Friday, February 11, 2011

Security Tag Hell

Shoplifting and theft has caused all of us a good bit of problem, from forcing merchants to raise prices, to pay for the security cameras, tags, and strips added to stores and attached to their products, all the way to scaring the bejeezus out of you at the door when the alarm goes off with bells and whistles and a monotone voice instructing you to stop dead in your tracks, everyone stops and stares as you are instructed to return to the nearest cashier and return your ill gotten gains or pay for them, sometimes you are even immediately met by armed security, but most times no one even pays attention until you try to bring back the item with the forgotten security tag still attached.

When I was a single man I decided to go out and buy myself some new Wranglers, as nearly every pair I owned had been worn to the point that they were perfectly comfortable, you know that when Wrangler Jeans get to that perfect point there are usually holes worn through the legs, pockets, crotch, you know what I am saying, they feel really good but you can’t wear them out on a date or anything.

I knew what size I wore but decided to try them on anyway, yep they fit just fine so I just grabbed two more pairs off the shelf and paid at the register, I was given my receipt and the bag with my three new pair of jeans, I got home and removed my purchase from the bag ready to throw them in the washer, that is when I noticed that the two pair I grabbed from the shelf still had the security tags attached, by now it was late and the store was closed, yes this was back when most stores still had a closing time so I had to wait until the next day to return them.

Walking into the front door the alarm went off, you would have thought I had just robbed the place, I made the mistake of not placing the jeans back into a bag and immediately had them removed from my hands at the door, I explained they had left the security tags in place and got a yeah right, I produced my receipt and had it gone over with a fine tooth comb, by the time it was all said and done, I was taken to the back room and placed on the “Group W Bench”, some of you know this is where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime.., but to make a long story short they soon removed the security tags and allowed me to leave.
A few months later actually near Christmas, I was walking back into this same store, a young man was walking out at the same time, he was walking hurriedly and I noticed how raggedy he was dressed, he had holes in his jeans and wore no coat, he was carrying a small girl who was still in diapers and she was wearing a brand new coat with a hood, he snuggled her close and began to run when the alarm went off, the security people pounced on me and followed me all the way through the store, I never said a word and it may have not been the right thing to do, but I wasn’t going to point the finger at a Dad trying to keep his baby warm, and if I could have found him she would have gotten some pants too.

How about the security strips that are inside a lot of products, you know they run them across the pad at the register and it deactivates so there will be no alarm at the door, how many times does this little system fail?

One of the funniest failures of this little system was with Cindy and her friend Debbie in New Mexico, this happened not once but twice and after the second failure I heard that Debbie refused to ever step foot inside Wally World with Cindy again, they made their purchase and all the items were scanned, the items with tags deactivated and the girls head for the door, and as you guessed the alarm goes off, security is scrambling towards Cindy and Debbie and Cindy goes into a fake crying bout yelling at Debbie “I told you not to do it!!” the little misunderstanding was cleared with a permanent marker circle on their receipt, Cindy got chewed out by Debbie in the parking lot, and I don’t think they ever found out what item actually set off the alarm, but the girls did have a receipt, it did make a good story for everyone to laugh at, and just about the time when Debbie got to where she would laugh at it..

Cindy and Debbie went for a Girls day out sort of thing, Chinese Food at their favorite restaurant which Russ and I hated, time to discuss Russ and I, without Russ and I listening, and a chance to go to Wally World. They shopped around, had a good time, made their purchases that did not require a buggy, and Cindy picked up some Cigs which she paid for and watched them be scanned to deactivate said security strip, Cindy made the joke “Now this isn’t going to set off the alarm is it” the cashier assured her that it wouldn’t and out the door they walked, just as the alarm went off Cindy handed the bag to Debbie, jumped back, pointed and yelled “I told you not to do it”

20 comments:

  1. hehehe...oh too funny. Sounds like Cindy is my type of girlfriend. She and I would be too much trouble if we shopped together;))

    I cringe every time I leave a store...whether I bought something or not. Always afraid something magnetic stuck to me and I'm going to set the alarm ringing.....

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  2. Hey Dawn, I would have to sit back and laugh if you two were shopping together, I would try to help you past security as long as I am not the one holding the bag :^0

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  3. Holy cow, I cannot you believe you posted this because just today while I was a work, we were talking about how many customers who leave our store end up setting off the security alarm because the sales people in the clothing department are constantly forgetting to remove the security tags. It happens so much that I honestly think they don't forget to remove them, but rather are too lazy to removed them.

    Not only is it inconvenient for the customers, but also embarrassing.

    You're right Jimmy, shoplifting and theft are on the rise lately because of the economy. However, it seems that all the innocent people with security tags left on their garments are the ONLY ones who are being stopped. Others, who are actually stealing merchandise without tags are simply walking out of our store, freely. We see it all day long.

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  4. Yes Sir Ron, "Not only is it inconvenient for the customers, but also embarrassing." it seems to happen a whole lot more than need be in my opinion, and as you said with the economy more people are stooping to theft which I do not think is the correct action but how can you realistically monitor who is actually shoplifting when the security alarms are going off on actual customers.

    I bet you do see far more of this than you like, how about a post with your experiences and view of the issue :^)

    Good to see you Buddy!!

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  5. I am having a heck of a time commenting here. This is middlechild. I will try one more time. Jimmy, I would have dated you if you wore jeans with holes in the crot,...um,...OH! I love you because you would have bought the little girl some pants. I love you more because of how much you love your wife. And Cindy,...you are my kind of girl!!!

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  6. Great and funny post Jimmy! I was a Levi's gal but the softer and holier they got the better they looked, didn't they?

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  7. great post and that was very sweet of you to protect a child

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  8. Hey MC, Thank You so much my Dear Friend, The holier the jeans the more comfortable but yet sometimes you gotta get dressed up they tell me Ha Ha, Cindy is a fun girl I think it would be a blast to get all of you together :^)

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  9. Thank You Barb, I still wear Wranglers most of the time but you can’t beat the Levi’s 501 jean for comfort, my only problem with them is they don’t last as long as the Wranglers.

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  10. Hey Becca, I have a hard time with someone stealing but more of a problem with folks doing without, it appeared to me she needed a jacket and this was his only option.

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  11. Hahaha...'but most times no one even pays attention until you try to bring back the item with the forgotten security tag still attached.' Isn't that the truth?

    I've had the problem twice at JCPenney's. Got home and found the tag on the garments. Makes me so mad to have to make an hour round trip to get them removed. Last time, I asked to speak with a manager and requested some sort of compensation. They refused. I'm not sure I will even shop there anymore.l

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  12. Bijoux, I never understood why the alarm doesn't go off when you leave the store but does when you return with the forgotten tag.

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  13. Just yesterday HOB and I walked through out of a store and the alarm went off. I always hold my hands up like some police office has yelled at me. Anyway, the guy at the door just rolled his eyes and waved us through. He acted like we were idiots to stop.

    I am going to try Cindy's method next time.

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  14. Oh my! This happened to me only today! My sister and myself went to this department store sale. Everything was going fine, and being women, managed to find a few real bargains. Then, on leaving the store, alarms, bells and whistles....the whole kaboodle went off! We looked at each other, each thinking that it wasn't us, but, security came running, asking us to turn out our bags, even checked the push-chair and the almost 5 year old out....which has just about traumatised her for life.....only to find one of these security tags stuck to the bottom of my sisters shoe! How it managed to get there, well, no one can work out. But these things are more of a nuisance than anything else.
    Got to agree with you on worn jeans being the best though!

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  15. Hey Betty, If nothing else Cindy's method does provide a few laughs :)

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  16. Emily, I can just see it happening, and how the tag got there is anybodys guess as it should have never been on the floor.

    You just have to love a worn out pair of jeans :)

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  17. That was really good and funny! It sounds like something my wife and I would do to each other! It would be a race to see who could blurt it out first!

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  18. Hey Pat, In my situation I would be the one who just missed blurting it out first Ha Ha

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  19. SuziCate, Double trouble about sums it up :^)

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