I'm angry with Waitrose

Unbelievable ! I would report this boss to the main office ! He is the one that should be fired.

He could have had a warning surely?
If he hasn’t a blemish on his employment, then it’s disgraceful of Waitrose.
I won’t be going back in either.
A reported a shop lifter the other week. Women on the till never said a word to him.
No wonder our shopping bills are going through the roof.

Figures are published every year detailing how much money supermarkets lose every year from shoplifting. To offset their losses they say they are obliged to put up prices. Given that inflation is making food more expensive as well, which in turn fuels the inflation cycle, it seems a bit harsh that the public have to bear the brunt of the supermarkets' refusal to curb shoplifting.

This man is a hero he deserves a rise in wages and a pat on the back not the sack. Especially as he had proved himself a loyal and decent employee of many years standing.

Very harsh treatment. It would have been fairer to have just warned him that it was not policy for staff to apprehend shoplifters.

Perhaps the person who did the firing was related to the shop lifter?? It happens!

I read that and was astonished.

The shoplifter was a repeat offender.

It did say that the assistant tried to take the bag off the shoplifter who snatched it back and the bag broke. The shoplifter then fled.

I can remember not that many years ago the young deputy manager of a local supermarket (not Waitrose) chased down the street after a shoplifter, brought him back, the police were called and the shoplifter arrested.
I suppose now that young man would be the one arrested.

Shoplifting is a way of life for some now and we are supposed to accept it and shrug our shoulders. Honest customers also have to pay that bit extra to cover the losses made, too.

So an honest man, a worker, gets the sack because he is frustrated and tries to do the right thing.

He should be reinstated immediately.
Perhaps Waitrose should send all their employees on a course showing them how to help shoplifters fill their bags and show them the the best way out to avoid the tills.

How times change and not for the better.

I go to Waitrose sometimes too but shall boycott it now in protest.

Poor man. Unbelievable!!

I hope he gets some legal advice for unfair dismissal and sues.

Disgraceful

I've emailed Customer Services and hope other people are doing so too.

To read their blurb online about their ethos and treating employees as partners rather than just workers you'd think they were really caring.

Only towards shoplifters, it seems.

Whatever were Waitrose thinkin? This has truly backfired. I hope that employee gets a huge apology from them and is re- instated.

I heard on the BBC Radio 2 news that Waitrose have issued a statement on this incident saying that what is being reported isn’t the entire story

Think there should be a petition to get this man’s job back. He’s been a loyal worker and to be treat like this says more about the shop than the man who was loyal. What a disgraceful society we are in.

Allira

I've emailed Customer Services and hope other people are doing so too.

To read their blurb online about their ethos and treating employees as partners rather than just workers you'd think they were really caring.

Only towards shoplifters, it seems.

Me too! I said I hope they're inundated about this matter, it's so unfair. The person who did the sacking, is one person allowed do that instantly, without prior warnings, I thought not. Whoever they are, their judgement is appalling. The optics are beyond belief, if perhaps it had been bread and milk? but it never is though, so often the stuff being nicked is luxury end items............nobody goes malnourished if they don't have a Lindt chocolate egg.

This is from the Guardian:

‘A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We take the safety and security of our customers and our partners incredibly seriously and to do this we have policies in place which our partners are aware of and required to follow.

“In reference to the point on guarding – we make absolutely sure that our shops have appropriate levels of guarding and this is constantly adjusted according to the level of risk.”

The spokesperson said the policies must be strictly followed because of the potentially serious danger to life in tackling shoplifters. “As a responsible employer, we never want to be in a position where we are notifying families of a tragedy because someone tried to stop a theft. Nothing we sell is worth risking lives for.”

The spokesperson added that they could not discuss individual cases but the correct process was being followed, which included a standard appeals process.’

And:
‘Smith said he was previously told not to approach shoplifters’

Sorry but any employee who disregards guidance that has been given in the interests of their own safety, and then ignores warnings given by his manager to refrain from doing something, but does it anyway, can expect only one thing.

Yes he did disregard company guidelines, out of frustration, I can imagine it must be hard to see the same faces walking out of a store loaded to the gunnels with high end goods. He also worked at the Clapham Junction branch and as reported recently, that area has been subject to flash mobs turning up in targeted shoplifting sprees.

M&S have sounded the alarm on retail crime and violence in its stores and have written to the Home Secretary and the London Mayor good luck with that to demand more resources, as they are of the opinion the matter is not being dealt with effectively.

The fact that there is an element of chancers in our society who shoplift regularly for non essentials, to barter for their own purposes, and the very new phenomenon of dine and dashers ordering just about everything than can cram down their greedy gullets in one sitting, points to another guise of out and out theft. Large companies such as M&S, Watirose etc. can probably take the hit, but for small entities it's positively ruinous and it makes for a horrible society where so little is being done about it.

He may have been wrong but he does not deserve to be sacked.

GrannyGravy13

I heard on the BBC Radio 2 news that Waitrose have issued a statement on this incident saying that what is being reported isn’t the entire story

Exactly ‘the full facts have not been reported in the media, but we do not comment on individual cases’
I agree janeainsworth.
I get rather fed up with selective reporting in some of our media.

GrannyGravy13

I heard on the BBC Radio 2 news that Waitrose have issued a statement on this incident saying that what is being reported isn’t the entire story

What - not even in the Guardian 😲

I get rather fed up with selective reporting in some of our media

I did read it in the Guardian so presumably they are to be included in some of our media.

GrannyGravy13

I heard on the BBC Radio 2 news that Waitrose have issued a statement on this incident saying that what is being reported isn’t the entire story

Interesting GrannyGravy13:. The plot thickens.

Perhaps Waitrose will be good enough to fill in the details of what actually lead to this man's dismissal.

Maybe some of us have been a bit hasty in judging their actions or maybe not.

I first read the story in The Guardian yesterday, before other newspapers picked it up, I don't remember it being mentioned then "there was more to it"

Sorry but any employee who disregards guidance

So it wasn't a company rule then?
Just "guidance" from his manager?