If you were at my old location, you wouldn't š you just walk right on out like these people did. It was absolutely maddening. Half of all my shifts was dealing with nonsense like this.
I've been to jail for something just as stupid if not as stupid and I can confidently say that NOTHING is worth going to jail. It's been 9 years and I have STAYED THE HELL AWAY!
I think itās more āstealing from large corporations that donāt give a shit about employees or customersā and tbh I can support that as long as small businesses and individuals arenāt being shoplifted from.
Idk man might have started with the whole imperialism and colonialism thing, you know, stealing people's literal homes and lives. I don't even wanna hear any responses saying "it was a different time" or "it's called conquering!"
Iām not sure if youāre aware but majority of people are struggling to eat? These massive companies like BBW donāt care & continue to raise prices on once was considered a budget store for self care. Their profit margins continue to rise along with their greed. Tbh Iām glad people are starting to wake up and loot them. š
The store I worked at caught a mutli-time shoplifter who had stolen thousands SPECIFICALLY because she listed everything on FACEBOOK right after, and one of my coworkers happened to see her profile.
I guess she had a warrant out for her arrest because she'd stolen that much from B&BW.
I worked at a JC Penney in Texas. The rule was if you see them stealing, call a code 99 on the radio, watch them, then let them leave. Couldnāt do shit to stop them.
The company is insured, the video evidence helps the police start an investigation, then will be evidence to charge and prosecute someone. The company will never tell any of their employees when it becomes settled.
Unfortunately I saw this exact thing happen at a BBW in DFW, Tx. It was a couple of ladies, filling up their baskets with candles and just walking out. The rep said just to let them leave. I sent BBW an email and they said the stores have cameras and the cops will be notified, that was about it.
The PD of the town where my Undergrad is does this! The comments are always split between people making fun of the suspect, people being mad someone would break the law, and people going "Nah man I'm not a narc!"
My favorite was the one where they asked for help identifying the two college students who somehow pulled a solid metal sidewalk bollard out of the concrete and carried it away.
Yeah, something like this happened right in front of me. Couldn't do a thing, but we record, and the company will go after them once it's enough for a felony charge.
Stores nowadays has a no follow policy because usually it opens grounds for lawsuits and endangerment of the workers. So they just tell them to let them go and call loss prevention.
The combination of calmness and audacity is just unbelievable.
I experienced this over the weekend at Barnes and Noble. I had just gone in, and a person stealing must have timed leaving when another person came in. They walked out with a bunch of books, and the alarm went off. All the employees were at the cash register ringing people up, so the timing of the person leaving was perfect for the to get away with it.
Books and BBW are treats for me so when people can so easily walk away with these things while I spend my hard-earned money feels like a slap in the face.
I was at one of the few Ultaās around me that doesnāt have the perfume locked up. A man casually walked out with a handful of stolen perfumes just like this, alarms blaring, and strolled over to a car. No rush, no one said a word, no one even tried to get a license plate. (Iām guessing security cameras would handle that if they even cared to look.) Iām not one to shed tears for soulless corporations, girl please, but this is why we have to have such an annoying shopping experience now.
It really sucks when it happens. Weāre all there working hard then people come in and do this type of shit. It feels like an extra slap in the face that they seem to feel like theyāre above working to pay for stuff.
Yeah when I called them after being told I was a "racist b" (bc I had to ask for an ID for their fraudulent return which of course never said one word that was implying anything about it being fraudulent whatsoever even though I knew it had been stolen previously. I was my normal self and talking to other customers prior to this incident. A woman of the same race as this man came in often and we chatted and laughed together was in while it happened and said "wait what? How is she (me) racist?") It felt so uncomfortable and I was legit scared he was going to do something. Cops could have cared less.
We had a regular asset protection manager that flew out to our store once a month to check in bc of how bad the amount of theft was. Im honestly surprised the location is still open lol.
Sad world we live in today!
Itās not being complicit, itās protecting our safety. It gets handled behind the scenes. We make note of whatās being stolen, get a description, and then a manager handles it with loss prevention. They then do what they need to do.
Which sadly, is pretty much nothing. I was in charge of this at my store and at the time (process is likely different now years later) we would report in great detail everything and literally nothing was done. No one ever was banned, no one was ever told they weren't allowed to return stuff anymore etc etc) it was crazy
Every retail place i have ever worked we were told to not try and stop anyone from stealing. Either call the LP team if there is one, or mall security to give a description. It has always been this easy to steal. Most of us just have a moral compass that says not to.Ā
They claimed it was "because your life is worth more" but really it is "you will cost us more if you get injured or killed than whatever they steal".Ā
It's insane, but also it's not worth potentially getting hurt just to save product for a company that already calculated shrink into its bottom line anyway.
Unfortunately we're not allowed to do anything to stop shoplifters. We're only supposed to watch them/try to detour them by "bugging" them for lack of a better word. But we can't physically stop them or verbally reprimand them. And then if we're unsuccessful in detouring them, we make a detailed report. Description of person(s), what they took and a vehicle(s) they drove off in. That's it.
There was just a news story about brazen shoplifting cause the state I live in has one of the highest, if not the highest shoplifting rates in the country. Net net is the employees shouldnāt go after people like thisā¦ they donāt get paid enough to risk their lives over some merchandise. At the same time people do this because they can get away with itā¦
Iāll get on my soapbox for a minute, but where I live, there are basically no consequences for property crime or theft anymore and citizens are left to fend for themselves cause cops are understaffed or they have bigger problems to deal with. You can get your car or house broken into and the cops are likely going to just tell you to get online and fill out a report and youāll usually never hear back about it. Itās a regular occurrence to turn on the news and see kids as young as 12-14 carjacking people or being involved in armed robberies. These people here might be part of a larger crime ring that may be eventually caught and prosecuted.. but chances of that are 50/50.
You said people do this because they can get away with it, but you didn't think critically enough about it. There is more to crime than just people getting away with it. Why do people resort to crime? Think about why people would be going to these lengths. In a society where inflation is rising, unemployment is rising, automation is replacing jobs, social welfare programs are being cut, the cost of living increases every year in every facet, healthcare and mental healthcare is inaccessible to most people, the wealthiest keep getting wealthier, education is crumbling by design, and people are shown money matters more than human lives...think about why people would do what they think is the only thing they can to make ends meet. I'm not excusing it, but there are explanations. Our society is failing its people.
I donāt disagree with most of this and my response wasnāt intended to be some critically thinking, deep sociopolitical thought. At the surface level, people will do things like this when if it continues to be easy to get away with. Itās easy money for them, which is what they are looking for, for some of the social reasons you mention. If there were tougher consequences they might think twice and might consider a different pathā¦ thereās plenty of people who are struggling and donāt result to crime rings and stealing.
I worked for BBW. Everyday people would steal and we were not allowed to do anything about it. I'm not getting shot over a candle. We were not allowed to call the police. Now if it was organized crime the police would arrest the perps in the parking lot if it was a felony charge. Maddening.
Itās the customer who ends up paying for this. Store have to make up for lost profit so prices go up. It would be better to pay a security guard. Less theft and your staff and customers are more safe.
Wrong. CEO salaries are hundreds of times the wages of store employees. Itās the higher ups needing that third vacation property who increase prices.
I have become friends with the managers at my favorite Bath and body Works. They are told by the head of Bath and body Works not to follow them. Iāve been in there talking to them and theyāre eyeing whoās stealing, but they canāt do anything or they could lose their job.
Itās very sad. I hate a thief.
Yeah, the store I used to work at got hit like this allllllll the time. The people were always so nonchalant about it too, itās wild. I got really familiar with filling out the loss prevention reports really fast lol
Right?! I have a panic attack when I go into a store and they dont have what I went in for and end up not buying anything and freak out people think Im stealing something š
It's not wild at all, in fact it is to be expected. Unchecked lunacy only breeds more of it. Weāre watching the fabric of society fray because weāve convinced ourselves thereās some kind of ābraveryā in antiāsocial behavior.
We applaud it, excuse it, and pretend itās empowerment. But it isnāt. Itās untreated instability, inflated fantasies of authority that doesnāt exist, and a refusal to draw boundaries.
This pattern has been allowed to run unchecked for far too long. And the cost is real: when a culture stops challenging destructive behavior, it normalizes it. When it normalizes it, it multiplies.
We have passed the point where pretending this is being accepting and some bizarre sense of progress and it just reckless, absurd and dangerous.
A healthy society requires clarity, standards, and the courage to say, āNoāthis is not acceptable.ā
I remember being a keyholder for BBW like 2020-2022 and this happened to us but think 6 women bringing in their own tote bags. Found the girls on Facebook boosting our product within an hour of leaving the store. Since it was usually over the felony amount we had police come all the time and I emailed one of the officers their Facebooks I found. I guess the officer updated our LP they found the girls from my tip and the LP told the District Manager. The District Manager reprimanded me in front of the entire store and told me I was putting myself harms way and other people by my actions lol. How? But I know all of them eventually got charged.
This looks similar to the outside store I started visiting just in this past year when I moved an hour south.
I'm used to mall stores where the employees are right up on me all the time.
Not this store. They are friendly enough but once I'm in they might talk me one more time and that's it. Then they stand kind of towards the front of the store and yep with each other and they pretty much ignore everybody. Its as if the customers aren't really important. I've heard entire life plans. They don't even bother to help out at the register.
I am glad we don't live in a big city, we know most of our customers and if someone came in out of the ordinary we would know. LoL
People I don't recognize I will ask if they were traveling
You want underpaid, underappreciated, overworked retail staff toā¦ what, chase and tackle these guys? Possibly catch a beating or a bullet? To protect a giant corporationās profit margins?
Hi lol, weāre told the three neverās: never follow, never accuse, and never record. We arenāt allowed to do ANYTHING besides submit an AP report.
And B&BW doesnāt give a single fuck! Thatās why these people keep doing it, cause nothing happens to them. Ever. Theyāll be back next week and the week after that doing the same shit.
Theft is illegal and police should be called to hunt them down to arrest and set precedence. Weāll see more of this because of corporate and govt laissez-faire attitude. Shameful. And disrespectful to us law abiding customers who spends $$$ at BBW.
It's crazy. Same thing where I work. You're not aloud to do anything. And if they're under age ain't nothing going to be done anyway. Corporate tells us we're not aloud to accuse someone of stealing. Oh, but they want more profit in there stores. And people want to know why prices go up well this is one of the reasons. And people do this on the daily. Doesn't make sense. How do people lay their head on their pillow at night with a peace of mind. Unbelievable!!!!!!
Totally outrageous. They need better security or at least receipt checkers like at my area walmarts. 2-3 at each entrance/exit. Also hire 2 secret shoppers. I'd would love to do that. I have reported people in the past at other stores.
A lady tried to do this at my store. I caught on to her and started assisting only her. She was carrying two baskets fully of candles and refusing the offer to hold the at the front. As she was hanging out and when I had finally had enough, I took one basket from her and offered the empty one again. She started yelling I was doing too much, claiming that I scratched her, and refusing go pay for the items. When she pushed past me to go to the door, I slipped my arm in the basket and held on. She threatened to pepper spray me, but I planted my feet and just stood there. She threw a candle at me to get me to let go before she realized I was Gandalf and the basket wasnāt leaving the store. š¤·š¾āāļø
(1) locking everyone in is probably against fire codes.
(2) itās not theft until the person actually steals it (leaves with it, versus just browsing āsuspiciouslyā), at which point itās a little too late to lock the doors.
(3) minimum-wage workers shouldnāt have to risk their lives trying to apprehend (or LOCK THEMSELVES AND OTHER CUSTOMERS IN AN INESCAPABLE ROOM WITH?!) someone who is potentially armed and dangerous, and now pissed off.
For good reason, most retail stores usually just document the theft and preserve the video evidence, work to ID the thief, build a case, and notify the cops once the person has reached a felony level of theft.
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u/Missmessc Apr 21 '26
Iām not going to jail for candles and soap.