Absolutely sick of the shop workers and there headsets

[Pjsallday]

I live in a very working class town. There's a fair bit of shop lifting etc and I know the shop assistants have alot to deal with it but I'm sick of feeling like a criminal when I walk into a shop. Went into sports direct today to buy my kid a tracksuit and immediately as I enter I hear the man on the door describe me (height, approx age, hair colour) to all staff on the headset. I was taken aback. Anyway I looked around for what I needed and couldn't find the right size i asked a assistant and he recommended i order online as theres more choice. Fair enough. I ended up purcasing some sports socks instead. Person at the asked me did I get everything I needed I replied no, there wasn't much to choose from and I'd take a look online once I got home. I put my socks in my bag. And as I walked away from the till the assistant on that served me again told.all other staff my description and that i had the purchase in my own personal shopping bag and not a sports direct one. I was then asked for my bloody receipt at the door and could they see the socks in my bag. I was embarrassed as there a 3 pack of bras I got from another sholq in the bag and he was proper peeking in. I know they have to prevent shoplifting etc but it was a uncomfortable experience. I don't really know what I expect from this thread and I probably am bring unreasonable but those headsets really wind me up!

I once walked out of sports direct for this very reason. I walked in with my baby in a pram and heard them give my full description over the radio. Made me feel like a thief. They lost my sale that day

I have never heard of this kind of extreme bag checking. I wouldn’t bother going in ever again and would order from a different shop online altogether. What a weird way to run a business. Vote with your money.

I agree OP. Why not write to complain to the managing director of Sports Direct? Here are his details:

https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9130&c=Sports%20Direct%20International%20Plc-Chairman

I don't go into Sports Direct - ever. Nearest one is 20 miles from me. But I do get irked by the checkout assistants in Aldi and their bloody headsets! 2 out of 3 times that they are serving me/putting my shopping through, they are ignoring me and chatting shit to their mate in the warehouse - or the office. All I get is from them is'£23.79 please.' No other conversation or greeting as they're too busy garbling to their colleague - often about NOTHING related to the store or their job. Just pointless drivel. Pisses me right off.

That’s extreme. I work in retail with the headsets and I can’t imagine not having them anymore. They make the shopping experience for customers better as we can communicate better.

Sounds out, but tbh I don’t blame them for being over cautious. Shoplifting is rife, and needs to be minimised with whatever action helps. I work in customer relations at a big bank. There’s been a change in directive about push payments (fraud) where we have now been directed to refund fraudulent transactions where customers haven’t been negligent. But as a result, we’ve had to tighten our processes, and many large transactions are blocked. Lots of complaints on the back of this, but we have to mitigate out losses, which could potentially be huge. It might inconvenience people, but unfortunately a lot of very dishonest people out there….

ott

Last week, the MN rhetoric was that shoplifting is rampant, and nothing is done about it.

I'm sorry op as I know you're being serious but I was laughing reading that

Whats wrong with them 😭😭, that's insane

@mumofoneAlonebutokay I can laugh about it now few hours later. And i will still shop there as all my kids live in sportswear but honestly it was all abit too much "1984 big brother is watching you vibes"!

@BatchCookBabe o.m.g they do this im my little sainsburys. I had a loaf of bread the other day and I needed a cashier at the till as I wanted to buy a bottle of gin. As I walked in the direction of the tills an assistant advised me.to use the self service till I informed.her I needed to use the regular one as I needed alcohol, so she asked (using the headset) another colleague to go over and serve me. I didnt even get a price she just pointed to the card machine, they were too busy chatting about David getting knocked down by a car in corrie!!!

@ccait967 in a weird way I think I bought the socks just so that I was a paying customer if that made sense!

I think I’d approach this with humour.

Would you like a urine sample or similar…

What's wrong with Lidl? I bloody love Lidl! Their cheeses, their cold meat, their bakery bread, loose fruit, veg and nuts, bouji potato products in the freezer...The staff can talk on their headsets until the cows come home, as long as I can get my rosemary flatbreads and dauphinoise potatoes.

Sports Direct. Feels like much the same thing if you're in there for a swimming costume that doesn't expose more than it covers when half the parents come in after school dropoff.

It's to stop shoplifters. The lady with the green coat has just purchased a pair of socks.
If said lady goes to walk out with a pair of socks and a couple of t-shirts rolled up under her arm then they know she's nicked them!
It's more of a deterrent rather than anything as a thief doesn't like to be noticed, though a lot of them are easy to spot with experience.
Headsets are great when used properly, if you spot dodgy behaviour you can alert other members of staff to observe or hover and distract before a theft occurs.
Also useful getting help quicker when needed at tills, for a customer and spillages etc.
I wouldn't take offence it's just an effort in order to reduce theft and therefore increasing prices to cover it, if you're not stealing don't worry!

It might help if Sports Direct had their tills by the door? It often feels a bit odd to be walking back through the store with goods - I rarely ask for a bag.

If you had the bottle you could ask the person broadcasting you description to accompany you through the store ‘to make sure I don’t steal anything’

And similarly when asked to open your bag offer to make them an appointment at specsavers when they find nothing.

I always get a receipt - after an incident in my local Asda in which I was falsely accused of not paying for goods. (The scanner had, unknown to me, re-read items that I’d paid for as I filled my translucent carrier bag) And I’m a retired, white male.

My local Morrisons had got rid of most of its tills and has installed a bank of diy tills and a gate that is opened after you’ve paid for your goods. Hard to get out of if you haven’t purchased anything.

Used to do that back in the day - you'd be risking getting flattened when walking in by the people charging out from snatching stuff by the tills (or from the till itself). The tills are at the back both to make people walk the length of the shop in search of what they want and to protect both staff and customers.

You went into Sports Direct. You are OK with sweatshop warehouses such as the one in Shirebrook.

I am not.

1. sports direct has so much theft and customers returning fake merch etc. sad.
2. You can shop elsewhere. But their socks are a good deal.

Do elaborate. I worked very close by at one point and don't know about the conditions there.

I have zero problem with any of the measures. They have absolutely no way of telling by looking who is a criminal and who isn't, they need to protect their stock. I don't ever feel like a criminal from any of these measures because I'm not one! I have nothing to hide so they can look in my bag, scan my receipt, describe my outfit, why care? If they get an eyeful of an unopened pack of bras... so what?!

We have these plus body worn video introduced in the past year & they've made a huge difference to staff safety & morale and improved communication has reduced shoplifting & increased customer service.
The sports direct does sound extreme. Where I work monitoring is still done off the shop floor by CCTV so you aren't aware that you are being watched.
There's a lot of evidence that bringing the monitoring onto the shop floor like that helps deter shoplifting & assaults & abuse of staff.