OUTRAGED. Help Explain This to Me... Any Target Employees Here, Btw?

I have never worked for Target, but I have worked in retail. Your state may have different laws, but here in NH, in order to even stop someone that is suspected of stealing, an employee must be trained in loss prevention, and actually see the individual hiding the merchandise.Then they have to watch that person from the time they see the theft until they leave the store with it. If at any time they lose sight of the person they can do nothing. This is because that person could have put the item on a shelf somewhere. It's all about proof to avoid litigation. In all likelihood the employees at that store were not allowed to act on your information. If your ever in this position again the best way to handle it, if your willing to, is to shame the person while they are still checking out. You can do this in a seemingly nice way by saying something like: "Excuse me, you forgot some items in the bottom of your carriage." You'll be doing the right thing and believe me the employees will appreciate it more than you know.

18 moms found this helpful

WOW!! She got away with it? Security guard didn't say ANYTHING?!?!?! Man oh man!!! That would piss me off!!

I would've gotten the store manager right then and there.

Like you - I would have said something to her in the parking lot. Stealing is wrong!

Call the store manager right now. Look at your receipt, give them the information and MAYBE they can pull the receipt from before you - get her information - credit card, etc. - who knows now...but the security guard and the employee need to be talked to and reprimanded...

It's called stop loss and loss prevention for a reason!!! People who steal make prices go up for the rest of us!!! Stores have to compensate for the loss some how!!! URGH!!!

8 moms found this helpful

From a former retail employee I am livid! We were drilled everyday on what to look for from shoplifters. EMPTY stroller is a dead giveaway!!! If she had other bags in there too that would be a huge red flag. No one has the right to steal. If they are in need, there are organizations. But no one NEEDS wine. that is a luxury that I have given up the second I lost my job! And I'm still out of work, but I'm not shop lifting.

6 moms found this helpful

I wouldn't care, honestly. I would be surprised that the employee didn't call security but no way would I confront someone in the parking lot. I mean, it's not like they stole from me and if the store doesn't care, why should I put myself in a confrontational and possibly dangerous situation.

On another note...your Target sells wine???

5 moms found this helpful

I have no idea why they didnt do anything about it. It would piss me off too. Theives take from everyone, you steal from stores, they are at a loss and have to raise prices= equals we all pay for the jerks.

That is so crazy!

5 moms found this helpful

i think i would have said something to the clerk checking her out, and afterwards not done anything else. I think it's holiday time and whatever her needs/wants or lack of are the employees chose to look the other way. times are tough. maybe not for alcohol but to each their own. i really think you spoke up 2 times more than i would have.

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I agree with you. I would be outraged also. Good for you for speaking up.

I had an experience with Target over the summer. There was a car parked in the fire zone (no one in the car) very close to the entrance. There was another car parked directly in front of the entrance, completely blocking the entrance area, but the driver was in the car. I knocked on her window and said something. I went inside and said something to the manager, his response "sorry, there's nothing I can do". What??? You can ask them to move, you can call the police. They just don't care.

5 moms found this helpful

I would write the manager and report what you saw and that after you reported it, neither the cashier or the security guard did anything but the woman admitted she had the items when confronted in the lot. They may do nothing at this point (likely) but if that bothers, you, tell the store and maybe they'll review policies or something. If it bugs you a lot, tell them you won't shop there and go somewhere else.

Then you have to let it go, for yourself.

4 moms found this helpful

Security has to see the customer stealing or concealing merchandise before they can act on it or can be held liable for false confinement. I've seen a man enter Walgreens...reach over the counter and get a plastic bag....go to the camera shelf and fill up with disposable cameras...batteries until that bag was full....do you hear me...and as he exited...he held the bag way up over his head so as not to set off the metal detectors. Also...7/11...2 men come in carring empty plastic bags...go to beer case...each get 2 40's...walk right out. Told on both of them....nothing done....AT ALL. I think in that situation employees think that it is not worth the risk of approaching a thief. But doesn't it just piss you off!

4 moms found this helpful

Probably 1 out of every 5 times I got to my Target, something sets off the security alarm, so much so that every time I leave I get nervous!!!! I always look around, 1/4 of the time a cashier just waves me on and to go ahead, the rest of the time no one even looks at me!!! I worked in retail and we were told to be damn sure if you accused someone of stealing that you would bet your life on it. So those of you saying that the employee must witness the whole situation from putting it in the cart to stepping out of the door, I believe are correct. I'm sure some companies have different policies but I think that is the norm. You've got brass though I'll give you that!! I think I just would've given her the old stink eye :)

4 moms found this helpful

When I worked at target you could send messages from the register. Just like a text message. Its kind of neat. Perhap he did that but we were also told not to do anything but report it.

4 moms found this helpful

Yep, I would be shocked. I would feel angry. However, I would have never said anything to her in the parking lot. People can tend to be crazy, it's asking for trouble.

4 moms found this helpful

Having worked retail a number of years I will tell you, employees other than security were told to call security and NOT to confront a suspected shoplifter. Also, we were told that even if someone saw something shoplifted, unless they kept eye contact with the suspect and the merchandise from the time it was taken until they attempted to leave the store there was no case, a judge would throw it out. A friend of mine who worked security told me one time of how when questioned in court about maintaining eye contact she was confronted with the store floor layout which showed a pillar the suspect walked behind, she had to admit she lost eye contact a couple of seconds and the case was dismissed. That's the law.

BTW, I just called my cousin who works in Human Resources for Target and asked her about this, she first asked if it was her store (in SoCal so I told her "no") and she said that security should get wind of what happened, view the security tapes from the parking lot, and keep a very good eye on her from now on. She also said that if one person didn't see her take the wine and not pay for it, the store couldn't prove the case against her.

Good thing you didn't take the bottles in the store for her, she might have accused you of putting them in the stroller in the first place! Sad that her children are learning to steal from her :(

4 moms found this helpful

I cannot stand shoplifting..
I was in retail for years.
We were told not to approach or accuse anyone unless we saw it with our own eyes.

Even then we were to tell security and have them take care of it. This means they then had to witness shoplifting themselves. .

At one store I worked at, it was a high end store and we were really being ripped off by a group of people. They would steal a rack of clothes at a time..

The manager of that dept actually saw someone carting an armful of dresses towards the door. He called security, but he decided to chase them.. At the car, 2 people pulled knives on him... That is when he realized, there is nothing in the store worth his life.

And so, yes, you did the right thing. You told the employee. When you followed her out, I would have written down her license plate number and given it to security. They could then be on the look out for this woman, because if she did this today, she will do it again,..

Her children being taken into custody/foster care?.. That would be that mothers fault.. That would not be your fault.

Shoplifting costs the consumer. The stores do a mark up to cover loss. There is no such thing as merchandise insurance to cover the loss.

3 moms found this helpful

Legally, an employee cannot confront a theif unless he/she personally sees the person take merchandise from the store without paying. The store could be sued if they approach someone just based on another customer's word. That's why neither the cashier nor the security guard did anything: they aren't allowed to.

3 moms found this helpful

@Kara P. - I understand. Years ago when my daughter was very young she took a ring from a dept. store. It was about 20 miles from our house and I didn't want to drive back (It only cost $1.50). She was old enough to copy letters but could not have written a note herself. So I printed out an apology and made her copy it so it would be in her handwriting. I then mailed it back to the store with a note explaining what had happened. The next week I received a letter from the store manager thanking me for being a responsible parent and teaching my child right and wrong. She, in turn, has grown up to be a wonderful parent.

3 moms found this helpful

I don't understand this at all either, and what she did is wrong. How the store handled it was wrong. But it does bother me that you put that couple with the sandwiches in the same light. I believe from my understanding of what happened there that she had the sandwich papers in her basket, but with the distractions, forgot to point them out. Their children were taken away from them for a period of time. That store was totally out of line, and what happened there totally pisses me off.

And the grandfather who was smashed to the floor in Walmart (I think it was Walmart) during the Black Friday crush, busting open his face all over the floor. It wasn't enough to cuff the man - the cop had to take his legs out from under him while walking the man (who was not resisting one bit) and cause him to smash his face. I wonder if that man made it, it looked so bad. He was trying to prevent the grabby hoards from taking away the game he got his grandson. He needed two hands to lift the child out of the fray, and stuck the game into his belt. For this, he got his face busted by the police in the store.

D.

3 moms found this helpful

The fact is that during December businesses expect hot checks, theft, all kinds of blatant thievery. It is all about saving face with those doing it. They feel they have to provide a certain level of present to someone and they just don't have the money because they have overspent and they don't have the natural brain function to make a budget and stick with it.

Some have mental illnesses where they steal because the don't feel loved or worth anything and getting that "thing" that is out of reach makes them feel good momentarily.

We had a regular parent take an outfit last week in the store I work in. As sad as it is this parent will never be allowed to be in the store and not observed very closely. The Target employees need to be reported to the manager. With employees like this they may have even more come up missing.

3 moms found this helpful

I worked at target for 6 long years. AP (security) cant do anything unless they themselves see it (on film or in person) theres usually one in regular clothes walking... Other than that they can get fired for it. Stupid right? Because of trying to keep the customer happy & what if they thought they stole but didnt? It sucks and totslly wish sometjing couldve happened... Karma will get her.

3 moms found this helpful

I would have expected them to wait, let her leave the store, and then approach her but technically speaking, until she leaves the store she hasn't shoplifted and if push came to shove, no charges would stick.

I would have expected the cashier to tell the security card, the security guard to watch her exit the store and then approach her (either him or one of the "undercover" security that most stores have.

3 moms found this helpful

Wow that is surprising! Targets also normally have really good security systems too, with a million cameras etc. That would really really bother me too, especially seeing that she got away with it. Good for you for trying to bust her on it!

3 moms found this helpful

I would be annoyed, but had you rather her be arrested and her baby in foster care? The clerks/ security have to see the stealing in action or bust someone with stuff falling out of their pants or something. Quite honestly when juggling babies and toddlers I've been lamebrained enough to do something like that accidentally. Basically the last thing a retail clerk and store guard want to deal with at this busy time is busting a mother with a baby in a stroller. Let it go - if she's a true shoplifter and theif, she'll get caught.

2 moms found this helpful

I am totally shocked by it, also..... I will try to remember to ask my SIL... he started working at Target just a few weeks ago.

I think the best thing to do would be to talk to the store's manager and have him/her explain their employees' behavior.

2 moms found this helpful

I take wine very seriously-driving up the cost of wine is unforgivable-it's costly enough already-especially in the quantities consumed by self. Perhaps the management didn't want the woman careening out of the store with a baby in the stroller-over a few bottles of wine?? Injustice: breaking a bottle of wine in the driveway-the horror!

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That is interesting. when I worked retail we had to call security with some kind of code word and they would watch the person on security cam and then confront them once they left the store (they couldn't confront them inside the store because the theft doesn't occur until they set foot outside). I watched a manager at our local grocery store playing tug of war with a person that was steeling. The person got a way but the cops were outside a few minutes later taking a report. At our Target a few years ago around Christmas time a security guard made me dig out a receipt as I was leaving (it really irritated me because I did pay for my merchandise and I had my 2 year old with me who was very fussy at the time and I had shoved the receipt to the bottom of my purse without thinking about it). He assured me that it was a standard random check. And at Walmart the other day every person leaving had to show their receipt. So maybe it is just that particular Target in your area that doesn't care.

2 moms found this helpful

Frustrating isn't it..I was in Kmart & just had a feeling this guy was up 2 something in the baby diapers area he went back to grab his son after he seen me looking well he was obvious,don't know what he took or did

2 moms found this helpful

When I worked in retail we were told that if someone is stealing to tell a manager and let them handle it. By "them handling it" that meant they were going to call mall security. It's up to them to handle it. You see...usually people that are stealing do not care whether you see them or not and in fact get outraged if you call them out on it! It's so crazy to me. So, I am sure other people have said it...but it's just like if you are working a cash register and someone comes in and demands the money. You just hand it over because in the end, it's not worth it.
Laura
(not that shoplifting doesn't piss me off)

2 moms found this helpful

In Hecht's, which is now Macy's, we were to call security with the code phrase, even if we suspected theft. At that point they would train the cameras on the suspect and if need be send someone out.

If tthe cashier was young, he maybe didn't want to confront her. He may not have known how. The security guard should have taken control.

In the end those people will get what's coming to them. Maybe you made her feel enough guilt not to do it again.

2 moms found this helpful

I hate to say this, but retail pay is so low that more & more it seems that employees just don't care anymore. That could very likely be what's in play here. They're probably also busy & tired from the holiday rush. I'm not condoning the possible theft, but just some food for thought.

I think confronting her in the parking lot was kind of pointless, and could've been dangerous. Unless you were making a citizen's arrest, what was really going to happen?

Next time, if something like this happens, threaten speaking to the manager if they don't do anything. I'm quite sure their manager wouldn't like knowing that two employees let someone take unpaid items out of the store, despite being advised about the situation.

I wouldn't told someone & let it go. Life is too short to let things that are out of your control bother you.

1 mom found this helpful

If she's teaching her children to steal and drink, maybe they're better off in foster care?! In all seriousness, my mother did these things when I was young, and I ended up living with my dad's parents. She still steals to this day and no one talks to her. I would be pissed if I were you too!

1 mom found this helpful

When I worked at home depot as a cashier store policy was to do nothing but give awesome customer service and even offer to help them load it into their car! The company said they didn't want cashiers to get hurt in a confrontation. I had to watch a man walk out with a 100 carhart jacket on and so did the managers.....it sucked