Monday - January 28, 2008

Blogger loses retail job over shoplifting

Too many people think “The customer is always right” when in truth it’s “The customer is always king”; in the retail business this means that you try to do whatever you can to make the customers happy so that they spend their money in your establishment. And then come back and do it again. It does not mean that the customers can do whatever the hell they want, and it certainly doesn’t include allowing the customers to steal things from your store.

Well, that’s what most of us would like to believe. Rather famous blogger Risawn found out that the real world doesn’t always make sense, and that our society seems to be going to Hellena Handbasket right quick. In between being in the Army, doing a tour of duty for a year in Kosovo, pursuing a college degree, getting promoted to Staff Seargent, running three or four blogs simultaneously, and becoming a qualified Drill Instructor, she’s been working as a clerk in a record store. I guess her employer just didn’t realize that when you hire someone like that you get a lot more than some fuzzbrained schlubb standing around collecting a paycheck. You get an employee with sharp wits, self confidence, and a straight moral compass ... who isn’t about to put up with petty theft by a bunch of punk-ass kids. So in between stocking the shelves and running the cash register she managed to snag shoplifters left and right without much effort.

I used to work in retail, once upon a time (about a month after the last dinosaurs died). We caught the little sneaks all the time too, but the company would never press charges. We’d just take back our stuff and throw them out. And we almost never beat the crap out of them. Almost. Never. Mostly. Probably lost a few customers that way, but they were stealing, so who cares?

I guess times have changed. When the Little Darlings get caught red handed, mommy probably threatens a lawsuit. And forget expecting a judge to take the side of the business, the same way they do for traffic cops. Nope, it’s hardly worth it, even if you have the theft on surveilance video. So stores go beyond not trying to stop losses, they actively work against loyal employees who assume Loss Prevention is part of their job. That’s the case here, and now Risawn is out of a job. (BTW, the con she twigged to is older than Moses. Any manager who isn’t wise to it, or who let’s it happen, doesn’t deserve to run a business.)

But it seems like it might be against business to prosecute shoplifters because laws these days are more in favor of the shoplifters then the businesses. You just accused me of putting this cd in my pocket? Do you have proof of this? It is fully one hundred percent substantiated? Hah, you didn’t get me on camera, I’m going to take you to court for defamation despite the fact that indeed, I stole the CD. But the court is going to back me because you don’t have enough proof.

So if you have an employee, such as me for instance, that can’t stand shop lifters and want to see the whole lot of them burn in hell, when I get on the case of one and save my employer money by doing a little research to discover that indeed, this product was stolen, guess what happens?

The Employee gets fired and the shoplifter walks away, scott free. Even though, the employee can verify that the product the shoplifter returned was not product properly purchased.

So, the lesson that business is teaching us today kids, is that they care more for keeping you happy then keeping you honest. You see a CD that you like but you don’t have the money to purchase it? Just grab that CD off the shelf outside of the camera and employee’s view, walk up to the counter and ask to return it. When you can’t produce the receipt, and you won’t get cash back, tell them you changed your mind and they’ll let you walk right out of the store with the product you tried to ‘return’.

Indeed, that would be my former employer’s policy. Me? I find that bloody ridiculous.

So she’s out of a job for bravely doing the right thing. Do you think she’s sorry about it?

Some commentor feels the need for more recent pictures ... far be for me to balk at a request like that:

SSGT K. Erickson in her Class A uniform.

Kami Erickson in her classy little black dress.

Oh, the lengths I go to, to please the readership. 

GET ME OUT OF HERE ...

Posted by Drew458     on 01/28/2008 at 12:17 PM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
• Comments (13) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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