Shoplifting rising and rising, have you ever witnessed it?

The Tories said they would jail 2nd time shoplifters but it's no good looking tough for the voters if they can't run prisons properly (the Wandsworth fiasco) and if they don't tackle the causes - probably poverty being primary.

Yes in M&S food hall. He stole a large joint of meat. Made no attempt to hide what he was doing. Myself and another woman were shocked as he did it in front of us and just strolled out. Ultimately we all pay for this as the shops have to claw back their losses.

I recently saw two workers challenge a man to show them what was in his backpack. He refused even though they informed him that they could see clear.y on CCTV that he’d put stuff in it. I felt a bit embarrassed to witness it so went off to look in another part of the shop.

By the time I paid for my stuff, the guy had gone but his now-empty backpack had been abandoned outside the shop. I assume the shop got their goods back but I was quite shocked and angry that ordinary people end up paying the price for this criminality.

I do not believe they are stealing to survive. That is what food banks are for. Majority are selling stolen items on probably to fuel their drug habit.

Last week in a supermarket a man pushed past me, stopped at the display nearest the tills, filled a bag with big bottles of machine washing liquid then walked out without batting an eyelid. By the time I'd told the staff and they went outside he'd disappeared. They asked me what he looked like and said he sounded like one of their regular shoplifters.

As I was walking into our large local pet store, the automatic doors opened and a member of staff was wrestling with a thief. The thief had 4 big plastic bags full of expensive dog food, he was hitting the staff member over the head with huge bones.
The staff member wasn’t giving up, grabbing the bags and eventually the their ran off, without his booty.
Staff told us customers, the thief came in most days, often picked up a sack of expensive dog food £70, walked out calling to the till, I’m off now.
The staff are advised not to get involved but the man today was furious. He pointed at we customers (all pensioners) saying yiu guys work hard to feed your dogs why should he rob us to sell it down the pub.

I was shaken and like the other customers and staff felt angry these people walk in and steal with impunity. I’d left my big lab in the car as I was making a quick visit. He usually comes in with me. He can be protective of me so it was probably best he didn’t get caught up in this which was inches from me as the automatic door opened. Two xl bully dogs came in after the incident 😱.

Oh works in a large Sainsbury. He says it's a regular occurrence. Just before Xmas, couple came in filled a trolley to the brim with booze and crashed it through the emergency exit and loaded it into boot of a car. Came in days later and did the same thing!.

I can’t speak to foodbanks in all areas, but the ones I’m familiar with give you one week of food, and you can only go once a month. If you have any special dietary needs (allergies) or babies that need formula or diapers, a week is definitely a help, but what about the rest of the month?

In my area, I’ve seen one bedroom apartments go from $700 to $1,200. And that’s the base line. I looked recently, and couldn’t find a one bedroom for under $1,200 where my adult daughter lives. The same adult daughter pays almost $600 for a room in an apartment with three other people.

People are going hungry, because they work full time and barely make their rent. Our groceries have gone up an insane amount. A 4L of milk was around $5. It’s now over $8. Bread is over $4 a loaf. People who struggled but managed a few years ago are now desperate.

If I saw someone stealing food or baby formula? No, I didn’t.

If people are genuinely concerned about the rise of shoplifting, they need to look at the root causes. Morals are wonderful, but if you’ve got a baby you don’t have formula or diapers for, children without food in their bellies, I’m guessing that theft swiftly becomes a viable option.

It’s not shoplifting food that’s the moral failing, imo. It’s that we live in a society that allows people to go hungry.

And make no mistake, the corporations that own the grocery stores aren’t losing money. Record profits happening there. They claim to pass shoplifting on to the customers, but really? They could easily absorb those costs and not notice. They use it as a defence to explain rising costs, so people turn on each other rather than get mad at the CEOs getting millions in bonuses.

Personal property theft is one thing, imo. Stealing food from a billion dollar profit company is another, especially when corporations are responsible for the COL inflation everyone is suffering from. Betting if they brought prices down, shoplifting would decrease dramatically.

...why should he rob us to sell it down the pub.

In a Liverpool pub a man walked in with a load of New Look dresses on hangers over his arm, price tags intact, and tried to sell them to my daughter and me. Everyone ignored him.

Just last week a lady about 60 was caught with 2 bottles of wine in her shopping bag, 3 of the managers took her to one side, self scan checks quite often reveal “mistakes”, those are recorded and no action, unless further mistakes are made. The selfscans have just been increased with a full time supervisor observing, so that customers don’t make mistakes.

There is an article in the Times today about middle class shoplifters. It makes horrible reading as they all find ways to justify their stealing.

Yes, loads of times. Wilco seemed to be one of the shoplifters favourite places. They'd go in and out of the in door, whilst the security, if any, were standing at the out door. Sometimes it looked like they couldn't be bothered to intervene.

I saw a guy in our local store systematically hiding things behind a pillar. He then went back and stuffed them all in a rucksack. He knew I saw him, but I have to admit I was a bit scared of the consequences if I reported him! No doubt he's used to doing it.

I saw a fairly blatant but successful shoplifting incident as I went through the checkout in B&Q a few years ago. A large tin of paint in a trolley, casually draped with a coat and with a child standing in the trolley. No security

Pressed send too soon....
I assume no security tags so no bells, whistles or sirens.

I can put money on it that if I walked in and started filling my bags or pockets, I'd be challenged followed by a court case! It makes my blood boil that I am paying every day for these low lifes who take what isn't theirs.

I’m wondering if there will be turnstiles in and out of shops before very long and nearly everything will be tagged. It’s a very serious problem now.

Just to point out I sell some clothes Brand new with tags...I live rurally, and sometimes it isn't worth the 30 mile round trip to return. For various reasons I don't use changing rooms and accept I may loose money occasionally. Not all BNWT are stolen.

True, Treetops. I have in the past sold some BNWT that I’d bought very optimistically to slim into.

Oh yes on a few occasions, nothing was ever done though. I think the most "weird" one was some older man filling up one of those huge bags (you know like an old laundry type bag) with razors, aftershave, gel and all the other "men" essentials. He did it so nonchalantly and right in front of a load of Boots staff and not one of them said a thing. To be honest he was so "open" about it I actually admired him a little bit to so obviously not give a single little sh*t about what he was doing lol

I heard the owner of Iceland this morning saying the thing most stolen in his shops is baby formula and Calpol. So sad!

I was queuing up in Homebase and admired a wisteria on the trolley in front of me but noticed it was labeled 4.99. I think the real price was nearer £40 as it was a fine specimen. So I rechon he had just swopped the label that would be scanned for payment. I told the check out girl but he had gone by then.

Security tag alarms are often ignored. If the thieves know they won’t be pursued, why would they care about alarms ringing? It’s a sad state of affairs.

karmalady

personal morality is in short supply

I disagree.
If you look at the population of the uk and how many of these incidents are happening the vast majority of us are honest.

I’m not surprised at the increase in shoplifting, given we have lived for 13 years or so under a punitive government. There is a cost of living crisis, people on benefits literally don’t have enough money to live on. When people don’t have enough income, crime will increase but the police are underfunded so it doesn’t get policed. It’s all about a ridiculous trickle down economy that does not work. This is the result.