Self Checkouts: Tailor-Made For Thieves?

[powerboy]

Hell, I accidentally stole because of self-checkouts. I bought 2 frozen pizzas from the grocery store and for some reason the second one just did not want to scan. The belt would reverse and the system would tell me to rescan. Finally the scanner made the little "boop" noise and again the belt sent the pizza back towards me. I figured it scanned since I hear the boop and maybe the belt was broken. I looked at the register tape when I got home and saw I only was charged for 1 pizza.

Such was my brief career into grand theft: frozen food.

I have done something like that once. I went in to buy sun glasses & a new watch. I could not scan the glasses for anything. Then it finally did beep. But after work, when I checked the receipt, I found out I didn't pay.

[Starlord]

Shoplifters only account for a small percentage of what they call 'shrinkage'. Shrinkage takes into account, broken bottles of product, people 'grazing,' or eating food as they shop, then dumping the remainder on a shelf somewhere, damage to goods from machinery (forklifts, pallet jacks) and employee theft. I applied at a department store in Indianapolis, and they happened to have an opening at the moment. I learned from a LP Agent named Tom Yake, who was the best I ever saw. My first day on the job, I nailed two teenage boys stealing swimsuits by taking a handful in the dressing room, putting a pair on under their jeans, then walking out and dropping the other suits in the display bin.

[Starlord]

There is a site called my3cents.com, where it is pretty much customers complaining about sucky service. One of them (at least) was a customer who was complaining about the 'Greeters' at Wal-Mart wanting to see their receipts when they leave the store, then comparing them to the merchandise in the basket. What usually happens, is that the customer puts in the post that they think it was racism, when not one word had been mentioned about race. We are quick to point out that it is wrong to throw the race card just because you can, and that another customer receives exactly the same treatment.

[Starlord]

Lady, in most cases I have seen, LPAs do everything but number 1. The idea is that LPAs are unndercover, plainclothes, so they are more effective with outside thefts.

[karma_gypsy]

Where are you where minimum wage is $8? In Maryland it's something like $6.15, and the Federal minimum is even lower.

Washington State: $7.93
Oregon State: $7.80



It took me and my husband awhile to coordinate ourselves with the Self Checkout, but we use them now like old pros. One thing that is a biggy is leaning against the edge of the scale. I've gotten griped at for doing that by my husband who was doing the scanning and all that.


Waaaay off topic
Heey, it's my 500th post!! Go me!

[Auto]

I love using self checkouts so I can laugh at all the confused SC's!

I can imagine they increase shoplifting but as peoplesuck, it's probs still cheaper for the stores.

yeah, I always use the self scan if it's available.

but they work differently at different stores. some are finicky and require you to do it just so of it starts beeping and freezing until the clerk come over.

I like many half full bags over a few really filled bags. So when I put the bag into my cart, it sometimes cause the scanner to freeze up.

I think we're still a few years away from the scanner software being more user friendly.

I've never worked in a store with a scanner but I just assumed that the software can alert the clerk to give my purchase a once-over based on the bar codes I'm scanning. You can't buy booze/tobacco at the self-scan. Does expensive cuts of meat signal an alert to the clerk too? Or those $20 packs of razor blades?

But each time I make a large -- ~ $75 -- sale, the clerk always comes over to observe. She usually doesn't say anything unless the scanner's frozen and waiting for her to unfreeze it. But I just get the sense that she's eyeballing my work to see that I'm not pretending to scan every fourth or fifth item.

[LadyAndreca]

Lady, in most cases I have seen, LPAs do everything but number 1. The idea is that LPAs are unndercover, plainclothes, so they are more effective with outside thefts.

My store has two that wear full security uniforms (one for each door), two that are in the same uniform as the regular employees, and one that wears whatever he wants as long as it's not the regular uniform. We've had a LOT of people try to report the last guy for suspicious activity and/or stalking people. Then again, we've also had people who know he's on our AP team complain about him following them because they're "not doing nothing wrong!".

Then again, the next town over is a 'really bad area' that hasn't recovered its reputation after a series of riots a while back. So maybe uniformed security guards are actually needed.

[Coconut]

Hell, I accidentally stole because of self-checkouts.

When I first saw this thread title, it made me think of that: people accidentally stealing from the self-checkouts.

One of my friends bought this enormous bag of grapes. He had no idea that you had to weigh them, and when the "weigh" screen came up, he already had a pack of gum sitting there, so it weighed the gum instead. He ended up paying only 2 cents for the whole bag. He didn't know until he had left.

[K245five]

I agree that self-checkouts tend to confound most people that try and use them. That, in turn, confounds ME because they don't seem to be that tough to operate. I mean, all you do is run a UPC(s) across a scanner, bag the item(s), and when you're done, just follow the screen prompts to pay! I understand, though, that some of them can be "sensitive" and not scan certain items or get screwy when it comes to produce items, but it just seems to me to be one of those things that shouldn't be that hard.

Where I work, the cashier charged with watching the self-checkouts often times will just stand there with a glazed over look on their face. More alertness on their part would help tremendously, according to our Asset Protection person. He feels, and I agree, that that is the main reason for theft at self-checkouts. They're not watched carefully enough.

[Banrion]

They must be saving money, because around here they are taking self scan to the next level. There is a grocery chain that has what I can only call a "progressive coupon" where the first time you use it, it is worth $3.00, the second it's worth $5.00 and the third time it is worth $7.00. Now in order to be eligible to use this coupon, you have to use their pilot scanning tool. Basically, they give you a cordless scanning gun, and you are suppossed to scan your groceries as you put them into your cart, bagging as you go. Then when you are done shopping, you "dock" your gun, and it links up with the POS system, transfers your order and you pay.



YEAH RIGHT!!!


Now the theives don't have anyone watching them. They can just dump stuff in their bags while they are hiding from employees in aisles and around endcaps. We'll see how long that one lasts.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Cheezus H. Rice, that store is just asking for shrinkage due to shoplifted product to go through the roof. Lifters will just bag their items without scanning them.

Nothing like trying to run a store on the honor system.

[Shengirl]

Even the Prizm Page can't help the [store chain] Knight combat the Shrink Monster now! Princess Profits is doomed!

If anyone else works at the same chain as me, they'll know what I mean. Yay for break room motivational posters.

[Andara Bledin]

Heh. I actually worked as part of a small grocery's LP program.

Basically, I wore a security guard uniform and was a physical presence in the store. I wasn't actually ever supposed to do anything other than be there and be visible. In fact, I wasn't to go after anybody if the store was actually robbed.

It was actually kind of a nice sort of job. A shame that the guy who hired me couldn't manage to pay me regularly.

^-.-^

[greensinestro]

Self check outs are great, if the right people are using them. At Home Depot and Winn Dixie, I have used them quite often, and they do have a scanner of some kind that can detect deception, like when a customer scans one item, then tries to slip a second one in their bag.

A more horrifying downside to self check outs is they don't make judgment calls. A while back, at a local Winn Dixie in Jacksonville, a kid, around 12 years old, bought a steak knife and checked out with the self check out. Nobody was there to deny the sale of this knife, and nobody thought the better of seeing this kid walking around the store with it. He later on took it to school and this is how the story broke out when he was confronted.

[greensinestro]

When I first saw this thread title, it made me think of that: people accidentally stealing from the self-checkouts.

One of my friends bought this enormous bag of grapes. He had no idea that you had to weigh them, and when the "weigh" screen came up, he already had a pack of gum sitting there, so it weighed the gum instead. He ended up paying only 2 cents for the whole bag. He didn't know until he had left.

I did that once, too. I believe it was a dozen roses I bought once. I thought it had been scanned, then later on when I got home, my receipt did not show them on there. I knew something was not right when my total was only $6.