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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that shoplifting is not my f#%*ing problem

277 replies

ShoveItUpYourArseMargaret · 07/09/2025 16:23

I can't he the only one. I've never stolen a thing in my life.

I have had it up to here with the extra security measures in shops lately.

Today in Sainsburys, I went back to the aisles with my PAID FOR shopping, to check the price on the shelf l as I'd been overcharged SO actually Sainsbury's were stealing from me. As I went back through self-checkout area where I'd paid, my trolley wheels then locked 🙄

....Also, not long ago, I did some shopping in TK Maxx and boots and the alarm went off when leaving TK Maxx because the person on the till hadn't deactivated the security thing. We went back to the till and the security person WHO HAD BEEN STANDING THERE WATCHING US, came over and rifled through my bag. I told him some of the stuff was from boots and he said, no, he had to check that too. In the process, one of the items from boots costing £10 went missing. So TK Maxx actually stole from us.

I used to love TK Maxx but wont go there anymore now.

Shoplifting is NOT my problem, I don't do it and never have. I'm not a criminal and expect not to he treated like one. Shops who are happy to take your money but treat genuine customers like shit are in danger of scaring off people who are there to spend money, they'll just end up full of shoplifters. 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Tiredofwhataboutery · 07/09/2025 18:17

I have to admit I’ve gotten annoyed by this too. It’s more the time it takes than anything else. A few months ago I was in TK maxx and it pinged and a young staff member (not a security guard) told me to go back to the till and have stuff checked and I just said sorry don’t have time, if you want to check it here fine but otherwise I need to go, she declined and I walked out. My parking was close to running out plus I needed to pick up DC the queue had been ages already. Blah de blah thing I noticed is if you do just keep going nothing happens. Now I just keep going when it pings rather than hovering politely for a member of staff.

I don’t steal so if someone was desperate to chase me down to check shopping they can but tbh I think they are busy pulling polite shoppers to look busy whereas the gangs of, sometimes violent, professional shoplifters sail on through as no one wants to deal with that for min wage.

MincePiesAndStilton · 07/09/2025 18:18

We all pay more because of the hundreds of millions that retailers lose to shoplifting. It directly affects all of us and the prices we pay.

JenniferBooth · 07/09/2025 18:19

I don’t steal so if someone was desperate to chase me down to check shopping they can but tbh I think they are busy pulling polite shoppers to look busy whereas the gangs of, sometimes violent, professional shoplifters sail on through as no one wants to deal with that for min wage.

THIS

Kellywiththelegs · 07/09/2025 18:24

I went into my local Dunelm yesterday and all the dorma section is now In security coded locked glass cabinets, Sainsburys have introduced barriers that are like Fort Knox, it’s a really depressing sad state of affairs that our country is a crime riddled mess but I can’t really blame the shops when apparently the police refuse to attend any reports of shoplifting unless the value is over £500, the thieves know they can get away with it without any punishment, I’m angry at the government for allowing this situation to happen, the demise of this country is utterly depressing.

TeddyOatmeal · 07/09/2025 18:24

Sometimes it looks like a power trip. In a local Asda they have a security guard at a stand by the door and I have seen several times people’s trolleys just suddenly lock as they are going out the door, it appears that the security trigger something but I don’t know for definite, perhaps there is a random program in operation but why? They cause the shopper to bump into their trolley, they don’t check the trolley, it seems utterly pointless. The first time I saw it was a young heavily pregnant woman who banged her bump into the trolley and was crying in the entrance afterwards and didn’t even get an apology from the security. I offered to be a witness if she wanted to make a complaint but she just wanted to go home.

BeCalmNavyDreamer · 07/09/2025 18:29

Yeh I actually find it annoying too. I got stopped for the exit alarm going and talked to with no manners when id done nothing wrong. I was asked if I had a receipt and produced it. I was asked to take everything out of my bag and said I didn't mind if they wanted to unpack and repack everything but I wasn't going to as it was an inconvenience to me. Suddenly there wasn't such an urgent need to check my bag 🙄
I actually think it's the attitude that pisses me off, not them having to be diligent about shoplifting...like those alarms go off for the wrong things all the time AND I had a receipt AND was happy for them to go through my bag but it was like I had done something wrong.

InNewYorkNoShoes · 07/09/2025 18:31

When I worked in retail we were told to constant on the lookout, our managers would make us treat customers like they were under suspicion, it was embarrassing for us.

Noelshighflyingturds · 07/09/2025 18:32

Our local sainsburys is loosing £40,000 a week to these people. I dont blame them for fighting back

JenniferBooth · 07/09/2025 18:35

Noelshighflyingturds · 07/09/2025 18:32

Our local sainsburys is loosing £40,000 a week to these people. I dont blame them for fighting back

Id like to know how many six foot blokes they are approaching in store v 5 foot 4 women

YanTanTetheraPetheraBumfitt · 07/09/2025 18:39

JenniferBooth · 07/09/2025 18:19

I don’t steal so if someone was desperate to chase me down to check shopping they can but tbh I think they are busy pulling polite shoppers to look busy whereas the gangs of, sometimes violent, professional shoplifters sail on through as no one wants to deal with that for min wage.

THIS

Totally. You see men in the co-op, Tesco express filling large holdalls full of stuff and a member of staff stands there and watch. They don’t even verbally challenge them, I assume they call the police but I never see the police come.

i know they’re told not to stop them.

i don’t know what’s changed. I remember a good few years ago i was at customer service at a big tesco and a “Mrs Robinson “ tannoy went out….lots of staff appeared. They were all discussing some shoplifter in the shop….even the trolley lads appeared. As soon as the suspect was one foot out the shop he was jumped on and pulled to the ground 😁

We will be like America soon with even more stuff locked in Perspex boxes. But the police and courts need to get tougher, there’s no deterrent.

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 18:41

there were a couple of kids stealing a coat when i was in Millets today.
just wicked.
and i doubt they will make use of the coat

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 18:42

the big coop has the spirits behind locked glass cabinets

DeeKitch · 07/09/2025 18:44

This has happened to me a couple of times and I refused bag search, told them to call the police and watch their CCTV while we wait

Never did get a big fat voucher I thought from being proved wrong

they just walked away

CoreyFlood · 07/09/2025 18:53

YANBU. Shoplifting is rife because shops don’t want to pay staff and have actual checkouts. They don’t want to provide customer service anymore (even when our local co op has staff there they are filling online orders and no one wants to go behind the till).
Shops can’t have it both ways. I have no sympathy whatsoever. They made the problem then they blame the customers.

Katemax82 · 07/09/2025 18:54

I was trying to get daughter a prescription filled at 7.30pm at night and went in a large Tesco and put my baby's car seat in a small trolley as he's heavy. The medicine wasn't in stock so I simply went to walk out. The wheels locked on me at the doors! I simply took my son's car seat and left the trolley where it had locked (no I hadn't stolen anything)

CoreyFlood · 07/09/2025 18:54

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 18:41

there were a couple of kids stealing a coat when i was in Millets today.
just wicked.
and i doubt they will make use of the coat

was it…. a big coat??😉

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 07/09/2025 18:55

The fact that you are upset enough to post here suggests to me that you do have a problem with shop lifting as it has led to what you consider to be an intolerable inconvenience. The rest of us who just shrug and accept that these measures are just a part of life now are the ones without a problem.

ShoveItUpYourArseMargaret · 07/09/2025 18:59

mumofoneAloneandwell · 07/09/2025 17:36

Yanbu but mn will come for you 😬

Edit, during the pandemic, the asda smart price food was not available online, forcing Britain's poorest, who were more likely to be clinically vulnerable, to spend more on food.

They made record profits whilst the poorest saw £20 a week taken off of their benefits.

Now theyre trying to convince people that the prices go up because people steal 😄😄

I will never give one shit about someone stealing. I'll literally look the other way and mind my business 🥰🥰

Edited

People steal because prices are high. I see happening it all the time now but never used to notice it.

OP posts:
Tiredofwhataboutery · 07/09/2025 19:00

BeCalmNavyDreamer · 07/09/2025 18:29

Yeh I actually find it annoying too. I got stopped for the exit alarm going and talked to with no manners when id done nothing wrong. I was asked if I had a receipt and produced it. I was asked to take everything out of my bag and said I didn't mind if they wanted to unpack and repack everything but I wasn't going to as it was an inconvenience to me. Suddenly there wasn't such an urgent need to check my bag 🙄
I actually think it's the attitude that pisses me off, not them having to be diligent about shoplifting...like those alarms go off for the wrong things all the time AND I had a receipt AND was happy for them to go through my bag but it was like I had done something wrong.

I do know what you mean about the power trip. I’ve seen rather harried looking women unloading their shopping on to the security desk whilst some bloke casually peruses the receipt to make sure it matches. It’s always women. I do get stealing is a massive issue but I just think there’s better ways of handling it. Tbh if they pushed the point I’d suggest they refund my shop and we can go to the till together and have a cashier check everything is on the receipt before you give me back my money.

Dorb · 07/09/2025 19:01

The rest of us who just shrug and accept that these measures are just a part of life now are the ones without a problem.

@CheeseCakeSunflowers No, don’t speak for me - I’m as pissed off as OP. Far too many of these big supermarket treating every shopper as guilty until proven innocent.

ShoveItUpYourArseMargaret · 07/09/2025 19:02

Katemax82 · 07/09/2025 18:54

I was trying to get daughter a prescription filled at 7.30pm at night and went in a large Tesco and put my baby's car seat in a small trolley as he's heavy. The medicine wasn't in stock so I simply went to walk out. The wheels locked on me at the doors! I simply took my son's car seat and left the trolley where it had locked (no I hadn't stolen anything)

Yeah I did the same today in Sainsbos. I just left the trolley at customer services where I was getting my refund for being overcharged....I'm tempted to just get my own trolleybag now.

OP posts:
Mokel · 07/09/2025 19:02

Gettingbysomehow · 07/09/2025 17:55

I didn't know they could lock your trolley wheels 😐

If take trolley through a different route, the wheels (actually the front left) lock. There is a remote to unlock the wheels. Also if the store sees a shoplifter using a trolley, the staff and security can lock the wheels to prevent a trolley pushout.

If need to go back into the store, best to leave trolley at the back of checkouts and walk without a trolley

Marieb19 · 07/09/2025 19:03

Shoplifting is a problem for all of us, as we end up paying for it. Annual losses exceed 2.2 billion pounds. We need to start treating theft from shops seriously. I'd rather have policing of shop theft than tweets.

Dorb · 07/09/2025 19:04

Marieb19 · 07/09/2025 19:03

Shoplifting is a problem for all of us, as we end up paying for it. Annual losses exceed 2.2 billion pounds. We need to start treating theft from shops seriously. I'd rather have policing of shop theft than tweets.

Do you work for a supermarket by any chance?

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 07/09/2025 19:06

Gettingbysomehow · 07/09/2025 17:55

I didn't know they could lock your trolley wheels 😐

The big Tesco near me locks the wheels if you don't go through the checkouts.

I found that out as I pushed the trolley into the shop, then realised I'd left my bags in the car. I tried to take the empty trolley back out with me but the wheels locked and the security man had to use a scanner thing to unlock them.