I'm angry with Waitrose

Up until fairly recently I worked for M & S as a ‘Safety & Service’ assistant. My role was to act as a ‘visible deterrent’ to shoplifters. Whether/how we should challenge them was a grey area with Head Office saying no but local managers clearly wanting us to. If we had plain clothes store detectives working with us, they had much greater powers but had they still had to stick to the ‘rules’ that RosiesMawagain mentioned. We could ask someone who looked like they were leaving with items they hadn’t paid for if we could see their receipt but if they ignored us and continued walking, we really weren’t supposed to go after them.
The three main things I’d say about shoplifting/ retail crime are:
1) it’s rife! Although unions, retailers, politicians all talk about organising gangs, and this is definitely part of it, these are not the only people stealing by any means. We had everyone from junkies, housewives, respectable businessmen to staff from the travel agency across from us in the shopping centre, all thinking it was perfectly acceptable to be light fingers. No-one stole for need, imo. It was all greed.
2) The police weren’t interested. At all. They didn’t even come when a store detective was threatened with a knife.
3) Marks & Spencer didn’t take shoplifting seriously either. It makes me laugh when I hear their senior management protesting otherwise. We were very (dangerously) understaffed in my role and my manager arranged a recruitment day, which was cancelled at the last minute because of budget cuts. A colleague and I were called the ‘c-word’ by a particularly delightful South African man after I asked to see what bottles of wine he had put through self scan. He was so vile that a shocked elderly couple offered to be witnesses if we called the police. We told him he wasn’t welcome to return but he complained to Head Office and the next week he was back again chatting with the store manager

How can Waitrose NOT see his side? one side in particular concerns all staff watching these little tow rags paying nothing
for goods that Waitrose staff have to pay for, minus their discount. I’m not surprised there are staff in all the stores who see ‘red’ at these excuses for human beings.

All this is doing is making the thieves more brazen. They already get away with it too easily.

A friend of mine has a brother who is a prolific shoplifter, he travels to other cities and comes back with a car boot overflowing and sells it all from his boot on his street.
Shop staff see him and so nothing, most shops either don't have a security guard but if they do he says they often wouldn't dare to say anything nevermind stop him. He's a big bloke and he says most SG are young kids with little experience. One stopped him recently, he told him to f off and he literally walked away from a man with a bag full of stolen stuff.

Now the one's that weren't so brazen? After reading this they will be and won't have any fear.

I watched someone stealing several toiletry items on a local shop. Told the manager who said oh "ok I'll call it in warn others"!!! So I asked if he was going to stop him and he said no. I put my shopping down and left. Why should we pay for those that steal. After many years in retail and several follows and arrests I hate letting them get away with it. We really need to go back to stopping the so called "petty crimes" and dishonest our more discovered fines etc to stop them escalating to bigger crimes. Maybe we should adopt the chopping off a hand deterrent, that might make a difference 🤔

....dish out more higher fines.....🫣

You also know theft can also happen internally in the company right?

The customer pays a fake lower price and gets a receipt and looks legit

There are employees conspiring to steal from their own employers too.

Hithere

You also know theft can also happen internally in the company right?

The customer pays a fake lower price and gets a receipt and looks legit

There are employees conspiring to steal from their own employers too.

Are you trying to mitigate shoplifting?
Neither is right, both are criminal offences.

Two wrongs do not a right mame.

make.

No, I am adding another layer to shoplifting

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Waitrose is getting a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to staff issues.

Just six months ago they sacked a autistic young man you had worked as a shelf stacker at Waitrose (Cheadle Hulme) for four years with his hours totalling more than 600.

He loved working there and his Mother said it gave him a sense of purpose and community. She had asked the Store to consider paying him a nominal wage to further boost his morale and to help him feel needed and appreciated.

Instead they asked him not to return!!

ASDA heard and offered him two paid 5-hour shifts a week. Waitrose did attempt to back down but too late as the young man (Tom Boyd) was already settled at ASDA.

I've never been particularly impressed by Waitrose produce (M&S is much better - always has been) and my local store was one of the first they'd opened and on my doorstep. I only shopped there for emergency items over the decades but since reading about Tom I've avoided it totally.

Would suggest others do likewise.
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DD2 worked for Budgen's as a student and the staff were given strict instructions not to apprehend any shoplifters. This was about 2000.

polnan

I despair at this country, unbelievable..is this "WOKE" stuff? I simply do NOT understand.

I have just come back from Morrisons,, they have security tags on WASHING POWDER! and we wonder why this country well so many of the people act the way they do! I give up!

polnan similar issues in other countries, not just here and washing powder can be expensive, high value items are often the target.

Hithere You also know theft can also happen internally in the company right?
Agree. One of my family members works as a store detective & he says theft by employees is more of a problem than shoplifters.
Shock horror it also happens in hospitals with employees stealing sheets, towels etc.

Wasn’t it Waitrose who sacked a young disabled lad who’d stacked the shelves when his mum asked if he could be paid?

Just before xmas, I was in Tescos getting a shop, 2 bags, 2 scanners so they could be paid for separately. I was at the porridge aisle, put to boxes in the bags, scanned and about to move off when a security guard approached me and asked if I was alright, I said yes, (I was also adjusting stuff in the bag) he came closer, "Oh you have a scanner" he said, then another security guard came "problem?" He asked, I said no, he thought I was nicking stuff ( which is what he did) they both backed off, I stood up and asked them, "why is it you've approached me but if folk scarper through the door, you let them go? We all know Supermarkets have told staff to let them go!" First guard apologised and I walked away.

I've been in Tescos when the alarms have blared and seen thieving toerags bolt past the windows, most run, some dont, no police presence so they know they're safe.

If these supermarkets have CCTV, they should name and shame them. Put their pictures up, embarrass them, you never know, they might stop.

We were poor when we were growing up and mum told us, if you can't afford it, you don't need it and if you need it, you pay for it. Even now, like feed bills for my few sheep, the store gives us 28 days credit. They deliver to me when I ask free of charge, independent business owned by a young girl, she bought it (the business loan in her name when the owners wanted to close, to keep the business for the locals), I pay her the minute the order is delivered, it's usually in the Hundreds £'s. That's how I was brought up.

It is unbelievable! Every shoplifter the length and breadth of the country now knows they have the green light to help themselves at Waitrose
I read today that Iceland have offered him a job

Waitrose have backed themselves into a corner alright.

Sacking this guy is practically saying "come one, come all. Have a free-for-all on us. Nothing will happen to you!"

It's the Waitrose 'Shoplifters Charter'.

Every petty criminals dream.

Disgusting, they obviously think more of a thief than a loyal employee. Shame on them.

Black Belt Barrister on Youtube put out an interesting post about this. The real reason retailers tell their staff not to approach shoplifters as if there is a fight or whatever and either sales assistant or the shoplifter are seriously injured they may have to pay out huge sums in damages. Obviously, it is very unfair on the shop assistants and the law needs to be changed which I think is being looked into. Meantime, I think another supermarket has offered the poor shop assistant a job.

sorry I should have made it plain "they" refers to the retailers not the shop assistants.

Honestly? You couldn’t make it up!

Think this is disgraceful and ridiculous!

Waitrose should be ashamed, what kind of message does that give out. of course they'll just put the groceries up in price for the honest shoppers,

My wife is on the verge of stopping working for Waitrose, they are always short staffed, you can't give the level of service customers want so you get a lot of customer abuse, usually over something trivial.
Im sure it's no different with other places

TerriBull
My sentiments exactly. As soon as I heard this I emailed Waitrose immediately and told them what I thought of them. It was the only thing I could do, as I don't shop there.

janeainsworth

Hithere You also know theft can also happen internally in the company right?
Agree. One of my family members works as a store detective & he says theft by employees is more of a problem than shoplifters.
Shock horror it also happens in hospitals with employees stealing sheets, towels etc.

Straw man argument!