James Bond 007.5 Wrote:
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....
>
> And one other point...if you chose to be arrested,
> thinking that you could then file false arrest
> charges, that won't work because you will have
> knowingly withheld information that would have
> caused the arrest not to happen. In other words,
> you would have basically entrapped the store and
> the police by failing to reveal that you are a
> shopper.
>
...

That's a very good point. However, some people were concerned about what would happen if they didn't believe you. Somewhere up the thread, someone pointed out that anyone could fake anything to look like shopper instructions. My point was not that a lawsuit would be a consolation prize, but that the store management had a potentially grave risk to themselves, and, if they had thought things through, had taken steps to avoid that risk. (Making sure that managers know what's going on. Making sure that managers treat absent-minded customers as absent-minded customers, not as shoplifters.)

Ishmael, I also suspect the store probably has a "lenient" shoplifter policy. That's speculation on my part but I can't see them setting themselves up for any kind of legal trouble.

I'm sorry, but if I am following shop guidelines and am then stopped and the police are called, of course I am revealing myself to avoid arrest. And I would absolutely expect the MSC to pay me for the assignment.

It still seems nearly impossible and *highly* unlikely that anything ever would (or could) escalate to actual police and arrest for walking out of the store with something on the bottom of your cart! MS or not!

For God's sake... just say you forgot and either go back and pay for it or tell them to keep it (whichever the guidelines say). Because if they notice as you go out the door, either by eyeball or from one of those alarm things, then you've just proved that they did catch it, just not at the register.

As so many have pointed out, forgetting happens a LOT in real life.

This speculation is good conversation, but takes us only so far. Is there anyone out there that has been 'caught' who can tell us what then happened?

Thanks

Nobody but the cashier or maybe bagger could "catch" anyone because nobody else would know if the item had or had not been rung up. Stores are not in business to try to arrest their customers for oopsies.

I think if anyone here had been "caught" they would have spoken up by now. If Cettie hasn't weighed in with a lively story of being hauled off in handcuffs, likely nobody else will have been caught either.

I disagree, dspeakes. I have been to several grocery stores where they have an employee (or sometimes a security guard or police officer) standing at the exit checking items that are not bagged, sitting loose in the cart or placed at the bottom of the cart. I have been stopped to ask to see my receipt for bulky items at the bottom of my cart. I have been performing shops when they have literally followed or chased down a "customer"/shoplifter into the parking lot. And then the handcuffs came out.

I have seen arrests for shoplifting while working in a grocery store, but never for a bottom of the basket issue. A memorable one was where the man stuffed steak and lobster tails into his kid's snowsuit. Of course this led to a loud two year old which he was trying to hush. I am sure he was father of the year material. Issues like that were always so tough on security because they were performing an arrest with the kid involved and having to witness everything. Usually when the chase ensues, there was obvious concealment in the store--- slipping an item into a purse, pocket, or another item. The other was when people would eat in the store and then stash the evidence. This was harder to prosecute unless the evidence stash showed up on video.

If I have a big item in the bottom of my cart, I am assuming the cashier or bagger is doing their job. At least in my state, it is not shoplifting until you walk out of the building. If they had someone checking the receipts who caught it, I would just say I thought the cashier got it, ask for the receipt back to look it over, and say I will go pay for it.

The "Mother of the Year Award" goes to a Mom, who shoved meat and seafood under her newborn baby's blanket, while pushing the baby in the stroller through the store...

At worst, you'd have some 'splaining to do. You can't be convicted of larceny (or any other crime) without 1. Corpus Delecti and 2. Mens Rea. In other words, without intent you cannot be convicted. Your shop guidelines are your defense.

But, like I said, you could have some serious 'splaining to do.

Even if an actual 'someone' isn't watching, a lot of places have those sensors that go off as you go through the door with an unchecked item. At the grocery store I frequent most, "HONK-HONK-HONK" goes off every now and then. The employee who watches the self-check area, which is really close to the entrance/exit, just goes over to check it out. Receipt is eyeballed, and sometimes the person goes back to the register pay for the item. Although once, I saw the cashier just swipe the item on some pad, as it (from what I overheard) actually *had* been paid for but not properly 'swiped'.

But that alarm thing must only be set for items over a particular value. Because there's been a few times (once on an MS, a few others on my own) where I've gotten to my car only to discover a small item that had slipped into a spot in my basket I hadn't noticed, and it hadn't been paid for. No alarm went off, and no one came after me. I went back in and told the cashier I'd found it, and paid for it. No one was ever accusatory, and once they even said thanks for not just walking off with it.

Another time, I wanted two boxes of strawberries but had only found one. The cashier said I must have missed the other display, and rang up two for me, and said to just pick up another box on my way out. I felt kinda weird just putting it in the bag in my cart, and leaving, just in case someone was watching. At least it was on my receipt! But no one stopped me.

I think when someone leaves the store, and gets chased down into the parking lot by employees... well, I'm virtually 100% certain they've been being surveilled while 'shopping', and didn't just forget something in the bottom of their cart. It's just that the store can't do anything about it until they actually exit the store. But it's not just simple forgetting.

Yeah, if I were approached I'd just "Oh, gosh, I forgot it was even there, I'm sorry! Here--I'll just grab it next time." Almost every time I'm in the grocery store I see someone who's forgotten something or whose item hasn't been demagnetized and sets off the alarm that way. No big.

ninamason Wrote:
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> Yeah, if I were approached I'd just "Oh, gosh, I
> forgot it was even there, I'm sorry! Here--I'll
> just grab it next time." Almost every time I'm in
> the grocery store I see someone who's forgotten
> something or whose item hasn't been demagnetized
> and sets off the alarm that way. No big.

"It didn't get rung up?" I scuffle in my purse, get out the receipt and look at it. "I'm so sorry. Thank you for catching it. I'll just get some next time."

Good evening all.I worked loss prevention/undercover security for years.Pertaining to the 5.00 item you have to show intent,concealment.pass the points of sale, and a few other factors for it technically to be considered shoplifting.The worst scenario is a misdemeanor.Most states the item has to be 100 dollars to be considered a felony.This particular shop could have legal ramifications eventually though,
but for the moment I feel its a relatively professional shop.

Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
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> I disagree, dspeakes. I have been to several
> grocery stores where they have an employee (or
> sometimes a security guard or police officer)
> standing at the exit checking items that are not
> bagged, sitting loose in the cart or placed at the
> bottom of the cart. I have been stopped to ask to
> see my receipt for bulky items at the bottom of my
> cart. I have been performing shops when they have
> literally followed or chased down a
> "customer"/shoplifter into the parking lot. And
> then the handcuffs came out.


I stand corrected. Apparently the stores where you shop have security that the stores where I shop don't. I've only ever had a receipt checked at Costco. And as far as I know, Costco isn't mystery shopped.

But it still remains that if the only people to interact with the shopper (the cashier, the bagger, and the receipt checker if there is one) all missed the fact that the BOB item wasn't paid for, who else is going to know it? How could they? The loss prevention guy isn't going to know it. The guy collecting carts in the parking lot isn't going to know it. The off duty cop going in to get a donut isn't going to know it. So who's going to yell, "Stop! Shoplifter!" and chase the mystery shopper into the parking lot, waving the handcuffs at them? The shopper will either be stopped at the door (thus not meeting the legal definition of "shoplifter") or nobody will ever know he walked out with a free six pack of soda until they get the shop report.