Catch a thief, get fired.

[Veritas]

As if there needed to be more reasons to not do business with Best Buy, here's another:

Best Buy Fires Employees Who Tackle Thief

[delhalew]

Just...wow.

[GrapevineSooner]

My wife's place of employment has a similar, idiotic policy in place.

Not surprisingly, her company also has high shrink.

[Petro-Sooner]

Its a sad time we live in.

[Crucifax Autumn]

So you're saying I should just quit paying for shat at Best Buy? cool!

[Veritas]

Here's another thing I've never understood: anti-concealed carry signs at work places. Uh, dumbasses, that's not going to stop a disgruntled ex-employee from shooting the place up; a nice hollow point from a concealed carry weapon will do nicely.

Threadjacking my own topic FTW.

[bluedogok]

The same thing happened down here a few weeks ago to a Randall's (Safeway) dept. manager.

[Curly Bill]

Curly Bill needs a new digital camera.

[Pricetag]

You forgot the part about how they didn't actually catch him. The dude pulled a knife after they failed to control him outside, stabbed a manager, and got away. This is exactly why this type of policy exists.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Sucks.

I mean, we all know the policy exists of not pursuing a thief outside of the store, but it STILL sucks that a) the guys got fired, b) the manager got cut and c) the thieving bastard got away.

[Tiptonsooner]

The pussification of America.......

[Boomer Mooner]

"Local police say that whenever you see a theft in progress, whether it's at a bank, a store or your own personal property, you shouldn't try to be a hero.

They say you should be the best witness you can be, get as much information as you can and call police promptly."


...and say goodbye to your stuff because you will never see it again. I guess you can put that 'best witness you can be' business on your resume. I vote for shootin' thieves 'n****.

[badger]

Why do employees - Best Buy employees at that - care if someone walks out of the store with merchandise?

They no longer receive commission - they are just there to be minions of corporate America now.

They know what their store's policy is, and that is to let stolen merchandise walk away if it's outside the store.

Used to work at Lowe's before the whole college thing was over. We didn't have security systems back then (I think the store does now) and I knew exactly who the shoplifters were, because they would avoid eye contact with cashiers like me and some would have systems setup for shoplifting.

However, store policy dictates that you offer tons of customer service to give the customer every chance of paying and being honest... that's probably why Best Buy employees are now uber annoying lurkers who never leave you alone.

So, are you all here for shoplifting lessons? Well, the one who was most notorious back at Lowe's was a tag-teamer. One guy would return stolen merchandise for store credit, while the guy who came into the store with him would steal more merchandise. Thus, they could both purchase tons of stuff on store credit that they got for returning stolen merchandise!

One guy who tried to pull that off (who was not the mastermind) tried to do it alone. Alas, he made the feeble mistake of stealing-then-returning an expensive pipe that no Lowe's store in the area had sold for the past six months (it was worth between $500 and $600) so when he was attempting to return it, we noticed this and by the time we were asking managers if we could give him store credit, he fled the store and left his expensive stolen pipe behind, heh.

I don't think this type of heisting works anymore - most stores will not allow returns without receipts, period. However, five years ago, you could, and stuff like this went down... and all store employees could do was smile and greet the thieves, knowing that corporate office dwellers somewhere were crying about the bottom line.

[NormanPride]

Lawsuit $$ > Shrink $$

[Pricetag]

Yep. On the surface, sure it sucks. But just a little digging and critical thought reveals that it is smart business, period.

[kbsooner21]

It's poosay business

[JLEW1818]

Why do employees - Best Buy employees at that - care if someone walks out of the store with merchandise?

They no longer receive commission - they are just there to be minions of corporate America now.

They know what their store's policy is, and that is to let stolen merchandise walk away if it's outside the store.

Used to work at Lowe's before the whole college thing was over. We didn't have security systems back then (I think the store does now) and I knew exactly who the shoplifters were, because they would avoid eye contact with cashiers like me and some would have systems setup for shoplifting.

However, store policy dictates that you offer tons of customer service to give the customer every chance of paying and being honest... that's probably why Best Buy employees are now uber annoying lurkers who never leave you alone.

So, are you all here for shoplifting lessons? Well, the one who was most notorious back at Lowe's was a tag-teamer. One guy would return stolen merchandise for store credit, while the guy who came into the store with him would steal more merchandise. Thus, they could both purchase tons of stuff on store credit that they got for returning stolen merchandise!

One guy who tried to pull that off (who was not the mastermind) tried to do it alone. Alas, he made the feeble mistake of stealing-then-returning an expensive pipe that no Lowe's store in the area had sold for the past six months (it was worth between $500 and $600) so when he was attempting to return it, we noticed this and by the time we were asking managers if we could give him store credit, he fled the store and left his expensive stolen pipe behind, heh.

I don't think this type of heisting works anymore - most stores will not allow returns without receipts, period. However, five years ago, you could, and stuff like this went down... and all store employees could do was smile and greet the thieves, knowing that corporate office dwellers somewhere were crying about the bottom line.

i guess they have pride in their job, even tho catching a thief is not in their job descriptions.

[OUAlumni1990]

You forgot the part about how they didn't actually catch him. The dude pulled a knife after they failed to control him outside, stabbed a manager, and got away. This is exactly why this type of policy exists.

yep, then if the policy didn't exist the employees could sue best buy for not training them properly for the situation. CYA. Whats more important? Human life or a pile of electronics.....

[royalfan5]

if I worked for Best Buy, I wouldn't be chasing **** for what they pay.

[Pricetag]

No kidding. It shouldn't take a corporate policy to figure it out--nothing in that store is worth possible physical, even mortal, harm to my person. Sometimes, you have to be smarter than you are technically right.