Strange behavior of two store employees

applecruncher

applecruncher

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Location
Ohio USA
I'm still scratching my head about this...

This morning I went to Family Dollar intending to get several things. I was riding with someone, and we noticed there were no other cars in the parking lot. This is unusual; it was 1:00 in the afternoon.

So I go in by myself and I don't see anyone - nobody at register, no other shoppers, the place was deserted. I stepped into a couple aisles and said "Hello??" several times. After a couple minutes two young guys came out. They had on employee vests/jackets.

I wanted to get a few of those surplus carpet pieces that they sell to use as throw rugs, and I also asked where something else was. The guy who answered me had his whole arm under his shirt and was scratching himself. eeewww :eek:mg1:

So, I went and got the carpet pieces and decided not to get anything else. I said to guy at register "I was wondering if you guys were open....nobody was around." He said "We were in the back room working, trying to get things organized for the customers." He was polite, but something seemed "off", if ya get my drift.
(btw friend told me she would have walked out after not seeing anyone...robbers could have been tying people up in the back room OR maybe the guys were "busy" in the stock/back room :laugh:).​

After returning home I thought about it and decided to call their toll free # to report about them leaving the registers unattended and store completely empty in the front and also about the "scratching"/poor hygiene. Got an automated menu, gave my phone#, did not give my name or email. I summarized what happened on the recording and was told it would take 5 business days to get feedback.

I assume they have surveillance cameras, but still...someone could have easily walked in, grabbed some things, and walked out! Then there's the guy scratching...safe bet he doesn't wash his hands very much.

Weird? Icky? :confused:
 

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Yes, that is weird and Icky!!! This makes me wonder if they were in the back doing drugs, or ????. It sounds like something was going on but what, who knows...... I've never been in a store where there wasn't someone at least at the cash register.
 
Years ago I delivered mail to a Christian Science Reading room. I went in and said "hello" and got no response. Not being anything of value to steal there I left, finished the block and was eating lunch across the street when every cop in the area and an ambulance showed up. A perp had hit the old lady and was taking her rings when I walked in. I felt horrible and the gal took months to recover. From then on I squared it with my businesses that if I got no response I'd be checking on them. "If you're in the john just yell that you are OK". Also I told them that if ever they wanted help or the cops to just say "Hi using any first name but mine (Dave) and I would leave and immediately call the cops. This is called a "duress code".
 
I don't know why the store was so empty at the time, but the dollar stores by me are sometimes like that, I'm the only customer. Sounds like they may have been in the back room getting high on some dope or something, that would account for the itching. Maybe it was innocent and they were just back there working on something? I'd like to hear what the company's reply to you is, if they reply at all.
 
As soon as I saw it was empty, and that's a red flag, I would have walked out and called the police to check it out.

I go to a little mom and pop Japanese grocery store sometimes and there's no one there, but they soon come out of the back, like in a minute.

Plus, it's not a big chain store.
 
Maybe I'm over thinking, but:

The store is large; it's quite a distance from the front registers to the back stock room.

Strange there isn't a buzzer or bell to alert them when someone enters the front door. There's no security guard.

Last time I was in this store (several months ago on a weekend) on a weekend it was quite crowded.

Registers should never be left unattended. I did a little research and saw that in a different city a robber quickly disconnected & picked up a register at Family Dollar and walked out with it; there was surveillance video and he was later caught.

I'll come back and post if corporate contacts me.
 
I would have walked out if the place was deserted, with nobody on the register. Family Dollar is a schlock organization, with filthy stores, in my town. Nobody cares about anything in there other than the price for knock-off goods from Asia. I'd sooner eat dirt than a single food item sold there. I bought a mop there, once, to clean one of my trucks. It broke in half after the first five minutes. Great quality, you betcha!
 
Yeah, I should have walked out... hindsight...:shrug:

btw I use the carpet pieces for kitty to step on as she enters/exits her litter box. Paw cushion. :)

I was gonna get a few other things but I picked up on a skeevy vibe from both employees. Hard telling where Scratchy Boy's hands had been. :yuk:
 
We had a very similar situation not so long ago. I got a call as a backup to go to the 7-11. Nobody home and when the girl came out to ring up the customer, she looked withered and kind of messed up. That's how it was reported, anyway. When I got there, the first Trooper was ready to make entry and I asked him if he wanted me to cover the back or stay here in the front. He decided to keep me in the front. In the meantime, another vehicle came rolling in and stopped at the pumps. I motioned for him to leave. He saw that I was holding my pistol, so he hastened his get away.

Long story short, the girl and the assistant manager were in the back "having some fun," as she put it. I stopped in a few weeks later and didn't see either one. I had noted their names in my notebook and so I was able to ask the clerk on duty what happened to Susie and Charlie (made-up names). She said that they were no longer with the company. I guess things get slow after 10:00 p.m.
 
This reminds me of what happened several years ago at a video store not far from me, very late at night. Someone in the neighborhood alerted the police because there were cars out front and lights were on long after closing time. When the police went in, they found the store had been robbed and all the employees in the back room dead, shot execution style. They finally caught the bad guys, who had carjacked a couple in the parking lot who were coming to pick up their grandson after work, and killed them, too.
 
You were right to report that. They were just asking to be shoplifted or robbed.
Maybe the parking lot was empty because of poor service there.
It depends who runs a place whether it is nice and clean or a filthy mess. And bad employees can give a decent business a bad name.
 
Glad you emerged safe, AC! In this dangerous day and age, this does sound alarming. Any of the above scenarios could be true (the one by Sea Breeze, suggesting that they may have been using dope in the back room seems highly probable), or it could have been something much worse. You got lucky this time; please be more careful!
 
I'm with your friend, I would have turned around and walked right out because that's not a normal scene for a store. Kind of Twilight Zone-ish too that no cars were in the parking lot. About the guy scratching....a lot of people are just nasty but you don't get to see who they are all the time. My son used to drive bus. He said one day a guy got on and gave him a bill that had blood on it. Now doesn't that make you wonder?!
 

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