NJ Quilter

We were just at Macy's corporate office the other day. Employees there either check their personal bags with security and/or have them searched upon departure. We were there for parade training and even the NYC police who came with backpacks and known not to be on the store floors were seached upon leaving the premises. They are not descreet...it's very 'open door' there. FWIW.

jrtpetey

Wow, I did not know all of this, but then I've never worked in retail.

wvdek

It is a good policy for business' to have. More theft is caused by all employees than by customers.

Eeons ago, I was what was called a Store Detective. In other words, I spotted and picked up shoplifters. The customers were pretty easy to locate. It was the employees, one inparticular, that were hard to catch in the act. She stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of high end womens dresses over a period of about 15 years. My boss said If I actually caught her in the act, heard her conspire to, or caught one of her relative/friends shoplifting, that there would be a good monetary bonus in it for me. I tried everything I could. You know the old saying, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" applied to her. Came awfully close to nabbing her, but never did. She was tricky and good.

My nephew works at a Walmart in CT. About two weeks ago, he spottd a TV where it didn't belong. He told security, they aimed the camera, caught the employee trying to take it out the back door.

One good thing about working as a Store Detective - my DH was the cop that came to arrest an 83, yes, 83 year old that had shoplifted over $500 worth of merchandise. Remember, this was over 38 years ago and $500 was a felony. The cop and I married and still going strong.

It'sJustMe

Great stories. I worked at one place, pre-production garments, where the workers who were stealing could easily sweet talk the guards into not even checking what they were taking (stealing) out of the building. And also, the guards assumed that people of a certain management level, wouldn't dream of stealing and we all know that isn't true either. I would have been happier with a much stricter system.

nunnyJo

yep. our purses were checked and sometimes a few were caught. good for the consumer as it eventually costs less.
If you're not afraid to have it checked, then you have nothing to worry about,
the best policy they had

luvngy

I am a former Employee of Joanns. it is the policy to check bags as we leave. it comes from corp. heads. its supose to keep you from being tempted to steal.

Eliebelle

Many years ago I worked for a very high-end furniture store. Every day when we left work, our purses were routinely looked at. No one was ever offended because theft is ALWAYS a problem in retail. Turned out that the HVAC crew that came in after hours to make repairs were taking everything they could fit in the truck without their boss catching on!

stnele

Yes, it is their policy. Employees and independent contractors included. It has been done to me with a manager running into the parking lot to check my pocket book and bags used for class infront ofstudents and customers. They have lost as I no longer bring items to class to show students. Sometimes they make you wait 15-20 minutes to check, but they do not pay for your time.

sewtruterry

Not only is it a policy for JoAnn employees anyone else that is in the building on the clock for another business (such as the guy there installing new light bulbs and the cleaning crews and anyone there working on the computer system and also the lost protection person )is technically subject to this as well including even the CEO is subject. I was in a JoAnns when they had the big mucky mucks visiting and everyone including the CEO or COO or whatever his actual title is now had to have a bag check. Again if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to hide. And yes they are now asking the cashiers to check the folds of the fabric as they discovered that people are tucking beads and other notions inside the folds and the cashiers were missing the opportunity to charge the customer for them. I am not saying and JoAnns is not saying that the customer is trying to steal anything but again you can see how it happens. Think about this a package of beads can cost upwards of $10 and you have 4-5 packages in there. It can really add up. Also if you have ever been to the grocery store over the last 30 years you will realize that there is a reason that the cashiers there have those stickers that they put on the gallons of milk and other large items that are usually placed under the cart. In fact when I was a cashier oh so many years ago (try 30 +) we were instructed that we had to take the time to go around the counter and check under the cart to make sure that we rang everything that the customer was taking out to their car.

DebbieJJ

I worked at a car ENGINE factory, and we had to show our lunch boxes and purses a few times a month!