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Shoplifting

(84 Posts)
kittylester Wed 14-May-25 07:33:50

We keep hearing about the huge rise in shoplifting but I have never seen anyone doing it - have you? What was taken? How did it make you feel?

Allsorts Thu 15-May-25 16:52:38

Kniw wgat I would like to do to thieves. However, I would be in trouble, put their photos out as a warning to other shops and to neighbours so they can lock tgeur goods away.
Every night prior to local Evening News there could be an item on ‘Todays Shoplifters’ , it would get a lot of views. Also useful to post how much shoplifting is costing each of us.

J52 Thu 15-May-25 16:46:00

Mt61

That not a nice thought to think everything on eBay & Vinted is stolen.
People do change their minds, too late to return, or buy items knocked down & sell to make an extra buck.

I don’t think I said everything new with tags was stolen!
I said I suspect it was the source, clearly meaning some items.. I also have bought things that I decided not to wear, but didn’t take back. I don’t use on line auctions and usually give unwanted clothes to charity.

Georgesgran Thu 15-May-25 16:43:57

I doubt they were ‘nicking cheese for hungry children’ Whingey. My S-in-L reckons pre-packed cheese and bacon are two of the most stolen items - quite expensive, in small packages and easy to sell on. I imagine the thief to whom you refer probably has a criminal record to get a custodial sentence.

Georgesgran Thu 15-May-25 16:34:42

Lots of supermarkets here offer a choice of a piece of fruit free for children when shopping AuntieE.. DGD2 prefers a pear, but often has to settle for a banana! I’ve often eaten my way through a small French stick, while shopping, but always pay for it - even if it’s just a few crumbs left in the wrapper!

Whingey Thu 15-May-25 16:26:44

6 months in jail for nicking cheese for hungry children! Must have cost the taxpayers a fortune to keep children in the home!

tinaf1 Thu 15-May-25 16:22:39

Yes was in town long while ago and it was in River Island they had a large revolving clothes rail near the open double doors🤔
As I was going in two guys swept in both grabbed and armful of clothes each and sped off
Shop assistants chatting by the till never even registered

fancythat Thu 15-May-25 16:10:15

Fwiw, I know some of the staff at our nearest co -op.
They said a few months ago that they are having many more things shoplifted there, than they used to have.
The day I was there, they said, they had chased people out of the shop the previous day.

fancythat Thu 15-May-25 16:08:39

Well i thought I did.
Woman acting furtively.
Then put something in rack under pushchair.
I think she covered it up[cant quite remember that bit.]

I told the cashier, then left the shop.

It is only now, years later, that I think it is quite common to put things down there, if have a pushchair, and then pay at till?

Anyway. I had told the cashire. Dont know what happened after that.

OldFrill Thu 15-May-25 16:08:00

If you know who to ask you can pre-order and a shoplifter will lift the item and sell it to you for a reduced price, they aren't simply shoplifting for themselves.

Desdemona Thu 15-May-25 15:42:12

I may be wrong but I feel the day will come when larger stores will demand the swiping of a debit card with sufficient funds before they allow anyone in.

I work in retail and thieving is rife, every hour of every day. All types of people.

AuntieE Thu 15-May-25 15:30:44

Yes, I have often seen parents of young children "forgetting" to pay for the bar of chocolate or banana their child is eating in the supermarket queue, children and adults shop-lifting in the poorer parts of large cities, wealthy women doing it in expensive clothes shops - ditto school-girls for a dare.

If possible I have drawn a member of staff's attention to it, or said loudly as the thief was leaving the cash desk, "Hey, you forgot to pay for the wean's sweeties" or whatever it was.

Tizliz Thu 15-May-25 15:06:18

I was working in the personnel dept and went shopping with a girl from a different dept. I was horrified when she changed labels on the item she wanted with a cheaper item (this was a long time ago). A few weeks later she applied for promotion and I wonder if she realised why she didn't get it.

yogitree Thu 15-May-25 14:32:35

Long ago, when I worked part time in Asda, there was a display of TV's right at the front of the store opposite the entrance. There followed a 'trend' of people coming in and lifting a TV then running out! Management didn't move the display for days which was slow work on their part, although the thieves learned very quickly they were onto a good thing.

mabon1 Thu 15-May-25 14:21:45

Many years ago someone I am friendy with accidentally put some bedding in her bag, was caught by security camera, place came along the manager of the store decided not to make a decision for her to go to the police station to be charged. She was fined £120.00.

Mt61 Wed 14-May-25 18:47:17

That not a nice thought to think everything on eBay & Vinted is stolen.
People do change their minds, too late to return, or buy items knocked down & sell to make an extra buck.

Magenta8 Wed 14-May-25 16:53:13

J52

I suspect this is the source of the ‘new with tags’ items on EBay and Vinted come from.

Possibly but not necessarily. I sold an unworn dress about five years after I bought and it still had all the labels attached. I had never felt like or found an occasion to wear it.

I had definitely paid for it at the time and not nicked it. I am sure this sort of thing happens quite often.

granfromafar Wed 14-May-25 16:38:26

J52, I've often wondered the same thing. Why would people have so many new, unworn items. I have to admit that I have purchased a few of these on Vinted, though.

J52 Wed 14-May-25 16:28:55

I suspect this is the source of the ‘new with tags’ items on EBay and Vinted come from.

Bridie22 Wed 14-May-25 16:26:48

It is prolific were I live, they walk into supermarkets/greggs pick up what they want, sercurity don't stop them, they then hassle people in town to buy the stolen goods to fund their drug habit.

J52 Wed 14-May-25 15:00:43

DH and I were at a Shopping Centre when a large 4x4 pulled up outside Next and two people ran out with armfuls of clothes from the racks and into the waiting car. It of course sped off. We were speechless.

mokryna Wed 14-May-25 14:52:38

Once, in a small town in Surrey, I was waiting in the car outside a shop, for my friend to finish her shopping. All of a sudden a mid-twenty year old ran out followed by an older person The younger person jumped into a waiting a car, a few yards away, which drove off very fast before they could be caught. I didn’t realize is was a shoplifting case until seconds later

Mollygo Wed 14-May-25 14:36:07

B&M seems to be a popular target. I’ve watched people trying to rush out, usually with alcohol. Sometimes they’ve been challenged, or stopped, but other times, they run off.

Oreo Wed 14-May-25 14:15:32

My beef is with professional shoplifters who do it for a living.

Oreo Wed 14-May-25 14:14:30

Crossstitchfan

LadyGracie

I saw a rather grubby very young man run out of Sainsbury’s recently with 2 carrier bags stuffed with food, two security guards caught him and marched him back through the shop.
I felt really sorry for him.

You felt SORRY for him? Words fail me!

I would have felt sorry for him too, anyone looking scruffy and stealing food obvs needs it.

Oreo Wed 14-May-25 14:11:37

I’ve seen it happen lots of times.
In the news today the government have had the idea to solve the lack of prison places, that shoplifters and burglars will only have to serve a third of their sentences! Makes the lifestyle ok for them doesn’t it🤬