Wal-Mart loss prevention guy following me around....

[DoubleWasp]

The only time I consume things in the store is when the following trifecta exists:

1. Line too long
2. Line too slow
3. Not enough cashiers, but plenty of cashier stations available

You'd be surprised how often new lanes suddenly open up once I start digging in. I know that I immediately get the attention of LP, and I know that they get nervous that other people will do the same thing, and I know that they solve then problem by dispatching more cashiers. Here, it is only a real criminal act if one leaves the store without paying for something.

 

[mclasser]

I worked retail in high school and people would give me their half-eaten candy bars and chip bags to scan. I thought it was disgusting to have to touch their melted licked up candy to scan it.

As a rule, I don't open up stuff in a store before paying for it.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Calm down. It was 90 degrees and very hot day.



Isn't it always hot in Florida?

You might just be clueless which is why women giggle behind your back.

What if everyone did what you did in the store? There wouldn't be enough loss prevention people to follow everyone around.

 

[eljefino]

They have water on-tap near the bathrooms! That should tide you over.

WM really, really watches their cashiers. If they want a candy bar they have to buy it from another cashier, retain the receipt, and eat it in the break room. Someone who'd steal a dime would steal a dollar.

 

[Astro14]

You brought this on yourself.

Completely.

What you did was classless, and, in many jurisdictions, illegal. You used it before you paid for it.

Because it was a water bottle, it was more difficult to prove your intent (intent to deprive, I think it's called). If it were, say, bananas, or grapes, which are sold by weight, and you "had just a few", you've stolen the unmeasured/consumed portion.

Clear criminality.

But it's harder to prove with a water bottle, because the full value can still be determined.

Most stores won't prosecute until you've walked out without paying, since at that moment, the intent is clear.

But it's still illegal (and again, classless) to consume it before it's paid for. Lack of prosecution for consuming before paying doesn't make it legal, it means that the store declined to prosecute, for whatever reason they might have.

Stop acting like a petty criminal, and you won't attract the attention of loss prevention.

Simple.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Exchange between Shrek and Donkey (paraphrased):

Donkey: Don't I still have the right to remain silent?!?

Shrek: Yes Donkey, you have the right to remain silent. What you lack is the capacity.

Originally Posted by Legal Dictionary
Capacity
The ability, capability, or fitness to do something; a legal right, power, or competency to perform some act. An ability to comprehend both the nature and consequences of one's acts.

Capacity relates to soundness of mind and to an intelligent understanding and perception of one's actions. It is the power either to create or to enter into a legal relation under the same conditions or circumstances as a person of sound mind or normal intelligence would have the power to create or to enter.


Would you condone/accept the practice if it was your business and some chump came in and did the same thing??

 

[Hall]

Must have been a pretty slow, boring day for them to "target" you over a 99c bottle of water. They had every right to, mind you because what you did was wrong. It's far too easy to drink it and leave the bottle - empty or not - in the store without paying. That said, even my wife has taken a bottle of water, soda, etc while in the checkout aisle, in plain view of the cashier, and opened one up and taken a drink.They typically offer to scan it first so a) they don't miss it and b) she can hold it/drink it if she chooses to.

 

[das_peikko]

Yesterday I took a pair of socks out of the cardboard wrapper at the REI hiking store. I just wanted to check to see if there were any loose threads. I then had a loss prevention officer follow me around the store for the rest of the day.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
….but I understand he was just doing his job.
That covers it. Once bottle opened and consumed, just following procedures. Simple.

To my knowledge, never been followed in WM.

 

[Kruse]

As already posted, you probably should have just used the public water fountain.
However, next time you have a "loss prevention associate" follow you around, throw him for a loop by following him around for a half hour.

 

[Sam_Julier]

Never happened to me.

But I've never consumed product in a store.

You brought this on yourself.

 

[atikovi]

Just another jerk giving Florida a bad name.

 

[javacontour]

Why choose from the cooler when most W*M stores have vending machines selling bottled water?

If you wanted one to drink while you shopped, buy it from the vending machine as you enter...

 

[Eddie]

Happened to me when trying on sport coats and a department store. I took my sport coat off and was trying on new ones. When I didn't find one I liked I put mine on and he must have thought I was was trading my coat for a new one. I saw him checking for coat tags to make sure all the coats on that rack had a new tag. Ed

 

[Dave9]

Loss prevention has nothing better to do, I mean literally they have to keep an eye on whatever seems most likely to result in loss.

I was targeted once at a Sears when shopping for shoes. Obviously this was a long time ago, I hadn't been to Sears in years by the time all stores near me had closed, but once upon a time ago I went there frequently.

I had pulled some shoes out to look at and apparently they wondered if I had switched expensive shoes into a box for cheaper shoes... I never even thought about that kind of loss but I suppose some people try to do that. The thing was, they check the shoes against the box at the register so there wasn't even any point in following me for that reason.

The funny thing was, the loss prevention guy was pretty good at being stealthy acting like a shopper but I knew what he was doing because I had seen him in the store on too many different visits for it to be a coincidence that we were both shopping on the same day and time. He wasn't following me but for that one shoe incident, but was easy to recognize because he always wore the same black leather jacket.

Note to loss prevention employees: Rotate your disguises.

 

[dishdude]

I guess this is the trick to finding customer service at Walmart.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted by Dave9
Loss prevention has nothing better to do, I mean literally they have to keep an eye on whatever seems most likely to result in loss.

I was targeted once at a Sears when shopping for shoes. Obviously this was a long time ago, I hadn't been to Sears in years by the time all stores near me had closed, but once upon a time ago I went there frequently.

I had pulled some shoes out to look at and apparently they wondered if I had switched expensive shoes into a box for cheaper shoes... I never even thought about that kind of loss but I suppose some people try to do that. The thing was, they check the shoes against the box at the register so there wasn't even any point in following me for that reason.

The funny thing was, the loss prevention guy was pretty good at being stealthy acting like a shopper but I knew what he was doing because I had seen him in the store on too many different visits for it to be a coincidence that we were both shopping on the same day and time. He wasn't following me but for that one shoe incident, but was easy to recognize because he always wore the same black leather jacket.

Note to loss prevention employees: Rotate your disguises.

Dude I know works at Target...one of their LP guys is an NBA-tall dude. Not sure how they expect him to follow ANYONE without being seen...

 

[javacontour]

If they are undetectable, they are not a deterrent.

Their job is loss prevention. They don't want to get into an altercation if they don't have to. They just want to keep merchandise from walking out of the store.

Obligatory video of man caught trying to steal 15 quarts of motor oil.



Originally Posted by Dave9
Loss prevention has nothing better to do, I mean literally they have to keep an eye on whatever seems most likely to result in loss.

I was targeted once at a Sears when shopping for shoes. Obviously this was a long time ago, I hadn't been to Sears in years by the time all stores near me had closed, but once upon a time ago I went there frequently.

I had pulled some shoes out to look at and apparently they wondered if I had switched expensive shoes into a box for cheaper shoes... I never even thought about that kind of loss but I suppose some people try to do that. The thing was, they check the shoes against the box at the register so there wasn't even any point in following me for that reason.

The funny thing was, the loss prevention guy was pretty good at being stealthy acting like a shopper but I knew what he was doing because I had seen him in the store on too many different visits for it to be a coincidence that we were both shopping on the same day and time. He wasn't following me but for that one shoe incident, but was easy to recognize because he always wore the same black leather jacket.

Note to loss prevention employees: Rotate your disguises.

 

[Andrew1972]

It's profiling. I have been profiled at Walmart as well dressed person and never been stopped. That being said I accidentally took a $2 pack of 24 waters unpaid under cart.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by javacontour
Obligatory video of man caught trying to steal 15 quarts of motor oil.


After getting his '88 F250 lifted he's got no money left for oil.