Working the door....

**ronin497** · Posted On: 2/25/2010 11:51pm

I don't get the negative attitude towards receipt checking either. Hell, if I buy electronics or video games from Wal-Mart I have it out and ready to be checked by the door folks. It has yet to happen, but I still have it ready. I don't think I'd ever be offended by a simple verification procedure that would take a legitimate paying customer about five seconds to complete.

As for the application of force to detain shoplifters, every single retail job I've ever worked at has had the 'let them go' policy under pain of termination for any employee that violates it. I've worked at music stores, video game outlets, all very high loss environments. The story was always the same - keep an eye on them, if you catch them stuffing merch into their pants ask them to put it back, but if they beat feet you can't do anything. Chase them out of the store and you're sure to get canned.

The Software Etc. I worked at canned an assistant manager for chasing a kid halfway across the mall, tackling him, dragging him back to the store, keeping him there and making him call his mother. He had four copies of Twisted Metal 2 shoved down the front of his pants. This was back before they started keeping all of the actual discs behind the counter.

**Kickapoo** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 12:27am

If I think someone is trying to shoplift, I'll head them off at the door and ask to see inside their bag (as per my store policy). At this point without laying me out and running over me, they're not going anywhere. I usually offer to let them put the stuff back and stop being assholes and buy stuff, or if they won't play ball I ban them from the store and get security (working in an outlet pays off). I find it works better to put yourself in situations where you don't actually have to stop someone running-my store policy also stops me from physically detaining people, but so far no higher management has told me to stop what I was doing.

Failing that, I'll bluff. I'll tell them to put the stuff back or I'll lock them in a closet til security shows up. Obviously well-educated folks know this is clearly not within my power to do, but the people trying to steal skateboard decks and Supra shoes generally aren't exactly valedictorian material.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 1:17am

Originally Posted by Kickapoo

[...] I'll bluff. I'll tell them to put the stuff back or I'll lock them in a closet til security shows up. Obviously well-educated folks know this is clearly not within my power to do, but the people trying to steal skateboard decks and Supra shoes generally aren't exactly valedictorian material.

You are in New Jersey; you can always KTFO someone and claim "I saw the sock full of quarters coming right at me."

**Mtripp** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 1:21am

Well they want us to check bags and receipts; they do not want us putting hands on people. Well, if they say no, and bolt for the door, it creates problems.

**Mtripp** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 1:24am

Guys, they cut my hours to 17 this week, and 23 next week. I will have to go back to selling plasma to try and stay afloat. At this point I am really not worrying about what happens there. The writing is on the wall.

**Muerteds** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 10:34am

If it makes you feel any better, MTripp, my friends did loss prevention for a number of years with Target. Though they specifically did not want beat-downs of thieves, they were not risk averse to allowing employees to defend themselves when necessary. And so many of the thieves would try and fight during the run that it was usually easy to justify putting someone on the ground and holding them till the police arrived.

Give Target a call. They will work you too many hours, and suck the soul right out of you, but the money isn't bad if you're hurting.

I showed, upon request, a few nasty finger and hand-holds to my friends to convince the recalcitrant that coming with the nice security man was easier than getting something broken. The worry was, they'd had a thief grab a loss-prevention guy who told the man to take the item out of his pant by the head, and ram that head into the shelves. A rod holding merchandise entered the employee's eye socket. It was a miracle the eyeball was relatively uninjured. After a few successful applications of a discrete lock to convince stupids that fighting hurts, they were sold.

Best of luck, whatever comes.

**gregaquaman** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 10:49am

smile nod and call their mother a whore then it is self defence

**Gopu** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 1:01pm

Originally Posted by Gopu

lol wal-mart

OK, since this ^ counts as shitposting apparently, let me elaborate.

You work at Wal-Mart. If you think anything they do is fair, think again. They don't care if you can defend yourself or not. They don't care at all about you.

I'm sorry you're in a position where you have to work there (and it sounds like you need it) and I encourage you to defend yourself. But the reality is you'll probably lose your job if it happens again. And I don't think you'll have much in the way of recourse if you do. You don't stand a chance against their solid gold, jewel encrusted lawyers. You're a liability because people will sue them for what you do.

I know Michigan isn't good for employment but just keep applying for other jobs. You don't want to work there; it's a joke company (hence my lol, wal-mart comment).

**chaosexmachina** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 5:15pm

While working a seasonal position at Best Buy, this guy tried to run out the door with a giant flatscreen. The guy at the door (some hard ass middle-aged brown guy) tried to stop him. I was a cashier, but I ran out the door to help anyway.

When I got out there, the doorman had him in a bearhug from behind, so I pulled guard on him... (lol) We held him down there for a bit, but he said he would behave or whatever so we let him go. Somebody called the 5-0 but he didn't seem to care when they told him that. He just kinda wandered around the parking lot, bleeding. I even got some of his blood on me (I washed it off of course).

**IMightBeWrong** · Posted On: 2/26/2010 7:35pm

Originally Posted by ronin497

I don't get the negative attitude towards receipt checking either. Hell, if I buy electronics or video games from Wal-Mart I have it out and ready to be checked by the door folks. It has yet to happen, but I still have it ready. I don't think I'd ever be offended by a simple verification procedure that would take a legitimate paying customer about five seconds to complete.

I know where you're coming from, and I personally don't have a problem with presenting my receipt at the exit either, but I would rather shop at stores that don't use this business practice. A practice like that basically states "We don't trust you". A business that treats you like a suspected shoplifter by default instead of a valued customer by default isn't doing good business from a customer service standpoint. Some people even find this practice offensive. I don't take offense, but I do think it's a bit classless of a company to do.

That said, I'm not expecting anything classy from Wal-Mart. Just good ammo prices.