Encountered a Shopping Cart Vulture (minor scam)

[Talon]

This weekend I was helping my mother with groceries.

On my way out of the grocery, just outside the entrance I noticed a minor altercation with some other shoppers and a guy in a sports jacket. I didn't give it much attention. I was parked at the far end of the lot.

So I got to my car, have the trunk open and start to load up. A stranger approaches me. He did not have a shopping cart, so not another shopper.

Quick aside/PSA: your car is not a safe place. Being distracted with keys or loading groceries is a great moment to be blind-sided by a potential attacker. Even if it isn't an attacker, I don't see anything good coming from a stranger approaching you at your car.

So right away I was on guard. The stranger reached out for one of my grocery bags.

Me: "Excuse me WTF do you think you're doing?"

(I didn't actually say WTF, but I'm quite sure my tone conveyed that message)

Stanger: "Uh I was helping you load your groceries."

Me: "I don't need your help."

Stranger backed off. But I'm still on guard, as he was still standing there.

Me: "Was there something else you wanted?"

Stranger: "I was going to carry your shopping cart back."
(***More alerts sound off in my head)

Me "That's fine I can do it myself."

Stranger: "Are you sure?"

Me "Yes."

Stranger: "But it's a long way back."

Me: "No, thank you."

Finally he got the hint and moved on. I went about my business returning my cart. Then two things hit me. First I didn't think to make sure my car was locked up. Second I realized the Stranger was the same guy I witnessed getting into an altercation with other shoppers earlier. He had followed me all the way to the back of the parking lot, and I hadn't noticed. Not minding my surroundings, Ra's al Ghul would not be pleased.

***I've encountered this scam before years ago. Shopping carts are locked up, and you have to insert a dollar to unlock them. Soon as I was done loading, I'm positive this guy was going to run off with my shopping cart, and pocket the dollar. He was far too persistent for me to think otherwise. Well better luck next time Mr. Shopping Cart Vulture. I saw him still loitering around the parking lot as I drove out.

As scams go, this one's pretty minor. It doesn't appear new, but I've found no mention of it on the internets. Has anyone else encountered this? And always remember to mind your surroundings.

[mjr]

I follow what you're saying, and I agree with you about being aware of your surroundings.

Where I'm confused is your comment regarding the shopping cart. I don't understand how the guy would have "pocketed" the dollar. Unless you mean that he would have had to pay a dollar to get a cart, and by taking yours he didn't have to, thus keeping his dollar.

I'm in the U.S., and I'm not familiar with the "Paying to use a shopping cart" paradigm where I shop.

I thought of another angle as well, if you'd allowed him to help you with the groceries, he may have tried the "you owe me" thing. Either with money or the cart (or both).

[Talon]

I don't understand how the guy would have "pocketed" the dollar. Unless you mean that he would have had to pay a dollar to get a cart, and by taking yours he didn't have to, thus keeping his dollar.

Exactly that.
Shopping carts here have a chain-locking mechanism, presumably to deter theft of shopping carts. You insert a dollar to unlock them. When you're done, you hook them back on the chain and get your dollar back. That's what the scammer was after. He'd grab the shopping cart I'd still rented under the guise of being "helpful", and pocket the dollar for himself. Hardly a huge payload, though I wonder how many people fell for his act.

[mjr]

Exactly that.
Shopping carts here have a chain-locking mechanism, presumably to deter theft of shopping carts.

Is theft of shopping carts that big of an issue there?

I'd guess the issue would be to encourage people to return them to their "standard" location instead of just leaving them wherever.

The grocery store where I shop has a sort of "corral" where all the carts are by the store's entrance. All the carts are basically "stacked" there horizontally. You just grab one (no rental needed), do your shopping, load your groceries in the car, and return the cart to one of the cart stalls located throughout the parking lot. Every now and then employees will go out, gather up the carts, and return them to the corral.

[taxguykarl]

I understand that carts run $150+ each, so I can't blame the store for trying to secure them somehow.

[csquared]

It does provide two functions:
Reduces cart theft
Encourages shopper to return the carts to the building.

I have seen it mainly at discount grocers were they like to maintain minimum staff.

Although, there is one problem...

[EricKei]

Some stores back in NOLA had these for a quarter each in the 80's; even that was enough to significantly cut down on both cart theft and "leave the cart wherever I damn well please" syndrome. No idea why they stopped.

[wolfie]

I suspect getting rid of the "cart deposit" had something to do with a phenomenon I've seen - vultures who can't be bothered taking the carts back to the corral, so they'll put two back-to-back (chains reach) to retrieve the deposits, or they'll break the mechanism to get the coins out.

[Lace Neil Singer]

My brothers and I used to search car parks for abandoned trolleys in order to harvest the pound coins left in them by lazy shoppers. As a kid, I never saw anything wrong with this as we figured it was money well earned cuz we were putting the trolleys back in their places.

Nowadays, most supermarkets save for discount ones like Lidl and Aldi don't charge for use of trolleys, resulting in trolleys being left all over the car park.

[dalesys]

My daughter the future science teacher and her accomplice buddy discovered that if you lifted the trolley up in the air and carried it over the dead line (boundary) the wheels didn't lock up...

[wolfie]

Classic example of the inverse square law in action. Lifting the cart increased the distance between the cable in the pavement which transmits the "lock up" signal, and the mechanism in the wheel that receives it. Double the distance, cut signal strength to a quarter. Triple it, cut strength to 1/9. Eventually it gets too weak for the mechanism to act on.

A few pointers:

- The mechanism is self-contained, so you only need to lift that one wheel (realistically, the one end of the cart).
- Would shielding (put down a piece of sheet metal across the cable, and run the "special" wheel across that) block the lockup?
- I've seen an unlocking - they point a "magic wand" at the wheel and it unlocks (clearly a second frequency is used to do the unlocking).
- Would be an interesting practical joke to find the "lock" signal, rig a coil in your shoe that transmits it, and while shopping stick your foot next to the "fancy" wheel on every cart.

[Pixelated]

In his excellent book The Gift of Fear, author Gavin de Becker advises his readers (male and female) that, if something "doesn't feel right" to you, listen to your instincts, because they're probably right. It's one thing for somebody to ask "Do you need help?" but just to walk up and reach for your stuff ... no.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I understand that carts run $150+ each, so I can't blame the store for trying to secure them somehow.

Try closer to $200 each.

Some stores I shop at will let you use a cart for a quarter deposit (you get the quarter back when you put the cart back) or have the wheel locking mechanisms that prevent their leaving the parking lot.

We have issues at my store with carts disappearing . . . we have several apartment complexes located behind our shopping center so we're constantly finding them parked in the back area or further down the road (some have made it all the way to Summit Avenue - quite a trek from Church Street.)

[wolfie]

Bit of trivia, but back in the '50s and '60s, a VERY high proportion of motorcyclists with ape hanger handlebars on their machines were criminals, guilty of the same crime. What crime was that? Possession of stolen property. One popular source for the long bars was the lower frame of a shopping cart.

[AnaKhouri]

After reading this thread I was paranoid when a guy wandered by last night as I was putting my grocery bags in the trunk. He went to get a cart from the corral, noticed me and came over by me instead. I was nervous when he said, "I'll take that cart for you." but he didn't offer to get my bags. He explained he worked at the grocery's liquor store, which is located in a strip mall right by the grocery, and had to pick up some items from the store to take back for the liquor store shelves. Boy did I feel silly!