Stupidest/Weirdest Theft(s) From Your Work?

[I_Hate_SCs]

The weirdest thing I ever found that was stolen at my store had to be in this Summer's Eve douche box that was hidden behind a stack of towels in Domestics. I figured someone just dropped the item down and didn't want it anymore, but the box was very light. I opened it, and found (smaller) empty boxes to an acne treatment cream and Preparation H. I figured it was a sick joke, but if it was a real theft (most likely it was), the thief had problems on their face, and both 'ends' of their bottom.

[smalltownclerk]

We had a laxative tablets shoplifted by a high school wrestler trying to make weight the next day. He got caught. Police were called. Kid didn't get thrown off the team for the mere fact that his court date was set for after the wrestling season was over.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

The weirdest thing I ever found that was stolen at my store had to be in this Summer's Eve douche box that was hidden behind a stack of towels in Domestics. I figured someone just dropped the item down and didn't want it anymore, but the box was very light. I opened it, and found (smaller) empty boxes to an acne treatment cream and Preparation H. I figured it was a sick joke, but if it was a real theft (most likely it was), the thief had problems on their face, and both 'ends' of their bottom.

Laugh if you will, but sadly that's a common occurence in my store. Empty boxes of douches/foot creams/prepration H/hydrocortisone creams/OTC headache stuff. . . you name it, they can and WILL make off with it.

Sadly, the Kitty hasn't seen the need to use the Checkpoint labels and install scanners at the entrances as WD had done. Either way, the product will be out of the package and the package w/the sticker discarded.

The only way IMHO that I can see it stopping altogether is to get cases w/locked doors and the customer has to get an employee who has a key to the case to purchae a product. Yes, it's a pain in the rear (I've ran into that at one of the local drugstores) however if it stops theft, then great.

[Think Blue]

Some kids came into the lobby and took a couple of handfuls of some crappy candy from our dish, ignoring the godiva chocolate bars right next to the dish.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Not from my store but from a music store a mate of mine used to work at... some guy stole a life size cardboard cutout of Britney Spears from a display and somehow managed to make it thru the store without getting stopped. Sure, a lot of people saw him walking around with the thing, but no-one stopped him.

[repsac]

Oh, the list is LONG.

2 bottles of Jovan Musk samplers. Come on, that stuff STANK. If they'd asked, we'd have given it to them.

A display TV. Just a hollow shell with no inner workings.

Pallet Jack

Pallet

Forklift. I have yet to figure out how they got it out the store.

A whole jewlery counter. Complete with jewlery in it.

A ladder I was using to get down from the riser from. Got stuck up there for four hours while mgmt went to find me a new one. (Had a nice nap) *fyi, I was about 18 feet off the ground. No jumping for me.

A scrap (empty) propane tank.

Useless bits of twine.

Uncut Keys.

Paint Sprayer (attempt. As if he thought we'd not notice the 150.00 item suddenly rang up 19 dollars.)

Chainsaw case. Left the saw behind.

Chainsaw oil.

One glove.

The remote to the TV in the break room.

Coke Machine from out front.

Concrete bags marked "Defective" (They had solidified into concrete blocks).

Christmas tree on display by the road. (It had been there three weeks)

[aqutalion]

I've posted before about the telemarketing outift I worked at for a summer. One day the manager had us all stop our calls to tell us not to steal the toilet paper from the restroom.

Here in cubicle-land, the thefts are substantially less interesting. Every week, we get at least one email asking for the return of the heavy-duty stapler. No, it's not a red swingline.

This wasn't an actual theft, but it had security in a tizzy. The computers in the classified lab all have removable hard drives. One day when I went to run tests, the hard drive in the computer was missing . It had classified data on it, so that's a big no-no. It turned out that it had been removed for repairs, and just hadn't been logged, but we didn't find that out until the next day. Security was not pleased.

[Tria]

One glove.

Michael Jackson fan?

[JustADude]

Michael Jackson fan?

Nah, it's the One Armed Man trying to do yard work.

[Imogene]

Not from my store but from a music store a mate of mine used to work at... some guy stole a life size cardboard cutout of Britney Spears from a display and somehow managed to make it thru the store without getting stopped. Sure, a lot of people saw him walking around with the thing, but no-one stopped him.

If by any chance your friend worked for Musicland's music store... it's entirely possible no one Could stop him, as, until he's out the door with merchandise, it's not 'stolen'.
All I really have to ask, though, is, Why Britney?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

All I really have to ask, though, is, Why Britney?

Maybe this happened when Britney was actually good-looking, and not the trailer trash bimbo she's turned into.

[Ringtail Z28]

I've posted this one before. The funniest theft I've ever seen involved a Boost Mobile phone. They have the packaging that can be a bit of pain to open even with scissors. Some dumbass took one and went into the back of the garden department and ripped the packaging open with his bare hands, unfortunately for him he also sliced up his hands really bad. He took off with the phone through the fire exit, leaving the bloody torn up package and a nice trail blood behind. Too bad for this dumbass because those phones only work after a cashier activates it.

[ArenaBoy]

This was a theft that happened to a customer last summer. I was directing traffic when the event ended, a guy walks up to me and asks if I saw a pizza delivery sign on a different car, I told him that the car was still here, it was visible and he took off after the car.

[bars.of.a.rhyme]

What happens at my work is that they work in groups or pairs.

We get tag-teamers too. About a year ago we got a memo about a couple that was going around and ripping off tons of stores. The man would go up to the counter with a complaint, while the woman went to the back and stuffed a bunch of movies in her bag. The man would start out loud enough to get the attention of both people who were working, but not quite loud enough to warrant a call to the cops. By the time his wife got back up to the front, he would escalate the bitch fit to the point where he would be asked to leave.

A variation on this was a couple who would take a slightly calmer approach. The man would come up to the front and start an account (using a fake ID and fake contact numbers, of course), ask a bunch of nitpicky questions to distract the employees and generally soak up a whole bunch of time and attention while the woman went to the back and stole a whole lot of DVDs.

The stupidest theft in my strip mall, however, goes to the drug store where my friend works.

This store keeps the cigars on shelves attached to the front of the counter. My friend passes a lot of time leaning over the counter reading a book. She basically watched someone take a pack of cigars and put it in his pocket. The store manager posed as a customer (no corporate = no uniform) and watched them take another pack, and then chased the thief out the door and dragged him back in. The thief and his friend admitted that they had planned to unroll them and reroll them with marajuana.

The part that makes it even stupider is that they were twelve. Sorry, putting marajuana in cigars and cigarrettes is only inconspicuous if you're old enough to smoke either of those things in the first place. Stupid.

[Cvstos]

People steal our game boxes all the time. Thing is, we don't put the games up there. Just the boxes. The empty boxes. And people still steal them.

Oh, and our gift cards, which are handing on a display, with the words "Card has no value until purchased" on it. Which means they get a worthless piece of plastic that probably cost us $0.03.