Drama at the Co-op

We have that here Fennel, but not on groceries, except perhaps expensive wine.

Our supermarket in France had some sort of gadget at the till which would set of an alarm if the customer was hiding something he/she had stolen.
I know this is different from grab and run.
Twice I was coming through with a totally innocent visitor from the UK and the alarm went off - very embarrassing!
I think the alarm was mainly linked to labels on clothing.

Yes, ours is a village Co-op, on a main road, two pubs nearby, but not a hot bed of night live . They cannot have bollards at the front because that is where their supply lorries draw in at least partially off the road and some shoppers park there when they just want to nip in quickly to -knick- buy a few items and get on their way,

I think more of these stores should have those low level one way push gates inside but close to the entrance. They wouldn't stop determined shop lifters, but would reduce the grab and runners, like we had.

Our local Co-op was ram-raided yesterday. Seems like Co-ops are particularly vulnerable - often on 'sleepy' at night time High Streets and easy to ram-raid in to. Bollards placed strategically outside the stores could surely help prevent/deter these attacks? Fortunately for our village we have an alternative shop but for those who don't and do not shop on line, do not drive, what do they do? It is so often the elderly and most vulnerable who suffer even more at the hands of these thieves.

One of these days, if we're not all buying our groceries online to be pre-packed and collected/delivered, you'll see only facsimiles on the shelf with a barcode which you'll swipe if you want that item. Then as you do this, it's automatically put into your 'basket' to be uplifted when paid for.

I never thought I'd be able to work entirely without going into my bank to do everything but I've got there and now we don't even have a bank within 20 miles of us. So I'm sure it'll come.

notanan2 you just may have more common dog than the average person prepared to buy knock off goods. I wouldn't buy it either.

You can get smoked salmon off cuts for less than £2. I would rather that than a dodgy side of smoked salmon that has been out of the fridge for god knows how long!

notanan2, I'd be surprised if they got a lot for the choice cuts because it might be dodgy. Also, just because you're poor, doesn't mean you don't want a smoked salmon treat every now and again!

It goes back to your upbringing really. My kids weren't allowed to "find" things (just in case they weren't actually lost) so they always had to hand in what they found because it wasn't theirs. I wouldn't let them eat the pick your own until they actually owned it. They had to let me know where they were going so I knew they weren't hanging around on street corners so they weren't being tempted to make mischief. They were taught to treat people how they would want to be treated. I am sure most of the GNers on here did much the same so it makes you wonder where things went so wrong.

I was in the supermarket just before Christmas and saw a young woman stuffing cosmetics into her pockets - I alerted a member of staff who simply shrugged her shoulders, said that it happens this time of year, and walked away. Looking at the cost of the cosmetics being taken the young woman must have got away with over £50 worth.

Shoplifters not only cost us money through higher prices but, if imprisoned, cost us money to keep them. I think confiscating possessions, such as TVs, computers, smartphones even cars, which could then be sold to immediately pay heavy fines would be much more effective.

Some years ago I worked for a very well known high street store that sells clothing and food. One very busy hot summer's day, a woman came into the store, selected a pair of pale cream trousers, pale cream striped blazer and a blouse and took them into the ladies changing room. She was given a tag to show that she had 3 items. After a little while, the woman came out and handed the tag to the assistant and said that she would buy all of the items. At the end of the day, we found a pair of slightly grubby pale cream trousers, a crumpled jacket and a blouse, all obviously well worn and hanging neatly on hangers. Back in the changing rooms, we found the tickets and price tags for the new missing items. Someone clearly just wanted clean fresh clothes that day!

Another common ruse was in the ladies shoe department. You wouldn't believe how many people came in, tried a pair of shoes on, found that they fitted so walked out of the store wearing them. It was a common occurrence to find knackered old shoes kicked under the seats.

My husband used to work for Asda, and one day saw a young man clutching a bottle of whisky being chased by a security guard. They caught him-he jumped over the car park wall, which had a 12 foot drop the other side!

notanan2, people who haven't got a lot of money might be tempted
Nah
Knock-off choice cuts still cost more than cheap cuts from an actual shop so why risk eating dodgy meat?

When an Iceland shop first opened here ,I went in for a look and noticed all the legs of lamb were in what I would call an "overcoat" Well I never.
,with just a part of the leg sticking out.I asked a member of staff what it was for and was told it's an anti theft device,as legs of lamb were the most stolen items in their shops.

A few years ago a 'customer' in my local Coop put his basket of shopping down on the floor in one of the aisles (it was very quiet at the time) and put it all into a carrier bag and walked straight out of the store, leaving the empty basket behind. When I eventually found a member of staff it was too late and little interest was shown.

Similarly I saw a man at a local Sainsbury's put several cans of alcohol inside his anorak and walk out. There was a member of staff quite close but tbh I didn't fancy my chances with this rough-looking man. After he'd left I mentioned it to the staff but apparently it happened all the time.

DS used to manage an off licence, which as you can imagine had regular break-ins and hold-ups. Sometimes it would take the police the best part of a week to turn up and investigate. And that was some years ago.

What happened to shame, I'd be so embarrassed if I was caught shoplifting on top of thou shalt not steal. There is more to reporting to the police it's also you'd want to know if you were just about to appoint someone as a treasurer of your charity or a shop assistant or accountant. Only this morning I read about an accountant who's embezzled £400000 and another high up person who'd stolen even more from their employer. It's a continuum isn't it .
Just before Christmas I saw someone switch a reduced sticker onto a different gammon joint, could hardly believe it. It took me a moment to process what I'd seen.Th shop was busy and the people went off quickly towards the checkout, A member of staff was too far away to grab so they got away with it. Stupid thing was that it actually was a v small reduction, had they been caught and got a record it would have affected their life so much
I once saw a woman take a roll in deodorant in a shop, couldn't believe what I saw she put some on each armpit, put the lid back and out it back on the shelf. Almost wish she'd nicked it !

Thats interesting about not chasing a thief and Lidl. I was going into my local Lidle where I saw a young woman on the floor outside with three staff standing over her. Its seems she had run out with something, staff chased her and got her on the floor and were waiting for he police. The police had arrived as I left the store and had the young woman on her feet being put in a police car.

Goodness me. I hope I'm never in a sinking ship in a storm with you lot. You would be climbing on my shoulders to get into the lifeboat first. I'm outta here.

Oops, sorry. Changed the punchline after I must have already pressed ‘sent’.

Joke:
An 80 year old woman was arrested for shop lifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, 'What did you steal?'
She replied: a can of peaches.
The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry.
The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 6.
The judge then said, 'I will give you 6 days in jail.'
Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something.
He said, ' What is it? '
The husband said 'She also stole a tin of peas.'

We were in Oxford last year and I went into Edinburgh Woolen Mill to buy a sweater. My son came in with me. He saw a man take four cashmere pullovers - with security tags on them - off a rail, examine them casually, and then take off like a rocket for the door and out into the street setting off alarms. My son offered to pursue the man. “No”, she said “And don’t worry about it - it happens all the time!” He was fulminating about it for the whole day.

I shouldn't laugh.

And I've just finished reading a whole series of books about convicts deported to Australia for stealing food to feed their younger brothers and sisters …...

Joke
An 80 year old woman was arrested for shop lifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, 'What did you steal?'
She replied: a can of peaches.
The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry.
The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 6.
The judge then said, 'I will give you 6 days in jail.'
Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something.
He said, ' What is it? '
The husband said 'She also stole a bag of rice’ ....

We could put them into the pens at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home and feed them through the bars GreenGran.

Over-ripe fruit, not smoke salmon though.

As for how to punish the offenders - we still have a set of stocks nearby. Maybe the supermarkets could supply their over-ripe fruit to bombard the offenders with.