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

[ShoveItUpYourArseMargaret]

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. 🤷‍♀️

I'm not the one insisting I'm entitled to compensation because I got asked for my bag to be checked. You are.
I have enough common sense to know that while there are indicators that someone may be shoplifting, there is no absolute way to tell without physically checking if the items they have are paid for.

You seem to think there's another way to do this that prevents a customer ever being asked to do this, and feel entitled to compensation because it has, so what is it? How do you look at potentially hundreds of people a day, for a few moments and reliably identify the shop lifters accurately and the customers accurately?

Security guards and shop staff don't have some sort of magical powers or mind reading abilities, any more than you do.

But I suspect you know all this but you saw an opportunity to be a victim of 'poor customer service' which is very fashionable at the moment to be and wanted to make a fuss and get some attention.

People like you are one of the reasons why shoplifting is rife, because you behave like it's the end of the world to have your bag checked, and think you should be entitled to compensation for it, complain about it and try to get people into trouble for it.

The problem is the people stealing, not the people trying to stop it.

I’m responding to your second paragraph - this is already in the UK. For example Zara/Bershka etc (clothing), Amazon (groceries). It’s not country dependent, it’s just whether the retailer wants to implement it and is tech literate enough to facilitate the change.

I used to work in fashion retail at university and I imagine the embedded security tags that Zara now use as part of this (it’s something sewn into the garment as exposed to an external tag to be taken off), has significantly cut down on shoplifting.

Bang on trend

Self-service shops are "relatively new" in the grand sweep of human history, but the UK's first one opened almost 80 years ago. On that kind of timescale indoor plumbing is also "relatively new".

I have never shoplifted but I also have never been stopped or accused of shoplifting or searched ever.

What are you doing to look so suspicious that this constantly happens too you?

You can say no substitutions or say to only substitute for a certain item so there’s no need for any of that to happen. With a delivery pass, it doesn’t cost much for delivery. I have the most expensive delivery pass and it works out at
£1 - £2 per week for delivery, depending on if I have one or two shops delivered per week, which is worth what I save in transport and time.

Just in response to your last sentence, I do think society is headed that way but not for the reasons you think.

I don’t think it would be because of shoplifting specifically or to punish customers, but rather as part of a move to a more digital/on demand service. As an illustration - instead of opening a restaurant for customers to dine in, open a ghost kitchen for customers to order to their home.

Likewise, grocery stores or places like Boots, might find they have a more profitable model from removing in-store interaction with customers. Using services like uber or deliveroo means it’s on-demand, so customers still get their items the same day and quicker than ordering online from the warehouse/distribution centre. But it would have the side effects of allowing companies to outsource customer service, as there’s a middle dealing with customers, plus any goods would already be paid for before being packed. Hence minimising their operational costs.

Another incident I recall is my teen dd being stopped and asked for a bag search when leaving a shop. She was with friends. She had not shoplifted, neither had they, she was absolutely terrified and immediately handed her whole bag to the guard in fear. It obviously showed that she was scared because he handed it straight back to her without searching it and told her she could go. But now, despite being an older teen, she prefers going shopping with me than with her friends or alone. Because with friends or alone, she feels watched and worried she’s going to be accused of something she didn’t do. With me, they don’t watch us. Shoplifting is going to have to be tackled somehow as it’s a major issue. But accusing people based on their sex/demographic is not good for business - my dd feels uncomfortable and doesn’t shop much now.

Non- deactivated tags primarily. I buy clothes in Tesco for the dc. Everything over £10 gets tagged but if it’s reduced tags gets left on and then because it’s under £10 they don’t run it over deactivation thing. Or at least that is what I was told by staff who had a bit of a ffs look about her.

I agree the bags thing is really annoying. Especially if you’re in a rush.

I usually have my own bags because that’s what we do these days, isn’t it, but if I need one I don’t want to have to track down someone to ask.

I agree and I don't allow their gates to hold me hostage after I've already scanned, paid and have a receipt.

Someone who blatantly steals with a facemask walks in and out.

Someone who goes in, no mask, paid, with receipt gets treated like the criminal.

It's weird and I'm not playing.

I’ve been stopped in Decathlon because their self scan thing, whilst clever in principle (goes by the weight so you don’t physically scan in) is not 100% fool proof.It’s just a bit of a pain being stopped, especially if it’s because everything is automated.

It seemed OTT the first time but once you’ve lived with it for a while it makes sense. I certainly never saw anyone leg it out the door with a bunch of stolen booze that I’ve seen here. They even had special pram lockers.

I’ve got a feeling they’re doing this again.. all my usual affordable stuff keeps coming up as unavailable.

My neice had never been stopped or accused of shoplifting or searched UNTIL she went clothes shopping with a non-white friend and they got stopped three times in one trip. Which is why I'd much rather have the kind of phsysical security systems the OP decries rather than relying on some guy in a uniform trying to guess what shoplifters look like.

It is your problem because it affects prices and obviously you get inconvenienced by the situations you describe.

I only once was falsely accused of shoplifting. A discounted 45p pastie no less. The guy went into my bag and rifled through my period products and mental health medication. It was very unpleasant and I made a complaint. But shoplifting is a massive issue and they have the right to defend their stock.

Slightly off topic but I was entering Sainsbury's last week as someone ran out with a bulging bag of shopping, clinking as he went; the alarm sounded and not one person batted an eyelid. There were two assistants at the customer service desk about 20 yards from the door, a lady who was leaving went back and asked had they seen it, they replied they had but cannot challenge people and carried on chatting!
We are all paying for this, it makes me so mad.

This is one of the reasons why I avoid going to shops nowadays and shop online. It's a grim experience these days, retail workers are at worst switched-off and unhelpful and at best stressed and thin on the ground.

Much easier and quicker to buy online with click and collect at an absolute push.

I think it's good if shops have security measures, I hate thieves getting free stuff.

What does annoy me is supermarket customer service staff who gate keep genuine refund requests. I returned a faulty item within 27 days with a receipt. The staff member first insisted that I must have broken it and when I refuted that, she said I had missed the return window because they have a 28 day returns policy. I knew the back of their receipt says they have a 30 day returns policy, so I whipped out my calculator and asked her what day is the receipt dated. She backed down straight away.

I also told them that the 30 day window doesn't apply when an item is faulty.

Our local large Sainsbury’s supermarket say over £100,000 is stolen every week. That is 10% of their turnover. If it wasn’t stolen then my weekly shop could be 10% lower.

As for overcharging - the price on the shelf is legally an ‘invitation to treat’, the actual price is what you are charged at the till. If you object you could hand it back at that point. I am not surprised you were stopped if you wheeled your trolley back around the store after paying.

Fine, except what about her item from Boots went missing?

You should have queried at the til or gone customer service with your receipt. Alternatively if you have a car put shopping in there and just bring individual item to check. Shoplifting is so rife now you have to careful with your behaviour.

I don't shoplift but I can see that in many ways it's never been easier. We're encouraged to take our own bags and use self-service checkouts where the receipts are often optional (although I can see more stores going the way of Primark and others with barriers which only open when you scan your receipt).

Vinted is absolutely full of BNWT items which are current stock. I work on the assumption that it is all shoplifted and I don't buy any of it. It was really noticeable during the M&S cyber attack that the amount of BNWT M&S on Vinted exploded. I'm convinced that enterprising shoplifters saw a gap in the market for M&S while their online ordering was down and pounced.

I guess the supermarket have decided the risk of having to compensate staff for injuries as a result of challenging shoplifters is too high. But it just increases the general lawlessness.

When I was little my grandmother lived in a town with the last full service shop - where you asked at a counter for your items and they fetched them off the shelves behind them. I remember it being in the news when it shut. I wonder if we will have to go back to something more like that; I suppose the modern day version would be click and collect. I hope not.

When DD was small for some reason the buggy we had set off the security alarm in my local Tesco everytime we exited the store (there is a seperate entrance/exit point). Never figured out why but after a few embarrassing searches of me and the buggy the security guard used to just laugh and wave us through.