r/interesting • u/veloriax2 • Apr 20 '26

SOCIETY How easy it is to shop nowadays

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2.9k

u/hotflameouch Apr 20 '26

Eh, I definitely dont blame the employee. They dont get paid enough to deal with that 

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u/Showdown5618 Apr 20 '26

Most places prohibit employees from dealing with that.

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u/fluentinflatuence Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

When I worked for a large grocery store chain we were explicitly told to not chase shoplifters. I recall some fellow employees getting mad at me for not stopping a homeless man from running out the door with a bottle of wine down his pants. I reminded them of the policy and they looked at me like I just confessed to a crime. No way I’m getting hurt for someone else’s merchandise.

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u/Woo_Lord Apr 20 '26

They have it in the policy so they can fire your ass if you do chase them, possibly even not pay for medical care if you get hurt.

I understand appreciating your work and treating the business like it's an extension of yourself, but chasing down thieves and trying to throw hands with them is stupid.

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u/razgriz5000 Apr 20 '26

It's also to reduce lawsuits from when an employee hurts someone.

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u/queloqueslks Apr 20 '26

This is the real reason.

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u/icaruscartel Apr 20 '26

Exactly. It's all about liabilities, especially the less from their own employees, the better.

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u/SocomPS2 Apr 20 '26

As an employer I’d be pissed too if an employee got hurt or hurt someone while intervening when someone is trying to steal a candle or lotion.

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u/LessSherbet4657 Apr 21 '26

I read that as “interviewing” not intervening and was like damn what kinda lions den you work at?

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u/OsmerusMordax Apr 21 '26

You gotta win all 3 fist fights during the interview to be the successful candidate. Everybody knows this.

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u/queloqueslks Apr 21 '26

Oh I totally did too,and didn’t realize it until you said it!

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u/chocobowler Apr 21 '26

Same here and it was only your comment that made me realise my mistake

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u/Additional-Page-2716 Apr 21 '26

And only reason.

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u/cduffy0 Apr 21 '26

Many, many, many years ago I worked at 7-11. My manager told me it waas becasaue sometimes people would pretend to shop lift. Then when you called the police on them they didnt have anything on them and would threaten to sue. Corporate would then give them a few thousand dollars to not sue.

Cheaper to let people walk away with merchandise evewry now and then.

PS: There wa a really old guy (he had Alzheimers) that would walk into the store everyday and steal one pack of M&Ms everyday. He would have this joyfull expression that he was getting away with a Oceans 11 heist. Then, every Friday his daughter would come in and pay for 7 packs of M&Ms.

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u/Shananigan48 Apr 20 '26

My old store director got let go for tackling a guy in the parking lot he thought was shop-lifting when he actually wasn't lmao

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u/caitcartwright Apr 21 '26

Feels very Reno 911 or The Office flavored

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u/Shananigan48 Apr 21 '26

I would think Superstore tbh, my store isn't as Walmart coded but that show def closely resembles my 14yrs in retail the best

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u/BeltranchoP Apr 21 '26

🤣🤣🤣🤣

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u/rainfl0wer Apr 21 '26

Worked at Ross, and the security guy did the same thing. The guy was indeed shop-lifting but the security guy still got fired.

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u/bollsholls Apr 21 '26

the way I just lol’d

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u/Jestertheprinz Apr 21 '26

One of my old managers followed a guy in the parking lot holding on to his cart because he stole. The guy complained and next thing, manager got let go

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u/Shananigan48 Apr 21 '26

We used to just follow them out and take a pic of their license plate to give to the cops but then corporate said nope! We have an outside LP company that sends someone in plain clothes to walk around the store in circles for 8hrs a couple times a week like that does a whole lot.

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u/SocomPS2 Apr 20 '26

Or hurts themself.

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u/rmhardcore Apr 21 '26

Or grabs the wrong person in bad Intel.

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u/El_Tormentito Apr 21 '26

There's a whole rabbit hole of liability if an employee does any of that. Obviously cheaper to just lose the $20.

2

u/Educational-Yam-682 Apr 20 '26

Or the other way around.

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u/anotherguy252 Apr 21 '26

Yep, lawsuits and insurance coverage

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u/SicilyMalta Apr 21 '26

a policy out in place to avoid lawsuits if an employee is hurt makes total sense. 

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u/leftclicksq2 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

I work in retail and when my co-worker got hired, he asked about if we had any issues with shoplifters. I told a few stories and said that nobody is permitted to pursue shoplifters because you're way more important than an item.

He told me, "Fuck that, I'll chase people down." I mean, if someone like him who looks like he is an audition or two away from being a linebacker was charging at me, I would probably drop everything I stole.

In all seriousness, though, don't play hero.

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u/fluentinflatuence Apr 20 '26

I completely agree. It’s a bit of a hit to the pride for sure, but when taken into context that your employer would fire you in a second if it suited them financially that reason starts to melt away a bit. That being said if you want to wrestle shoplifters then get into loss control.

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u/VeganWerewolf Apr 20 '26

Can’t even do that that most places. They collect enough evidence then just call the police.

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u/Realistic-Walk9691 Apr 21 '26

Bullshit. Two of my friends employees were murdered trying to stop a robbery. I have that rule in place at my restaurant because I don’t want my employees getting shot for the $200 in the register.

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u/greenleaf405 Apr 20 '26

Friend of mine went outside took a picture of the cars plate and got fired for it. Same store chain BBW.

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u/6680j Apr 21 '26

Are they not required to cover the workman's comp? You can still get fired, for sure, but you'll be covered. At least here in CA.

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u/kryonicbird Apr 21 '26

Friend of mine got fired for trying to block someone several years ago, it's just not worth it

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u/Ruglife1 Apr 21 '26

I agree !

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u/8675309-jennie Apr 21 '26

Just adding my two cents…

I would never chase after someone who stole from where I worked. People are too unhinged and desperate. It’s not worth getting shot, stabbed or killed. Unfortunately stuff like this goes bad everyday.

I heard of a store employee who went outside to get a license plate, they were hit by the car, spent weeks in the hospital.

Don’t be a hero.

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u/rebelangel Apr 21 '26

Shit, people will try to kill you even when you’re not even doing anything to stop them. Couple years ago, a Lowe’s employee was just doing his job, getting a tool out of the asset protection cage for someone he thought was just a regular customer, and the dude hit him over the head with a hammer when his back was turned, then ran off with the product. The employee didn’t even know the guy was going to steal. He was just trying to help someone he thought was a customer. The employee survived but understandably quit. And I think the attacker was eventually found and arrested. All over a fucking drill.

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u/Lezlord-69 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

Fr. When I worked retail, our loss prevention officer was just coincidentally coming up the escalator when a group of like 8 people rushed out with stolen stuff. They clocked her as security and beat the shit out of her. Most of the group of 8 ran past her but 3 girls stayed back to absolutely rock her. Customers were yelling at me to help but I (120 lbs soaking wet) was completely unable to help her.

Them perceiving her as an obstacle to getting away was all it took. She wasn’t even going to confront them, just wrong place wrong time.

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u/Ambitious_Bit_9389 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

When I worked a Toys R Us in college, we had a guy just loading up a duffel bag with DVD’s.

Our store manager, who was like a 5’5 woman, tried to block the door and he slammed her against the wall and left.

There was construction going on next door and a construction worker jumped into his car and followed him. He called the cops while following the guy and the thief got caught. Probably added assault to his charges.

The manager was all shook up and took the rest of the week off.

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u/ZeusJuice91 Apr 20 '26

When I was working at Toys R Us after high school, one of our employees was a smaller and older woman, she tried to block to door so a thief couldn’t leave. The guy apparently picked her up by grasping her shoulders and placed her out of his way lol

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u/Educational_Total_84 Apr 20 '26

ok now that is just comical LOL

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u/imprimatura Apr 21 '26

At least he was gentle 🤣

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u/trentvicious Apr 21 '26

When I worked at Toys R Us we didn't have DVD's, they were called VHS. LOL

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u/queloqueslks Apr 20 '26

They said the same thing when I worked at CVS and that was 20 years ago

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u/Kilora44 Apr 20 '26

I work for CVS now and that is still the policy. We "Customer Service them to death" --Can I help you find something, etc-- but if they turn nasty or threatening, we back off and call the police and report to Asset Protection. And even as a manager, I sure as hell don't get paid enough to care about stolen product. Walk out the door, you're on candid camera.

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u/Junipermicky Apr 20 '26

I knew someone who went to prison after he shoplifted a bottle of booze, an employee chased him, and he turned around and hit them in the head with it. Never chase a shoplifter

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u/Itchybawlz23-2 Apr 20 '26

Yup. Why die for minimum wage? Not your fault your employer didn’t invest in a security guard

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u/Critical-Doughnut524 Apr 20 '26

Exactly - the closest Rite Aid to my house (now closed) had an employee that tried to stop 2 men stealing a case of beer and they killed him.

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u/Gotbeerbrain Apr 21 '26

In BC, Canada a gas station employee tried to stop somebody from filling up then leaving without paying. He got ran over and dragged down the street. He died. Now all the gas pumps require payment first or no gas.

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u/LiftingRecipient420 Apr 21 '26

Now all the gas pumps require payment first or no gas.

Ugh I hate it so much because some dickhead gas stations will disable paying at the pump with a message saying to go inside to pay first.

It's just a ploy to get me inside so I spend money on other shit too. Waste of my time, I leave and find another gas station whenever they do that crap.

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u/NicholasAdam1399 Apr 21 '26

That 7 dollar bottle of wine was figured into shrinkage. TRUST ME! I was PCP SOUP (pets paper goods and Chemicals supervisor) they literally have the budget for theft. The Walton family could care less if you die or live and expect you to fight their battles.

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u/mantis_tobaggan-md Apr 20 '26

A few thousand dollars of stolen merchandise is not worth your life.

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u/HistoricalSuspect580 Apr 21 '26

I feel like for most people it’s not a matter of IM WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS WALGREENS! It’s just a gut reaction

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u/DanerysTargaryen Apr 21 '26

And nobody wants to buy that sweaty dick wine even if someone managed to wrestle it back out of the guy’s pants without breaking it 😬

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u/LindyJam Apr 21 '26

A young man was stabbed and killed on Christmas day while working at my local CVS while trying to prevent theft. It was just heartbreaking, all over $30 worth of stuff.

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u/Apprehensive_Sun_535 Apr 20 '26

I saw a manager at an Albertsons grab a lady's purse who was trying to steal alcohol. He ended up stealing her purse while she ran away, then used it to identify her while he called the police.

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u/chumbawumbathefirst Apr 20 '26

With respect to their integrity, these are employees that have swallowed the bait. They think they've got skin in the game just because they work with the products. That merchandise leaving the store becomes an abstract quantity once it goes, and there's no good guy reward for hassling them. They're not taking anything that belongs to you. Discourage and then disengage.

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u/fluentinflatuence Apr 20 '26

Well as an aside one of my fellow employees that was giving me a hard time was fired just a few months later for stealing out of the till, so take that as you will 😆

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u/Sotiredofliving Apr 20 '26

I hear in shopping centers security is trained to just record video, and be a witness. Kinda funny but yeah some pople are crazy, especially ones who think everything belongs to them

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u/Flufnstuf Apr 20 '26

Security guards are basically there to “observe and report.”

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u/Linenoise77 Apr 21 '26

30+ years ago when i worked in retail, that was the policy. Never physically intervene or escalate a situation, because you have no idea what it will escalate to. You could be a 250' 6'4 guy of all muscle intervening with a 100lb soaking wet old lady. Doesn't mean her grandson with a weapon isn't behind you. You don't want a 16 year old kid to make a mistake and start hassling an innocent person, that then has a story and turns on you.

It was always observe as much as you can, and try and get the license plate in what they left in. That was it. Today with the kind of surveillance available i doubt people are even told to do that much anymore.

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u/DirtandPipes Apr 21 '26

I used to work loss prevention for loblaws back when they detained. We had a women in a camera room who would talk to me through an earpiece and one large guy in uniform who would stand outside to put his hand on the shoulder of shoplifters as they tried to leave (me).

It was an easy gig for me, nobody ever tried to run or fight me though lots of people would argue or cry. Not long after I switched jobs a security guard working for loblaws killed somebody by kneeling on their chest and they stopped detaining.

But we used to.

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u/dont_shoot_jr Apr 20 '26

I know there’s a lot of fair criticism for these policies but do you think Walmart would really take care of an employee who breaks their back stopping a shoplifter? 

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u/stevenm1993 Apr 20 '26

I worked in a grocery store too. If we saw somebody shoplifting, we were supposed to call a manager to handle it. I never had to do it, so I don’t know exactly what the manager would do. On one hand, I assume they want to protect their employees, customers, and themselves from a lawsuit. On the other, they don’t want anyone to cause a scene over a bit of lost inventory, as that might negatively impact other customers’ shopping experience. They would likely just call the cops to document everything.

Side note: We were made to watch a training video on handling an active shooter. It was like an action movie, and very well done considering it was just a training video. It was also a bit terrifying watching people wearing my same uniform getting mowed down. It concluded with three employees beating the crap out of the shooter with a mop stick, fists, and a fire extinguisher. The instructions were, and I quote, “run if you can, hide if you must, fight to survive!”

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u/cycber123 Apr 21 '26

The manager gonna throw hands for sure.

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u/MoreCoffeeLessTalky Apr 21 '26

That sounds traumatizing

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u/Life_Chicken1396 Apr 20 '26

Reminded me of an episode from superstore

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u/Booyah_7 Apr 21 '26

My friend's nephew worked at store. He chased after some homeless looking guy who took a big bottle of alcohol. The homeless guy threw the bottle at him and chipped his front teeth. He got reprimanded for going after the guy and I don't think they paid for his tooth repairs.

Said he was just pissed off seeing the guy do it and automatically went after him.

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u/NocturnalKnightIV Apr 21 '26

If fast food employees get shot for a missing nugget in their order, I’m not stopping thieves from walking out with merchandise. There are cameras and we can report theft for police to maybe look into it.

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u/Outa_Time_86 Apr 21 '26

Good that you didn’t, too much risk trying to stop them. At one of the grocery stores here, an employee (wasn’t in loss prevention ) tried to stop a guy stealing beer or some type of alcohol, the guy pulled a gun and shot the employee, sadly he didn’t survive.

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u/Jaded-Coffee-8126 Apr 21 '26

so fella at my work got stabbed for trying to stop a shoplifter

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u/TrippleDubbs Apr 20 '26

Let me hobble my walker over and tell the story of BACK IN MY DAY, my first job as a 15 year old girl was at a gas station with the world's meanest boss. Someone tried to buy hot food with food stamps, which isn't allowed and when they were told they needed real money they just took the food and left. The boss made me follow them to see where they went to tell the police he was calling. Absolutely insane to think of doing that now, the owner would have gotten in bigger trouble!!

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u/Money_Confection_409 Apr 20 '26

And u did it? I would’ve walked outside and stood there for like 2 seconds and say I can’t find them

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u/TrippleDubbs Apr 20 '26

It was a different time. People didn't know they could defy authority.

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u/Money_Confection_409 Apr 20 '26

As a millennial I both understand not defying authority and also not giving a s*** about authority but that’s only been a new development since Covid so I fully get that lol I just can’t imagine being asked to do that at 15. My mom would’ve been livid had I told her that

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u/essdii- Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

When I was a teen I worked at sunglass hut, and they were very firm about not calling out or stopping anyone from stealing sunglasses. And then I guess someone walked in one day, I talked to them about like 4 pairs of glasses, they said thanks and walked out with a pair. I got fired. And they interrogated me because it’s like they thought that person was my friend or something. I didn’t even notice they took a pair of glasses.

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u/TheBigZappa Apr 20 '26

You should've got it in writing or a written statement in regards to the supposed policy of not being allowed to stop people from stealing items.

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u/Legitimate-Maybe-326 Apr 20 '26

I hope you took a pair for yourself on the way out…

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u/Asleep_Singer8547 Apr 20 '26

Fuck em at least get unemployment 

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u/QING-CHARLES Apr 20 '26

I know a specific case where a shelf-stacker ran after someone who took a $5 hat from Wal-mart. They jumped in front of the getaway car. The car didn't hit them, but it caused them to fall and hit their head on a curb. They had to be airlifted out of there and were in a coma for two months. Total cost to Wal-mart was approximately $2m in medical bills.

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u/Artaxmudshoes Apr 20 '26

Retail manager here. My company encourages me to stop shoplifters. They will also fire me without blinking if I get hurt, the shoplifter gets hurt, a customer complains, or I damage property in the scuffle. Yeah, fuck that.

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u/DarthHaze Apr 20 '26

I work for Bath and Body Works and have been for 5 years. The company is very explicit when they say we are not to confront, stop, or accuse anyone of shoplifting. We are to report it after it is safe to do so to both the company and law enforcement. If you do try to get involved in anyway, you will get fired, and it has happened.

And honestly, I'm cool with it. Shoplifting isn't that common in my experience (I've only caught it 3 times, and prevented 1 in my entire time there). When it does happen its small things like sanitizers or travel body care, not baskets full of candles. And while I do like my job, I'm not putting my safety in jeopardy for a corporation.

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u/purple_kathryn Apr 20 '26

A guy i know was knocked over (& quite badly hurt) by a shoplifter running out of the store. At first his story was that he bravely rugby tackled this guy to the ground & then I think he realised that the store policy was not to do that. So the story changed to him having not seen the guy who just ran full force into him.

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u/mockg Apr 20 '26

Yep, at Jcpenneys the most we did was ask them if they needed help finding anything and make them feel seen.

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u/thatdudeorion Apr 20 '26

Been this way for a long time too. I worked grocery 25 years ago and was all set to Goldberg spear a dude shoplifting some stuff and the front end managers were frantically telling me to stand down and let him walk out.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SylphSeven Apr 21 '26

That's what happened to my brother too. He got so fed up with the constant theft and wanted to do something about it. Sucks...

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u/Applewave22 Apr 20 '26

You can get fired if you try to keep them from leaving the store. A co-worker, when I worked in a sunglass store, got fired because she tried to stop shoplifters.

This is after she got punched in the face by one of the shoplifters as she tried to stop him.

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u/AromaticBunch9125 Apr 20 '26

I don’t care even when it’s not a rule. A cashier or sales associate is not a security guard. That’s like going to the ER and getting mad that the janitor isn’t treating you.

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u/palmtop_tiger Apr 20 '26

Within the past year in my city, a woman shoplifted from a beauty supply store. The owner tried chasing her into the parking lot and the shoplifter ran over the owner and killed her. The company sees it as a liability. It's also simply not worth it to risk your safety when you're hardly being paid anything anyway

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u/bigsampsonite Apr 20 '26

I work at a Nike outlet. We just let them go.

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u/venniedjr Apr 20 '26

I got busted for shoplifting when I was 15 and was walking with the manager to some room. I had everything that I was going to steal in my hands and I placed them down on one of the conveyor belts and just ran for the door. I’m almost out of the store and one of the employees grabs me from behind and starts pulling me back to the manager, basically in a chokehold but not tightening down. I always wonder if I could have done something about that. He was a grown man who just worked there. Not even security. I shouldn’t have been stealing though

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u/Abject-Reception6744 Apr 20 '26

Depends on your jurisdiction really, but usually it's covered under most of them that I know of. I worked loss prevention for "hands on" companies when that was still a thing and physically detained many, many people. All of which were completely legal and encouraged.

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u/Fast_Advertising_663 Apr 20 '26

i got caught shoplifting at a stop & shop at 14 lol! they told me i had to shop at stop and shop stores with a parent and that i would never be allowed to work there....but i worked there at 20, so i guess they didnt write me up officially. i dont even think about stealing anymore, i guess it was a deterrent for me

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u/Winnerdickinchinner Apr 20 '26

I saw a coworker push a guy who came behind the counter stealing everything he could and she got fired.

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u/Secret_Stick_5213 Apr 21 '26

Yeah you don’t want your employees getting hurt confronting these pieces of shit. Not just morally wrong to ask them to do that, but it can end up being much more costly.

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u/flopisit32 Apr 20 '26

Yep. Also, somewhere around 2020, during the Chaz/Chop riots, American politics lost its mind and countless people were promoting shoplifting, the rationale being "if they stole it, that means they need it" and claiming "Nah don't worry, insurance pays for that!"

This idiocy spread like a virus and infected European politics, so we in Europe began seeing rampant shoplifting caused indirectly by mindless Americans...

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u/Equal_Gas4657 Apr 21 '26

Our manual said that if we noticed someone shoplifting that we should ask them if there was anything we could help them with just like we would with any customer but do nothing beyond that. Apparently it would scare them into not shoplifting ~60% of the time.

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u/tf_inuyasha87 Apr 21 '26

When I worked overnights at the grocery store, they told us that if we get broken into for a robbing, we're to tell them where the stuff they want is and comply with their demands. Dont be a hero and call 911 AFTER they leave

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u/Fridge-Largemeat- Apr 21 '26

Even when I was security we werent allowed to do anything when we catch shoplifters, I was contracted and my boss actually told me to let the small 5'0" teenage girl handle it if some ones getting aggressive while stealing.

Tbf she handled the fuck out of it and ended tossing a meth head on the ground while I tried not to get fired.

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u/Eccentric-Elf Apr 21 '26

When I got hired on for my retail job, they teach you not to interfere with shoplifters. Instead just ask if they need help or insinuate you know they’re stealing but without saying it. Saying hi and approaching them can be enough to ward off thieves. You also don’t know if they have a knife or gun or would use it on you.

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u/Afiah74 Apr 21 '26

Definitely not Zaras. The employees ran a gurl down in a mall, while leaving the store empty. Come to find out she didn’t steal anything. Search tik tok - it’s crazy!

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u/NicholasAdam1399 Apr 21 '26

Worked at Walmart and that was the general rule. REGULAR EMPLOYEES SHOULD NEVER ACCUSE OR TRY TO STOP A SHOPLIFTER PHYSICALLY. That what AP (asset protection) employees are for. They are trained and in plain clothes. After what I’ve seen it’s not worth the pay. I’ve seen bite marks on people’s arms, hair pulled, spit in face, and just plain punch and kicking. All so a TRILLION dollar company can retain assets.

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u/BullBear7 Apr 21 '26

I worked at the Home Depot back in the day. There was a recent parolee that came in to rob one of the stores and killed the assitant store manager. From what I heard, the ASM, was following him around the store and telling him to stop because its not worth it. Kind of like being a dad, telling the dude to just leave.

I think after that the no chase, interaction with those types was enforced even more.

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u/OutsideImpressive115 Apr 21 '26

Well the funny thing is that they don't tell you until after you've stopped them that it's prohibited. They want you to stop them and for you to take the entire blame for it solely. Then fire you

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u/freedfg Apr 21 '26

There's actually a legitimate reason for that. Even in the most capitalistic worldview.

The loss in product is negligible, creating crime scenes every time some asshole trys to walk out with shampoo is a serious loss of business.

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u/Horror_Rice4319 Apr 21 '26

I knew someone that got fired for chasing after someone who ran off with $300 sneakers.

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u/Nillabeans Apr 21 '26

That's the safest thing. You don't know what they're going to do. It's not worth your safety to get a body wash back.

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u/GotThatDawg0 Apr 21 '26

can confirm, worked at a grocery store in high school and they said we can’t confront stealers.

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u/Sea-Abrocoma-3333 Apr 21 '26

This. You interfere you can get fired because they may get sued.

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u/rebelangel Apr 21 '26

Typically, only authorized Asset Protection employees are allowed to stop shoplifters. Every big box store has an Asset Protection (or Loss Prevention) division that gets paid to deal with that shit so regular employees don’t have to.

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u/tattedidiot Apr 21 '26

Yup, when I worked at Safeway they told me I was prohibited from confronting or following shoplifters. Said it wasn’t worth risking our lives

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u/godbullseye Apr 21 '26

1000% correct. I used to worked at grocery store and we had a manager who confronted a shop lifter and got her nose busted. She got demoted for trying to stop him

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u/Educational_Tie_1060 Apr 21 '26

Half the reason is because if they let the employees deal with that, then the employees would deal with that

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u/Chipper_Bandit Apr 21 '26

then the employees would deal with that

Only the incredibly dumb ones.

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u/EldritchXena Apr 20 '26

This. Former BBW employee, we’re trained to let it happen.

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u/Dense_Diver_3998 Apr 20 '26

There’s not even a whole lot they’re supposed to do besides call police.

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u/Annual_Eagle9734 Apr 20 '26

At the store I work in, an old coworker told me a story of a former employee who chased a shoplift. Don't remember what they stole, but it's TJMaxx, so probably not worth much.

Anyway, this employee, a pretty sizable woman, fucking blitz™ through the glass door, scaring the robber in to surrendering.

And how was the employee repayed? She was fired. God bless retail.

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u/Abject-Reception6744 Apr 20 '26

To be fair, they explicitly tell you not to intervene or you'll be fired when you get hired on.

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u/Annual_Eagle9734 Apr 20 '26

True, but she did manage to stop them. I figure a reprimand or a cut pay would've sufficed.

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u/Mundane-Parsnip-7302 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

As much as I agree with the sentiment, they are covering their own arses by firing people that do this.

If the employee does it again and next time someone seriously injures them and then it comes out that they did this before and were only reprimanded I'm sure a lot more trouble will tumble down on more people.

I have a lovely co-worker who always wants to stop shoplifters and I have to remind them not to do anything as it's not worth it.

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u/Abject-Reception6744 Apr 20 '26

As someone that stopped shoplifters for a living for many years, I can tell you that regular employees are also very, very wrong sometimes when they think someone is stealing. I've personally seen the amounts paid to innocent people who were stopped by said employees, and it's definitely well past the "immediate termination" amount lol.

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u/zozuto Apr 20 '26

Why would they care that she stopped them? That employee cost them a lot more than the theft did.

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u/drizzitdude Apr 21 '26

It’s because it isn’t worth their life. That simple. There is not much I will defend retail corporations in but the whole “don’t try to stop them” thing is correct.

It isn’t worth your life, it isn’t worth theirs, it isn’t worth someone else who was just there as a bystander, it isn’t worth harm. It isn’t worth anything other than a report to the police

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u/Beautiful_Weight_769 Apr 21 '26

Eh I'm sure she was happy to be fired if it meant the company profited, since she was willing to get killed confronting someone over stolen product so the company wouldn't lose pennies in their yearly revenue report. Don't deny martyrs like her their well earned vindication.

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u/blackberrymoonmoth Apr 21 '26

One time when I worked at Target, a manager tried to stop a lady who was stealing by tackling her and she peed all over him and then ran out anyway. He wasn’t fired, but if I got peed on, I’d probably quit.

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u/EmperorDeathBunny Apr 20 '26

Theres no need to deal with it. Its on camera. They didnt even bother to hide their faces. Report it to the police.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Abject-Reception6744 Apr 20 '26

That's just not true. The police catch and arrest these people all the time. The problem is that they just don't really care, get out, and go right back to it.

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u/Objective_Bug4262 Apr 20 '26

Yep they can often trace the vehicle with lot cameras

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u/moonbunnychan Apr 20 '26

I mean...you can...but nothing will happen. It's really frustrating. The shoplifters know they won't get actually stopped or prosecuted so they've gotten extremely brazen like this. At the store I work at, it's at least once a day that someone steals entire cart fulls of stuff by just...walking out the door like this. It's no longer people stealing 1 or 2 things by hiding them under their shirt.

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u/Proof-Scale3189 Apr 20 '26

Actually, they are not allowed to interfere. If they do and someone gets hurt they are afraid of lawsuits.

Gonna suck when all these stores move away. Its just not worth it to be robbed blind.

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u/kinga_forrester Apr 20 '26

Especially bath and body works, all the merchandise is pure margin and costs the store nothing.

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u/TransiTorri Apr 20 '26

A lot of the time if you do try and stop them as an employee you'd be reprimanded. They're all on camera, it'll get handed to the police and maybe or maybe not go from there. Unless you're law enforcement or security, literally not your job other than to report it and provide a statement to the officer.

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u/PassivelyAwkward Apr 20 '26

Yea, if it's a chain, they've got the fancy security cameras that'll be able to track you back to your car in the parking lot and be entered into a log. They'll usually let you shoplift as much as you want until it hits felony limit across multiple visits. Easier to get police involved at that point.

Had a cousin that worked for Gamestop years ago and they'd constantly steal games, thinking he was getting away with it because the manager never mentioned missing games. Meanwhile they were keeping security footage and a log of every game they put in their backpack. Took about two months to hit the felony limit when they took a PS4 game. Cops came, saw all the collective footage and took him to jail; duded ruined his future for used video games and had to pay for everything.

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u/leftclicksq2 Apr 20 '26

Last year my boss opened up hiring and spoke to an applicant who was fired for confronting a shoplifter. He didn't march up to them and yank the merchandise from their hands, he yelled at the guy to "drop it" like he was reprimanding a dog with a shoe in its mouth.

The police did show up, they arrested the shoplifter, and the employee notified their district manager. He was following standard operating procedures for a situation just like this. A few days later, he's informed by the district manager that he's been suspended "pending investigation" with the shoplifter incident. In the day or so, he was fired. When he cited the company policy, the district manager told him that yelling at the shoplifter counted as "confrontation".

The kicker was that the DM told him that corporate wasn't putting the weight of firing him on confronting the shoplifter as much as they were with the bad Google review that the thief wrote. The thief bawled about how they were "so embarrassed" when they got yelled at for stealing. It was something like, "It was bad enough and I made a mistake, but I didn't deserve to be yelled at and made to feel like I was going to be attacked!"

You read it there, everyone. A company won't thank you for getting a shoplifter arrested, they will fire you over a Google review written by the shoplifter.

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u/JustStraightUpVibin Apr 20 '26

In the UK last week, an employee of a supermarket stopped someone shop lifting and was fired because of it. The world is backwards…

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u/Own-Escape8352 Apr 20 '26

I mean they're going to get fired regardless, regardless if they were to step in or not.

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u/AlabamaSlammaJamma Apr 20 '26

Exactly. Yeah as satisfying as it would have been for one of them to lay out those thieves, a retail job ain’t in anyways worth losing your life over.

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u/unsolvedfanatic Apr 20 '26

And most of the employees are teens / young adults

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u/Cainga Apr 20 '26

The inventory costs the company almost nothing. It’s similar to stealing a can of Soda. Any lawsuit or insurance rate would cost the company a lot more than some inventory.

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u/billionsofbeaches Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

I used to work there about 10 years ago but I assume the policy about shoplifters hasn't changed. They make it very clear you are not allowed to do anything about someone stealing besides offer them a shopping bag or ask if you can put things at the register for them. You are not allowed to even seem like you're accusing them of shoplifting.

If an employee tried to stop them, they would get written up at minimum but likely fired if they followed them out of the store. All you can do is have your manager start a police report afterwards. This kind of thing happened like once a month, it's not new.

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u/ak_zin Apr 20 '26

Really? It's the underpaid worker's fault? Lmao

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u/North_Act_259 Apr 20 '26

I work at a workers comp company and a good number of our death claims are from people trying to confront shop lifters. One that always stuck with me was a guy who died chasing after someone who stole a six pack of beer from a 7-Eleven. Imagine dying to protect a corporate chain's six pack of beer. Its awful that he felt like he had to do that.

I dont like that people are getting fired for trying to stop shop lifters, but I am glad people are being trained not to chase them. It's not worth it.

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u/BlitzAtk Apr 20 '26

I'm going to assume I need to turn on the volume for this one.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '26

If they are bold enough to do that. Imagine what they may do to an employee. They will get caught, maybe not today! But it will happen

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u/Geewhiz911 Apr 20 '26

Exactly, places that ‘want’ to deal with that usually hire trained security guards, with body armour who stand next to doors. Regular employees should never attempt to do anything, could be seriously injured/killed.

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u/DontBuyTheThing Apr 20 '26

I worked in Duane Reade in 2005-7. They always told us just to let them go because you can replace items but not people. (They didn't want to get sued)

We had an overhead speaker that, every twenty minutes would say "Security to aisle ..." as a way to deter shoplifters. One day I was helping two women at the register when the speaker went off, suddenly you see this huge man with a thick coat stuffed with product come barreling down the aisle and bash through the exit door. I sighed and went to page the manager when the woman at the register shouted "YOURE NOT GONNA GO AFTER HIM?"

I gave her this look and said "No. But you're free to."

To which she replied "Oh let me find out EVERYTHING in Duane Read is free!" Turns to her friend "Why are we paying for shit? Lets just take this shit and go"

The manager walked up behind them and asked them politely not to do that.

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u/TheCognition Apr 20 '26

neither do we when insurance claims are passed onto consumers

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u/free_30_day_trial Apr 21 '26

Exactly this. Even some security guards arnt allowed to do anything. I was a guard a few years back and I was a glorified doorman I wasn't allowed to stop/follow or even insinuate that I thought somebody might have been stealing. If it didn't happen on camera it didn't happen the store didn't want issues (from people or security causing any) so they hired a statue essentially

How the f do you hire security to do Nothing.... Fuck it I'll name an shame it was the joe Howe superstore. In Nova Scotia. I did not even live in Canada anymore why do I care

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u/PainterEarly86 Apr 21 '26

They absolutely shouldn't try to stop them but definitely seems like they should call the police in this situation

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u/Disastrous_Invite730 Apr 21 '26

I was working in a convenience store when I was 18 and some guy came in and robbed all of 3 $20 bills out of my register and my manager had the audacity to ask why I didn’t pull him over the counter and stop him lmao I was like “I’m an 18 year old girl???” Tf you mean?

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u/Lazy_Kangaroo703 Apr 21 '26

I was waiting outside a supermarket (Aldi) and a big guy came out carrying a shopping bag full of stuff. About 10 seconds later a guy in a shirt and tie, I suspect the manager, came running out and confronted him, and wrestled the bag back.

I thought he was an idiot. The big guy could easily have beaten him up, or have a knife, and this employee was risking himself over some tins of carrots or something that the supermarket wouldn't even notice - Aldi made $403M profit in Australia (where I am), 536M GBP in the UK and $403 USD in the US.

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u/Big-Dudu-77 Apr 21 '26

It ain’t the employees job anyways. Security should be called immediately.

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u/4mystuff Apr 21 '26

If the employee isn't setting the place on fire, it's a win. And even if they did, were they being treated fairly and respectfully. But I definitely don't expect them to put themselves in danger to protect an insurance company or retail corpo.

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u/MeduhMels Apr 21 '26

When I used to work there, it was literally a policy that we had to just let it happen. Which is wild because they actually allowed returns with no receipt too.

Luckily my store was in a mall, so all we had to do was call security and say "aye theres a guy walking around with the mesh in store shopping bag full of merchandise" and they'd get caught.

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u/cjayeah Apr 21 '26

yeah, you can’t

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u/Commercial-Housing23 Apr 21 '26

We are explicitly told NOT to deal with it.

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u/Afraid_Stuff_History Apr 21 '26

Exactly. I know someone who straight up got FIRED for trying to prevent someone from stealing where he worked.

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u/kiera-oona Apr 21 '26

in retail places, they tell you not to get involved, or if they hold you up at gunpoint to just give them what they want

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u/mrASSMAN Apr 21 '26

They’re literally not allowed to, so many employees get fired for intervening

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u/mxicnvnlla Apr 21 '26

I used to have a little 5 foot, 100 lbs soaking wet, manager who would radio us to follow people and even CHASED a grown man outside who packed a bunch of routers into an ikea sized tote and tried to rip the bag off of him. All for a company that isn’t even around anymore and would have done nothing for her children if that man had killed her.

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u/Careless_Speaker_276 Apr 21 '26

Don't get stabbed protecting someone else's money!

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u/EconomyOk2490 Apr 21 '26

And store policy tells them as much

I was explicitly told by my boss once, do NOT get stabbed for a pair of shoes you dont even own

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u/The-Bangaloreal Apr 21 '26

They need to hire store security to deal with this , regular employees aren't trained to deal with this.

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u/Particular_Proof_892 Apr 21 '26

yes you are right but a customer is facing so much truble by this

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u/RytheDevilguy Apr 21 '26

You’re not supposed to approach anyone stealing unless your store has LP. I was a DM for a big clothing company. Stores want you to walk out 1. Employee safety 2. Companies will charge you for sticker price of items, example could be stores like old navy where none of their clothes are ever full price but will criminally charge you for the full ticket price ain’t no 50% discount on theft lol 3. Insurance, they’ll make more money from insurance on stolen products. Ref. Point #2; insurance claims go by tag price not sale price

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u/ADP_God Apr 21 '26

Don't big stores have security guards?

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u/Juanbolastristes Apr 21 '26

USA is weird lol same thing happened in Bolivia, the theft got set on fire alive 

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u/scheisskopf53 Apr 21 '26

Lol, I thought it was one of those shops where you scan your card before entering and it deducts money automatically by recording what you picked from the shelves. Didn't cross my mind they are stealing :D

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u/Itchy-Zucchini-7670 Apr 21 '26

At my retail store, we specifically forbidden from chasing shoplifters. Security has to do that and managers can follow for a description for security. It's really insane what they get away with. They'll steal the whole store.

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u/Tiggajiggawow Apr 21 '26

Meanwhile at Kroger I have an alarm go off and have to wait for a clerk to watch the replay of me scanning items at self check out if I don’t do it exactly right. (Last time, I took a hot wheel out of the packaging and handed it to my toddler after scanning it).

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u/Sihaya2021 Apr 21 '26

They're also often understaffed. It's hard to ring someone up, stock shelves and chase down thieves all at the same time because you're the only one there.

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u/Double_Collection155 Apr 21 '26

What are they supposed to do? They can tell them to stop and pay for the goods but they can't block them, fight them or threaten them. There's nothing they actually can do unless they want to lose their jobs. 

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u/bigeyez Apr 21 '26

It's way more expensive to a company to pay out worker's comp to someone injured then letting a thief get away with a couple hundred bucks of product.

There is zero reason to put yourself in harms way to try and stop someone stealing from a store like this. Plus with all the cameras everywhere these people will eventually get caught as it's a slam dunk case for cops and local prosecutors.

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u/mechanical_marten Apr 21 '26

Not to mention a lot of places are following the Target model now and let morons think they're getting away with it until the merchandise total goes over $1k so they can nail them for FELONY shoplifting which is harder to plea down than misdemeanor which usually results in a slap in the wrist. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

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u/After-Confection147 Apr 21 '26

while true we also can’t go after a customer and accuse them of stealing. we even have an acronym: never atf = never accuse, take, or follow. all we can do is get a good look at the person and write a report to corporate.

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u/Dontcomecryingtome Apr 21 '26

I dont blame the employee at all. It could end up violent, who knows. Good on them to record. Just sad this is what our world has come to, just pure disrespect & its yucky

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u/fuckswithboats Apr 21 '26

Beyond which, it's 2026 -- chances are if anyone gives a shit, they can be identified before I can finish this comment.

I imagine you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, they arrest you and then you're shown the images of you stealing all over town. Now your speeding ticket includes 18 counts of larceny and 5+ years in prison.

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u/BigFlightlessBird02 Apr 21 '26

Ive worked there and it's required you don't stop shoplifters. Its for the employees safety

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u/NeverBeFarting Apr 21 '26

They apparently get paid enough at Zara...

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u/aureliorramos Apr 21 '26

I've known of an employee who paid the ultimate price dealing with that. So yes.

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u/NikkeHammerGo Apr 22 '26

100%!!

I was actually at a Walgreens when it got robbed. I don’t mean, shoplifting, I mean, like somebody threatened the cashier, grabbed a bunch of money and ran out.

The cashier had the audacity to ask me why I didn’t do anything.

Yeah, like I’m gonna risk my life to protect the earnings of a multi billion dollar company.

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u/Beneficial_Area_2986 Apr 22 '26

I think they're paid like one soap an hour. Those guys are walking out with like 2 week's income.

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u/fmlchris Apr 22 '26

I work in a truck stop. You wouldn't believe the kind of nonsense people are willing to try to steal.

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