Paul? Robbery at Lowes? (Back Mountain, Kingston: how much, home, unemployment)

[EnyaGirl]

My husband and friend just got back from the Lowes in Edwardsville and witnessed a robbery taking place....some guy took off with a truck load of items, tore out of the parking lot, missing my husband's truck by *inches* Was just wondering if you saw this take place, and if you've heard if the cops caught the guy?!

[Summering]

Wow, the cops are going to want to know the truck color, plates, anything you can remember.
Type, Model............Whew, glad he didn't have a gun, thats scarey ....

[ScranBarre]

Oddly enough I was on my lunch break from 12:45-1:45, so I suppose I missed out on all of the action. We have another couple over our home right now, and they, too, were at Lowe's earlier and witnessed this incident. They said that they observed a couple of guys rushing out of the store with a snow blower, loading it up into their pick-up truck and then tearing off. We have thefts, robberies, etc. daily in Edwardsville because the borough council can't recognize that its police force is woefully inadequate for a town replete with such "issues," but that's for a separate anti-Edwardsville rant that I'm sure I'll be posting at a subsequent date. I have recovered empty packaging from aisles in my department each day I have been at work during the Holidays, presumably in most cases from concealment of merchandise. Some are cutting out the UPCs (bar codes) and security tags of relatively inexpensive chain saws and are swapping them with the bar codes of higher-end items. Our shed displays were recently graffiti-tagged. "Smash-and-grabs" have been occurring in our parking lot, and one of my co-workers had her purse snatched. For as much as I love our store, they couldn't have picked a WORSE location than the West Side Mall given its nefarious reputation for crime. A better spot would have been somewhere in the Back Mountain or in the upcoming Pittston Crossings project---two locations where the "riff raff" aren't as nearby as right around the corner (i.e. Main Street in Edwardsville/Kingston).

[InfectedMushroom]

They would be better off with a couple full time security guards. I know the feeling of finding empty packages and stuff around. I hate people who steal and make things worse for everybody else.

[PurpleCat]

That's just disgusting. It sickens me that people do this stuff--and get away with it! I used to work at The Disney Store--THE DISNEY STORE!!--and people would try to shoplift!!! They'd come in in pairs and one would try to distract the Cast Member with a million questions while the other would hide stuff behind fixtures. (We learned how to spot stuff like this for loss prevention). They'd also do shady returns.... and so many awful things. It's horrible what people do. The worst of this is that it was in a CHILDREN'S store and they are teaching their kids that this is okay!!! Horrible!!!

Walt Disney would be rolling over in his grave (er, or thawing in his cryogenic chamber, lol) if he knew about this!

[InfectedMushroom]

There is a big difference between some teenagers coming in stealing a keychain or t shirt and actual professional shoplifters. The professionals know exactly what they are doing and go big or get nothing. They will have one person ask a lot of questions no normal adult should be asking about certain products, while an accomplice is sweeping an entire shelf in a bag. The problem is some stores are understaffed and those stores are often targeted.

There are quite a few tricks to getting around security tags/alarms and they are all pretty simple. The best way is knowing what to look for, and immediately walking around the store to check things out. They have a lot to lose so they have no problems ditching bags full of stuff in units if they know they will get caught. This is where good customer service is key, its quite a big deterrent to theft.

[littlebunnie69]

I think it's the sign of the times. I have a friend that works in TOYSRUS in dickson city. Over the holiday they caught a lot of people shoplifting and even caught a mother shoplifting with her child in the stroller she was hiding things in the bottom of the stroller. I think that is what happens when people start getting desperate and as more people lose their jobs we will be hearing of this happening

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by littlebunnie69

I think it's the sign of the times. I have a friend that works in TOYSRUS in dickson city. Over the holiday they caught a lot of people shoplifting and even caught a mother shoplifting with her child in the stroller she was hiding things in the bottom of the stroller. I think that is what happens when people start getting desperate and as more people lose their jobs we will be hearing of this happening

Unemployment is absolutely NO excuse to break the law. My father had a great career with IBM until they laid him off to outsource his I/T job to India. In the interim until he could find another job in his field locally (albeit a much lower-paying one since the salaries around here are FAR lower than they SHOULD be), he worked at both a grocery store and a gas station to help pay the bills, even though he has a college degree and decades of I/T experience. He was told he was "overqualified" for a lot of local positions to which he applied (i.e. the local employers are cheap and didn't want to adequately compensate someone of his experience level and education), and in others we believe he faced age discrimination. Did we ever turn to "shady" practices as we struggled? No.

I have Edwardsville's finest coming into our Lowe's store all the time giving me "sob stories" about how much their lives suck trying to wheel and deal with me to get deeper sweetheart discounts, and I tell them as politely as I can to take a hike. Theft is an enormous problem in our store, and as InfectedMushroom referenced these low-lives target stores where they deem staffing to be insufficient. For example, I worked alone yesterday from 11 AM-8 PM. Our store opened at 8 AM. That was THREE HOURS in the morning that my aisles were largely unattended. Next Sunday I'm working alone 9 AM-8 PM. When I go on my lunch there will be nobody in my aisles for an hour, and when I'm assisting a customer I'll be unable to keep an eye on things (I'm just PRAYING that people reading this and shop at our store are PATIENT with me next Sunday, as it's not my choice to be alone all the time in my department like this, as I know the people of Edwardsville leave a bit to be desired in the patience and understanding category).

I wish these big-box stores would realize that the best way to deter theft is to kill customers with overbearing customer service. If you're being asked by three different associates in ten minutes if you need help with anything, you're probably going to feel less inclined to do anything shady knowing there are so many "eyes" around. If the store is intentionally under staffed, and you can hear a pin drop where you are for quite some time, then your desire to swipe something will be far greater.

Unfortunately there's very little we can do about this either. I can't run out of the building chasing someone stealing something. The best I can do is clandestinely try to record a license plate number and phone the Edwardsville elite SWAT team (oh yeah, they don't have one of those either, even though they obviously NEED one at this point with all of the crime!) It's amazing my co-workers and I all pay $52 annually to that town, and we get nothing in return. Talk about council people who have no clue what to do with their money.

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

For example, I worked alone yesterday from 11 AM-8 PM. Our store opened at 8 AM. That was THREE HOURS in the morning that my aisles were largely unattended. Next Sunday I'm working alone 9 AM-8 PM. When I go on my lunch there will be nobody in my aisles for an hour, and when I'm assisting a customer I'll be unable to keep an eye on things

Yikes, I hope the thieves aren't reading this board!

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Unfortunately there's very little we can do about this either. I can't run out of the building chasing someone stealing something. The best I can do is clandestinely try to record a license plate number and phone the Edwardsville elite SWAT team (oh yeah, they don't have one of those either, even though they obviously NEED one at this point with all of the crime!) It's amazing my co-workers and I all pay $52 annually to that town, and we get nothing in return. Talk about council people who have no clue what to do with their money.

No definitely don't take things into your own hands. But,

When I was in high school working in a military post exchange as a janitor I was in the mini mall area mopping up the floor when suddenly a bunch of Military Police turned up. Apparently there was someone in the store blatantly shoplifting. When the guy got to the checkout he saw the MP's and took off like OJ Simpson with a stereo in his arms. I saw him barreling down the ramp so I immediately kicked over my soapy mop bucket and soaked the tile floor and when he hit that he went for one wild ride on his butt. I lifted the stereo off of him while the MP's piled on top and cuffed him. I think I got a $50 bonus for my quick thinking IRC.