspect the staff know, but given that a number of them are foodbank users, why would they object?

Redistribution of wealth in action. Think of it like an informal sales tax on the people who are rich enough not to need foodbanks.

It's swings and roundabouts. Sometimes a checkout person accidentally scans something twice or a multibuy discount isn't applied and I don't realise until I get home - it's not worth driving back and arguing over 50p. Sometimes I accidentally scan the heavier, more expensive bag of vegetables as the wrong type and get them cheaper. The important thing is to make sure that it's not obvious what you're doing and that there is a case for plausible deniability if you get caught. One item out of twenty gets missed, you might get away with it.

I didn't know that shops take the money away from staff for items lost or stolen, but that seems fair enough. If staff aren't responsible, they have less motivation for vigilance. Plus the idea that Sports Direct staff get money deducted brings a slight smile to my face - they are the rudest, most unpleasant staff I have ever come across.

I didn't know that shops take the money away from staff for items lost or stolen, but that seems fair enough. If staff aren't responsible, they have less motivation for vigilance.

Could you be any more self centred and ignorant?

Where do you work? I'd like to come in and take items from your place of business, but only if I know you will be charged for them because it's your own fault for not watching close enough.

Also, you do know that it's not just front end staff who lose money - you stealing not only affects the staff member who you deal with but everyone from the cleaners, shelf stackers to night stockers and delivery drivers who you've probably never even seen.

@LonelyFromCorona

put through all veg as Onions lol

Why is it funny to do something that increases the price of everything we all buy AND takes money out of the shop staff's bonus, when they don't reach their shrinkage target, @LonelyFromCorona?

PhilSwagielka So you’re telling me everyone knew where the safe key was and had access to it? That’s absolutely shocking.

If you were cashing up you should have been the only one with the key and kept it on your person until it was transferred to the next key holder.

I’m not having a go at you by the way; their cash handling policies are just unbelievable. They’re not—or at least weren’t at the time—following the basics. In which case they only have themselves to blame if their lax policies make it so easy for people to steal.

I’m super careful when using the self checkout. Just before lockdown there was an offer on a lipstick I like so I picked up two. I went through the ordinary check out. When I got to my car I couldn’t remember if I’d paid for them. I checked my receipt and I hadn’t. I went back in and spoke to the security man who laughed at me and said I should have just kept them. I went to customer service to pay and they laughed too, saying that they would never have picked up that I hadn’t paid. I simply couldn’t steal two lipsticks and I think that OP is feeling very guilty otherwise wouldn’t have posted.

I didn't know that shops take the money away from staff for items lost or stolen, but that seems fair enough. If staff aren't responsible, they have less motivation for vigilance.

You think it's fair they get their bonus docked because scum like you think stealing is a big fucking game? How pathetic must a person be to steal vegetables for fucks sake. Because that's what you're doing, it's not "accidentally scanning the cheaper one" (how very convenient for you it's the cheaper option you "accidentally" chose) it's stealing.

Stop it. Right now. You are being rediculous.

@contrmary sadly Sports Direct staff have notoriously been shat on from a great height by the zero hour contract crap. I honestly don't see where they could possibly get their motivation from any more. They are not valued at all by the company they work for. I choose not to shop there, but I doubt my boycott makes a difference as the prices are good enough for parents with very little money to really kit their kids out in a pinch. The customers who don't care about their working conditions, don't care about the staff at all. Constant shoplifting, verbal and physical abuse. It's sad. I don't blame them for being miserable one bit, I don't think they should be punished any further for it tbh.

A few of us do this round here, I suspect the staff know, but given that a number of them are foodbank users, why would they object?

They check CCTV and simply put back the items you steal. They've seen and heard it all before.

Redistribution of wealth in action. Think of it like an informal sales tax on the people who are rich enough not to need foodbanks.

However your actions have no effect on the wealthy, just the poor and just about managing's. That's who the price hikes hit when shrinkage is calculated.

Not even just the monetary side, most supermarkets have automated ordering systems so this kind of thing affects stock levels.

If the system says we sold 5000 onions this week, then we will automatically get sent 5000 next week ... if we actually only sold 2500 onions and the other 2500 are "mis-scanned" then the following week we have 300% the onions we need (the unsold 2500, plus the new 5000) and none of the "mis-scanned" items will be replenished. This means we end up wasting food because we just cant sell it quick enough and stuff that people want is always low/out of stock which inconveniences customers and can lead to people yelling at staff for never having what they want, yet they are overflowing with stuff nobody wants - like onions.

@gonnanamechangeforthisone

If its the rush of shoplifting that you are enjoying, then put the items in the foodbank trolley by the door.

You still get the rush but they cant prosecute (items have not left the premises), just make sure that you get the nice stuff tho, fuck the value beans, go for the poshest biscuits you can find. A few of us do this round here, I suspect the staff know, but given that a number of them are foodbank users, why would they object?

Redistribution of wealth in action. Think of it like an informal sales tax on the people who are rich enough not to need foodbanks.

Which we all pay for after👀

God some people in here are ridiculous even on a fake thread

OP, you seriously need to stop.
My Dsis worked in a supermarket. The manager wouldn't usually stop a shoplifter on the first occasion, but would ask staff to alert him if a particular customer arrived. He would watch and record them on camera so that he had enough evidence to prosecute.
Once could be put down to absent mindedness.
Stop now and go and see your GP.

[quote GunsAndShips]@KatherineParr4

addictionsuk.com/types-of-addictions/shoplifting-addiction/

That's from a cursory Google. Also, where I live a GP WOULD help. They'd explore underlying mh issues and refer appropriately to one of our local services offering MH and addiction support.[/quote]
You must be in an unusually well provided for area then. Most areas do not have free counselling services and nowhere to refer to. I doubt very much that most GPs would care about someone who was a shoplifter. The standard response seems to be ‘what drug do you want, just tell me quickly and get out of here’. You can tell I am cynical.

@contrmary

It's swings and roundabouts. Sometimes a checkout person accidentally scans something twice or a multibuy discount isn't applied and I don't realise until I get home - it's not worth driving back and arguing over 50p. Sometimes I accidentally scan the heavier, more expensive bag of vegetables as the wrong type and get them cheaper. The important thing is to make sure that it's not obvious what you're doing and that there is a case for plausible deniability if you get caught. One item out of twenty gets missed, you might get away with it.

I didn't know that shops take the money away from staff for items lost or stolen, but that seems fair enough. If staff aren't responsible, they have less motivation for vigilance. Plus the idea that Sports Direct staff get money deducted brings a slight smile to my face - they are the rudest, most unpleasant staff I have ever come across.

I'm confused, I thought pro-shoplifting people were supposed to be on the side of the workers. Though I have seen some of them say that people deserve to be penalised for not catching them, which is pretty unfair. Sports Direct are terrible employers and the last thing people who work there need is some edgelord making their lives harder.

@heartsonacake it was a small charity shop and it was pretty lax. We had all sorts volunteering there, mainly retired women and teenage girls doing their Duke of Edinburgh. It was pretty casual. I was supervising people when I was in my mid-to-late teens and sometimes I'd be the oldest person there. I also worked in a chain store (WH Smith) one Christmas period and needless to say, they were a lot stricter. IIRC in our Oxfam shop we had one of those code lock things to get into the back when we were having breaks, doing stuff in the stockroom etc. All volunteers knew the code.

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?

@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.