Observing someone steal in a supermarket

[dreamadream]

No I wouldn’t. We never know what someone is going through to drive them to desperate times.
Would I report someone if it wasn’t food related? Perhaps more so as it is often sold on for drugs/drink.
But I would still judge it on each merit.

[Eeyore rocks]

Originally Posted by greekgranny

If you count Marks as a supermarketI was stunned to see a woman take off her boots and hang them on the shelf to replace the new ones she had put on her feet.

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When I worked for M&S, we found a child’s coat hung up amongst the school coats...it even had the child’s name in it! They had replaced it with a new one...I could tell some stories about thefts! 🤬

[chrisxal]

No point in putting yourself in danger besides the police don't prosecute if it is under £200, disgraceful!

[Leggibone]

Well, the supermarkets don’t really care about a tin of salmon... when I worked for a supermarket, if I told a manager all they could do was watch for them to try something else, but they then knew they were being watched, they weren’t able to take anyone’s world for it, only regularly caught people when the plain clothes store detective was in,

Anyways, I’d probably mention it to the supervisor/cashier, so they could keep an eye out for further theft, but you don’t know if they actually steal it in the end. Certainly wouldn’t take matters into my own hands either way - shops are insured for the losses, my life is not.

[Taffy1959]

Originally Posted by Eeyore rocks

When I worked for M&S, we found a child’s coat hung up amongst the school coats...it even had the child’s name in it! They had replaced it with a new one...I could tell some stories about thefts! 🤬

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I used to work for Asda and my son also worked there on security.
Some of them are unbelievable including the amount of staff that steal from companies

[Eeyore rocks]

Originally Posted by Taffy1959

I used to work for Asda and my son also worked there on security.
Some of them are unbelievable including the amount of staff that steal from companies

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Oh yes... not our store, but one woman wore 2 bras, then she would tuck money in between them...! 🤬

[mental4ever]

I had a embarrassing incident a good few years ago.

When I had a infant DD I gave her a packet of crisps to eat while my mother and I shopped at our local supermarket.
Normally a staff member was at the door who would recognise that we had the crisps on entry to the store. Unfortunately on this day no one was on duty so when I arrived at the checkout they asked about the crisps and I informed them that I’d brought them in with me and if someone wanted to come with me to the car they could see the larger bag I had taken the packet out of.

After shopping the next week my mother informed that the staff had been watching me the whole time I had been in the shop. I am so glad that she did not tell me while I was in the shop as I would probably have left my trolley and walked out.
I still occasionally shopped there as it was nearest to where we lived (next one 10miles away) but I always felt as I was being watched.

[Taffy1959]

Originally Posted by Eeyore rocks

Oh yes... not our store, but one woman wore 2 bras, then she would tuck money in between them...! 🤬

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Personally I can’t understand it apart from the fact it’s the wrong thing to do you could never steal enough to cover your financial responsibilities if you get caught plus you could end up with a criminal record.

We had a long term colleague (over 25 years service) was caught stealing crisps and sweets and was dismissed that was 5 years ago and he hasn’t worked since.
Another stealing around £2.000 ended up with a criminal record.
Another skip scanning on expensive items for her brother ( nobody knew she even had a brother)who then sold them and they split the money lost her job and now has a criminal record.
That one had been going on for years and got caught because he had too much to drink at a bbq and his tongue ran away with him but there was someone there who also worked in our store and it was reported to management
I could go on but I’d be here all day 😀

[signtalker]

Originally Posted by chrisxal

No point in putting yourself in danger besides the police don't prosecute if it is under £200, disgraceful!

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As a pc I can assure you we do

Jules

[Guest]

Years ago I was in a local corner store and I saw three small kids under 5 very very ragged filthy and no socks / shoes etc taking food from the bottom shelf discussing how hungry they were and the littlest one wanted to get some extras and the oldest one said no it would be greedy. They stuffed their pockets and walked out. I was so upset, I didn't respond quickly enough otherwise I would have stepped in and given them.

Anyway, spoke to the shopkeeper and I was honest and I said look saw these tiddlers stealing food but didn't want to report them for shoplifting so offered to pay for the food and asked if he knew who they were so I could talk to social services.

He said social services know. He has spoken to SS personally several times. He also said it was the store managers special shelf, right at the bottom.of one corner, and the manager put stuff that might be appealing but close to.date like bread, biscuits, fruit etc pasteurised milkshakes etc on that shelf deliberately for them. The kids always took from that shelf and nowhere else and the staff kept it stocked up. I went back and looked and sure enough it was a really random.collection of items on a small shelf easily overlooked.

A sad sad thing that kids were in that position. A lovely thing that the shopkeepers were doing. I did suggest to the shopkeeper though that the best thing might to accuse them of shoplifting, or keep them.in the store some.way when they next come.and get the police out to take them away so that they were safely in the system somehow. I also phoned social services and said what I had seen and what the shopkeeper had said.

I haven't seen them.since and hope they are in a better place.


So on the subject of shoplifters, I suspect I might just be a bit frozen if it was a middle-aged woman lifting a tin of salmon just as much. 🤷