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usernamen_01
Oct 20, 2012

Litany of Gulps posted:

Shrinkage goes down with increased staffing. Most of these stores have made it part of their strategy to pay for a certain amount of shrinkage rather than pay for sufficient numbers of employees. As I said, if they're willing to burn off cash in order to stifle competition, they've got the funds to deal with basic, regular problems that arise while running a grocery store.

Every time there's a power outage you get dozens of abandoned baskets, this is not an uncommon thing. There are procedures in place to deal with this sort of problem, it just takes people. If you've cut your staffing to the bone because your shrink formula says that paying a couple of extra employees costs you more than the price of food spoiling at the return desk, extra theft, and lack of ability to respond to emergency situations... well, I don't know what you'd call that other than a defined strategy.

I realize that a company like Wal-Mart has the resources at hand to weather a great deal of shrinkage. What I am getting at, though, is that it is bad business policy to passively "expect" shrinkage and not attempt to take action against it. It's almost nihilistic, in a sense of the word.

In reviewing your original argument, it is essentially begging the question:

Litany of Gulps posted:

I worked in a Walmart that was budgeted to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a quarter. The goal (for that store) was shutting down competing Hispanic grocery stores, not making money. For me at least, if they're willing to burn money to kill the competition, then they can certainly afford to eat the cost on a few baskets of abandoned groceries. Not to mention the fact that abandoned baskets or excessive perishable returns are only a problem in an understaffed store.

1. WM store loses excessive X amount of money on shrinkage.
2. WM store has budgeted the loss of X amount of money from local competition.
3. WM store losing X amount on shrinkage is acceptable.

In your follow up to that, you then present the dilemma that without increased staff, shrinkage, as it currently exists with regard to lost groceries, is unavoidable. That could possibly be true, but until it is absolutely know to be so, it is an unfounded conclusion. If you found a way to work past that dilemma, you'd likely make your store manager a lot of money on his yearly bonus. I remember hearing about the carrot on a string at Wal-Mart. The measly $450 quarterly "bonus" for target shrinkage would not be nearly enough to get me motivated to do so.

usernamen_01 fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Oct 19, 2013

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AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

72 hour notice just given. Strike time :(

litany of gulps
Jun 11, 2001

Fun Shoe

usernamen_01 posted:

I realize that a company like Wal-Mart has the resources at hand to weather a great deal of shrinkage. What I am getting at, though, is that it is bad business policy to passively "expect" shrinkage and not attempt to take action against it. It's almost nihilistic, in a sense of the word.

In reviewing your original argument, it is essentially begging the question:

1. WM store loses excessive X amount of money on shrinkage.
2. WM store has budgeted the loss of X amount of money from local competition.
3. WM store losing X amount on shrinkage is acceptable.

In your follow up to that, you then present the dilemma that without increased staff, shrinkage, as it currently exists with regard to lost groceries, is unavoidable. That could possibly be true, but until it is absolutely know to be so, it is an unfounded conclusion. If you found a way to work past that dilemma, you'd likely make your store manager a lot of money on his yearly bonus. I remember hearing about the carrot on a string at Wal-Mart. The measly $450 quarterly "bonus" for target shrinkage would not be nearly enough to get me motivated to do so.

I wouldn't call it a nihilistic strategy, but it is calculated. I've worked in higher end grocery stores where they took the opposite path. Higher staffing levels and an aggressive approach toward rotation, date checking, and putting away returns. Compare the staffing levels in a Wal-Mart versus something like a Central Market or Whole Foods. The latter have way more people active on the salesfloor, and they have a heavily staffed front end that can handle constant returns. They also move a smaller amount of more expensive product, which makes it more realistic to stay on top of things.

Also, the bonuses are probably a worse deal than you'd expect, and I doubt your expectations were high. It isn't based purely on shrink. For regular associates, the bonus breakdown looks like this:

Sales 40%
Profit 40%
Customer Experience 10%
Inventory Turns 10%

Maximum payout is 550/quarter.
If you miss one of the metrics by a lot, it can shut down the bonus even if you do really well in other categories. Shrink would fall under profit, which is the only category an hourly worker really has all that much control over. Customer experience is the receipt phone survey. Accidents can kill a bonus off quickly, because Wal-Mart takes enough money out of the store's budget to cover the cost of an average accident when the accident occurs. If that money doesn't get used once any legal proceedings are over, the money is returned to the store, but that could be two years down the road.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

AlmightyBob posted:

72 hour notice just given. Strike time :(

I wish you luck and hope that it doesn't come to that.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

My manager just called and told me HIS manager forced him to call everyone in the department and offer overtime if we cross the lines and work. We all said no. He then admitted that if we DID cross the lines we'd be fired at the end of the strike for scabbing. He said he supports us in our fight but has to do what he has to do to keep his job. His position isn't union so he's gonna be working a job by himself where you stay until you're done. We have days where it takes 6 of us 5 hours just to do the morning shift.

rolleyes
Nov 16, 2006

Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

AlmightyBob posted:

My manager just called and told me HIS manager forced him to call everyone in the department and offer overtime if we cross the lines and work. We all said no. He then admitted that if we DID cross the lines we'd be fired at the end of the strike for scabbing. He said he supports us in our fight but has to do what he has to do to keep his job. His position isn't union so he's gonna be working a job by himself where you stay until you're done. We have days where it takes 6 of us 5 hours just to do the morning shift.

Surely that sort of entrapment can't be legal, even in the US? I don't really see how it benefits the employer either - next time there's a strike everyone knows what happened to the last poor sods who accepted overtime, so you've just guaranteed that no-one will accept.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

rolleyes posted:

Surely that sort of entrapment can't be legal, even in the US? I don't really see how it benefits the employer either - next time there's a strike everyone knows what happened to the last poor sods who accepted overtime, so you've just guaranteed that no-one will accept.

gently caress I don't know. He was honest about it and only offered it because his boss made him. I'm gonna be doing whatever I can to get out during the strike. Almost ready to take the Network+ exam, already have an A+. Hopefully I can get a support position somewhere quick.

Sundae
Dec 1, 2005

rolleyes posted:

Surely that sort of entrapment can't be legal, even in the US? I don't really see how it benefits the employer either - next time there's a strike everyone knows what happened to the last poor sods who accepted overtime, so you've just guaranteed that no-one will accept.

Sorry, but it's totally legal in the USA.

Kimmalah
Nov 14, 2005

Basically just a baby in a trenchcoat.


rolleyes posted:

Surely that sort of entrapment can't be legal, even in the US? I don't really see how it benefits the employer either - next time there's a strike everyone knows what happened to the last poor sods who accepted overtime, so you've just guaranteed that no-one will accept.

Most likely (1) it's a high turnover business so they're expecting new/clueless employees the next time a strike happens and (2) they don't give a poo poo anyway.

And generally in the U.S. when it comes to labor laws, the answer to "that can't possibly be legal can it?" is usually "oh yes it can" except in rare circumstances.

rolleyes
Nov 16, 2006

Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?
Goddamnit. I feel for you guys.

Pureauthor
Jul 8, 2010

ASK ME ABOUT KISSING A GHOST
Could someone explain what 'scabbing' means in this context?

tse1618
May 27, 2008

Cuddle time!
A scab is a strikebreaker.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer
Don't cross the picket

AlmightyBob posted:

My manager just called and told me HIS manager forced him to call everyone in the department and offer overtime if we cross the lines and work. We all said no. He then admitted that if we DID cross the lines we'd be fired at the end of the strike for scabbing. He said he supports us in our fight but has to do what he has to do to keep his job. His position isn't union so he's gonna be working a job by himself where you stay until you're done. We have days where it takes 6 of us 5 hours just to do the morning shift.

Can you tell us what the company is that you are striking against?

creatine
Jan 27, 2012




Pureauthor posted:

Could someone explain what 'scabbing' means in this context?

People who cross the picket line to do the work that the union is striking against.

I don't know if it specifically means the people striking or just anybody who crosses the line for temp work.

a big fat bunny
Oct 4, 2002

woo look at 'em gonk



creatine posted:

I don't know if it specifically means the people striking or just anybody who crosses the line for temp work.

It applies to both the people who were already employed and cross the line and people brought in once the strike starts.

I joined up for night stock during contact negotations and there was always a threat of strike. It never happened (our union sucks and backs down from corporate over nearly everything), but our contract is definitely not as good as it once was. Not really a fan of being passed over for a raise this year, personally, but at least we got off better than a rival supermarket did in their union negotiations. Here's to hoping I still get the chance for time and a half come December! (not holding my breath)

Much luck getting out AlmightyBob.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

Duckman2008 posted:

Don't cross the picket


Can you tell us what the company is that you are striking against?

Safeway.


Worst part right now is we don't know what's gonna happen. Could be they only strike 1 company and the rest of us get locked out. Or they could strike all of them. If I get locked out I don't get strike pay, but I can get unemployment. Of course unemployment means I have to apply to jobs every week and I have to accept any offer I get. I'm not done with the certification I'm working on yet, so any jobs I'd really be able to apply to would just be more retail, and I want the gently caress out. 7 years is more than enough.

AlmightyBob fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Oct 20, 2013

creatine
Jan 27, 2012




You don't have to accept any offers while on unemployment. If the offer is going to pay less than what you get on unemployment just keep looking.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

creatine posted:

You don't have to accept any offers while on unemployment. If the offer is going to pay less than what you get on unemployment just keep looking.

Oh well, that's good to know.

Krampus Grewcock
Aug 26, 2010

Gruss vom Krampus!

AlmightyBob posted:

Oh well, that's good to know.

As part of the paperwork you can also mention that you declined jobs because you are on strike, also take it up with a judge if you must. There are just as many understanding paper pushers in the unemployment office as there are heartless assholes. I got laid off from Top Food when my branch closed, and they did everything they could to prevent me from getting unemployment, including offering me a position that would require a ridiculous commute for less than 10 hours a week in an already fully staffed branch. gently caress that company. We almost went on strike like, 5 years ago, the company was threatening holiday pay and our medical benefits. Good luck with the strike, man, and if you do end up on unemployment for the forseeable future, look into Worker Retraining and BFET programs. Right now I'm in my last few quarters of getting 3 related technical degrees, most of which I got full funding for, even after exhausting unemployment.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

KidKrampus posted:

As part of the paperwork you can also mention that you declined jobs because you are on strike, also take it up with a judge if you must. There are just as many understanding paper pushers in the unemployment office as there are heartless assholes. I got laid off from Top Food when my branch closed, and they did everything they could to prevent me from getting unemployment, including offering me a position that would require a ridiculous commute for less than 10 hours a week in an already fully staffed branch. gently caress that company. We almost went on strike like, 5 years ago, the company was threatening holiday pay and our medical benefits. Good luck with the strike, man, and if you do end up on unemployment for the forseeable future, look into Worker Retraining and BFET programs. Right now I'm in my last few quarters of getting 3 related technical degrees, most of which I got full funding for, even after exhausting unemployment.

I'm a few weeks from a Network+ right now, just sorta bad timing on all this.

therobit
Aug 19, 2008

I've been tryin' to speak with you for a long time

AlmightyBob posted:

Safeway.


Worst part right now is we don't know what's gonna happen. Could be they only strike 1 company and the rest of us get locked out. Or they could strike all of them. If I get locked out I don't get strike pay, but I can get unemployment. Of course unemployment means I have to apply to jobs every week and I have to accept any offer I get. I'm not done with the certification I'm working on yet, so any jobs I'd really be able to apply to would just be more retail, and I want the gently caress out. 7 years is more than enough.

You do know that it is pretty easy to apply for jobs without getting hired, right? For instance apply for jobs that are a reach position to begin with and if thou did get hired then swell. Or just tank the interview of you don't like a job. If it is a job hulk don't want that you are a shoe-in for them find something else to apply for. Or tank about your political views in the interview and how you are in it to smash capitalism.

Curiosity
Sep 12, 2012

AlmightyBob posted:

I'm not done with the certification I'm working on yet, so any jobs I'd really be able to apply to would just be more retail, and I want the gently caress out.

You'd (probably) be able to apply to anything. Apply for tech jobs - worst case scenario you meet unemployment application requirements and don't get a call from the places you apply to. If there's a company you're specifically eyeing for future employment you may want to avoid messing up your chances until you're done your certification though.


For content, I'm managing at a retail store while I go back to college fulltime. Managing SUCKS. I was hired to do merch and it was such a happy little job, now I am the key #1 person to yell at.
A couple days ago I had two customers in a row respond to my "how are you?" while I was on the sales floor and try to make all these vicious comments about our products. They just ripped into the things they were shopping for and tried to tell me how awful everything was with so much fury - they were honest to god trying to hurt my feelings.

Does this make people feel better about themselves? I don't give a poo poo, I didn't make this product. :confused:

The lady in the first couple demanded I call another store which carries the same product to see if they had the size her husband was looking for (we didn't) which I generally do for customers if I'm feeling agreeable, but she said "There's NO WAY I'm driving there unless I know for SURE that..." etc. Okay lady, don't drive there. Drive to a further away store and start shopping from scratch. That sounds like less work for me.

Second guy ranted about giving our product a try even though it's apparently crap, because his favourite company discontinued his usual product. I asked whether this was the only other store where he could shop for the product. He said there's one left (a couple cities over) that he hasn't been to. I told him I was happy that he can go elsewhere.

tldr Customers get furious at products they haven't even purchased, believe their insults to the company will intimidate me into phone shopping on their behalf

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

Seattle Times put up a poll asking people if they'd cross the picket lines. Not as bad as you'd expect I guess. http://polldaddy.com/poll/7494127/?view=results&msg=voted

Kimmalah
Nov 14, 2005

Basically just a baby in a trenchcoat.


Curiosity posted:

The lady in the first couple demanded I call another store which carries the same product to see if they had the size her husband was looking for (we didn't) which I generally do for customers if I'm feeling agreeable, but she said "There's NO WAY I'm driving there unless I know for SURE that..." etc. Okay lady, don't drive there. Drive to a further away store and start shopping from scratch. That sounds like less work for me.

My store used to get a lot of these, except we usually ended up honoring their ridiculous request and called around to all the local stores to see if they had what the person was looking for. It was always a huge hassle since our stores didn't really have a way to just search for stuff (easily anyway) so usually the person on the other end would have to put you on hold forever while they went and checked. Then there was the fact that most of the phones were by the register and the cashiers always ended up making the calls, so not only were you on hold with an angry customer staring you down, but you also had a backed up register line full of other pissed off customers.

The best part was when I would go through this ordeal with one store, inform the customer that the store didn't have the product either, then have them go "Well, could you just call the other stores to be sure?" Meaning I'd have to do it at least two more times since there were 3 nearby stores we often transferred products with. Sure we may have irredeemably pissed off 4-5 customers in that register line, but at least we didn't lose that one customer with the specific request (maybe). :negative:

We used to receive the same calls too and the vast majority of the time we'd put the product on hold, then no one would ever bother to pick it up.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

OH poo poo!

quote:

We are very pleased to announce that today at 5 PM the union member bargaining team from UFCW 21 & 367 and Teamsters 38 reached a tentative agreement with the national grocery chains in contract negotiations. This tentative agreement has been unanimously recommended by the union member bargaining team. Details will not to be released until after union members themselves have had the opportunity to review the tentative agreement and vote on it. The times and locations of those vote meetings will be announced in the coming days

Robin Sparkles
Apr 23, 2009
We have a regular customer who is about 70 years old, morbidly obese, drives a scooter and REEKS of dried piss. He swears constantly and stinks up the entire store whenever he comes in. We've all been holding our breath for two years. He got caught shoplifting today. He isn't allowed back anymore. :D Best day ever.

bowmore
Oct 6, 2008



Lipstick Apathy
It's incredible the amount of old people that steal poo poo. Most of the people caught at my old store were over 60.

Robin Sparkles
Apr 23, 2009
Tonight loving sucked.

We hired a lady in her mid-50's a few weeks ago for the christmas season to be a cashier. She's been having a lot of issues, notably slowness at cash and not cleaning in between customers (we repeatedly told her if she has a few minutes to bring the baskets back to the corral and it was repeatedly not done) and a few other things. The manager spoke to her before her shift today to say she just had some feedback and was hoping that from now on she could just pick it up. She was supposed to punch in at 5:00, and when I went to the back to punch in from my lunch, she wasn't there. She didn't show up the entire night. She just left. Who does that!? We didn't even call her. If she shows up for her shift on Friday (which we doubt, but who knows) she's going to be told to go home.

Sankis
Mar 8, 2004

But I remember the fella who told me. Big lad. Arms as thick as oak trees, a stunning collection of scars, nice eye patch. A REAL therapist he was. Er wait. Maybe it was rapist?


Someone who's in their 50s and doesn't care about their retail job. I imagine you won't see her again.

Robin Sparkles
Apr 23, 2009
Oh most likely, but part of me hopes she does so I can be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

SimplyCosmic
May 18, 2004

It could be worse.

Not sure how, but it could be.

Curiosity posted:

They just ripped into the things they were shopping for and tried to tell me how awful everything was with so much fury - they were honest to god [i]trying to hurt my feelings

I've seen this odd shift in customer attitude grow during my time in retail support. It's even stronger on social media, where it's not "this product you sold me doesn't work" or "I have an account issue", but instead "your employees are all loving moronic, rude bastards, evil morons who should have been aborted and I will continue to harass you on every site I have access to because I let my debit card account get overdrawn!"

Actually, even the above is pretty tame, it's not uncommon for the most racist, misogynistic, or homophobic crap about employees to get posted by someone who then expects the company to bend over backwards while they continue on.

AlmightyBob
Sep 8, 2003

bowmore posted:

It's incredible the amount of old people that steal poo poo. Most of the people caught at my old store were over 60.

Old people are the worst customers. I've never had any problem with a teenager or a 20 something. They are all polite. Old people will purposefully get in your way, ignore you, block aisles to talk to their friends for an hour, and complain about stuff not being in stock that was discontinued years ago.

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!

AlmightyBob posted:

Old people are the worst customers. I've never had any problem with a teenager or a 20 something. They are all polite. Old people will purposefully get in your way, ignore you, block aisles to talk to their friends for an hour, and complain about stuff not being in stock that was discontinued years ago.

Eh, I've had plenty of 18/20 somethings that were snots, acting like they're superior to a mere wage slave as myself. But it's true the only customer I've ever had to cuss and bitch loudly about us not stocking an item that does not exist was old enough to be my dad.

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

loving poo poo, back in retail again. :( First real "training" day is tomorrow. It is also the same company (and store) I started working for 10 years ago.

Curiosity
Sep 12, 2012

bowmore posted:

It's incredible the amount of old people that steal poo poo. Most of the people caught at my old store were over 60.

Caught at the store? As in stopped? I can't imagine how this would go.

Does anyone else have a policy where you're not even allowed to acknowledge theft? We aren't allowed to stop anyone, follow them to the door, or even call the police. We do have a loss prevention team and about a million cameras but it seems really odd.

Corkscrew
May 20, 2001

Nothing happened. I'm Julius Pepperwood. Let it go.
It's a massive, massive liability issue for retailers. Asset protection/loss prevention personnel have a series of steps they have to follow before they can make an apprehension: observe the perp pick up the merchandise, conceal it, observe them uninterrupted (so they don't miss the person dumping it), pass all points of sale, and exit the store. They're trained and certified to do this, as well as apprehend people, including self-defense courses in case they have to physically take someone down and cuff them. All of this is to ensure that they don't open themselves up to civil lawsuits by incorrectly tabbing someone as a shoplifter and subjecting them to embarrassment/harm/whatever.

Now take your average retail employee. Do they know how to do any of this? Nope. Is it worth the time and money to train everyone on how to do this? Nope. By allowing any employee to accuse or try to stop shoplifters, they're opening themselves up to the maverick employees who thought they kinda maybe saw a dude maybe do something. So the easiest and safest route for retailers is to make it company policy, on pain of termination, to avoid any kind of accusation of potential shoplifters. Notify a manager, or LP/AP directly, and let the professionals take it from there.

There's another reason why you don't EVER follow a suspected shoplifter out of the store if you're not LP/AP: personal safety. Say you see someone pocket some poo poo and walk out, so you decide to follow them to see what car they get into and write down their license plate number. Now say they notice you. What if they freak out and try to make a fast getaway to avoid you getting their plate and smash into someone else's car or, worse, run over an innocent bystander? Or what if they've got a gun in their car and they don't particularly like being followed? All sorts of potential for ugly outcomes.

The sum total is, there's way too much possible downside to allow untrained employees the ability to stop shoplifters.

(My SO is former AP at both Target and our current employer with about 8 years experience, plus I talk to our store's current AP guy a lot.)

Kimmalah
Nov 14, 2005

Basically just a baby in a trenchcoat.


Curiosity posted:

Caught at the store? As in stopped? I can't imagine how this would go.

Does anyone else have a policy where you're not even allowed to acknowledge theft? We aren't allowed to stop anyone, follow them to the door, or even call the police. We do have a loss prevention team and about a million cameras but it seems really odd.

The last store I was at didn't allow us to stop people or acknowledge that anyone was shoplifting. If someone seemed suspicious, our policy was to basically annoy the hell out of them by asking them if they needed help a lot until they left. If someone obviously stole something (usually by setting off the alarms) all we were allowed to do was watch and take down their license plate to give to the cops later. I think most thieves were on to this because they'd generally either park really far from the door or park on the other side of the shopping center and walk over.

This used to drive me crazy when we constantly got poo poo about things being stolen when there was literally nothing we could really do to stop it.

trunkwontopen
Apr 7, 2007
I am a CARTOON BEAR!

Kimmalah posted:

This used to drive me crazy when we constantly got poo poo about things being stolen when there was literally nothing we could really do to stop it.

My ex roommate used to talk about this. He worked at an outlet mall, and they were no allowed to stop them, touch them, follow them outside. He would state that people would literally walk into the store, grab a handful of clothes, and just walk out. Per corporate policy, they could not do anything about it except get yelled at by the GM when they pulled up the amount of losses for that store.

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!

Kimmalah posted:

The last store I was at didn't allow us to stop people or acknowledge that anyone was shoplifting. If someone seemed suspicious, our policy was to basically annoy the hell out of them by asking them if they needed help a lot until they left. If someone obviously stole something (usually by setting off the alarms) all we were allowed to do was watch and take down their license plate to give to the cops later. I think most thieves were on to this because they'd generally either park really far from the door or park on the other side of the shopping center and walk over.

This used to drive me crazy when we constantly got poo poo about things being stolen when there was literally nothing we could really do to stop it.

Ours is similar to this, but I suppose a tad more proactive (not by much). We also do the "prevent shoplifting by using Super Excellent A-1 Double Plus Good Top Customer Service!" We still can't accuse anyone of shoplifting, or actually physically touch them, but the cashiers, head cashier, MoD, or whoever is in position to, can attempt to "block" the shoplifter from leaving. It basically boils down to the cashier stands at the exit and asks the person attempting to leave if they (the cashier) could verify their purchase by reviewing the person's receipt, and then offer to ring up any merchandise which there is no receipt for. If the person hands over any unpaid merchandise, we're not allowed to detain them, but the person can basically pay for the items or is free to leave (the incident gets logged either way). However, if the person ignores the cashier's request and pushes out anyways, the only thing we can do at that point is to watch (from the store, not actually follow the person) and get a description of the vehicle so we can inform the cops and our sister stores in the area. Getting a plate is a bonus, but not something we actively encourage, as per reasons in Corkscrew's post (also there was a recent news article regarding my store and someone getting fired over doing this). Thankfully, our store doesn't count external-shrink/loss against a store's metrics, although we are always reminded to be on the lookout (we have three metrics to meet and shrink isn't one of the ones counted towards our quarterly bonus).

When I worked at Wal-Mart about 4 years ago, we had a dedicated Loss Prevention team who were trained and would basically work by having one person watching cameras, and one or two people working the floor, dressed as normal customers, which would allow them to sometimes be right next to a shop lifter as they pocketed something. As corkscrew said, too, LP has to let the person leave the store, otherwise the person could claim unlawful detention as they were going to pay for it anyways.

e: Most of the external theft we deal with are people who will turn around and try to return the stolen item. This is where we can stop most thefts, recover stolen items, and get detailed info like the person's driver's license (assuming they're not using a fake). Still can't detain anyone, but it's an awesome feeling to stare a shoplifter in the face and basically tell them to gently caress off (in more nicer terms like "I need a receipt for this item, we'll hold onto it for you until you can come back with one). Corporate also as a system in place that will automatically track how much a person does no-receipt refunds and can lock them out. And it's not a regional thing either, if they get locked out in the NE Ohio region and go to Pittsburgh, they'll be locked out there as well.

CovfefeCatCafe fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Oct 26, 2013

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Corkscrew
May 20, 2001

Nothing happened. I'm Julius Pepperwood. Let it go.
Shrink's one of our big metrics but isn't counted towards or against our bonus except as it pertains to an overall picture of profitability. As a department head, I have to complete weekly shrink reports on a variety of topics, everything from associate and cashier knowledge to cycle counts, markdowns, schedule adherence, and so on. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of. Fortunately, in addition to our store smashing sales plans on a weekly basis, we also came in way under last year's shrink at our most recent inventory, so we're doing pretty well overall.

On the subject of "Kill them with customer service," a couple months ago, I was closing one night with one other person from my department and we came back in from outside just as a couple guys walked past us with a cart full of expensive merchandise, way more than one person would reasonably buy of these items. I did a double-take and then asked them if they needed help. They said no and kept on moving. I called someone from the next department over that they were about to pass through, as well as notifying the MOD and a couple cashiers at various exits, then kept an eye on them from afar. They got "customer serviced" a couple more times after that and it must have spooked them because they abandoned the cart and beelined for the exit.

I had lost track of them by this point so eventually I made my way to one of the exits and walked just outside to figure out whether they'd left the store. As I did so, they literally drove past the front of the store slowly, almost as if gift-wrapping a license plate for me, so I made like I was looking at something else and memorized it. When I passed it on to AP later, it eventually led to an arrest. Turns out these guys were hitting a lot of retail stores in the area for expensive merchandise to fund a serious heroin habit; they admitted to all of it, including being foiled at our store.

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