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The woman in the article posted by the OP was falsely accused.
"Both letters were sent before the authorities determined that Ms. Martin had been “mistakenly charged” and dropped the criminal case, according to her suit."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roselvr
You really have to read the article to know how this is happening because I was pretty stumped. In one case, a young lady was trying to scan items in the self check out, she was having issues with it. Apparently some items did not scan. An employee followed her out of the store, got the license plate number, the cops arrested the person who's license plate/ car it was; not the person that scanned the items. Apparently Walmart refuses to share the video of the "crime" then they don't show up in court.
In another case, someone exchanged an air mattress for a grill without a receipt at a Montgomery, Alabama Walmart. They accused her of stealing the air mattress when they had no proof. No one from Walmart showed up in court, her case was dismissed. It says that while she was awaiting trial, her temp nursing license was put on hold for nearly six months.
Something needs to be done. Walmart is ruining people's lives with no consequences to Walmart. These people being accused are doing jail time, missing work, may lose specialty licenses like the nurse and who knows what else all over BS claims.
I'm always returning or exchanging at Walmart, some days I have a receipt, others I don't. Target's system is far superior to Walmarts, all they have to do is scan your credit card, it looks the item up with all receipts tied to your card. Burlington Coat Factory uses phone numbers which is even better, especially if you pay with cash. I don't understand why Walmart is so far behind with technology. It's ridiculous!
Personally I have never filed a law suit against any individual or corporation...however in cases such as these perhaps filing a counter law suit against these corporations would send a message to them and their ilk that these false accusations and subsequent disruptions to their lives and reputations will not be tolerated without consequences...to their bottom line (and they have plenty of bottom line).
Personally I have never filed a law suit against any individual or corporation...however in cases such as these perhaps filing a counter law suit against these corporations would send a message to them and their ilk that these false accusations and subsequent disruptions to their lives and reputations will not be tolerated without consequences...to their bottom line (and they have plenty of bottom line).
I agree. Someone should consider suing them for whatever they can get.
You have to wonder about the self check out one, the employee obviously was watching them; why didn't they offer assistance when the daughter had issues for 17 minutes?
My daughter used to work there last year, I'll have to ask if employees get anything for turning in shoplifters.
The 23-year-old man and his fiancée were accused of shoplifting at the Portage Walmart in May. They were approached by one of Walmart’s asset protection personnel and taken to a back room in the store. They were told that a security video clearly shows they undercharged or didn’t scan a few items at a self-checkout kiosk, the couple said. An offer to pay for the items was refused, they said. Casey Staheli, a Walmart spokesman, told me, “There was not criminal prosecution because this was not a criminal case. Yet shoplifting still took place at that store.”
The couple thought the incident was behind them until they received a letter from an attorney one week later. “As a result of this incident you are liable for a civil demand in the amount of $100,” stated Michael Ira Asen, an attorney from Greenvale, N.Y. The Portage couple didn’t know what to do. If they paid the civil demand, it showed guilt. If they didn’t pay it, they could be taken to court, which they couldn’t afford, they said. Less than a month later, they received another letter from the attorney, whose website, recoverypay.com, describes his office as “a leader in civil recovery.” With “SECOND NOTICE” stamped on top, the second letter states, “Your failure to pay this amount may cause Walmart Stores Inc. to consider further action to enforce its rights under the law.”
Earlier this year, Walmart announced it would end its controversial anti-shoplifting program at its 36 stores in Indiana. The program charges alleged first-time shoplifters a certain amount of money, from $100 to $400, as well as participation in an online educational course provided by the Utah-based Corrective Education Co. In return, police would not be contacted.
Walmart’s Staheli noted, “We are simply pursuing what’s called civil demand and recovery based on Indiana state statute.”
The retailer’s “restorative justice” deferment program also appears to run afoul of Indiana “substantive” criminal law as well, Hill wrote in his formal opinion. “To Walmart’s considerable credit, this program has been voluntarily disengaged statewide,” Hill wrote on April 3. Walmart accused of 'legalized shakedown' after alleged shoplifting at Portage store - Post-Tribune
Easy solution, don't steal. Wal-Mart and other companies are sick and tired of people stealing so they're doing what it takes to recover those loses. Good for them.
Law abiding Americans should not be punished with higher prices just because someone decided to steal and now wal-mart needs to make that money back
Retailers are not loosing that much money from shoplifting, my company did a study on it and found shoplifting was not significant enough to effect P&L. When it comes to shoplifting, you have to take the mark up into consideration, and not the retail price.
If someone steals a $20 shirt from a store, the store does not loose $20. they are only loosing what THEY paid for it, and since retail markups are usually around 300%, the real amount the store has lost is not a big deal.
I support the stores. I doubt they’d waste their time going after someone if they didn’t have evidence. A high definition surveillance video and a copy of the checkout receipt or a shoplifter bypassing checkout are pretty conclusive.
The article didn't indicate any case that was proven in court.
In fact, in every case mentioned in the article that the suspect took the issue to court, the stores didn't even bother presenting a case.
So clearly, from the incidents presented in the article, the stores are just scattergunning based on supposition rather than actually having evidence such as video. This appears to be a technique they use when they don't have real evidence.
Moreover, they're demanding more money than they even suspect was stolen.
Moreover, if shoplifitng is a crime, then it needs to go to criminal court and be proven by due process.
My response to anything like this will always be, "Take me to court."
And if the police show up to arrest me out of hand for what is essentially a civil suit, I'm taking the city to court as well.
Easy solution, don't steal. Wal-Mart and other companies are sick and tired of people stealing so they're doing what it takes to recover those loses. Good for them.
Shoplifting is a problem. Shoplifters will lose if they choose to steal at businesses that excel in anti-theft practices. They will win if they steal at businesses that do not enforce anti-theft practices.
I had an instance yesterday. A customer presented higher priced items to return purchased at a competitor, carried in the competitor's plastic bag, and had no receipt for the items. She was disguising herself as a cancer patient (no hair, head covering, etc.). The return could not be processed unless she had a receipt for the items. She left the store with the items.
Another practice would be coming in the store, pulling out a competitor's bag, placing items in the bag, then come up to the register for a return without a receipt.
Easy solution, don't steal. Wal-Mart and other companies are sick and tired of people stealing so they're doing what it takes to recover those loses. Good for them. Law abiding Americans should not be punished with higher prices just because someone decided to steal and now wal-mart needs to make that money back
Inventory/cashier errors and employee theft are bigger problems than shoplifting. The total for all theft (employee and shoplifting) for Walmart comprised 1% of their revenue.
How big of a problem is shrinkage? For the typical vendor, it amounts to about 1.4 percent of sales, according to a 2014 survey by the National Retail Federation. About 38 percent of that is caused by shoplifting, an additional 35 percent via theft by employees, and the rest reflects damaged goods, cashier errors, and other administrative slip-ups. https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#677928fa7643
All retailers factor a certain amount of shrinkage into their COGS the cost to stop all shoplifting or employee theft would far exceed what is lost by doing little to nothing about it. Higher wages and better benefits have been shown to lower employee theft, better engagement of retail customers by staff stops more theft than store security personnel do. Walmart could cut their shrinkage by having more employees on the floor, but it's clear that they can tolerate the loss that occurs because employees are usually only found at cash registers.
Shoplifting is a problem. Shoplifters will lose if they choose to steal at businesses that excel in anti-theft practices. They will win if they steal at businesses that do not enforce anti-theft practices.
I had an instance yesterday. A customer presented higher priced items to return purchased at a competitor, carried in the competitor's plastic bag, and had no receipt for the items. She was disguising herself as a cancer patient (no hair, head covering, etc.). The return could not be processed unless she had a receipt for the items. She left the store with the items.
Another practice would be coming in the store, pulling out a competitor's bag, placing items in the bag, then come up to the register for a return without a receipt.
The first incident you described is not shoplifting. The second scam would be hard to perpetrate, why would a retailer accept a return that is presented in a bag from a different store with no receipt? Walmart sets themselves up for return scams, I have no idea why they don't modify it to limit the return of cash purchases without a receipt to a certain amount and track purchases made with a credit or debit card by sliding the customers card through the card machine. I buy stuff at home depot and I never keep the receipt because they can always find the transaction with my debit card.
Mr. McDonald said that if Ms. Thompson’s daughter took the groceries without scanning them properly, it was by mistake. Video surveillance, reviewed by The New York Times, shows her daughter trying to scan and rescan groceries at the checkout machine for about 17 minutes.
After 3 tries I get the checker to help. I don't just bag them and think it's ok....Very stupid to do.
Retailers are not loosing that much money from shoplifting, my company did a study on it and found shoplifting was not significant enough to effect P&L. When it comes to shoplifting, you have to take the mark up into consideration, and not the retail price.
If someone steals a $20 shirt from a store, the store does not loose $20. they are only loosing what THEY paid for it, and since retail markups are usually around 300%, the real amount the store has lost is not a big deal.
Of course, markup is not always that big on all products.
But I think you have a point. Look at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Do we really think that when we use their 20% coupons constantly that they're losing money? I don't think so. When I get 30-40% off coupons at CVS, do we really think they're losing money?
However, that doesn't mean that shoplifting isn't a huge problem. We tend to think that it's always just an item here or there. I once knew a security person who worked for a mall. One day they arrested two women who were shoplifting as a team. When their car was searched, the found over $10,000 worth of shoplifted goods.
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