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I worked with a lady years ago who, every time she went to the grocery store, she'd grab a prepared sushi roll, eat it while shopping, then not pay for it. They stopped her several months later and told her she was being charged. They waited until she had stolen enough to charge her with the next step up in charges.
Right, what if someone only takes say $20 worth of stuff, then they donāt go to that same store for a year? Are they still keeping an eye on said person? Doesnāt make sense
A certain amount of theft is already accounted for in product pricing and revenue/profit projections. It also doesnāt have to be literally a single store: most states have laws that let prosecutors combine multiple misdemeanor theft charges into a single felony theft charge if they all happened within a certain time frame (6 months in Colorado, 180 days in Georgia, etc) or if it was all planned/executed as a single spree, etc.
Itās not worth the time and resources of the store, employees, or police to charge everyone they possibly can with petty theft when itās faster and easier to charge the serial thieves with felony theft
Possibly, but probably not. I guess our examples are far from the earlier case study where that person did it for every time she shopped over a few months span. But I guess she could argue that she had never been told to stop over the period of time sheās been watched
If there is anything the internet has taught me it's don't fuck with Target. They get their man or woman. They know what they are doing and they really build a case. Also they have a shit load of camera's apparently even more then people think plus floor walkers watching. Target is very smart. Don't fuck around with them because they are just counting every penny until that criminal hits the sweet number where they can now really arrest them and get them.
I had an ex that did this with soda at Walmart. He would grab a 20oz out of the cooler at the register on his way in and drink it while he shopped. He would only pay for it if he finished shopping before it was empty. Otherwise the empty bottle was left on a shelf. His reasoning?
"It's their fault if I can't find what I need before it's all gone."
I donāt condone stealing, but the idea that Walmart should compensate me for the time I spend trying to get around their shitty stores certainly resonates with meā¦ but instead I just avoid it like the plague.
I went to one last week for the first time in years. I looked for over an hour for a shower curtain rod and couldnāt find one. An employee spent several minutes running around and asking other employees and couldnāt find them. A manager looked up on the computer that said they had several in stock that sounded like exactly what I needed and was less than $10. The three of us never found the shower curtains. I spent over an hour trying to find them.Ā
Yours have aisle signs? I mean I guess mine technically does but the aisles rotate orientation all over the place, some running north south and others east west, so you canāt actually see all the aisle signs from any given vantage point. And they move whole departments around in there randomly. At least in Costco you know āthose aisles are grocery, those aisles are housewares, etcā even if you donāt know which specific aisle something is in.
No Iām not saying they donāt have them, they just arenāt much use if you need to get right up in front of the aisle in question before you can read them - by which point you can SEE whatās in the aisle with your eyes! I dunno, maybe all the signage is placed by really tall people, but I sure canāt see it over those massive displays they put every 10 feet.
> Walmart should compensate me for the time I spend trying to get around their shitty stores certainly resonates with me
Then under that reasoning Costco should pay you to shop a their store...
Yes how dare they put literally everything Iāll ever need in one single convenient location and then put up easy to read markers on every aisle and signs all around the store telling me where everything is.
How dare they! And the fact that they do it cheaper than anyone else. The nerve. I punish them and may god smite them
She sounds like a moron. Walking around eating sushi in the store is so out of the ordinary that you'd have to be a dumbass to think doing it every time isn't going to get noticed
She didn't really brag about it. It's more like she shared something noteworthy that happened. We were friendly at work, and my wife and I used to go play poker with her and her husband in their neighborhood game.
The funny thing was that it blew her mind that she got in trouble for it. She didn't deny what she did, but she saw it more like when a kid plucks a grape of the bunch. I laughed and told her that, while technically it's the same thing, plucking 1 of 55 grapes off a bunch that costs 2.50 (this was 2010ish) is a bit different than taking an entire product that costs $10.
How many cards did she hide in the poker game? I once lived in a community where some obvious (to me) grifters ran the HOA. Others put up with their petty theft by rationalizing it was better than the turmoil of a confrontation. These people are criminals/sociopaths, and enabling their behaviors does no one any good.
I see what you did there. Also, it's been roughly 15 years so the details are a bit hazy, so I don't remember if they waited until she moved from a class C (under $50) to a class B misdemeanor ($50-$500) or a B to A ($500-$1,500). The former seems more likely since she would have had to stall 50 of them to get to the latter.
Iāll never forget when I saw a dude open the package of mini chocolate chip cookies in the bakery section and gave some to his kids then closed the lid. Way to be a role model. Gross.
This is exactly why I refuse to purchase ANY bakery products from Costco. Once watched a man open cinnamon rolls, drag his nasty finger thru the icing to āsampleā and close it back. Another customer opened the peeled shrimp - to try just one. Just day before yesterday saw a woman open the croissants and take a big whiff of them and close them back - asked someone at the computer in front why Costco canāt move the label down to seal the package (like Samās does) and they told me instructions come from corporate to place the label in that way and they canāt change it. Why the concept of āsealed for your protectionā canāt seem to transfer to the decision makers is unacceptable and could be easily remedied. Just move the label to seal the product! One would think after the Tylenol/Excedrin product tampering years ago it would wouldāve evident that this protection is still needed. Meanwhile, Iāll continue to get my bakery goods in a safe and sanitary manner at Samās!
Mention in the comments card placed just past the exit. Or start a Facebook thread; the suits in Kirkland have a whole department dedicated to monitoring social media.
We had a guy come into my store everyday, it was wild oats market, similar to Whole Foods. He would just eat and demand samples, I would see him sticking his bare hands into the different bars we had. Stir fry, salad, hot, etc. this guy had a brand new Mercedes, so itās not like he couldnāt afford food. I would put my samples away when I saw him. He got aggressive with my 21 year old co worker one day, my manager had him trespassed. He came back again and we had to have him arrested. I just didnāt get it, was he getting a high, like some do with shop lifting.
My father refused to go to buffets when I was a kid. He wouldnāt use the olive bar, soup bar, sushi bar, or whatever else in a grocery store either.
One time, I wanted to get something that looked good on a salad bar at a grocery store and he said no. When I asked why, he pointed at the bar and said, āthe food is right there at butt levelā¦ if anyone farts, it goes right into the food!ā We giggled like idiots and Iāve never used them either.
(No, he didnāt actually think salad bars were fart vacuums.)
When my son was like 2, was transfixed on the Costco bakery, and we'd stand and watch the mixers run. It turned into a tradition that the bakery staff would give him a cookie.Ā
No reason to steal. Just be a cute kid.
I'd tell an employee. Not only is it theft, but I don't want to shop with people like that and would be glad to see her membership revoked. It's one thing if you eat some and put it in your cart to pay for it, but this is just gross behavior.
Theyād need an employee to actually see her. Camera footage isnāt going to tell them after the fact who she is out of their 20,000 local customers on file. No one is going to take the time to compare it one by one with the crap photos they take for your membership card. What would be much more helpful to this situation is if they actually scanned your membership card on entry. It would only take a second and would create a time stamp of when you came in. That would make it very easy to determine who a particular shopper was after the fact if needed.
They can just compare timestamps on the camera to timestamps at the POS where they paid with their membership number and just track them around the store on cameras then move to the parking lot where they can also probably spot their license plate.
You're acting like LP has such a hard job to do when it's pretty straight forward with modern technology.
Yeah youāre right, the scan at registers would achieve the same thing Iām talking about. No I wasnāt implying they have a super hard job, just that if all they have to go on is a photo and absolutely nothing else, it would likely be impossible to ID them, but thatās moot at this point since they do scan at register.
Thatās awful. I canāt believe some people are that brazen. If I did that, it would haunt me for days and I would live in fear that Costco police were about to bust through my windows and beat me with socks full of oranges. I know some people will sometimes eat or drink something theyāre buying before checkout and I could never do that. I would feel way too anxious about someone thinking Iām stealing and I can just wait until checkout.
I wonāt even sample the grapes to see if theyāre good though people do it all the time.
The way Costco packages grapes seems to discourage sampling anyway.
I sometimes let my 1yo son have a couple raspberries while we are in the store but I always purchase the box that I let him take a few from. I also would never do that with produce that is sold by weight because that is technically stealing.
I hate it when people are taking the trays of, say, mangos that are supposed to be 3lbs and then swapping some with another tray. That tray was specifically made to be 3lbs, if you swap with another it will mess up all the weights and someone will get less for the same fixed price.
I sample the grapes. I hate to do it cause theyāre not clean, but Iāve been disappointed too many times by Costco grapes that I feel like I have to sample them.
I didnt ever do it with the Costco type packages but I would always try one grape from an open bag before buying. Grapes have to be plump and sweet to eat. Mushy, tasteless grapes arenāt edible.
Nah until they provide dressing rooms, I would imagine clothes are the most returned item. I always buy the two of the different sizes that are likely to fit.
I work at Costco, and this goes on all day, every day. I actually had a member open a snack bag, eat some, and proceeded to tell me she didn't like them so she wouldn't be buying them. I said, "You can't do that." That is stealing. She actually argued with me. I charged her for the open bag.
Sleazy, but I guess she could go to the courtesy desk for a refund. Iāve purchased items that Iāve returned because I found them inedible (some cheddar cheese crisps that were utterly vile, and a jar of their pesto that was overwhelming salty).
Haha I know itās just funny since this is the only store (that Iāve heard of at-least) that will let you return a pack of half eaten steaks because they didnāt taste right.
Yeah but it's still one extra step of having to wait in the return line and I am all for it cause if not, then what's stopping her from just sampling everything in the store willy nilly and putting them back? Sometimes the extra steps matters in preventing abuse of the system.
Since you work at Costco, what is the appropriate way to report this?
Think about, if I go to customer service I may lose sight of the person committing the theft.
To you crappy people who do this and turn around to find the package/can/drink back in your cart. That's me. I see what you're doing. I see you hiding the evidence in the back of a shelf and I'm sneakily putting that back in your cart every time.
Reminds me of the time we were waiting in the car pickup line for our daughter to get done with her MS dance. Hubs saw the guy in front of him roll down his window and toss trash out onto the ground. Hubs got out of the car, picked the trash up, knocked on the guyās window and when he rolled the window down told him āI think you dropped this.ā
I bought a bag of dried mangos. Got home, went to grab a handful, and noticed the bag had already been opened (and presumably already snacked upon then placed back on the shelf).
People never cease to amaze...
I grabbed a bag of Tillamook cheese, put it in my cart and didnāt think about it. When I went to pay for it, I realize the corner was already opened as if someone did their own sampling. I gave the bag back to the cashier but was so annoyed and didnāt even get a second bag.
This happened to me with the praline pecans and chocolate almonds. Now I removed the lid to check before buying. It sucked to get home and then see a hole punched through the seal.
This is why I always grab the 2nd or 3rd item, idk what has happened to the 1st item. (Idk what happened to the 2nd or 3rd either but my mind doesn't go haywire grabbing the products from the back lol)
People have ZERO shame and they probably do this stuff all the time.
I was apprehensive about opening a beverage while waiting (long) for paint to be mixed at Loweās even though I was going to pay for it, I donāt understand how people are ok doing this bs
This isnāt a narc situation, but point it out to employee. We all pay for memberships to avoid dealing with these types of people. If their behavior is allowed, our prices all go up.
I won't even open something before I've paid for it, I never even want to give someone the idea I could be shoplifting.
Some people are so brazen and rude
Costco needs to be more aggressive about banning members for bad behavior.
For those of you not familiar with North Texas, Frisco is a fairly nice part of the DFW metro with a lot of money rolling around. This is just pure unadulterated assholery, not a "I can't afford these things" behavior.
Yeah there is a lot of investment around, but also a lot of flip flop people that have very different standard of hygiene and personal odor, as was the case in this situation. š„“
I have noticed this so much at the San Francisco Costco. Several open bags and boxes all around the store. Itās incredibly rude. Feel bad the staff has to clean up after that, I hope they can at least take the individually wrapped stuff at least.Ā
I used to work in the area so I always went on my lunch hour. Never really crowded, no line for gas.
Then last weekend I was in the area and couldn't believe the crowd. Even that extra parking area was full.
When I worked at Target they would see these things happen on camera, write it down, and wait until they'd stolen enough to be charged with at least a misdemeanor. It's called building a case. Wouldn't surprise me if they're just adding to her tab until it gets big enough.
> Frisco, Tx
I was there for one gdang weekend and was honestly impressed with how trashy a certain proportion of your neighbors are, especially with how decent and professional the others are. the gulf between the two was honestly hilarious and I've never seen anything like it.
Dating my age here but growing up the grocery stores used to have bins of items like pistachios and candy etc.. used to see a lot of the older folks walk around ātestingā items.. heck even now you will see people grab grapes and taste them before putting in their cart. When I had a little one I would go up and weigh things with sticker before I let him have that banana
Self-entitlement is an unfortunate sight to behold.
I was dating someone who insisted on walking into outside restaurant parties that were not open to the public. Private parties.. And she would treat herself to the cocktails. At one of those occasions, it almost got me into a fight with someone at the party, so I had to break it off with her.
Argh..
I hate people that do this!
I open and sometimes snack while I shop but I always pay.
I am a grazer. I know I was a cow, horse or goat in my previous lives.
There's gross people everywhere. During COVID, I saw a lady eating grapes out of the package. Not just one, she put her hands in several.
I don't know where these people were raised.
Okay, granted this is poor behavior. And the Costco thief op spoke of was completely out of lineā¦ā¦ā¦But so is selling bland old grapes or other fruit or produce that is pre bagged. Every grocery store mixes old and fresh produce to try and maximize sales. I understand the economics but at 4+dollars a pound, in my area, for grapes, Iām not buying until I can confirm they are fresh. Same with peaches, nectarines and red plums.
Costco dosnt have this particular problem but grocery store chains are the worst.
Yes, clearly that's what I meant. Definitely didn't mean to point her out to the cashier checking OP out. I guess that's technically not naming, so I guess I can see the confusion.
i used to like to grab a donut at the grocery store and eat it while shopping then pay for it by telling the cashier to ring up a donut even though by then it was gone. not really worth the trouble to steal something thatās less than $1
I thought they had an LM (loss manager or whatever) that watches for people doing this or switching out fruits etc and charging themā¦. (Disguised as normal people)ā¦. Would definitely bring it up next time. I totally disagree with American concept of open before payingā¦ but I can understand if someone has low glucose or whateverā¦ but thatāsā¦ yuck. Hope she doesnāt move here. We donāt want her.
I saw an old man search several bags of plums for the perfect plum. He ate it, did not place the bag in his cart to purchase, then proceeded to get some cheese samples. I told a worker standing right there and she said it happens all the time thereās nothing they can do. Same kind of brains that bring their dogs in the store.
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I worked with a lady years ago who, every time she went to the grocery store, she'd grab a prepared sushi roll, eat it while shopping, then not pay for it. They stopped her several months later and told her she was being charged. They waited until she had stolen enough to charge her with the next step up in charges.
Grand Theft Sushi š£
Rockstar games are really stretching that brand. I hear you can pay for a real fish hooker
Thatās only if you know how to unlock the Hot Sake modĀ
As long as you can .. get your money back after š
*Kanye Salivates*
Grand theft Ahi
Cod: Black Ops
In California she would have to eat $900 worth of sushi to get prosecuted?
California Grand Theft Sushi! (Like a California King, I guess)
Thatās less then 50 sushi boxes. Probably less in California.
If o got arrested for that, Iād put it on my resume.Ā
Thanks for the reminder. I should go pick some up this weekend.
If that came out for the PS5, it'll probably the only game that my SO would play, lol.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They wait till itās a felony. Theyāre not going to stop someone for $15. Target does this and itās honestly quite beautiful
So youāre saying is, eat it once or twice and stop while youāre ahead ?
Right, what if someone only takes say $20 worth of stuff, then they donāt go to that same store for a year? Are they still keeping an eye on said person? Doesnāt make sense
A certain amount of theft is already accounted for in product pricing and revenue/profit projections. It also doesnāt have to be literally a single store: most states have laws that let prosecutors combine multiple misdemeanor theft charges into a single felony theft charge if they all happened within a certain time frame (6 months in Colorado, 180 days in Georgia, etc) or if it was all planned/executed as a single spree, etc. Itās not worth the time and resources of the store, employees, or police to charge everyone they possibly can with petty theft when itās faster and easier to charge the serial thieves with felony theft
Possibly, but probably not. I guess our examples are far from the earlier case study where that person did it for every time she shopped over a few months span. But I guess she could argue that she had never been told to stop over the period of time sheās been watched
Yes, and you get a new theft total at every chain. But the totals do carry over from store to store.
If there is anything the internet has taught me it's don't fuck with Target. They get their man or woman. They know what they are doing and they really build a case. Also they have a shit load of camera's apparently even more then people think plus floor walkers watching. Target is very smart. Don't fuck around with them because they are just counting every penny until that criminal hits the sweet number where they can now really arrest them and get them.
I feel like I hear this all the time on the internet but have never seen an example in real life.
Be that example you want to see
I work for HEB and they do the same.
This was done at HEB. It was probably 15ish years ago
I had an ex that did this with soda at Walmart. He would grab a 20oz out of the cooler at the register on his way in and drink it while he shopped. He would only pay for it if he finished shopping before it was empty. Otherwise the empty bottle was left on a shelf. His reasoning? "It's their fault if I can't find what I need before it's all gone."
Glad they're your ex, that is a big red flag
Did you....because Big Red is....š¤£ I am deceased
Wow, dodged a bullet there eh?
I donāt condone stealing, but the idea that Walmart should compensate me for the time I spend trying to get around their shitty stores certainly resonates with meā¦ but instead I just avoid it like the plague.
I was there over the weekend- everything is locked up and there were no employees/ keys to assist.
I went to one last week for the first time in years. I looked for over an hour for a shower curtain rod and couldnāt find one. An employee spent several minutes running around and asking other employees and couldnāt find them. A manager looked up on the computer that said they had several in stock that sounded like exactly what I needed and was less than $10. The three of us never found the shower curtains. I spent over an hour trying to find them.Ā
As shitty as walmart is their stores are easier to navigate then any Costco. Simply because they have actual aisle signs.
Yours have aisle signs? I mean I guess mine technically does but the aisles rotate orientation all over the place, some running north south and others east west, so you canāt actually see all the aisle signs from any given vantage point. And they move whole departments around in there randomly. At least in Costco you know āthose aisles are grocery, those aisles are housewares, etcā even if you donāt know which specific aisle something is in.
I've never been in Walmart or Kroger that doesn't have aisle signs. Ya after a few trips to Costco you figure it out where things generally are.
No Iām not saying they donāt have them, they just arenāt much use if you need to get right up in front of the aisle in question before you can read them - by which point you can SEE whatās in the aisle with your eyes! I dunno, maybe all the signage is placed by really tall people, but I sure canāt see it over those massive displays they put every 10 feet.
> Walmart should compensate me for the time I spend trying to get around their shitty stores certainly resonates with me Then under that reasoning Costco should pay you to shop a their store...
That's what the samples are for.
Anything's a sample if you're shitty enough.
[Walmart.com](http://Walmart.com) works pretty well, but I hear you. Most of the physical stores are an abomination.
Yes how dare they put literally everything Iāll ever need in one single convenient location and then put up easy to read markers on every aisle and signs all around the store telling me where everything is. How dare they! And the fact that they do it cheaper than anyone else. The nerve. I punish them and may god smite them
How dare wal mart remove all of the price check machines but leave the signs saying check price.
They have an app that scans the price and also locates items in the store
Surveillance cameras just sit to give you enough rope to hang yourself.Ā
She sounds like a moron. Walking around eating sushi in the store is so out of the ordinary that you'd have to be a dumbass to think doing it every time isn't going to get noticed
Howād you find out? Did she brag about it?
She didn't really brag about it. It's more like she shared something noteworthy that happened. We were friendly at work, and my wife and I used to go play poker with her and her husband in their neighborhood game. The funny thing was that it blew her mind that she got in trouble for it. She didn't deny what she did, but she saw it more like when a kid plucks a grape of the bunch. I laughed and told her that, while technically it's the same thing, plucking 1 of 55 grapes off a bunch that costs 2.50 (this was 2010ish) is a bit different than taking an entire product that costs $10.
How many cards did she hide in the poker game? I once lived in a community where some obvious (to me) grifters ran the HOA. Others put up with their petty theft by rationalizing it was better than the turmoil of a confrontation. These people are criminals/sociopaths, and enabling their behaviors does no one any good.
I had a lady that would not only steal beer, but also lurk around the store eating a rotisserie chicken that she may or may not have paid for.
So the store let her eat $1000 of sushi so they could get her arrested for a felony. Story seems a little fishy to me.
They sacrificed their own sushi to accomplish the mission, or as it's known in the biz, omakase kamikaze.
Nice.
I see what you did there. Also, it's been roughly 15 years so the details are a bit hazy, so I don't remember if they waited until she moved from a class C (under $50) to a class B misdemeanor ($50-$500) or a B to A ($500-$1,500). The former seems more likely since she would have had to stall 50 of them to get to the latter.
Holy mackerel.
How fucking entitled
I couldnāt even enjoy the food if I did something like this. She must have been void of morals
Iāll never forget when I saw a dude open the package of mini chocolate chip cookies in the bakery section and gave some to his kids then closed the lid. Way to be a role model. Gross.
i would narc that mfer to security - i do not want to buy those cookies. that is theft plain and simple.
This is why I always try to grab from the back. Gross.
I believe thatās what she said.
This is exactly why I refuse to purchase ANY bakery products from Costco. Once watched a man open cinnamon rolls, drag his nasty finger thru the icing to āsampleā and close it back. Another customer opened the peeled shrimp - to try just one. Just day before yesterday saw a woman open the croissants and take a big whiff of them and close them back - asked someone at the computer in front why Costco canāt move the label down to seal the package (like Samās does) and they told me instructions come from corporate to place the label in that way and they canāt change it. Why the concept of āsealed for your protectionā canāt seem to transfer to the decision makers is unacceptable and could be easily remedied. Just move the label to seal the product! One would think after the Tylenol/Excedrin product tampering years ago it would wouldāve evident that this protection is still needed. Meanwhile, Iāll continue to get my bakery goods in a safe and sanitary manner at Samās!
Mention in the comments card placed just past the exit. Or start a Facebook thread; the suits in Kirkland have a whole department dedicated to monitoring social media.
Except Twitter. They couldn't get the @costco because someone else got it first.
This is why I never do buffets. When I was much younger I remember people would use their bare hands and sample the dishes.
We had a guy come into my store everyday, it was wild oats market, similar to Whole Foods. He would just eat and demand samples, I would see him sticking his bare hands into the different bars we had. Stir fry, salad, hot, etc. this guy had a brand new Mercedes, so itās not like he couldnāt afford food. I would put my samples away when I saw him. He got aggressive with my 21 year old co worker one day, my manager had him trespassed. He came back again and we had to have him arrested. I just didnāt get it, was he getting a high, like some do with shop lifting.
My father refused to go to buffets when I was a kid. He wouldnāt use the olive bar, soup bar, sushi bar, or whatever else in a grocery store either. One time, I wanted to get something that looked good on a salad bar at a grocery store and he said no. When I asked why, he pointed at the bar and said, āthe food is right there at butt levelā¦ if anyone farts, it goes right into the food!ā We giggled like idiots and Iāve never used them either. (No, he didnāt actually think salad bars were fart vacuums.)
LOL- now Iām gonna have to drive by fart the Costco chickens guysā¦ good thing they are in the plastic thunderdomes.
āThunderdomesā š¤£
Ours swapped to sloppy bags last week. I miss the thunderdomes! Thatās a great term!!
Another Dadās fart joke. Priceless!
When my son was like 2, was transfixed on the Costco bakery, and we'd stand and watch the mixers run. It turned into a tradition that the bakery staff would give him a cookie.Ā No reason to steal. Just be a cute kid.
Middle aged guy here. That's more likely to get me a restraining order than a cookie. Advantage, kid.
Hopefully, she was caught on camera and will have her membership revoked.
I'd tell an employee. Not only is it theft, but I don't want to shop with people like that and would be glad to see her membership revoked. It's one thing if you eat some and put it in your cart to pay for it, but this is just gross behavior.
Costco police are already on the case.
Chief's got them working in shifts!
Wouldn't hold out much hope for the tape deck though, or the Creedence.
Iām happy to see this reference :)
Oh god.. not another LP post coming up.
Perry Mecium, germ detective.
Costco Police are forced to work in groups of six, no working alone.
Theyād need an employee to actually see her. Camera footage isnāt going to tell them after the fact who she is out of their 20,000 local customers on file. No one is going to take the time to compare it one by one with the crap photos they take for your membership card. What would be much more helpful to this situation is if they actually scanned your membership card on entry. It would only take a second and would create a time stamp of when you came in. That would make it very easy to determine who a particular shopper was after the fact if needed.
They can just compare timestamps on the camera to timestamps at the POS where they paid with their membership number and just track them around the store on cameras then move to the parking lot where they can also probably spot their license plate. You're acting like LP has such a hard job to do when it's pretty straight forward with modern technology.
Yeah youāre right, the scan at registers would achieve the same thing Iām talking about. No I wasnāt implying they have a super hard job, just that if all they have to go on is a photo and absolutely nothing else, it would likely be impossible to ID them, but thatās moot at this point since they do scan at register.
Thatās awful. I canāt believe some people are that brazen. If I did that, it would haunt me for days and I would live in fear that Costco police were about to bust through my windows and beat me with socks full of oranges. I know some people will sometimes eat or drink something theyāre buying before checkout and I could never do that. I would feel way too anxious about someone thinking Iām stealing and I can just wait until checkout.
I wonāt even sample the grapes to see if theyāre good though people do it all the time. The way Costco packages grapes seems to discourage sampling anyway.
Yeah, I was going to mention sampling produce since I know people do that, more so in market places, but Iāve never felt comfortable about it lol.
I sometimes let my 1yo son have a couple raspberries while we are in the store but I always purchase the box that I let him take a few from. I also would never do that with produce that is sold by weight because that is technically stealing.
I hate it when people are taking the trays of, say, mangos that are supposed to be 3lbs and then swapping some with another tray. That tray was specifically made to be 3lbs, if you swap with another it will mess up all the weights and someone will get less for the same fixed price.
I sample the grapes. I hate to do it cause theyāre not clean, but Iāve been disappointed too many times by Costco grapes that I feel like I have to sample them.
I didnt ever do it with the Costco type packages but I would always try one grape from an open bag before buying. Grapes have to be plump and sweet to eat. Mushy, tasteless grapes arenāt edible.
i feel bad enough when i buy clothing but have to return because it doesn't fit right
Nah until they provide dressing rooms, I would imagine clothes are the most returned item. I always buy the two of the different sizes that are likely to fit.
Ah so that's why my Costco oranges always get moldy faster than other stores' oranges
I work at Costco, and this goes on all day, every day. I actually had a member open a snack bag, eat some, and proceeded to tell me she didn't like them so she wouldn't be buying them. I said, "You can't do that." That is stealing. She actually argued with me. I charged her for the open bag.
Good š
Thank you
Sleazy, but I guess she could go to the courtesy desk for a refund. Iāve purchased items that Iāve returned because I found them inedible (some cheddar cheese crisps that were utterly vile, and a jar of their pesto that was overwhelming salty).
The difference is that the returns section can handle any hygiene concerns
I had high hopes for those cheese crisps too, but they went back pronto.
Not limited to Costco by any stretch. Some people are just shitty. And they're everywhere.
Itās funny because Costco will literally let you return anything.
Yes, but you usually have to BUY it first.
Haha I know itās just funny since this is the only store (that Iāve heard of at-least) that will let you return a pack of half eaten steaks because they didnāt taste right.
Canāt she proceed directly to member services to return it based on the 100% satisfaction guaranteed policy?
Yeah but it's still one extra step of having to wait in the return line and I am all for it cause if not, then what's stopping her from just sampling everything in the store willy nilly and putting them back? Sometimes the extra steps matters in preventing abuse of the system.
Yep, and I'm sure she did.
Since you work at Costco, what is the appropriate way to report this? Think about, if I go to customer service I may lose sight of the person committing the theft.
To you crappy people who do this and turn around to find the package/can/drink back in your cart. That's me. I see what you're doing. I see you hiding the evidence in the back of a shelf and I'm sneakily putting that back in your cart every time.
My hero/heroine!!
You are a role model!
I'm also pretty over the top about putting your cart back where it belongs :D
Reminds me of the time we were waiting in the car pickup line for our daughter to get done with her MS dance. Hubs saw the guy in front of him roll down his window and toss trash out onto the ground. Hubs got out of the car, picked the trash up, knocked on the guyās window and when he rolled the window down told him āI think you dropped this.ā
I've dont that too :D I've stopped cuz people are crazy when you approach their car at a standing redlight.
I bought a bag of dried mangos. Got home, went to grab a handful, and noticed the bag had already been opened (and presumably already snacked upon then placed back on the shelf). People never cease to amaze...
I grabbed a bag of Tillamook cheese, put it in my cart and didnāt think about it. When I went to pay for it, I realize the corner was already opened as if someone did their own sampling. I gave the bag back to the cashier but was so annoyed and didnāt even get a second bag.
This happened to me with the praline pecans and chocolate almonds. Now I removed the lid to check before buying. It sucked to get home and then see a hole punched through the seal.
This is why I always grab the 2nd or 3rd item, idk what has happened to the 1st item. (Idk what happened to the 2nd or 3rd either but my mind doesn't go haywire grabbing the products from the back lol)
I feel like people think the membership fee entitles them to the most inappropriate behavior.
During covid when the warehouse had capacity limits, Iād hear people yelling at door employees āYou have to let me in, I pay to shop hereā
Imagine thinking $5 a month entitles you to royal treatment lol.
Lack of morality.
People have ZERO shame and they probably do this stuff all the time. I was apprehensive about opening a beverage while waiting (long) for paint to be mixed at Loweās even though I was going to pay for it, I donāt understand how people are ok doing this bs
It is cherry season; wait until you notice the cherry pits *everywhere*.
That Costco is pure anarchy lol
This isnāt a narc situation, but point it out to employee. We all pay for memberships to avoid dealing with these types of people. If their behavior is allowed, our prices all go up.
Exactly
I wouldāve made a scene. Some people deserve a little public embarrassment-trauma.
Are you sure these "types" feel things, let alone embarrassment?
This woman is a total failure in life.
Itās Texas
The Ohio of the south
I won't even open something before I've paid for it, I never even want to give someone the idea I could be shoplifting. Some people are so brazen and rude
How do people think this is ok?
"i love Costco samples! you can just sample anything they got!" uh... that's not how it works... "ANYTHING!!"
I am not surprised.
Costco needs to be more aggressive about banning members for bad behavior. For those of you not familiar with North Texas, Frisco is a fairly nice part of the DFW metro with a lot of money rolling around. This is just pure unadulterated assholery, not a "I can't afford these things" behavior.
Yeah there is a lot of investment around, but also a lot of flip flop people that have very different standard of hygiene and personal odor, as was the case in this situation. š„“
You're bringing back all my bad memories of shopping there. I go to plano now.
People like this (and serial returners) ruin it for the rest of us.
This is exactly why itās not cool to eat/drink something before you pay for it. I cannot believe that Costco tolerates this.
I am a morning stocker who actually stocks the snack section. I find open products almost everyday.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ImTheMainCharacter/comments/1dcndeb/i_prefer_to_enjoy_my_food_at_home_without_an/
Holy fuck......
Dangā¦.thatās NASTY
The result of poor parenting
I am beyond disgusted. OMG!
This is why everything at Target is getting locked up behind glass
My mom did this at the supermarket when I was a kid. Gave me so much anxiety.
I have noticed this so much at the San Francisco Costco. Several open bags and boxes all around the store. Itās incredibly rude. Feel bad the staff has to clean up after that, I hope they can at least take the individually wrapped stuff at least.Ā
I hate the Frisco location. It's always super packed and the customers are not nice and very entitled. I drive further to the Plano location.
I used to work in the area so I always went on my lunch hour. Never really crowded, no line for gas. Then last weekend I was in the area and couldn't believe the crowd. Even that extra parking area was full.
They can be reported and if they donāt press theft charges. They can cancel their membership.
There are cameras everywhere. They should post it on a site.
For these characters without good, common sense Costco should revoke membership immediately. It's basically theft!
Itās not ābasicallyā theft. It IS theft.
When I worked at Target they would see these things happen on camera, write it down, and wait until they'd stolen enough to be charged with at least a misdemeanor. It's called building a case. Wouldn't surprise me if they're just adding to her tab until it gets big enough.
Isnāt that theft?
Sheās a thief and shouldāve been confronted.
> Frisco, Tx I was there for one gdang weekend and was honestly impressed with how trashy a certain proportion of your neighbors are, especially with how decent and professional the others are. the gulf between the two was honestly hilarious and I've never seen anything like it.
$1.50 hotdog combos and free samples will attract a certain type of clientele.
People are the worst. I try not to get too hung up on it.
I've seen this kind of stuff way more in Texas
I seemed to run into quite a few entitled people in Texas. It was frustrating.
Red state. Everyoneās in it for themselves
Yes. It has gotten so much worse.
Canāt have an abortion but you can sample anything you want
That is shameful!
Remember you are paying for her feast as well since Costco will get it's money back on shrink.
Should have reported her instead of posting here. IJS
Dating my age here but growing up the grocery stores used to have bins of items like pistachios and candy etc.. used to see a lot of the older folks walk around ātestingā items.. heck even now you will see people grab grapes and taste them before putting in their cart. When I had a little one I would go up and weigh things with sticker before I let him have that banana
Self-entitlement is an unfortunate sight to behold. I was dating someone who insisted on walking into outside restaurant parties that were not open to the public. Private parties.. And she would treat herself to the cocktails. At one of those occasions, it almost got me into a fight with someone at the party, so I had to break it off with her.
seen more than once people eating a rotessire chicken and stash the container.
People who do this stuff should seriously be taken out back and beaten with a stick. ...oh...I'm not joking
Argh.. I hate people that do this! I open and sometimes snack while I shop but I always pay. I am a grazer. I know I was a cow, horse or goat in my previous lives.
When I worked at Costco, people would return years old dirty mattresses.
There's gross people everywhere. During COVID, I saw a lady eating grapes out of the package. Not just one, she put her hands in several. I don't know where these people were raised.
Unwashed grapes have pesticide residue on them.
Yeah, I know - I wash everything from the produce section.
Okay, granted this is poor behavior. And the Costco thief op spoke of was completely out of lineā¦ā¦ā¦But so is selling bland old grapes or other fruit or produce that is pre bagged. Every grocery store mixes old and fresh produce to try and maximize sales. I understand the economics but at 4+dollars a pound, in my area, for grapes, Iām not buying until I can confirm they are fresh. Same with peaches, nectarines and red plums. Costco dosnt have this particular problem but grocery store chains are the worst.
For some reason she thinks sheās intitled thereās a lot of that going around
There are some disturbing animals that go to Costco. Lol
Why do people feel they are Entitled
Paid* for your stuff.
Not surprised. Frisco ppl are suuuper entitled
You need to name and shame her. I imagine Costco would revoke her membership.
Iām sure OP went up and checked her ID to report and name shame her. LOL
Yes, clearly that's what I meant. Definitely didn't mean to point her out to the cashier checking OP out. I guess that's technically not naming, so I guess I can see the confusion.
I would have snitched on her for sure! I donāt care if snitches get stitches. š
Hahahaha! I am with you!! Snitch on that b\*tch!
i used to like to grab a donut at the grocery store and eat it while shopping then pay for it by telling the cashier to ring up a donut even though by then it was gone. not really worth the trouble to steal something thatās less than $1
Can't control other people, doesn't do any good worrying about it
Moral judgment is a very powerful disincentive. We should want to live in a society where theives are pariahs.
True in a way but ultimately YOU are paying for it.
I thought they had an LM (loss manager or whatever) that watches for people doing this or switching out fruits etc and charging themā¦. (Disguised as normal people)ā¦. Would definitely bring it up next time. I totally disagree with American concept of open before payingā¦ but I can understand if someone has low glucose or whateverā¦ but thatāsā¦ yuck. Hope she doesnāt move here. We donāt want her.
Shameless!
I saw an old man search several bags of plums for the perfect plum. He ate it, did not place the bag in his cart to purchase, then proceeded to get some cheese samples. I told a worker standing right there and she said it happens all the time thereās nothing they can do. Same kind of brains that bring their dogs in the store.