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If you walk into a store
- Thread starter JAUQO III-X
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Oh I agree actually. I personally never said anything in regards to 'rights violations", I just said that I don't like it is all.
I think that the only real right violations would happen if you were forced to show a receipt, or forced to open a bag, etc. They can ask, but they cannot physically enforce it. Or at least that's how I understand it.
Yes, they have the right to ask, and I have the right to deny them. It will do them a lot of good to demand that I leave as I am already on my way out...
I never said anyone's rights were being violated.
Tat2dHeart
Only two strings away from an attitude problem.
I worked there from 87 to 90. Some front check-out work, then off to camera and jewelry where I got to make everyone's blue light announcements, then a long stint in the cash office counting money.
Thank you, but no, I was watching the original series. I'm much older than most of you think.
Relic said:
Yes. Anyone can ask anything, to demand is another issue, you would need reasonable suspicion.
As far as the bag checking goes, I don't like it. I usually don't frequent stores that require me to do so. However, I do understand, and I'm not offended. Actually I'm rarely offended.
That's right, no one walks or rides a bike in Long Beach.
Oh no no no.....a lot of people ride buses and bikes in Long Beach. And a lot of them are weirdos
Can't say it's ever really been an issue. I live in a free country where you can walk into a shop with a bag without having to check it in. I can't say I've been treated like a child going into a shop in the UK. That said if its the shops policy to make you check in a bag then I have the choice whether to go I or not. Shops can set their policies and I can choose to shop there or not.
Jauqo, how would you feel if they had a sign on the door saying all backpacks and bags must be left at the counter, or something like that? Would it be the same or would this "non-discriminatory" way of keeping bags would be ok by you?
Depends on the store, but normally there are better ways to deter shoplifting.
The last thing a shoplifter wants to hear when they walk in the door is "Hi, how are you? .. Can I help you with anything?... Just let me know if you need a hand."
They know you're an attentive sales person and that you're going to keep an eye on them, not for loss prevention purposes, but for good customer service.
People steal from shops with a 15 year old cashier chewing gum and texting on her phone behind the counter.
Besides, anyone who's worked in retail long enough should be able to spot a shoplifter a mile off. The body language, where they go in the store, the way they act, the way they hold their bag.
I wouldn't mind if somebody asked to check my bag, I think it's a small thing to get held up on, but there are better ways around loss prevention most of the time IMO. In large department stores, not so much.
The last thing a shoplifter wants to hear when they walk in the door is "Hi, how are you? .. Can I help you with anything?... Just let me know if you need a hand."
They know you're an attentive sales person and that you're going to keep an eye on them, not for loss prevention purposes, but for good customer service.
People steal from shops with a 15 year old cashier chewing gum and texting on her phone behind the counter.
Besides, anyone who's worked in retail long enough should be able to spot a shoplifter a mile off. The body language, where they go in the store, the way they act, the way they hold their bag.
I wouldn't mind if somebody asked to check my bag, I think it's a small thing to get held up on, but there are better ways around loss prevention most of the time IMO. In large department stores, not so much.
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
I think this is where the problem is for you. You see it as them looking at YOU as someone looking to steal from them. I and others don't take it personally. I take as a sad reflection of the fact that people do indeed steal, and this is what needs to be done in order for them to somewhat protect themselves.
Something that WOULD and does at times bother me is being followed around a store, after being singled out, and it's happened many times. And I get checked, frisked, and bag searched just about every time I get on a plane. Pulled over by cops too, and drug and alcohol tested even though I don't drink or do any drugs at all. No idea why.
At a bag check they're checking everybody's bag so I really do, as mentioned earlier, just consider it a convenience. I don't like carry stuff around.
This sounds like it makes sense until you think about stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, lots of expensive stuff, they never ask to check your bag and that goes for many high end stores on 5th avenue in the city.
What I find is that stores located in certain neighborhoods use this tactic because they do not hold the population that they want to sell to in high regard or do no respect.
Guitar Center has this policy, they ask, I say no and still go into the store and I don't let them even look in my bag when I leave, why? Because I don't have to and they don't have probable cause that I've stolen something.
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
Checking your bag at Guitar Center is VOLUNTARY, meaning you can refuse and enter the store.
Some possibilities:
1. The store has a real or perceived shoplifting problem
2. You live in an authoritarian culture
3. You've been profiled
As I understand it, most shoplifting is an inside job, meaning that an employee is an accomplice. A friend of mine worked at a supermarket in Texas. He said that everybody had a fiddle going on. The cashiers had one fiddle. The stockers had another. Everybody got their meals "on the house" as it were. The owners were embezzling too. Here in Madison, the police broke up a major shoplifting ring that involved the employees of the local WalMart, and accomplices posing as customers.
I go into stores with my backpack all the time, because I often get around by bike or bus. Nobody's ever asked to look in my bag. I'd be offended if they did, because I value my privacy and convenience.
As for guitar center, the security measures that they employ, such as having a goth kid check your receipt as you leave, are probably for keeping their employees honest.
Feeling personally put upon by a policy that is applied to everyone is ridiculous. If it offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable, shop elsewhere. If stores lose enough customers over it that it outweighs the costs of the prevented losses, they'll change the policy. I personally prefer a blanket policy applied to all customers over some pumped up security guard paid to profile everyone who comes through the door.
Phil Smith said:
Of course you can refuse. As I said earlier, they can aske you to leave. As for whether or not you should refuse, that's a personal choice. Once again, as I said earlier, I usually refuse, for personal reasons of course.
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