My Walmart experience

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I made the mistake of shopping at Walmart last night. The couple in front of me was part of a three person team that was quite systematically stealing things.

 

They bought a couple things but also just stuck several items into a Walmart bag that they had brought with them.

 

But what was worse was that when I stepped up as they walked away and told the cashier that they had stolen several items, she couldn't have cared less. She kept insisting that they person at the door would catch them when she checked their receipt (said person at the door wasn't checking anyone's receipt).

 

I even went to customer service to complain that the other employees didn't seem to care about the theft and couldn't get a response there either. The other door checker, meanwhile, was trying to get a store manager or loss prevention person to help the woman whose purse had been stolen.

 

That was about the moment that it really didn't matter that I didn't have much for anyone for Christmas, there was no way that I was going to do more shopping.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Retail employees usually aren't allowed to do ANYTHING about a thief and, in some instances, they can/will be fired if they even suggest to the thief that something was stolen!

 

So, yeah, I can see how they didn't react.

[SonshineLearner]

The best adrenaline rush I ever got was kinda "following/chasing" down a guy who had shoplifted from Wal-Mart. I was in my van calling 911 and the sheriffs got him!! The called to let me know he had like.... $2500 worth of cds and stuff in his suitcase that he had strolled out with!! Exciting!! Then I got to go testify to the panel that was deciding whether to charge him!! :)

Edited December 24, 2010 by NayfiesMama
Oops... wanted to point out that I was driving... he was walking... it was pretty safe :)

[2_girls_mommy]

Interesting that they didn't care. I stopped a lady at Target from stealing just last month. I watched her check out in front of me with a giant box under her cart and baby. She was overly playing with her baby as she checked out. It was forced and not natural. I just had a feeling she wasn't going to put the big box item on the counter to pay, and she didn't. She cooed at her baby and the man didn't notice. After she paid for a couple of items and was leaving, I told the man that she hadn't paid for the item under the cart. He saw it and called to her as she was nearing the door. She came back and paid for the item with a really big scowl. That is how I knew it wasn't an accident. She didn't apologize or anything.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Oops, double post

Edited December 24, 2010 by ThatCyndiGirl

[Scarlett]

Do you mind saying what part of the country you live in?

 

I ask out of curiosity because I hear a lot of complaints about WM in the PNW and the far east....here in the south where I live I rarely have a complaint about the employees. (I dislike how big the store is.....but that is another issue)

 

I made the mistake of shopping at Walmart last night. The couple in front of me was part of a three person team that was quite systematically stealing things.

 

They bought a couple things but also just stuck several items into a Walmart bag that they had brought with them.

 

But what was worse was that when I stepped up as they walked away and told the cashier that they had stolen several items, she couldn't have cared less. She kept insisting that they person at the door would catch them when she checked their receipt (said person at the door wasn't checking anyone's receipt).

 

I even went to customer service to complain that the other employees didn't seem to care about the theft and couldn't get a response there either. The other door checker, meanwhile, was trying to get a store manager or loss prevention person to help the woman whose purse had been stolen.

 

That was about the moment that it really didn't matter that I didn't have much for anyone for Christmas, there was no way that I was going to do more shopping.

[AlmiraGulch]

Unfortunately, as someone else already posted, they really aren't allowed to do anything if they didn't actually witness the theft themselves. Sad, but true.

 

I caught someone stealing at Godiva last month and totally called him out, though. He picked up a handful of those little gems candies and shoved them in his pocket while the clerk was helping his wife. So I went up to him and said "The cash register is right there." He looked at me in disbelief and said "What?" To which I replied "The cash register is right there for you to pay for all of those gems you're holding in your pocket." The cashier heard and said "I can take you right here, sir." He went to the register and paid.

 

How fun! :D

[Scarlett]

The best adrenaline rush I ever got was kinda "following/chasing" down a guy who had shoplifted from Wal-Mart. I was in my van calling 911 and the sheriffs got him!! The called to let me know he had like.... $2500 worth of cds and stuff in his suitcase that he had strolled out with!! Exciting!! Then I got to go testify to the panel that was deciding whether to charge him!! :)

 

 

You go girl!!!

[anissarobert]

My dh works for Walmart and sometimes helps to stop shoplifters. There are very precise rules they have to follow, and most employees are not allowed to do anything.

[stripe]

I saw a security man who was killed near me recently in the parking lot while trying to stop a robbery. It was really awful.

[JeneralMom]

I was really surprised the other day at Walmart. I was running in quickly to get a Hot Wheel for my son (his 3rd tooth fell out and we had never done anything for him before, so I decided this time to surprise him) and in the parking lot three police cars and 5 officers were cuffing 4 women (not young), and I could see tons of things (small items) on the ground and the hoods of the cars. I wonder if they just happened to be close by because I thought Wal Mart employees were not supposed to stop shoplifters.

[Mejane]

I once stood and watched a guy walk out of a Kmart with a TV. Alarms ringing, employees standing there watching. No one moved a muscle. He didn't even run. He knew he was walking away scot free. It was sick. :glare:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Do you mind saying what part of the country you live in?

 

I ask out of curiosity because I hear a lot of complaints about WM in the PNW and the far east....here in the south where I live I rarely have a complaint about the employees. (I dislike how big the store is.....but that is another issue)

 

This was in Ohio, where we're visiting family.

 

It was quite a thought out activity. There were three people, one stayed well off to the side the whole time and didn't go through the check out with them, but did move around to the aisle where the check out lines exit (lookout?). One woman bought a couple items. The man with here was pushing the cart and several items went from in the cart (while we were in the long (huge) line) to in a Walmart bag, but weren't rung up or paid for.

 

What disturbed me and the woman behind me wasn't so much that they were stealing but that there was no reaction at all from the cashier. And I will blame that on management, not just her. The whole set up was horrid. There weren't enough cashiers to handle the customers. This particular cashier was all by her self on one end of the row with at least 12 empty lanes between her and the next manned register.

 

When I told her that they hadn't paid, she didn't even seem to react to the news. She didn't attempt to call anyone or have anyone follow them. Her answer when pressed was that the person at the door would check the receipt. (Actually the person at the door wasn't doing anything. Barely greeting incoming and certainly not checking outgoing.)

 

The most reaction I got was when I suggestion to someone at customer service that their lack or reaction to the shoplifting made the paying customers look like chumps for doing the right thing. That comment seemed to offend her in a way that the theft itself didn't. It was as if she was upset at me for thinking that reporting a theft to store staff should get a response.

 

I know that they are limited in what they can do, and no one wants to get knifed over $10 of after shave. But I would have thought that someone would at least have wanted to ask what they looked like and to consider putting some more staff on near that lone register. I know that they stole a couple cosmetic gift sets and batteries. Who knows what else they had.

 

Really cured me of any desire to go to Walmart again.

[pqr]

I would send this as an email to Walmart HQ.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My dh works for Walmart and sometimes helps to stop shoplifters. There are very precise rules they have to follow, and most employees are not allowed to do anything.

 

Was it unreasonable to think that the cashier should have reported it to someone? (Of course she was also sitting there with her call light blinking and no one responding to it.) I expected that there would have been more security on this time of year. On the other hand, there didn't seem to be anyone responding to the issue of the stolen purse either.

[annandatje]

Perhaps the cashier was in on the thieving scheme.

[In the Rain]

I must not be very observant. I've never noticed anyone shoplifting.

[ocelotmom]

About a week ago, I found DH shortening the straps on a canvas bag. It was for a friend of his, to hang from his wheelchair. The straps were too long as they'd been originally, and hit the wheels when the bag was loaded.

 

He needed the bag because he'd been robbed while shopping at WalMart - someone had grabbed his previous canvas bag off the back of his chair.

 

He has a urostomy. The canvas bag contained bags full of urine.

 

The thieves weren't caught as far as I know (for whatever good it did them :lol:).

[Remudamom]

How about hollering "SHOPLIFTER" as loudly as you can? Might be fun.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm curious. Can you do a citizen's arrest? I mean if a teacher could make a citizen's arrest of a child with a marker. . . I would think you could arrest a shoplifter. . . Of course safety would be an issue.

[mothergooseof4]

My late dh was in WM management...yuck!

 

At that time, I know that policy was that a member of management or a loss prevention associate had to witness the theft in order to do anything about it. Also, it is technically not theft until they try to exit the store with the merchandise. Concealment is not theft....technically.

[cathmom]

I don't really understand why it makes you not want to shop at Walmart.

[pqr]

I don't really understand why it makes you not want to shop at Walmart.

 

Because they care so little about crime prevention and thereby happily pass the cost onto me, I will go somewhere else.

 

Unethical if you ask me.

[Hannah C.]

At the Walmarts I go to, none of the door people really check the receipts. I think if you have a receipt, you could probably get away with having extra stuff in the bag. :( I don't think they would stop anyone who had a receipt, unless perhaps they set the alarm off. It's not like Sam's Club or other places like that, where they look at your receipt and what you have and then mark it.

[Ravin]

At my store, they check receipts at the door, but usually only for large, unbagged items. We don't search bags. And the cashier may well have been in on the shoplifting, or simply didn't care. Properly, she should have alerted management, but if someone's purse had just been stolen and the store was that busy, honestly, management and AP were probably already dealing with bigger shoplifters--like people trying to walk out with TV's or whole cartloads of booze, etc.

 

All they can do is alert management, who can call the cops. Management often doesn't directly confront anymore--in the past I'd seen them tackle a couple of people right outside the door, which was exciting. But I guess someone got shot or stabbed so they changed the policy for the associates' protection. Walmart is a big company, and can better afford the loss of some merchandise than peoples' lives.

 

As for passing the expense on to the customer...they still keep their prices low. They take the savings out of labor, doncha know?:tongue_smilie:

[LidiyaDawn]

There are a LOT of rules when it comes to stopping shoplifters - of course things will vary from place to place, but an employee can't just take the word of another customer and stop someone. In most cases, the shoplifter has to have been seen taking & concealing the item, then the LPO has to keep their eyes on the shoplifter the ENTIRE time -- take your eyes off them and you've lost because they 'may have set the item back down' while you weren't looking -- and witness them attempting to leave the store. Stuff like that.. there's strict rules to prevent a false accusation/lawsuit/etc.

 

Re: receipts/door alarms - our Walmart door alarms go off CONSTANTLY. Nobody pays much attention to them, especially when it's busy. I was there the other day and it was just DING DING DING all the time -- most of the time when you use the self checkouts, the dvds/cds/other electronics (especially) don't scan right & eliminate the magnetic anti-theft thing ... know what I mean? It's supposed to do it when you run it across the surface, but they rarely work. People just keep walking. ESPECIALLY right now... it's been crazy busy and there's just no way that the door guy could stop everyone for every DING. There'd be a line up going all the way to the back of the store.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

How about hollering "SHOPLIFTER" as loudly as you can? Might be fun.

 

Actually we decided that would be my plan next time. The proposed script went something like:

 

Hey kids, isn't it cool how they have mystery shoppers this time of year who TAKE THINGS WITHOUT PAYING FOR THEM AND SHOVE THEM INTO BAGS to see what will happen.

 

And oddly enough, it's the second time in a few months that I've seen someone stealing stuff. I caught a couple teen boys in the process of stealing a Nintendo DS from the base exchange a few months back, although it didn't all come together in my head until the next day. The difference being that the loss prevention guy there was quite willing to take my information and try to find them on the video. He knew he probably couldn't pin it on them, but was willing to try to id them so they could be on the lookout for them doing it again. (Of course, that is with a much smaller shopper population.)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't really understand why it makes you not want to shop at Walmart.

 

Beyond the theft, the store was dirty and chaotic. There were no where near enough people on to handle the number of customers. The staff was apathetic (and in their defense, probably overworked).

 

The only time that I was able to generate any outrage was when I said that their attitude made me feel like a chump for paying for my goods. So they were seemingly ok with the theft or at least had that worked into their business model.

 

But the cost of those stolen items have to raise the price of what I bought.

 

The environment of the store was such that the employees on duty could not get a member of management to come to respond to another customer's stolen purse.

 

The whole sense around the store was one of not really caring. Not caring about the stealing. Not caring about the employees who seemed to be unsupported by the management (ie, the young cashier who was largely by herself with a huge line of customers and no one responding to her blinking light). Not caring about customers who were reporting thefts (against themselves or the company).

 

This just is not the sort of place in which I want to spend my time.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't hate or despise Walmart as a company, btw. I've shopped there in the past and think that there are any number of communities that were quite overjoyed to get the immediate access to the goods that they sell. (One of the duty stations we considered several years ago, still talks about how they now have a Walmart as a huge improvement to the quality of life in that isolated town.)

[grace'smom]

They were probably just completely burnt out, overwhelmed and exhausted. It sounds like with all the rules the cashier probably knew she couldn't do anything about it and just tried to calm you by saying they would catch it at the door. I'd cut the workers some slack. They are in a large system and have a very small amount of wiggle room for making their own decisions. They're also working Christmas Eve which is very busy and very hard work.

[Tammyla]

Shop lifting policies vary from company to company. Many now ignore it and write off the loss. Walmart does have store security, but not every employee is trained / authorized to do anything about it.

 

It is amazing what people will steal in broad daylight.

[stripe]

Because they care so little about crime prevention and thereby happily pass the cost onto me, I will go somewhere else.

 

Unethical if you ask me.

I agree, but I also found it to not be worth it when a security guard gave up his life for some stuff.

[Ravin]

I agree with Stripe. I help with the cash pulls at my store, and quite honestly beyond having two people with the money wagon at all times (a cart with a lockbox), and doing our best to make sure cashiers don't flake and leave unsecured cash bags at registers where someone can just come by and take them, well...if someone held me up with a weapon they could happily take the whole wagon for all I care. Not going to risk my life for Wal-mart's money. And that's in keeping with store policy. Sure, once they take off I'd be alerting management on the radio, and probably dialing 911 on my phone with the other hand. I once followed some shoplifters out to their vehicle (after having the door greeter alert management), at a distance, so I could take their license plate number and make/model of the vehicle. But stop them myself? Not bloody likely.

[pqr]

Tragic that a security guard lost his life, but when do you risk life?

Can the cop say I am not going to arrest this thief because stopping him is not worth my life?

Can he say I will not stop this mugger for the same reason?

Does the security guard at a store decide when he will and when he will not do his job?

When good people simply stand by and watch bad things happen it does nothing but embolden the criminal element.

Yes there are times when one has to step back, I do not expect the 70 year old woman to tackle the shoplifter, but I do expect her to raise the alarm. As for the 40 year old man, absolutely I expect him to get involved.

That Wal-Mart appears to have a policy telling employees to take no action is not only a sad indictment of the fact that this nation has far too many lawyers and is far too litigious but also that the company cares little about honest customers who must bear the burden of the theft.

[Jean in Newcastle]

There was a shoplifter at our Safeway (grocery store) 2 months ago. 4 citizens tackled him and held him while the store personnel called the police. I just read about it in our small newspaper but I wondered how they coordinated it all. Probably one man started the ball rolling and the others jumped in to help?

[pqr]

There was a shoplifter at our Safeway (grocery store) 2 months ago. 4 citizens tackled him and held him while the store personnel called the police. I just read about it in our small newspaper but I wondered how they coordinated it all. Probably one man started the ball rolling and the others jumped in to help?

 

 

Sometimes it only takes a single individual to do what is right and the rest will follow.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When I was in college, we had to read two news articles a day. One day I did a short article from USA Today about a college athlete shot and killed chasing two women who'd stolen a purse. It turned out to be the brother of a classmate of mine from the same area.

 

I don't expect that a 20 something cashier tackle a trio of thieves. I do expect that the store will set things up to make it a little harder in the first place (ex. not having the cashiers operating solo, having security more present).

 

Besides the problem of passing along expenses to the paying customers, inattention to crime fosters a situation where people are more willing to contemplate higher levels of crime. So shoplifting makes it easier to steal a purse. Personal theft without attention makes it easier to commit a carjacking and rape (which occured a couple nights earlier a few blocks away at the local mall).

[Slartibartfast]

I would also contact the coorperate headquarters.

 

I was in line at a store (not walmart) and someone in front of me was sticking lighters in their pocket, they weren't cheap bics. I did point out to them that they were stealing and they looked at me kind of mockingly, "Are you going to tell on me?" I said, "Yes," using my best "you are an idiot" voice. They put it back. :001_rolleyes:

[stephanier.1765]

My older boys work at Best Buy and, as someone else posted, it's not stealing until they leave the store. Unfortunately, they aren't allowed to apprehend them after they leave the store either (unless the police are there to do it and thankfully they hang out often) for safety reasons. So one day all the employees were fed up with the stealing and as one shoplifter was heading towards the entrance they all stood in a line across it with their arms crossed. If the person had tried to leave, there was nothing they could have done but instead they put what they had stolen on the counter and then left. :lol::lol::lol: At least they left empty handed.

[Samiam]

You are talking about Wal-Mart employees. Most, especially cashiers, get paid $8-10 an hour, and are treated prettily shoddily, ie management doesn't really CARE about the people, they are there to work and do the beck and call for the COMPANY, not be "real people". Most could care less about people stealing and robbing the same company that treats them like a number. I said "MOST" as there are always the exceptions.

[stripe]

Tragic that a security guard lost his life, but when do you risk life?

 

Can the cop say I am not going to arrest this thief because stopping him is not worth my life?

Can he say I will not stop this mugger for the same reason?

 

Does the security guard at a store decide when he will and when he will not do his job?

 

When good people simply stand by and watch bad things happen it does nothing but embolden the criminal element.

 

I am not sure not dying to (not) stop someone's shoplifting means that you are passively watching things happen. There are other ways to stop someone. Parking lot draggings to death of employees could be prevented by, for example, better coordinating with the police to come and pull the person over, or whatever. Or better training.

 

I was told very strictly when I worked somewhere with a VERY small amount of money in a drawer, to let any thief take it, and press the security button under the desk, and let them come with their weapons and handle it. Not to risk my life for $5. It is my understanding that bank tellers are not supposed to take on bank robbers, but press the button, put the dye in the bag, and so forth, so that police can arrest.

 

Security guards are not police officers. Neither is a bank teller.

 

However, the most horrifying lack of action -- truly standing by and watching evil happen -- was earlier this year in a subway station when MULTIPLE security guards stood by, right there, and did absolutely nothing when a teenager was attacked and had her head stomped on. Tape here.

 

Apparently security guards are not really supposed to do anything but call police. I say -- why didn't they?