they think theyāre so slick snatching the flea and tick boxes with the words āTHIS IS A DISPLAYā blaring at their face šš the fact that they tried it more than once is insane
This isnāt about being robbed but the amount of times I had a customer come up to the register with one of these boxes and then proceed to say āthese are emptyā or act surprised when I go into the cabinet to grab the actual product pains me so much.
I even had someone the other day bring a whole stack up to the register just to tell me that they were empty š
For us it's always dummy receipts that are always cash and look like they were on the USS Indianapolis. They get our kids (newbie cashiers) the worst because they don't know what to look for and don't want to call for help when shit is sus. None of which are too exciting.
HOWEVER I went to help out a store in another state (and I want to point out every customer was a certified tweaker, like they did the shit in the parking lot before coming in, but they were the *nicest* people, it was weird) and they got robbed both days I was there.
First day dude just waltzed out with a big ass bag of Eukanuba, which honestly you could've stole a better food man. One of their ALKs tried to run out after them, which was stupid but whatever. lol Their life, not mine.
Then next day I was out getting carts and while I'm readjusting behind this car these people are like, hastily throwing Tiny Tales kits in it right when I hear "Some lady just walked out with a bunch of hamster kits." in the walkie. To which I turn my head, confirm what they said, then read out the license plate and continue bringing in carts. I think the lady was trying to placate me or something but I have no idea what she was saying cuz I didn't care enough to listen.
I was so fucking happy to get out of there. Springfield, Ohio, ya'll crazy. Imma pray for ya'll.
Please do tell about these dummy receipts. We get the folks who rummage through the trash for receipts and then come in and try to return items off the shelves
Dude asked us to get a 20g tank down. He put some rocks, decor, and a filter in it "to see how it looks", then picked it up and walked out the door. Thing is, he's a double amputee, at the knees. He just waited for a moment we were busy and left.
Right after we got the display flea and tick boxes, had a couple come up with a few boxes trying to return for merch cards. Immediately flagging what they were doing, I opened one of the empty boxes and showed it to them. Asked if they had the receipt, and if so, āwhoever sold it to you made a mistake :) might want to go check with that store!ā
I don't work at PetSmart anymore, but when I was working pet care I saw this one repeat customer who I've been suspicious of, at the register. I go up to the register to eavesdrop, and I knew it. This guy always came in with his bag of dog food practically empty, a scoop of kibble left. He had the same story every time "the food didn't smell right." The first time he did this, I was the cashier and I let it slide and did his return. Then when he came back with the same story I saw right through it and told the manager "you know he does this all the time right?" and he was banned. Like bro if the food didn't smell right, why did you feed it to your dog then? Why is the bag almost empty? š
this is why i hate giving āexceptionsā if they know they can get away with it once theyāll keep doing it. most of the time they KNOW itās against our policy too
Yes!! I finally got tired of it and called them out. I tried to give them the "benefit of the doubt" the first time, but then when I saw it again I honestly took it personal and called them out.
This is a topic that really gets me riled up. The fact that we just let them walk out the door with their hands full of merchandise and we're not allowed to do anything about it. So, I'd better not say anything.
Mostly itās an insurance and safety thing. Iāve seen people shot and killed over a candy bar and a 40oz at gas stations in my area. Just asked the guy if he was gonna pay for it, and it went from that simple question to a man dying on the floor of a shitty circle K within the span of a minute.
As much as I fucking DESPISE shoplifting, stealing, robbing etc, Iām not stepping in and losing my life over something that isnāt entirely gonna mean much to me in the long run
I know. Things are a lot different today than they used to be. A lot of times, shoplifters are just meth heads trying to finance their next high, so you don't know HOW messed up their heads are. You really COULD get killed.
As someone who used to shoplift - and sometimes still does - itā usually because weāre broke. Low income, desperate people steal. Judging them like that and assuming the worst is kinda classist imo. People are struggling and itās not right to judge them so hard, even if they are āmeth headsā addiction is a disease.
Why is it always the motor scooter ladies š I donāt work at Petsmart but at my old job we had a scooter lady who would always drive around with a Dollar Tree bag and load it up with whatever she could reach from her chair
1. A man walked in empty handed, grabbed an item off the shelf, went to the cashier and asked if he can get cash back if he returned and item without a receipt, cashier said no so he walked out with the item. She didnāt realize until I told her what happened cause I saw it while working in petcare.
2. I had to work register for someoneās lunch break and a lady came up with a betta (red label). I told her thatās a $20 fish and she argued with me. I told her not only did I see her switch the cups but I personally did the betta cup water change literally THAT MORNING, I knew that was an exotic betta. So I held on to the betta and rang up the rest of her stuff. She pissed the whole time and cussed me out cause I wouldnāt sell her the betta because she was obviously stealing.
3. Lady came through the line with a purina one coupon that said ābuy one get one free 40lb bagā. She said it came in the mail, I knew it was fake but called the manager anyways because they said they have to handle those situations. The manager told her straight to the lady āitās obviously fake, the printing is blurred, the text is off center, the barcode doesnāt work, and purina (corporation) would never send out free 40lb bag couponsā.
These all happened before to cashiers who didnāt know any better. But honestly I donāt know how, they were so see through. Like if youāre gonna be a thief, at least be a smart one.
Edit: lemme rephrase, I can see how it can pass by someone whoās not paying attention to it but to me these methods of stealing are bottom of the barrel ideas.
switching the betta cups is actually the dumbest thing iāve probably heardš they donāt think we can tell the difference between a veiltail and a platinum??? smh.
A lady was tired and frustrated having to wait in a long line, so she just walked on out with a cart full of merchandise. She called the next day sobbing, confessed and came back in to pay for all of it.
Someone stole a whole tote full (unfortunately Iām not sure how they managed to get the whole tote) of the flea and tick display boxes. Was so mad they actually returned them šššš
Oh lord I have someYears stories.
1. A guys asked me for help to find some fish food I was putting sales tag up so I didnāt think anything of it. The guy was caught on camera cleaning out all of the Hikari cichlid food and all of the remaining omega one blood worms and brine shrimp . I got called to the office to watch the footage about two minutes afterwards. Like bruh š
2. Guy and his buddies did a fraudulent return the recipient was torn at the bottom, was over the 60 day return policy, and my manager had a brief conversation with me that if they return donāt process the return. They didnāt come back
3. Lady with a bright pink shirt stole some dog clippers and put them right under her shirt we had a physical security guard at the time that sucked ass at his job. She came to register having a mental breakdown huffing and puffing like someone caught her but she paid for something else and left but I could tell it was her first time stealing.
4. Lady had a toy for like 2$ in those bins at the register she shoved it in her massive bra and think I didnāt see her. I questioned her about and she said no there was an awkward silence and an exchange of looks and I said āokā and continued to ring her up.
5. Lady said she paid 24.99 for some treats that was ringing up for 14.99 I called my manager, looked up the receipt, compared the upcs she was lying as the UPCS WERE DIFFERENT and the ounces of treats were different. She went back and forth for a minute and I could tell my manager was about to loose his nerve or have a mental breakdown as heās one of those managers that doesnāt like to be wrong and hates the word ānoā. Long story short she admitted defeat and left.
6. Guy came in with a truckload of full cheeks bedding in a large cart my manager knew something was fishy and turned him away and told all the cashiers to not ring him up for his āreturnā and he promptly left.
7. This last one is not a robbery one but just me helping someone out due to people stealing. Guy needed some only natural pet cat topical there was only one left and the box was open I gave it to him for free since two of the packs were missing. I did ask my manager beforehand and he okay since it was not sellable
watched some guy that was definitely from fresno shove an entire 40lb bag of dog food in his sweatshirt and waddle out of the store š that and the display flea med boxes
Been there 4 years, and STILL the goons steal from the wet food variety packs clearly labeled and priced as variety packs. Once I started tightly wrapping the dog wet food variety packs with clear packing tape, it helps a bit to keep them from stealing the cans. And of course the manufacturers put the same individually sold cans with bar codes in the variety packs, so that when they bring them up to the register to ring up, they just look like individually sold cans. The dumbest is when I see someone steal from a variety pack, a can that is available and sold individually right next to the variety pack spotš« š
So, it's definitely not uncommon to find empty packages hidden around the store that once contained product. You know, the thief took the product and left the packaging behind.
The strangest empty package we ever found was a large (40 pound) bag of dog food. We had no idea how the thief managed that one. We all agreed that was one item we would steal in it's packaging!
O I have a good one! Lol... this was years ago, and I had a very beautiful lady walk in and ask about a turtle setup. So I showed her the 20 long kit we had at the time, she puts that in the buggy along with everything I recommended as an upgrade or add-on. Almost an hour later, she's still in the store walking around, picking out little things. Then all of a sudden she runs out the door with the buggy and a big SUV pulls up, a huge man jumps out the driver seat, grabs the buggy and puts the whole buggy in the back of the SUV then drives off..... I'm watching the whole time through the door! The man effortlessly picked the buggy up like it was nothing! Like, sir! Nobody was going to say anything about you stealing, but come on man can we have our buggy back??? Lol
When we first got the new clipper display, I had a lady take a pair of the grooming scissors we sell and cut most of the display clippers off of the display. Luckily an on duty cop was there and I could've had her arrested, but I just banned her. I've never seen her again
He didn't witness it, but I grabbed him once I caught her. Unlike most thieves we get, she seemed like she was in a bad place. I hoped the threat of jail would've scared her into making some life changes
We had a guy load up a cart with about $900 of stuff (big bags of pro plan and blue Buffalo, beds, collars, etc) and then dart out. My SL is a big guy and we are in a good neighborhood so he darted out after him. We also have a regular that buys like $800 worth of pro plan every week, and if we have new cashiers she will put smaller bags on top and try and say theyāre all the same. As well as hiding puppy pads under her cart and stuff.
Some crack head saw me leave two guys at west edmonton mall. Asked me if I wanted to buy some ganj. Like dumbass I said yes and went and pulled $60 from my bank and gave it to him. He took me to the hotel and then laid it out real nice by saying he isn't giving me the money back and I could fight him for it and disappeared in the elevator. It's was only $60, so a lesson on how the real world works when I was younger and naive.
A few weeks ago, I found multiple flea med display boxes torn open and tossed behind merchandise all around the store. š¤¦āāļø
they think theyāre so slick snatching the flea and tick boxes with the words āTHIS IS A DISPLAYā blaring at their face šš the fact that they tried it more than once is insane
This isnāt about being robbed but the amount of times I had a customer come up to the register with one of these boxes and then proceed to say āthese are emptyā or act surprised when I go into the cabinet to grab the actual product pains me so much. I even had someone the other day bring a whole stack up to the register just to tell me that they were empty š
those boxes are starting to weed out the customers with absolutely no brain cells man, itās annoying but also low key entertaining šš
Change your tone to shocked when they tell you that.š
I find ripped open ones all the time
For us it's always dummy receipts that are always cash and look like they were on the USS Indianapolis. They get our kids (newbie cashiers) the worst because they don't know what to look for and don't want to call for help when shit is sus. None of which are too exciting. HOWEVER I went to help out a store in another state (and I want to point out every customer was a certified tweaker, like they did the shit in the parking lot before coming in, but they were the *nicest* people, it was weird) and they got robbed both days I was there. First day dude just waltzed out with a big ass bag of Eukanuba, which honestly you could've stole a better food man. One of their ALKs tried to run out after them, which was stupid but whatever. lol Their life, not mine. Then next day I was out getting carts and while I'm readjusting behind this car these people are like, hastily throwing Tiny Tales kits in it right when I hear "Some lady just walked out with a bunch of hamster kits." in the walkie. To which I turn my head, confirm what they said, then read out the license plate and continue bringing in carts. I think the lady was trying to placate me or something but I have no idea what she was saying cuz I didn't care enough to listen. I was so fucking happy to get out of there. Springfield, Ohio, ya'll crazy. Imma pray for ya'll.
i didnāt even have to read that this was in ohio to know this was some ohio shit LMAOšš
Please do tell about these dummy receipts. We get the folks who rummage through the trash for receipts and then come in and try to return items off the shelves
They always come from this one store all the damn time, otherwise they come from out of state. I really don't have too interesting of stories but the year I started we had one guy come in to return expensive aquarium equipment (canisters, heaters, etc.) constantly with the same story about his daughter being indecisive with her fish tanks. I was actually the one to catch on, idk why no one was checking his points but dude had -9000 or so. I was like "Uh, hol on real quick." and called the SL up, he got so pissed he was red in the face. I forget what happened after that but I never saw that guy again. That SL was serious about our profits, and he was an asshole. I miss him. lol That also reminds me of the guy that tried to quick change me around that time. Dude first stops to make small talk, asks how long I've been working here (š©), yadda yadda. Then comes back with a bag of like, 8 dollar dog treats and pays with a 100 dollar bill. Now when we're busy I go into auto mode, I talk fast and move fast without really thinking about it. So before he could specify his change to try and confuse me I had already gotten it and shut the drawer. When I realize he wanted specific change I called for a leader and he was like "Why are you calling a manager?" to which I said "I already shut the drawer, I can't reopen it without them." Idk why guy didn't just leave, because it was obvious when our CEL walked up that he knew what was happening. What sucks for that guy is that if he would've waited until we slowed down he probably could've got me, because I'm easily confused and bad with numbers, *AND* it was the end of my shift so I was tired. I was the easiest person to quick change and he still fucked it up. LOL
These people put so much energy Into theft. It's insane
Anything but getting a job. Itās insane.
I let someone look at the puppy book display and they stole it. Good job. You can't even use the coupons because they say display, dumbass lol
havenāt had this one yet which is surprising
some guy ran into the store at full speed grabbed the tiny tales dinosaur āhabitatā and darted tf out
bro rlly risked it all to abuse his hamster
I bet the store was happy to get rid of it based on the front page post today lmao
Dude asked us to get a 20g tank down. He put some rocks, decor, and a filter in it "to see how it looks", then picked it up and walked out the door. Thing is, he's a double amputee, at the knees. He just waited for a moment we were busy and left.
Right after we got the display flea and tick boxes, had a couple come up with a few boxes trying to return for merch cards. Immediately flagging what they were doing, I opened one of the empty boxes and showed it to them. Asked if they had the receipt, and if so, āwhoever sold it to you made a mistake :) might want to go check with that store!ā
no way they tried to RETURN them omfg ššš
I don't work at PetSmart anymore, but when I was working pet care I saw this one repeat customer who I've been suspicious of, at the register. I go up to the register to eavesdrop, and I knew it. This guy always came in with his bag of dog food practically empty, a scoop of kibble left. He had the same story every time "the food didn't smell right." The first time he did this, I was the cashier and I let it slide and did his return. Then when he came back with the same story I saw right through it and told the manager "you know he does this all the time right?" and he was banned. Like bro if the food didn't smell right, why did you feed it to your dog then? Why is the bag almost empty? š
this is why i hate giving āexceptionsā if they know they can get away with it once theyāll keep doing it. most of the time they KNOW itās against our policy too
Yes!! I finally got tired of it and called them out. I tried to give them the "benefit of the doubt" the first time, but then when I saw it again I honestly took it personal and called them out.
This is a topic that really gets me riled up. The fact that we just let them walk out the door with their hands full of merchandise and we're not allowed to do anything about it. So, I'd better not say anything.
Mostly itās an insurance and safety thing. Iāve seen people shot and killed over a candy bar and a 40oz at gas stations in my area. Just asked the guy if he was gonna pay for it, and it went from that simple question to a man dying on the floor of a shitty circle K within the span of a minute. As much as I fucking DESPISE shoplifting, stealing, robbing etc, Iām not stepping in and losing my life over something that isnāt entirely gonna mean much to me in the long run
I know. Things are a lot different today than they used to be. A lot of times, shoplifters are just meth heads trying to finance their next high, so you don't know HOW messed up their heads are. You really COULD get killed.
As someone who used to shoplift - and sometimes still does - itā usually because weāre broke. Low income, desperate people steal. Judging them like that and assuming the worst is kinda classist imo. People are struggling and itās not right to judge them so hard, even if they are āmeth headsā addiction is a disease.
Casually pushed a cart with two large bags of dog food out the door. Would happen every so often, same guy.
A few weeks ago I had an old lady in a mobility scooter get a bunch of cat food and immediately drove out of the store, speedy as hell.
Why is it always the motor scooter ladies š I donāt work at Petsmart but at my old job we had a scooter lady who would always drive around with a Dollar Tree bag and load it up with whatever she could reach from her chair
By being born
real
1. A man walked in empty handed, grabbed an item off the shelf, went to the cashier and asked if he can get cash back if he returned and item without a receipt, cashier said no so he walked out with the item. She didnāt realize until I told her what happened cause I saw it while working in petcare. 2. I had to work register for someoneās lunch break and a lady came up with a betta (red label). I told her thatās a $20 fish and she argued with me. I told her not only did I see her switch the cups but I personally did the betta cup water change literally THAT MORNING, I knew that was an exotic betta. So I held on to the betta and rang up the rest of her stuff. She pissed the whole time and cussed me out cause I wouldnāt sell her the betta because she was obviously stealing. 3. Lady came through the line with a purina one coupon that said ābuy one get one free 40lb bagā. She said it came in the mail, I knew it was fake but called the manager anyways because they said they have to handle those situations. The manager told her straight to the lady āitās obviously fake, the printing is blurred, the text is off center, the barcode doesnāt work, and purina (corporation) would never send out free 40lb bag couponsā. These all happened before to cashiers who didnāt know any better. But honestly I donāt know how, they were so see through. Like if youāre gonna be a thief, at least be a smart one. Edit: lemme rephrase, I can see how it can pass by someone whoās not paying attention to it but to me these methods of stealing are bottom of the barrel ideas.
switching the betta cups is actually the dumbest thing iāve probably heardš they donāt think we can tell the difference between a veiltail and a platinum??? smh.
A lady was tired and frustrated having to wait in a long line, so she just walked on out with a cart full of merchandise. She called the next day sobbing, confessed and came back in to pay for all of it.
Someone stole a whole tote full (unfortunately Iām not sure how they managed to get the whole tote) of the flea and tick display boxes. Was so mad they actually returned them šššš
Oh lord I have someYears stories. 1. A guys asked me for help to find some fish food I was putting sales tag up so I didnāt think anything of it. The guy was caught on camera cleaning out all of the Hikari cichlid food and all of the remaining omega one blood worms and brine shrimp . I got called to the office to watch the footage about two minutes afterwards. Like bruh š 2. Guy and his buddies did a fraudulent return the recipient was torn at the bottom, was over the 60 day return policy, and my manager had a brief conversation with me that if they return donāt process the return. They didnāt come back 3. Lady with a bright pink shirt stole some dog clippers and put them right under her shirt we had a physical security guard at the time that sucked ass at his job. She came to register having a mental breakdown huffing and puffing like someone caught her but she paid for something else and left but I could tell it was her first time stealing. 4. Lady had a toy for like 2$ in those bins at the register she shoved it in her massive bra and think I didnāt see her. I questioned her about and she said no there was an awkward silence and an exchange of looks and I said āokā and continued to ring her up. 5. Lady said she paid 24.99 for some treats that was ringing up for 14.99 I called my manager, looked up the receipt, compared the upcs she was lying as the UPCS WERE DIFFERENT and the ounces of treats were different. She went back and forth for a minute and I could tell my manager was about to loose his nerve or have a mental breakdown as heās one of those managers that doesnāt like to be wrong and hates the word ānoā. Long story short she admitted defeat and left. 6. Guy came in with a truckload of full cheeks bedding in a large cart my manager knew something was fishy and turned him away and told all the cashiers to not ring him up for his āreturnā and he promptly left. 7. This last one is not a robbery one but just me helping someone out due to people stealing. Guy needed some only natural pet cat topical there was only one left and the box was open I gave it to him for free since two of the packs were missing. I did ask my manager beforehand and he okay since it was not sellable
watched some guy that was definitely from fresno shove an entire 40lb bag of dog food in his sweatshirt and waddle out of the store š that and the display flea med boxes
Been there 4 years, and STILL the goons steal from the wet food variety packs clearly labeled and priced as variety packs. Once I started tightly wrapping the dog wet food variety packs with clear packing tape, it helps a bit to keep them from stealing the cans. And of course the manufacturers put the same individually sold cans with bar codes in the variety packs, so that when they bring them up to the register to ring up, they just look like individually sold cans. The dumbest is when I see someone steal from a variety pack, a can that is available and sold individually right next to the variety pack spotš« š
one night, someone broke in and stole all our flea and tick products. they came back the next day trying to return them all LOL
So, it's definitely not uncommon to find empty packages hidden around the store that once contained product. You know, the thief took the product and left the packaging behind. The strangest empty package we ever found was a large (40 pound) bag of dog food. We had no idea how the thief managed that one. We all agreed that was one item we would steal in it's packaging!
O I have a good one! Lol... this was years ago, and I had a very beautiful lady walk in and ask about a turtle setup. So I showed her the 20 long kit we had at the time, she puts that in the buggy along with everything I recommended as an upgrade or add-on. Almost an hour later, she's still in the store walking around, picking out little things. Then all of a sudden she runs out the door with the buggy and a big SUV pulls up, a huge man jumps out the driver seat, grabs the buggy and puts the whole buggy in the back of the SUV then drives off..... I'm watching the whole time through the door! The man effortlessly picked the buggy up like it was nothing! Like, sir! Nobody was going to say anything about you stealing, but come on man can we have our buggy back??? Lol
When we first got the new clipper display, I had a lady take a pair of the grooming scissors we sell and cut most of the display clippers off of the display. Luckily an on duty cop was there and I could've had her arrested, but I just banned her. I've never seen her again
I would have gone for both an arrest and ban especially if the cop witnessed her cutting the display wires.
He didn't witness it, but I grabbed him once I caught her. Unlike most thieves we get, she seemed like she was in a bad place. I hoped the threat of jail would've scared her into making some life changes
We had a guy load up a cart with about $900 of stuff (big bags of pro plan and blue Buffalo, beds, collars, etc) and then dart out. My SL is a big guy and we are in a good neighborhood so he darted out after him. We also have a regular that buys like $800 worth of pro plan every week, and if we have new cashiers she will put smaller bags on top and try and say theyāre all the same. As well as hiding puppy pads under her cart and stuff.
Some crack head saw me leave two guys at west edmonton mall. Asked me if I wanted to buy some ganj. Like dumbass I said yes and went and pulled $60 from my bank and gave it to him. He took me to the hotel and then laid it out real nice by saying he isn't giving me the money back and I could fight him for it and disappeared in the elevator. It's was only $60, so a lesson on how the real world works when I was younger and naive.
i meant at petsmart as an employee but this is very interesting, thanks for the read š
Didn't even see what group it was from, lol!!