debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
I assume they do since the person is posted at the exit door.
Stores Losing Millions Due To Theft Via Self Check Outs
- Thread starter OneEyedDiva
- Start date
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Yes WalMart and Costco In Canada have security people whose job it is to check your receipt and look at your purchases. I have no problem with that. Why would it make you "feel like a criminal " ? JimB.
It just makes me feel like they're checking to see if I stole something...guilty until proven innocent. One time they pawed through my bags, moving around my carefully bagged items, smashing my bread, touching everything. I finally had to make him stop, raising my voice. He backed off and waved me out the door. It may not make sense to you, but I left feeling very insulted.
Jules
SF VIP
At Costco, everyone gets checked. At Walmart, they only stop someone when they think there’s a problem.
Editing. Or at WM, when they want to put on a display of how powerful they are. We have one arrogant ‘checker’ here. I’ve never been stopped but lots have. He just scowls at me.
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I guess they thought this old lady was a master thief!
Don M.
SF VIP
- Location
- central Missouri
Self checkout is a nice convenience if a person only has a few items. However, I can't understand why someone with a full cart would try to use that....takes them twice as long....and probably allows them to "slip" some items through with paying. If those aisles are real busy, the store clerk probable can't watch 4, or more, people closely.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Try this. Don't bag anything, put it in your cart and BRING store bags with you to the exit. Let the security person check the things in your cart , that you paid for. Once you leave, go to your car and bag your items. A visual check with out any "touching " Would that work for you? And of course they are checking to see if you stole anything. That is their JOB. They will check many others in the course of their shift, not just you.
JimB.
Jules
SF VIP
I didn’t mean that to sound like it was you seemed suspicious. I edited post 54.I guess they thought this old lady was a master thief!
No, you're fine. I know what you meant!
Thanks!I shouldn't have to do that. That only happened to me once, so I'm not going to go to all that trouble.
It may be their job, but some of them are overly enthusiastic.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Many US grocery or department stores have "the eye in the sky " which are security people up above the ceiling that are watching the tv monitors that you can see, and more you cannot see. They talk to the on the floor security people by radio, and direct them to look at shoppers who are acting oddly. Organized gangs that can be as many as 6 or 8 people, go from town to town, boosting goods. They sell their stolen goods to discount outlets for cash. Distraction is common tactic used by professional thieves. Many times they use their own small children, who are trained on how to create a scene, which draws attention away from where the others are quickly hiding things under their clothes, and leaving the store. A booster box is a cardboard box with an opening flap that opens inwards, to hide things in. A long coat with pockets sewn into the inner lining is another typical booster trick. Source ? Toronto Police Service Auxiliary training course. JimB.
hearlady
Homebody
- Location
- N Carolina
If I put things in my own cooler I leave it open so they can check. Best to leave your bread out of the bag. I agree, its their job to check.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Gueess what ? Wal Mart pays a bonus to their security staff who DO find stealing customers. It is called an incentive payment plan. Remember that you always have the option to take your business to another store, right ? JimB.
I didn't know that!
That might work for you, since you're in crime-free Toronto.
But here, it's a bad idea to stand around, bagging items in the parking lot. Makes you a target. That's why it's always suggested to have your keys ready in your hand & get into your car quickly.
One of the chains (Save on Foods?) has a bin of boxes for customers. I always grab one to three boxes (depending on my shopping list) and use self check-out. My groceries are boxed for the "end" location - ie cupboard, fridge or freezer - so much quicker and easier to "unpack" and put the grocery where they belong.
Knight
Well-known Member
Did you notice that the person at the exit checks no matter if you used self check or a checker? Theft is a problem no matter age, dress appearance or gender. Since I don't steal from merchants stopping me to check the receipt is no bother.
Then there is the bonus that it takes a human now to do the checking.
Not to mention it might be raining or dark out.
Alligatorob
SF VIP
I am sure Walmart and the others are well aware of this and have decided the savings in checker labor cost more than offsets any additional losses.
I don't like the self-check out things, but have never stolen using one... Although I did once have a hard time getting a low cost (~$1) item to scan, couldn't get any help, so I gave up and took it anyway... maybe that's theft.
I don't like the self-check out things, but have never stolen using one... Although I did once have a hard time getting a low cost (~$1) item to scan, couldn't get any help, so I gave up and took it anyway... maybe that's theft.
Lethe200
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
What makes you think the checkers are responsible for selecting and installing machines that cost hundreds of thousands of $$$$$$$?
Retail stores would LOVE to get rid of their checkers, most of whom are unionized and make decent wages with actual benefits.
Self-service check-out machines were invented to MAXIMIZE the STORE'S profit, by eliminating employees.
30 yrs ago I worked for one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. We had a tech facility solely focused on "retail in the future". We did not invent any of the many technology advancements; we simply gave them display space and showed retail management what a 'future store' might look like.
Take a loaded shopping cart with appropriate bar codes, push it through a gate scanner (like a freestanding arbor), and all the groceries are totaled up by computer, with your charge or debit card paying automatically (the latter of which we have seen with Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.).
No pesky human employee needed except maybe somebody paid minimum wage with no benefits, to pack your groceries into bags. More likely, they just hand you the bags (for a fee) and you pack them yourself.
30 yrs later, that scenario is slowly becoming the norm. Takes time, but the big corps. can outwait you and me, no problem.
We're getting so close! My Kroger has a hand held scanner you pick up at the door along with a bag. You choose your item, scan it, put it in your bag. When you are done shopping you hold the scanner to the computer at the check out. The computer totals the order and you pay with whatever you want, cash, credit card, debit card, etc. It works pretty well, but scanning and weighing produce is a bit tricky.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
I don't. I was using a literary shortcut. They do have a union, though.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
After they pay overhead, like wages, employee benefits, insurances...
To again make an example of Walmart, the reason floor-employees no longer get the excellent, costly training they used to get is so the board members and shareholders wouldn't have to take a hit. This is why floor employees look at you blankly when you ask "Where are the towels" or whatever, and why they have large signs saying "Domestics" and why floor managers carry around those portable data-bases...and you can bet the cost of that technology didn't take one single oyster off the nummy-platter of anyone at the top.
Huge business does not focus on profits, it focuses on shareholders and stock activity. As long as costs don't significantly exceed profits over an extended period, and everyone at the top and all the investers get theirs as usual, huge businesses are successful.
JimBob1952
Senior Member
You could always do what I do and not shop there. My only point is that retail, especially low-end retail, is a really tough, low-margin business. And as to your comment about profits, well, if you run a business and profits aren't robust, your shareholders get angry and your stock activity goes negative in a hurry. Look what happens every quarter to companies that fail to meet the earnings expectations set for them by Wall Street.