Crazy $H*T I saw at Wal-Mart today

[winds]

I love eating frozen grapes. They're a fantastic replacement for sweet unhealthy food.

Sort of on the topic, although it involves a Zellers, not a Wal-Mart.
A few years back a buddy of mine applied for security at a Zellers in a local mall. His first day on the job, no one knew he was a new security guard except for his boss, the Head of Security. She told him to stay in his plain clothes and "test" their security by pretending to be a customer and steal as much stuff as he can.

In the end he was able to walk away with a shopping cart full of clothes, and a brand new 40" LCD TV (and this is the funny part) that an employee HELPED him carry out to his car, hahaha. Needless to say his boss was NOT happy with the on shift security that day.

[mjmjr25]

^reminds me of a funny story, or I hope it's still funny.

About 12 years ago, I was working a midnight security shift. As usual, 3 of the 4 security officers on were in the office at about 3am, watching reruns of one of those "caught on tape" shows.

The event caught on tape was a hidden camera of an office at a bank or something similar. Someone had been stealing donuts, so they put them behind a sensor or something - don't recall exactly, but they had rigged it in a way you couldn't reach out and grab them. They also put a hidden camera there. So the video shows us this security officer who rigged up some extensions to his night stick and he's trying to knock down the donuts and drag them to where he is at. The entire thing is hilarious and as security officers, the 3 of us are laughing hysterically at what a stereotype this guy is. Then one of the guys in the office says, "Uhh, guys...we're actually supposed to be outside right now. What if we are on camera, laughing at this guy caught on camera, and basically doing the same thing?" So we all quick put our coats on and went back to rounding.

[samsonlonghair]

Granted, I've noticed that the scooters they have now are handle operated. I seem to recall that the scooter on that day was operated with a foot petal, but maybe I'm mistaken.

In either case, the darn scooter was too big to accommodate a small woman who is legitimately disabled. They are designed for larger occupants.

[Luke]

Sort of on the topic, although it involves a Zellers, not a Wal-Mart.

I wonder what percentage of shoplifters are caught. In high school I knew both a group of guys and girls who shoplifted like it was a sport and I don't think a single one of them was caught. And they stole from major retailers like The Express, Victoria's Secret, and The Gap.

Also had a pal who would walk into a grocery store, fill his cart, and just leave. A seventeen year old kid with a cart full of beer could simply walk out of the store without question.

Even though free beer was involved, screw shoplifters. People who count inventory have to work their asses off and are sometimes wrongly responsible for missing products.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The vast majority of shoplifters don't get caught.

The amount of people who steal from their own employer is staggering. I'd say about half of the folks who worked at Wal-Mart with me were thieves. It doesn't take long to figure out how to beat the security system.

[AppleQueso]

I think in the case of Wal-Mart, they just don't feel it's worth the time or expense to go after shoplifters unless they steal particularly high-value items.

Employee theft is usually a bigger concern I think. We had a guy get fired because he'd been repeatedly caught stealing all kinds of things, a large portion of them being DVDs. I'm no piracy advocate, but sheesh if you want the movies for free that badly just download the damn things.

Fake Edit: Looks like BoneSnapDeez beat me with regard to employee theft.

[Luke]

Sort of on the topic, although it involves a Zellers, not a Wal-Mart.

I wonder what percentage of shoplifters get caught.

Also had a pal who would walk into a grocery store, fill his cart, and just leave. A seventeen year old kid with a cart full of beer could simply walk out of the store without question.

Even though free beer was involved, screw shoplifters. People who count inventory have to work their asses off and are sometimes wrongly responsible for missing products.

[AppleQueso]

Anyway, there's also a lot of liability issues with employees trying to actually actively prevent shoplifters from getting away. We're actively discouraged from going after them, all we can do is try to get a license plate number, call the cops, and hope something happens.

[Luke]

Anyway, there's also a lot of liability issues with employees trying to actually actively prevent shoplifters from getting away. We're actively discouraged from going after them, all we can do is try to get a license plate number, call the cops, and hope something happens.

I think I quoted myself while trying to edit my post.

Not positive, but I believe the "don't get physical with a shoplifter" standard applies with a lot of retailers. I had a buddy who was a mall cop and word for word he told me "I have a whistle and a flash light. Besides saying 'Stop!', I won't do shit".

[mjmjr25]

The Wal-Mart near us has (6) of the self-checkouts staffed by one person.

That one person is constantly assisting someone, so really, only 1 of the 6 are being actively monitored.

I've noticed people put the same weighted product on the scale, ring it up, then put the same weighted product in the bag. Then re-ring the same product making it look like they had multiplies of that product.

First time I saw it was w/coffee creamer and didn't take much notice. I think the Wal-Mart brand was like 2.49 for the 32oz and the International Delight was 3.49. So the guy stole like $4 worth total on the (5) total creamers he bought.

The next time it was more obvious to me, from a checkout view across the way. He had (1) 6 pack of a cheap beer, like $6 a 6-pack. And then had about 5-6 similar styled / weighted 6-packs of a more expensive beer. About $4 "savings" per 6-pack and dude made off w/$25 of theft, a few feet away from an employee. I have to think the cost of these self-checkouts and the amount of pure theft has to outweigh the cost of (5) hourly employees. An hourly cashier employee w/benefits is what, $12-17 an hour, depending on location. I have to think at least that much is stolen each hour per checkout.