Couldn't believe it last night.....

Me and the partner were walking out the door after paying for our shopping at Asda in Chapeltown. Noticed a dodgy looking lad in his twenties with a trolley full of unpacked shopping browsing at videos by the exit. I thought to myself he looks 'dodgy'

As we walk out the exit, he follows us with 'unpacked shopping' on a slow walk as you would expect if you had paid for your shopping. Then starts to increase his speed to the car, throws everything into the back seat really quickly, throws the trolley in any direction and speeds out the carpark.

Unfortunately only caught the first part of his registration :(

Can't believe I saw someone do that tho' :o Rotten, Nasty Thieves.

Surely it would have been caught on CCTV anyway? Did you report it?

Originally posted by Skatiechik
Couldn't believe it last night.....

Me and the partner were walking out the door after paying for our shopping at Asda in Chapeltown. Noticed a dodgy looking lad in his twenties with a trolley full of unpacked shopping browsing at videos by the exit. I thought to myself he looks 'dodgy'

As we walk out the exit, he follows us with 'unpacked shopping' on a slow walk as you would expect if you had paid for your shopping. Then starts to increase his speed to the car, throws everything into the back seat really quickly, throws the trolley in any direction and speeds out the carpark.

Unfortunately only caught the first part of his registration :(

Can't believe I saw someone do that tho' :o Rotten, Nasty Thieves.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

If some scumbag will attempt to abduct a 12 yr old in broad daylight on a busy road as happened yesterday in Woodhouse then I'm sure that knicking a trolley full of shopping will be a doddle.

Nope didn't report it, as I didn't get the numberplate of the car. Didn't think about CCTV at the time. If I had probably would have reported it.

I think it happens quite a lot, I used to know someone that did this with his mate, they would do about 6 trolleys each on a day, then sell it all on- couldn't believe they got away with it, although he did end up in prison some years later for something else though but was never caught for the thieving.

I suppose it's a case of looking and acting confident and getting away with it.

It's not right, though.

Well if watch the Full Monty, everyone is pinching from Asda :)

You mean you actually care if someone is stealing from a huge faceless company? Let 'em get on with it, security are paid to catch people like that - if they don't then sod it I ain't getting involved.

Originally posted by fnkysknky
You mean you actually care if someone is stealing from a huge faceless company? Let 'em get on with it, security are paid to catch people like that - if they don't then sod it I ain't getting involved.

Who do you think pays in the end?
It's not Asda it's the customers ie me and you. So they aren't doing us any favours are they?

Originally posted by Mo
Who do you think pays in the end?
It's not Asda it's the customers ie me and you. So they aren't doing us any favours are they?

Yeah it might put a penny on the price of something over a year or so - basically I'm not the police and I'm not about to start acting like them. If security can't stop people stealing that's their problem, not mine.

If everyone thought like that there'd be anarchy.

Oh sorry I forgot everyone is 100% angel on here aren't they.

Any way for your information I saw someone stealing from a newsagents the other day - I told the guy at the counter - he said he wasn't going to stop him, what a waste of f****** time that was.

Originally posted by Skatiechik
Nope didn't report it, as I didn't get the numberplate of the car. Didn't think about CCTV at the time. If I had probably would have reported it.

You should still report it. If you tell them the time they can check the CCTV. He could've got away with hundreds of pounds worth of goods. Don't let him get away with it.

IMO shops of this stature should have a guard on the door at all times. I'd be very surprised is CCTV managed to pick the registration up. Worth reporting with an accurate description so it can be noted for another occasion.

Ten years ago I saw someone in my local Jacksons putting some tins in his coat. I told the girl on the till, she started ringing bells, he put the stuff back and left.

I've mellowed since then.

Asda is "part of the Walmart family" (eugh). With $242 billion revenue in 2002, Walmart is the world's largest company. You could steal the whole shop and not make a dent in their profits.

Given that Walmart has a largely negative effect on society, I don't particularly care if poor member of that society risks imprisonment by stealing from them. It's well documented that Walmart forces local shops out of business (of all trades, Walmart is a general retailer, food is only in Super WalMart). Which is the least ethical - stealing food or suddenly opening up half a dozen shops around one town so you can force local shops out of business?

Walmart-Blows.com (http://walmart-blows.com/)

Stealing from a local shop that employs people with decent wages and conditions and generally has a positive effect on the community would be a different matter..

I used to work at a supermarket in Sheffield, and where I worked people would steal anything that wasn't nailed down. It wasn't just expensive items like whiskey either - joints of meat and cosmetics were also targets. I once stopped someone who'd decided to help themselves to two dozen toothbrushes.

One of the consiquences of the amount of shoplifting was that we had to be really strict about the "no refund without a reciept" policy. It also caused inconvenience for genuine customers because, for example, electrical goods couldn't be put on display, so people had to wait while one was fetched for them.

Stealing's not OK just because it's from a big company. You should report it.

If some scumbag will attempt to abduct a 12 yr old in broad daylight on a busy road as happened yesterday in Woodhouse

OMG, where abouts? What time?

Originally posted by Andy
... Stealing's not OK just because it's from a big company. You should report it.

Something else to consider Andy is the following:

A member of the public who tries to stop a theif going about his or her business is:

a) Making themselves open to attack / relatiation from the theif.

b) Unlikely to get any reward for doing so.

I can't remember details, but there was a case where a guy tried to stop armed robbers (he ran after them) and he was shot dead. It's very sad indeed.

I am not suggesting that anything as bad would happen if you stop shop lifters.

I just think "why risk putting yourself in danger ... defending someone else's property ... when you are unlikely to be rewarded for doing so" ?

Why do any of us pay for goods at all, instead of just walking out with them en masse? That way there would be no risk of prison or anything else.

Property theft is still theft, unless you reject all notions of property and monetary value.

If you do not accept the notion of property then stealing has no meaning for you and you have no belongings (and you are a hardcore marxist anarchist or a fransiscan monk)

Simple property theft is dishonest.

We are a self policing society, and this has inherent advantages. We do not have to live under the steel boot of a repressive and controlling police state.

That is why we want to discourage dishonesty and physical violence against one another, so we don't have to subjugate ourselves to guardians to protect us. Nor do we want to suffer at the hands of violent and dishonest people. This is well illustrated by the iterated prisoners dilemma.

r.e: asda thieves.
I would have alerted a member of staff of my suspicions, but no more. I could have been wrong and an innocent explanation was plain to everyone but me.


As for the wal mart argument - you can hardly blame wal-mart for being successful. It is their customers who force the other shops out of business by not using them....

True - economy of scale is frequently a negative indicator on many other scales, but our 'system' is heavily weighted in favour of it. That is not the fault of Wal Mart or anyone else but of our collective greed over time - game theory at work.

If we really wanted all those nice little shops to stay in business we would shop there.

Originally posted by caprice
OMG, where abouts? What time?

Monday 3.50pm at a bus-stop outside Woodhouse West Club.

Blue car, 6ft tall, 'benny' type hat, zip up jacket and stank of cigs. Race not mentioned. Shocking isn't it :mad:

Originally posted by garrence

Asda is "part of the Walmart family" (eugh). With $242 billion revenue in 2002, Walmart is the world's largest company.

someone has too much spare time

Originally posted by Mo
Monday 3.50pm at a bus-stop outside Woodhouse West Club.

Blue car, 6ft tall, 'benny' type hat, zip up jacket and stank of cigs. Race not mentioned. Shocking isn't it :mad:

Its terrible, I used to catch the bus there occasionally after school. Admittadly not as late as that, I was always the first one out of that place! That is really shocking, there should have been loads of people about at that time.

someone has too much spare time
LOL *some* spare time would be nice! Try "someone's procrastinating by using Google to bring up facts in a matter of seconds".

Originally posted by Andy
One of the consiquences of the amount of shoplifting was that we had to be really strict about the "no refund without a reciept" policy.

That's illegal, you don't need a receipt for a refund and any store telling you so is breaking consumer law. They are under no obligation to give you one in the first place so you don't need one to take it back.

Originally posted by fnkysknky
That's illegal, you don't need a receipt for a refund and any store telling you so is breaking consumer law. They are under no obligation to give you one in the first place so you don't need one to take it back.
I think that interpretation of consumer law regarding refunds may be a little narrow.

Of course you are right that you don't always need a receipt to get a refund but surely a retailer isn't legally bound to offer a refund if they have doubts that the goods were bought from them or if there was nothing wrong with the goods?

Originally posted by Zamo
...a retailer isn't legally bound to offer a refund ... if there was nothing wrong with the goods?

Yes, I thought this was true.

A lot of shops only allow refunds if the goods are faulty. If they aren't, (for instance, you've just changed your mind) they will only offer a credit note for the amount.

Argos, for instance, made a big deal of their '16 day money back guarantee' which I suppose is an extra and not a legal requirement.

Originally posted by Zamo
I think that interpretation of consumer law regarding refunds may be a little narrow.

Of course you are right that you don't always need a receipt to get a refund but surely a retailer isn't legally bound to offer a refund if they have doubts that the goods were bought from them or if there was nothing wrong with the goods?

I think that you need to prove payment either credit card slip or bank statement, that type of thing.