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Scam averted...again

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  • #16
    Our SCOs have issues; the new system is more secure, but far less user-friendly. The primary problem seems to be with the scales on the belt itself (not calibrated with the scanner scale, so it will misread/send items back). When we got the new ones installed the POS interface and scanners were replaced, but nobody bothered to check the rest of the unit (belt).

    Some bright sparks have realized that, since a lot of times the only indication to an attendant that something didn't read on the belt is a voice prompt "Remove all items and try again" if it's busy/loud enough they can just carry it around the sensor because we don't have anything that lets us see all SCOs on one screen. There's a local company that designs nothing but software to detect/mitigate SCO shrink; I've mentioned it to SM before, but it costs money and Corporate doesn't think they should lay out money for anything that they don't suggest.
    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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    • #17
      The only issue I ever had is when to put the bags in the bagging area. I mean the one's I bring with me. The computer usually asks now, but years ago when our stores were first getting them they didn't always. And if you put your bag on, it would read the weight and say "unscanned item in bagging area." So I'd end up just putting the stuff down and loading the bag after the transaction.

      The town I moved from had a Costco with SCO. It was AMAZING. Everyone was terrified of them, and let's face it, had a million items. So hardly anyone used them. I would pop in for a rotisserie chicken for dinner and be out in under 5 minutes. Or they had great bouquets, so I would get one on my way to visit someone in the hospital which was nearby. Ahhh, nostalgia.
      Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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      • #18
        Most SCOs have a volume control...I hope. I mean, the ones at my local Kroger do and we always mute it. :3
        My Guide to Oblivion

        "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

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        • #19
          If you're going to be so bold as to engage in tag-switching, at least go to a regular checkout line.

          You might get lucky and the cashier won't notice or won't care. It's happened at the swamp before.
          Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

          "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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          • #20
            We used to get those kind of people back when I worked at the supermarket. Back then, the reduced stickers were little red stickies that could be easily peeled off and stuck on other products. Cashiers were told that if they suspected that a customer was scamming this way, to refuse the sale and call a supervisor. Thing is, the vast majority of the scammers were stupid and/or greedy, so were always caught out; for example, the woman who peeled a 10p reduced sticker off a pack of rolls and stuck it on a half cow from the meat section. Seriously? There is no way in hell that a massive cut of beef like that is going to be reduced to 10p. I called a supervisor, but the scammer left before she got here, leaving all her shopping behind. When we were sorting it, we found about six more items with bakery reduced stickers on them.
            People who don't like cats were probably mice in an earlier life.
            My DeviantArt.

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            • #21
              Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
              My mom suggested photographing the scammers, but I have no way of doing it covertly. (well, they do make spy cameras that could be hidden on my lanyard, but they likely cost upwards of a years wages and even if I was in LP it would never be approved)
              I've had contact with a couple of local detectives who both wear a small personal camcorder at all times. They cost around US$10 on Amazon. Have some links:


              I ordered one of them for myself and am anxiously awaiting it.
              Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
              OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
              she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
              Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

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              • #22
                My store doesn't have a self checkout. The only place near me that does, that I regularly visit is a home improvement store. And most of the stuff we buy there too awkward to use at the self scan.

                At work, people switch tags all the damned time. One lady is famous for it, and I don't know why she hasn't been banned/arrested--I've seen them have shoplifters arrested (people, why do you bring your kids with you when you're stealing? It just makes people hate you more). She would take a tag from something like a sub and put it on a bag of weighed shrimp. Sub was like 5 bucks, the shrimp was 25 dollars. She got caught that time, said she didn't know how it happened. Wasn't the first time she'd done it, won't be the last.

                One thing that I try to tell the people in my department is to make sure they press the labels down fully and re-wrap if possible (so it's under the plastic). They don't listen. Half the time, the sticker is only halfway adhered. It sucks to think of all customers as potential thieves, but..really, they are. What gets me, is you really can't tell who will turn out to be the thief. White, black, brown, young, old, well dressed, half dressed, pants hanging down below the butt, doesn't matter. It's the ones you don't suspect who get you for the most. I think.

                When I worked at the craft store, most of the boldest thieves were the little old ladies, who'd just stuff shit in their purses.

                We get people at the seafood counter who like to do this ...we weigh something. Customer says it's okay. We print the sticker. We either bag it up, or put it in the steamer. Then the customer will go "oh, can you add another..." 9 times out of 10, they get pissed when they realize we're going to re-weigh it and give them a new price. WTF?
                you are = you're. not "your".

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                • #23
                  Quoth simplyanother View Post

                  When I worked at the craft store, most of the boldest thieves were the little old ladies, who'd just stuff shit in their purses.
                  Right? Our store has a firm "we never call the cops or ban anyone so please steal from us" policy and the ONLY person who ever got banned was fabric thief. She'd leave empty cardboard bolts like breadcrumbs behind her. And she was banned because by chance an off-duty cop literally witnessed her shove the fabric into her suitcase like purse.

                  For a while people would take nice silk off the bolt and wrap it on a clearance bolt, but that's easy to spot so I think they just skip the "paying" step altogether.
                  Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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                  • #24
                    Quoth simplyanother View Post
                    We get people at the seafood counter who like to do this ...we weigh something. Customer says it's okay. We print the sticker. We either bag it up, or put it in the steamer. Then the customer will go "oh, can you add another..." 9 times out of 10, they get pissed when they realize we're going to re-weigh it and give them a new price. WTF?
                    People will weigh produce, then after printing the sticker (self-serve produce scales--IMO those need to go away) go back and stuff a few more in the bag. A lot of regular cashiers will ignore it--unless it's something obvious like 2 pounds of grapes ringing up at 45 cents--but this doesn't work at an SCO; the belt scale generally 'knows' how much a given item/sticker price should weigh. One day after thwarting such a scam, I went into produce and found practically an entire roll of scale stickers that had been printed with prices under a buck.
                    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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