Archived Being off the clock and seeing theft-

[EagleEye]

Looking for some APs to chime in on this dilemma I had...

I got off a shift and was shopping when I saw a male+female duo stealing beats headphones. I was still in Target attire so they kinda dodged around the corner, but then I encountered them again cutting a GoPro off the tether. They saw me once again and took off, but then they seemed to leave the area. We didn't have any AP with us, but they had a lot more in their cart.

So being off the clock without a nametag on, what are the chances of getting in trouble if I decided to try to use some intimidation techniques such as watching and following from a distance, pretend to call authorities, or even confront the guest if I know they aren't armed. In this case the male had a knife so I kept my distance.

TL;DR - Will I get in trouble if I tried to intimidate a thief into leaving their cart of potentially stolen merch while I'm off the clock?

 

[Retail Girl]

Are you AP? If you aren't AP, most of what you described would be a no-no on the clock, so I'm guessing would still be a no-no off the clock.

 

[BobtheETL]

Strange scenario here. It could be argued you didn't actually perform any work if you just followed someone while you shopped. If you provided Guest Service, you worked off the clock.

I'd imagine after you tell your AP about it, (I hope you have an ETL-AP, a TL won't help much here), you'll be showered with recognition and handed a punch correction form to fill to be compensated for your time you spent in recovery efforts.
It's up to you!

 

[EagleEye]

Well I'm not AP, and I wouldn't do anything "Target" wise such as guest servicing them or trying to apprehend, using Target equipment, etc. I would say about 90% of the people lifting from Target will wuss out after a little increased attention, so eyeballing them from a distance and keeping tabs on them might just spook them away and then a good deed would be done without anyone knowing!

 

[BobtheETL]

Well I'm not AP, and I wouldn't do anything "Target" wise such as guest servicing them or trying to apprehend, using Target equipment, etc. I would say about 90% of the people lifting from Target will wuss out after a little increased attention, so eyeballing them from a distance and keeping tabs on them might just spook them away and then a good deed would be done without anyone knowing!

Certainly tell your AP what happened. Part of their metrics include prevented theft, even when other non-AP TMs are in on the action. Plus you need an "Attaboy" out of the deal, in addition to the one I'm giving you now.

Attaboy. 😀

 

[H2Owned]

I don't think you are allowed to do that especially if the guest had a knife. I would of told whatever team member who is in the area that is on the clock to call the LOD. And inform the TM to keep an eye on the guest or have the TM ask the guest CIHYFS.

 

[consume]

Screw all of that crap, tell a buddy really quick (one that wouldn't punk you out), or just knudge a fool tm and mention it to them to bring it up over the walkie, don't act like you're doing anything more than just helping out, they shouldn't even mention you asked them.. If you think they might, tell them you wanna make them look good so don't mention your name..

I can barely tolerate the people who buy from our store. No tolerance for those who steal from it.

 

[EagleEye]

I don't think you are allowed to do that especially if the guest had a knife. I would of told whatever team member who is in the area that is on the clock to call the LOD. And inform the TM to keep an eye on the guest or have the TM ask the guest CIHYFS.

If the guest had a knife why would I have a TM go up and guest service them? I kept my distance and just kinda stared at them, and they seemed to get the message. I'm probably gonna ask my ETL-AP next time I see him to find out if anyone turned in a cart of high ticket merch.

 

[Leonhart621]

You're off the clock. You can pretty much point at them and shout "Theft"

You're a guest now.

 

[Amaazingdude]

When you're off the clock you're a guest...so I would just tell the nearest team member you see to call the LOD.

 

[greydotgal]

That happened to a team member at my store. He was leaving the store and saw a known booster walk into the store. He immediately turned around and informed the LOD. He stopped this girl from boosting hundreds of dollars in whitening strips, got praised for it and did not get into trouble.

 

[Kompa]

I think it depends on a lot of factors. You probably wouldn't get in trouble.

As for what I think you should do. Forget it. You were off the clock and it isn't your problem. There's no reason for you to "snitch" when you have almost nothing gain but a job to lose.

 

[consume]

I think it depends on a lot of factors. You probably wouldn't get in trouble.

As for what I think you should do. Forget it. You were off the clock and it isn't your problem. There's no reason for you to "snitch" when you have almost nothing gain but a job to lose.

Spoken as a true criminal

 

[NOP]

I think it depends on a lot of factors. You probably wouldn't get in trouble.

As for what I think you should do. Forget it. You were off the clock and it isn't your problem. There's no reason for you to "snitch" when you have almost nothing gain but a job to lose.

Yeah but somebody's got to pay for it somewhere...why should it be us, our store, our jobs?

 

[Nauzhror]

I'd have followed them very closely and attempted to spook them.

Asked them if they were buying all of those, and acted disappointed and said I'd intended to buy one of them myself. I'm not accusing them of theft, not explicitly anyway. It might be implied, heavily implied even, but they can't prove that was my intention. If I saw no TM's or TL's nearby I'd have hit the nearest indyme to attract someone quickly as well. I'd have instructed whoever responded to the Indyme to call over the walkie for Hardlines Four.

At our store I might get told that "off-the-record" what I did was a "no-no" (ie. working off the clock), but I'm almost certain that'd be the extent of any "punishment". They'd surely be happy I attempted to stop obvious theft, they'd potentially just let me know I officially-speaking shouldn't have done so as a means of covering their own ass. I have a good enough work-relationship with all our LOD's to be 95%+ sure they wouldn't try and punish me for going above the call of duty, and to be honest, if they did, that'd be fine by me, it'd probably just mean it was time for me to put in my two weeks notice as for me that'd be a pretty good sign that I probably didn't want to work there any longer.

 

[oath2order]

You're off the clock. You can pretty much point at them and shout "Theft"

You're a guest now.

If I ever see someone cutting Beats off the wire and I'm off the clock I'll be shouting theft so loudly. "THEFT. THEFT IN B22"

I think it depends on a lot of factors. You probably wouldn't get in trouble.

As for what I think you should do. Forget it. You were off the clock and it isn't your problem. There's no reason for you to "snitch" when you have almost nothing gain but a job to lose.

You seem to hate Target more than @Jackswastedlife99 😉

 

[Bosch]

Grab anyone on the clock and have them inform LOD/AP depending who is in the building. What I do with our alcohol thief that always shows up while I am on lunch.

 

[Kompa]

You're off the clock. You can pretty much point at them and shout "Theft"

You're a guest now.

If I ever see someone cutting Beats off the wire and I'm off the clock I'll be shouting theft so loudly. "THEFT. THEFT IN B22"

I think it depends on a lot of factors. You probably wouldn't get in trouble.

As for what I think you should do. Forget it. You were off the clock and it isn't your problem. There's no reason for you to "snitch" when you have almost nothing gain but a job to lose.

You seem to hate Target more than @Jackswastedlife99 😉

Maybe, I just try to keep it real. If someone was fighting I'd support breaking it up, but if someone is stealing and you're off the clock and following them, that something that doesn't affect really. If you seen someone robbing a house, sure, help out and tell but stealing insured headphones that amount to maybe .00000001% of your stores weekly sales at the risk of being acussed of "working of the clock", it's not going to happen. Don't be a martyr for your store imo

 

[RedMan]

Today as I was leaving work, I watched a guy's dog take a dump on the grassy area in the parking lot. I yelled, "Hey, you forgot to pick up the dog poop."

Should I do a punch correction?

OK that's kinda off topic but, really, should I?

His reply was not very nice, but I felt pretty good about it.

 

[EagleEye]

Quick update, my buddy in Electronics texted me and said the guest ditched their cart of high ticket merch shortly after I left the area. SUCCESS! Probably 600-700$ recovery at least..

 

[Leonhart621]

Great job!

 

[thetargetman]

The way I see it is the merchandise is replaceable and we can always order more. it is not worth you risking getting hurt. tell a team member in the are what you saw and let them call the LOD so they can do what they need to. but great job on the fact that they left the cart behind!

 

[buliSBI]

You do not approach. You report the incident and description to another TM or AP, and let them deal with it.