What happens if you get away with shoplifting but might be on camera?
I took things from two stores. I'm pretty sure i was on video in at least one of them but i managed to get out the doors without being stopped, so did i get away with it? I'm worried the police are going to turn up at my door or something?
Can I return a shoplifted item? What will happen?
The store's policy on shoplifting will not let them criminally charge you. Their management or Loss Prevention/Security investigators must catch you themselves. You could be charged civilly, but I highly doubt they will repay your honesty with anything more than a "Thank you, and don't do it again." I am glad you got caught. I am a Retail Loss Prevention professional and see cases all the time where shoplifting is a gateway crime and leads to offenses that will land you in jail. Be lucky that it was your mom and not one of us that caught you, or you would have faced some serious fines at minimum and possibly worse, depending on your past criminal history and jurisdiction. Learn from this and don't do it again.
As a store employee, how often do you see people shoplift?
Daily. And there are no exemptions across demographics. I’ve seen all races, Christians and Muslims, multiple nationalities, both genders and every age. I’ve had to unfortunately see my team apprehend a preacher’s wife who was also holding prescription drugs not assigned to her. I’ve held parents who worked in tandem with their young children, teaching them the art of the deal. I’ve arrested alcoholics, sent young kids working in teams to juvenile detention and trespassed two elderly ladies in electric wheelchairs who would get others to get products off the shelf for them and unintentionally become partner to a crime. My guys have apprehended a mother and son who went from store to store stealing cosmetics. Total haul: $45,000. She’s going to federal prison. Now we have another theft ring of three Indian ladies who work in groups to steal cosmetics. We have people who use stolen credit cards to order merchandise through Walmart.com. We only find out when the customer who had their card stolen notices charges on their cards. I’ve seen it all. I sometimes wish I could unsee some of it.By the way, tonight my guys stopped a guy from stealing $535 worth of goods he had stuffed into two backpacks. It never ends.
If you saw someone shoplift, would you tell the store manager or try to convince the thief to return the item?
When you see someone shoplifting it is expected that you provide passive aggressive customer service. So basically you’re being nice and trying to make sure the shoplifter knows you’ve seen what they did without accusing them. However if they keep shoplifting then we our manager…… most of the time the store manager isn’t always in the store. So it usually lands on whatever assistant manger is there.Walmart now has a policy where they actually have people checking for receipts as customers leave, but even then that’s not always 100% when preventing people from shoplifting.
How do shoplifted items not make the alarms go off at the exit to a store?
A lot of shit that you would want to steal has annoying security tags on them. Most of them run off of RFID or AM frequency, and when the gates at the store entrance detect them you get tackled and analed by the store’s LP. (loss prevention) If you cant take the tags off, an RFID blocking bag or coat works for the RFID tag, and faraday cage (I think that’s what it is) will block the AM tags. There’s a bunch of different types of tags like ink tags and whatnot, but those don’t set off the alarm gates.
Can you get caught shoplifting after you leave the store?
I know this sounds ridiculous, but I shoplifted something a few days ago just to see what it was like or if I could get away with it. Here's how it went, I grabbed some makeup and looked at it a little bit as if deciding which one I should purchase, and walked away from the aisle with it in my hand. I walked past a security guard who smiled at me and I smiled politely back. I went to a stack of clothing toward the front of the store and grabbed a shirt. I then hid the makeup in the shirt and went to the dressing rooms to "try-on" the shirt. I unwrapped everything in order to get the tags off and hid all of the plastic in the shirt. I then left the shirt back where I found it, but accidentally left all of the wrappers in the shirt. I made it out of the store successfully. Now, if an employee is fixing the shirts and finds the wrappers, will she report them to security and will they be able to figure out that I stole? There were cameras everywhere except for the dressing rooms, but nobody saw me put the makeup in my purse or could prove that I left with the makeup. It was Black Friday so there were a lot of people inside the store though. I'm just really paranoid that I'm going to walk back into the store and be arrested. The makeup probably cost around $15 altogether. So I guess I have a couple questions: 1. Can I get caught? 2. What is the probability of me getting caught? 3. What do I do?
If you steal something from a store can you return the item for money or store credit?
Most stores now require a receipt to get a cash refund ~ however, the rules are lifted slightly right after Christmas so as to accommodate gift exchanges. At the retailers where I use to work, the price that was refunded was usually the lowest listed sale price and in most cases, all the customer would get is an in store credit. A few shops still give you cash. One interesting new policy that I see many stores now follow is that you can't get a cash refund with proper ID...which means that while you probably can get away with shoplifting/returning for cash it once or even twice, the third time you try, you'll probably get a visit by the cops.
If you get caught shoplifting from a store, can you get in trouble for coming back?
I was caught shoplifting and they told me i was banned from the store and if I come back they'd call the police. Obviously I wouldn't plan on going there anymore, except there are just a couple items that I really need from that specific store that I can't get anywhere else. If I go in, quickly pick up the items, pay for them, and leave, can I still get in trouble for being there? Even if I don't steal anything? (Yes, I know, I'm dumb for shoplifting...I've changed my ways, I swear!)
I accidentally shoplifted?? Would I get in big trouble if I took it back?
You didn't shoplift unless you intended to take the merchandise. I have never EVER heard of ANYONE getting into trouble for returning merchandise to a store - and I worked as a store detective when I was in college. We had several parents drag their sticky fingered children into the store with merchandise that the kids had flat out stolen and THOSE children were never arrested for shoplifting. I have found that once in a great while the cashier fails to ring up one of my items. (This actually happened to me on Monday. My son stuck something into a pencil box. I paid for the pencil box, but neither of us opened the darn thing up so I did not pay for the package of pens and didn't find them until we got home. I just took the pens back to the store today and paid for them. The only reaction I got was amazement that someone would take the time and effort to do this . . . which is a pretty sad commentary on our society, but not really relevant to your question.) Take them back and simply turn them over to the store. Or take them back and pay for them. The store employees will be completely surprised but totally thrilled by your honesty.
How can you convince a teenager to stop shoplifting?
Oooooo… No.You…the parent: go talk to the police. Then make your rounds to EVERY STORE the teen goes to. Talk to the store manager…give them a picture of the teen. EVERY TIME THE TEEN TRIES TO ENTER THE STORES, they are EITHER CHAPERONED THROUGHOUT THE STORE OR ASKED TO LEAVE, depending on what the store chooses to do. If the teen does get arrested despite these efforts, LET THEM SIT IN JAIL!!! Let them FACE THE JUDGE!!! You can be in the background the entire time IF you set it up prior… Let them be FORCED TO WORK OFF THE RESTITUTION.I know it sounds harsh, but right now YOU HAVE CONTROL.. the teen is testing the boundries, believing they are smarter than everyone else… a juvenile record can be locked once they turn 18… an adult record will FOLLOW THEM THE REST OF THEIR LIVES!!! GET IT OVER WITH NOW, so their willful stupidity does not screw up their entire life.“Don't Do The Crime If Ya Can't Do The Time!!!” (Baretta)