The family from hell

[Despina83]

I'll keep this simple:

1. A woman brings her family in (they are infamous in our store, we all refer to them as "The Family" and cringe when we see them coming) and loads up two carts full of items, mostly clearance.

2. Woman discovers she doesn't have enough money to pay, so she leaves one of her children to sit at Starbucks and babysit the carts for four hours while she's out er, "getting money"?

3. The manager on duty finally decided to reshop everything. Uh oh.

4. Mom comes back in, spots another customer with some of her stuff in her cart and begins pulling stuff out of her cart. "YOU TOOK STUFF OUT OF MY CART!! THAT WAS MINE!! GIMME THAT!!" etc. etc. Woman yells back, "I didn't TOUCH your cart, what are you talking about?!"

5. Women get into huge shouting match. Security guy and manager on duty rush over to break it up.

6. Woman demands compensation. Reports that she intends to call corporate.

This woman comes in CONSTANTLY. It's highly suspected that she steals from us occasionally. Last night her and her kids had eaten almost everything in their cart. She even handed me a big empty 8 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups, an empty candy bar wrapper, and a big half-eaten bag of chips. One time it was a package of ham she had eaten most of. She's been known to literally drop clothing at employee's feet and declare, "I don't want this"-several minutes after close. She frequently strolls up five minutes after close witha full cart and hands back half of it, and then makes all of her kids do seperate transactions while we all stand around, gritting our teeth. Then she'll stroll over to the guest service desk to do some returns, and by the time she leaves it'll be SEVERAL minutes after close. A couple weeks ago she actually didn't leave until 30 minutes after close, and the cashiers had to just stay and put up with that bullshit. According to the manager, we can't ban her. There's nothing we can do.

[Shards]

We have an extended family like that at the Y, too.

We call them 'our favorite <nationality>s' because, quite frankly, they give <nationality> a bad name. They have been kicked out at least once for every rule we have, and yet they continue to break them even when they know that we know that they know better. It's sad, too, because there are four parents, and eight kids, and of them, the parents are all really nice, if a bit hard to understand, and it's apparent they can't afford to take their kids anyplace else. Also, about 5 of the kids are really nice, too, and have only ever broken a minor rule or two, it's just the other three that, according to policy, we have to kick out when they break our rules more than once or twice a visit, and they always do.

[DevilBoy]

According to the manager, we can't ban her. There's nothing we can do.

Apparently, your manager doesn't comprehend the concept of theft.

Last night her and her kids had eaten almost everything in their cart. She even handed me a big empty 8 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups, an empty candy bar wrapper, and a big half-eaten bag of chips.

...It's highly suspected that she steals from us occasionally.

There is no suspicion at all in that incident. It is blatant theft.
She opened several packages and ate the contents of said packagers prior to paying for them.
I don't know about your manager, but in any sane and rational person's book that is considered theft.

Sounds like your manager needs to grow a spine, and fast.
If I saw something like that, I would report it to security. If they failed to do anything, I would call the police myself.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

It's highly suspected that she steals from us occasionally. Last night her and her kids had eaten almost everything in their cart. She even handed me a big empty 8 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups, an empty candy bar wrapper, and a big half-eaten bag of chips. One time it was a package of ham she had eaten most of

That's like saying "I highly suspect that in a hockey game, the team that scores the most goals will win."

Last time I checked, consuming items before paying for them was, in fact, theft, and if I were LP I would be training the cameras on this family as soon as I knew they were in the store, and sending over employees to offer "customer service" if I saw them tearing into packages and eating things.

According to the manager, we can't ban her. There's nothing we can do.

Either your manager and/or corporate suits are big on customer service to the point of brutal idiocy, or your manager is willing to let the aggravation from these people drive her workers away, and the shrinkage from them push her out the door.

And being as I can probably guess where you work, I'd say the suits aren't quite that gung-ho about customer service to allow these people to run wild.

Your manager needs to learn she can refuse service to anyone for any non-discriminatory reason. And last time I checked, shoplifters and general pains in the ass weren't protected classes.

[PepperElf]

cant ban her but can you kick her out for the night?

i'd say "ok go call corporate then" and see what she does. i'm betting she'll just have a fit and won't actually call...

[Despina83]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think that really counts as theft. They didn't leave the store with it, and they did pay for it. I used to drink most of or even an entire soda while doing my shopping and put the empty bottle on the scanner. And I have eaten things before. I wouldn't sit there and eat a whole package of candy or a half a bag of potato chips, but I have eaten before paying before. I'm paying for it before I walk out of the store, anyway. I don't know. I'm a cashier now and I hardly ever see things that people have eaten or drank from, and when I do, they usually act guilty and apologize. I'm thinking I don't care, I do it myself. Maybe techincally it could be considered theft on one level, but I'm not taking anything without paying, so I'm not hurting anyone. But I'm just annoyed at this woman because she'll sit and stuff her face with half of her cart and hand me several empty packages, not just one empty pop bottle.

[bainsidhe]

So the question of the day, was she compensated? What about the poor woman she was harrassing? She's lucky that woman didn't bitch-slap her back to September.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think that really counts as theft. They didn't leave the store with it, and they did pay for it.

If I as an employee were to, say, grab some snacks and a soda off the shelves while working third shift when the store is closed and there's nobody to ring up those items, consume those items, and then try to pay for them after the store opened, I would be fired and maybe prosecuted for theft.

This was told to me when I started working third shift a few years ago.

Why should it be any different for customers?

[DevilBoy]

If I as an employee were to, say, grab some snacks and a soda off the shelves while working third shift when the store is closed and there's nobody to ring up those items, consume those items, and then try to pay for them after the store opened, I would be fired and maybe prosecuted for theft.

Exactly.

Why should it be any different for customers?

It shouldn't be any different... and it isn't.
It is just plain wrong. You don't eat something that you haven't paid for first.
It makes no difference if you intend on paying for it or not... if you don't pay first, then it is theft... shoplifting, simple as that.

http://www.alternet.org/story/1475/

http://www.stephencassady.com/blog/i...-Grocery-Store

http://obscurestore.typepad.com/obsc...rested-fo.html

http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=9609

[magiccat26]

I will admit that when DD was really little, we would pick up one of those prepriced fruit buckets and let her eat the melon while we shopped...then pay for the empty container when we got to the line. She was happy and quiet and it allowed us (and the other customers) to shop in peace.

I never thought of it as theft because we always paid for it. We've also been known to do this with a bottle of water. Now, if we got to the line and didn't have the money to pay for it...I would consider that theft.

An aquaitance of mine would pick up a bag of cookies to munch on while she shopped, then put the half empty/empty bag on some shelf when she was done. THAT was theft.

[targetchick24]

Actually it's NOT stealing until you leave without paying. Since I can deduce where this person works from their post, it's also that companys policy.

[TequilaSunrise]

Gah. Your "family" sounds like a batshit crazy guest we get all the time.

This ditzy broad comes in all the time, and she definitely isn't all there. She will shop for hours, trash everything, spread everything on the floor, etc. One time she was trying stuff on on the salesfloor, and when she lifted her arms, it was quite apparent she wasn't wearing undies. Anyway, she accumulates a cart full of crap, goes to check out, and leaves most of it behind. And the stuff she does take? She brings it back the next day for a refund.

Oh, and she always lallygags past close, and gives everyone attitude when we tell her she has to pay for her stuff and go.

We've begged and pleaded management to ban this twatling, but they won't. I KNOW she steals as well, we just haven't caught her at it yet. Can't stand her.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I'll keep this simple:

1. A woman brings her family in (they are infamous in our store, we all refer to them as "The Family" and cringe when we see them coming) and loads up two carts full of items, mostly clearance.

The Family huh?

Sounds like you need to make them an offer they can't refuse...

[Velfarre2001]

It is just plain wrong. You don't eat something that you haven't paid for first.
It makes no difference if you intend on paying for it or not... if you don't pay first, then it is theft... shoplifting, simple as that.

Actually, that is more often then not wrong. It is not officially theft until you leave the store without paying for something.

The farthest you can stretch it without them outright leaving the store is if you go through the place to pay for the food, head to the exit and do not mention it. Outside of obvious intent to leave without paying, you need to actually leave the premesis, otherwise you cannot legally be charged.

http://obscurestore.typepad.com/obsc...rested-fo.html

Obviously not the full story, the man would have had to go to leave without mentioning the candy, otherwise they could not legally arrest him.

I agree you really should not do it, but legally it doesn't count as theft and can be fought in a court of law.

[MaverickGypsy]

The only thing that bothers me about customers eating before they pay is, what happens if their debit doesn't work or their credit card is declined or in this womans case, never has enough money?
True, it might not be theft until they walk out the door with a product, but if they have no way to pay and there is no product left to put back on the shelf, then it IS theft.