Store Thieves

[Sandiercy]

I had a "customer" try to walk out with a puzzle the other day and walked into the arms of a security guard that was keeping an eye on him. Made my week.

Anyone else have any funny thief stories?

[Teefies2]

Long long ago in my first retail job (I'm talking mid-70s), I worked in the record albums and small appliances section of a discount department store. *** "record albums" for those of you who don't know, were vinyl musical recordings (think a very LARGE CD) - yes it was THAT long ago!

Anyway, one day a guy bought an album, which I put in the bag and thanked him. I don't know why, maybe it was my beginning "he's gonna be a thief" sense developing, but I watched him as he walked towards the door. He made a slight detour, grabbed a TV off an endstand, slapped the bag with the receipt on top and scrambled out the door. I alerted security, who was able to catch him.

What I didn't find out until later, when I went to court to testify, was that this thief was the Mayor's Son !!!!!! LOL

[MoonCat]

What I didn't find out until later, when I went to court to testify, was that this thief was the Mayor's Son !!!!!! LOL

Heh...yeah, "mayor junior" tried to switch tags on something in a store here. Used to work with someone who worked evenings at a clothing store. She was there when he tried to pull this at another register, but the cashier caught the switch. He went all huffy and puffy, and left without his merchandise.

[Dark Psion]

I can think of one and it is where my signature came from.

Chainsaw Thief

It was at the sister store to the hardware store I worked at. The manager and employees noticed this guy walking funny. At first he just thought he was disabled, till one of the employees came and told him the guy had put a chainsaw down his pants.

And it wasn't one of those small ones. When he realized everyone was watching him, he bolted out the store with the chainsaw in his pants and the manager and employees after him. Cops were called and they joined the chase. He dropped the saw and tried to hide in a creek,...in February!

The story made all the local news and the manager was quoted as saying;

[XCashier]

This one's from my days at the Drug Store From Hell.

One December night, the manager was talking to me at my register. A guy in a coat was walking out, clutching the front of his coat suspiciously. "Hold it right there!" growled my manager as he grabbed the guy.

A scuffle ensued. The manager grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels from the guy's coat and put it on my counter. The guy tried to run, Manager grabbed his coat. Guy wriggled out of the coat, Manager grabbed his shirt. Guy wiggled out of that and ran out of the store, intent on stealing and leaving with less than he had going in!

[Mytical]

First I want to apologize..thanks to the title .. had visions of somebody coming up with a bunch of semi's putting chains around the store, and trying to make off with the whole store...

Anyhow...in my time as a cashier only had one theft, and it was not very epic. Now if we are counting times we were not working at the place...I was just off work as a security guard..had my uniform on (including a coat with a big "Security" written on the back). To make a long story short (I've posted this one once) I saw somebody trying to steal something, called out to them, they bolted. Right into somebody in authority..they tried to claim I claimed I was police (I didn't)..didn't get to far. The funny part was when they collided with the other person though and the item went sliding across the floor from their pants...

[Fudgethatkay]

I can think of one and it is where my signature came from.

Chainsaw Thief

It was at the sister store to the hardware store I worked at. The manager and employees noticed this guy walking funny. At first he just thought he was disabled, till one of the employees came and told him the guy had put a chainsaw down his pants.

And it wasn't one of those small ones. When he realized everyone was watching him, he bolted out the store with the chainsaw in his pants and the manager and employees after him. Cops were called and they joined the chase. He dropped the saw and tried to hide in a creek,...in February!

The story made all the local news and the manager was quoted as saying;

saying...?

[Mytical]

Read the signature . That is what the manager said.

[Fudgethatkay]

Read the signature . That is what the manager said.

I derped. I can count to potato I swear.

[Merriweather]

My very first job. I was barely 14. I was standing kettles for the Salvation Army (at that time, they had few true volunteers, most people who stood at the kettles and rang the bell were church members who needed money, we were paid a pittance for it. Anyway, someone up the chain had the bright idea that year to change the kettles - instead of the big, heavy red kettles, they thought using clear plastic kettles so the money could be seen would be a psychological incentive for people to give. They were right about that, the kettle filled fast. But seeing the money also made it more tempting, and a couple of young men came up, spoke to me a minute, went to put in a dollar - and instead, grabbed it and ran (they'd also simply made them to hang on a chain, not to be locked onto anything).

I went in and asked the store manager to call the police, and my minister, and I was in tears for ages, I fellt it was my fault.

As far as I know, they never caught them, either. That's about as low as you can get, stealing from a charity at Christmas (every cent of the money in the kettles was used to make up boxes for the poor - food, especially for a proper festive meal, and little gifts for any children in the household, - pay for the workers came out of other church funds, not the donations).

[Mytical]

I derped. I can count to potato I swear.

1+1= Fish *laugh*

[figgyx]

Internal thief

Once upon a time I worked for a large retail warehouse store (which no longer exists but rhymed with borest pity) I worked in the warehouse and part of my job entailed helping customers carry stuff out to their cars. This dude who worked in the plumbing department tells me that a customer is waiting up front for a vanity he just bought. I take it up on a cart and for some reason the front end supervisor stops me and opens the box. Inside is a VCR and a band saw. Lucky for me I was a trusted employee and my story was beleived - I was duped!! The plumbing dude was prosecuted and I was a witness.

[dalesys]

I can count to potato I swear.

One potato, two potato, three potato, four,
five potato, six potato, seven potato more.
Icha bacha, soda cracker, Icha bacha boo.
Icha bacha, soda cracker, out goes Y-O-U!

OK, we know who's IT. Everybody run before they get tagged!

[jedimaster91]

Yesterday I stopped by the local Wally World to pick up a few things. As I was leaving, I passed either a manager or an LP guy laying into a would-be shoplifter. He was holding an opened, empty box and demanding the girl tell him where the item was. She kept insisting she didn't have it and as he was saying they had her on camera I was out of earshot. Couldn't really tell what the item was, either.

[Nashida]

When I worked at uBash, we had reports coming in of a shoplifter/scammer who was peeling the barcodes off of something cheap, like a pack of party cups, and sticking them to the most expensive costumes in the store, usually the ones upwards of $55. If a cashier was careless, they'd scan the code and the thief would walk off having only paid $1 for the costume.


....until she came to my store. And tried that same trick while in my lane. My ASM had already been alerted to her when she first came in and someone spotted her first in the themed goods area before moving to costumes, so he was at the front end ready.

She goes through my line with what should have been a $70 costume (The Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, if memory serves right), but when I scan it it comes up as an 8-pack of camo cups (sadly, not pink camo) for...$1.50.

"Funny...this doesn't look like a pack of drink cups...let's fix that..."

She tried to book it but didn't get far: a cruiser had been parked outside in one of the front rows at the ready. It was a beautiful sight.