I Am Suspected Of Shoplifting. You're KIDDING?!

[StarMan]

Just got back from my local Supermarket feeling pretty gobsmacked. I have shopped there for the last 8 years and gotten to know a few of the staff.

Well, only half an hour ago I was at checkout and one of the girls I know asked me if I "want to know a secret?"

"Sure." I said.

"We think you're a thief."

Well, I stood there mouth agape and felt my face go flush. I asked why and was told one of the higher ups had their suspicions. Apparently, these suspicions are based on my shopping habits, as I normally wander around a bit with a backpack.

Why do I do this? Well, for starters I'm a single guy so just shop for myself and do a grocery stop most days. Second, the gym I go to is over the road and I often time my grocery stop post-gym. Hence, my gym bag on my back. Lastly, I wander a bit because they are hardly the cheapest store and as a cost conscious shopper I do meander a bit looking for various deals before deciding what I intend to buy.

Now I asked the girl if the place had cameras. Yes, it does. Had I been seen by anyone taking anything? No. Then she said "Oh, I'm just saying..." with a nonchalant tone that I didn't take kindly to and said I'm going to get shitty (emphasis to ensure others heard me) and rightly so if I'm accused of something I haven't done!

So as I walked home I got more riled up and thought "fuck them!" They're not the best at the BEST of times and for their barely adequate asses to think I am stealing from them after nearly a decade of frequenting their store without incident is not fucking on.

I am thinking going straight to the Manager. Thing is, I don't want to get this girl in trouble. She's obviously stuffed up majorly by telling me this. Any recommendations?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It sounds like the girl was just messing with you. Unless they actually pull you aside, I would continue shopping as you normally do.

If they truly suspected you, they would have stopped you by now.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

My local supermarket requires backpacks left at the door but I thought this was for school backpacks, not adults.

If I were you I would make an appointment with the manager and let him know exactly how you feel after 8 years of shopping there. As to the girl in question, emphasize you know she's young (I assume) and you don't want her in trouble but you can't let this pass.

 

[Trekker4747]

If you're that angry stop shopping there. If you're just annoyed, keep shopping there.

There's plenty of people in my store we suspect are shop-lifters and people we've suspected in the past who we've caught. And, honestly, if we saw someone walking around a lot with a backpack he'd be a suspect. It's just a suspicion thing and you look for signs and opportunity, you watch and look for an opportunity to catch the person in the act.

I once watched as a guy walked around the store with a backpack and saw him place items in it and head up front. He's technically not "shop lifting" until he's past the point of sale so he can't be approached until then. I got some managers to watch him with me, subtly where he walked past the POS, with the items in his backpack and went into the restroom. I waited a moment, went into the restroom or saw him inside the stall, standing on the toilet, having removed the ceiling tile and was putting his stolen good inside the suspended ceiling.

When he eventually left the restroom we took him into the office, called the police, and got him banned from the store. (He technically still didn't steal so we couldn't really charge him with anything.)

The store's managers are wanting to protect themselves from theft and, yeah, they're going to look for clues or things that stand out. Often times you're wrong, I followed a guy once who got $200 worth of meat items and, frankly, he didn't look like the type who could afford it. But, he did go through the register and his payment method did go through so I was wrong. But, still, I had suspicion. Right or wrong, it was still $200 that could have walked out the door.

The checker probably shouldn't have told you, but maybe she's observed you enough to know you're not or thought you just might like to know to maybe alter your shopping habits to get off their RADAR. Maybe she wants to date. Hard to say.

But there are things that are going to get you suspected anywhere you go because the store is going to want to protect itself from theft anyway they can, the cameras don't always catch everything and sometimes it just takes a pair of eyes to get it. Heck, more often than not the cameras are there to get a picture of a thief in order to send messages to other stores (assuming it's a chain) about someone or to just have photographic evidence when you ARE caught. There's not likely someone monitoring the cameras at all times to see a theft going on at an exact moment.

Shrug it off, shop somewhere else, or maybe be a bit less suspicious when you shop. Wandering around a store while carrying a backpack, from experience, is a good way to put a target on your back.

 

[DonIago]

For all you know she's doing this to other customers as well. I'd say you should talk to the manager and tell them what happened. Whether or not you disclose the particular cashier in question is your call...but if they asked and you -do- like the place for the most part, I'd probably go along with them.

 

[Kelthaz]

What exactly are you upset about here? They suspect you might be a thief, but they haven't acted on that suspicion. They haven't told you to leave your backpack at the door and they haven't harassed you about it. I fail to see how the store has done anything wrong here.

 

[DonIago]

For that matter there's no proof that the store suspects the OP of anything.

 

[Yoda]

Sounds like she thinks you're a bad boy and wants ya bro. Get dem digits.

 

[E-DUB]

Mess with them. Buy an item at another store, make it look like you shoplifted it from them and when they take you back, show them the reciept from the other store. Or come up with something else but mess with their heads.

 

[StarMan]

What exactly are you upset about here? They suspect you might be a thief, but they haven't acted on that suspicion.They haven't told you to leave your backpack at the door and they haven't harassed you about it. I fail to see how the store has done anything wrong here.

The store is represented by the cashier in this instance, is it not?

I have been going there for 8 years at least 2-3 times a week. A lot of that time I have carried a backpack. I can appreciate the backpack is a red flag, but it is not in and of itself evidence of any clandestine action on my part. Now in all the time I have been going there they have had ample opportunity to view the security footage to see if their suspicions could be corroborated.

And in all that footage they would see their suspicions were incorrect and that I was - and always have been - an honest, paying customer. I can understand the POV of management who want to curtail thieves, but I cannot help my initial reaction of ire and upset.

LOL. At the end of the day I really shouldn't *know* anything about their suspicions. The girl stuffed up by telling me.

However ... I'm really digging the idea of using this situation to score with her. She's had an eye for me...

 

[propita]

I once watched as a guy walked around the store with a backpack and saw him place items in it and head up front. He's technically not "shop lifting" until he's past the point of sale so he can't be approached until then.

Legally, he's shoplifting as soon as he moves it with the intention of not paying for it. Yeah, sounds like anytime you move something in a store, it would then qualify, and it could! Silly, huh? Hiding one item inside another qualifies, even before it's left the store.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

I'd be annoyed. I'd be very likely to shop elsewhere for a while.

And on the matter of backpacks, I refuse to leave my backpack at the front for personal reasons. I have no problem with them looking at it, but now found that one supermarket won't even look inside, as they know my bag is empty.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

As a law student, I'm often shopping with a backpack. If they think I'm a thief, they can go fuck themselves. If they stop me, I'll stop shopping there. However, if they have suspicions but don't act on them, I don't really care.

 

[DonIago]

I'm at a loss as to why anyone would take this at face value...

 

[Dream]

I'm confused at why people wear backpacks into supermarkets.

Do you people also wear your backpacks into movie theaters?

 

[Yoda]

Well.. a backpack would be good to carry groceries home if you're walking or biking or whatever?

I don't see how a backpack helps with watching a movie.

 

[Sector 7]

First, I am not an expert on backpack etiquette in public. I only wore mine in military and Boy Scouts while hiking.

ANYONE walking into a retail establishment wearing a backpack is automatically under suspicion, because it is a potential hiding place for stolen merchandise. In most US stores Loss Prevention is the department in charge of catching thieves. Their job is to Prevent the Loss of profits by theft.

The cashier should never have told you... period. If she wants a date, that is not the right way to do it.

Either don't wear the backpack OR change your pattern OR let the manager know you were told and that you would be willing to have your backpack checked at any time. The last option lets them 'know you know', but are an honest person.

 

[Amaris]

First, I am not an expert on backpack etiquette in public. I only wore mine in military and Boy Scouts while hiking.

ANYONE walking into a retail establishment wearing a backpack is automatically under suspicion, because it is a potential hiding place for stolen merchandise. In most US stores Loss Prevention is the department in charge of catching thieves. Their job is to Prevent the Loss of profits by theft.

The cashier should never have told you... period. If she wants a date, that is not the right way to do it.

Either don't wear the backpack OR change your pattern OR let the manager know you were told and that you would be willing to have your backpack checked at any time. The last option lets them 'know you know', but are an honest person.

This seems like good advice. When I am walking a reasonably long distance, or on the (very) rare occasion I ride my bike, I wear a backpack to hold stuff like my phone, glucose tabs, a towel (always carry a towel), and a bottle of water. It's always best to be prepared, no matter where you're going.

 

[MacLeod]

I once watched as a guy walked around the store with a backpack and saw him place items in it and head up front. He's technically not "shop lifting" until he's past the point of sale so he can't be approached until then.

Legally, he's shoplifting as soon as he moves it with the intention of not paying for it. Yeah, sounds like anytime you move something in a store, it would then qualify, and it could! Silly, huh? Hiding one item inside another qualifies, even before it's left the store.

Nope, they have to walk past the last POS for it to be legally shoplifting. Up until that point th$ey can still pay for it or change their mind and put the item(s) back. Doesn't matter where they have put it. They can still claim they were going to pay for it, and the shop would have to prove otherwise. Once they have past the last POS, they can't use I was going to pay defense.

 

[Dream]

I once watched as a guy walked around the store with a backpack and saw him place items in it and head up front. He's technically not "shop lifting" until he's past the point of sale so he can't be approached until then.

Legally, he's shoplifting as soon as he moves it with the intention of not paying for it. Yeah, sounds like anytime you move something in a store, it would then qualify, and it could! Silly, huh? Hiding one item inside another qualifies, even before it's left the store.

Nope, they have to walk past the last POS for it to be legally shoplifting. Up until that point they can still pay for it. Doesn't matter where they have put it. They can still claim they were going to pay for it, and the shop would have to prove otherwise. Once they have past the last POS, they can't use I was going to pay defense.

What does last 'point of sale' mean anyway? Is that the last cash register or is that the last spot instore before a person is outside?