Share your crazy theft/shoplifting stories!

claresauntie

Well-known member
A post in this thread got me to thinking about how much I enjoy hearing shoplifting stories... (I do NOT condone shoplifting at all, but I love hearing "stupid thief" tales).

So... anyone in the mood to share a wacky shoplifting or theft story?

I don't really have a good story, but I do know someone stole 2 open pigment vials from my counter. Yes, that's right, I said OPEN pigment vials. We take the tops off. I didn't see her do it, but damned if they weren't missing... so I would LOVE to know how she pulled that one off!
 

Love Always Ivy

Well-known member
the janitor that cleans and changes the garbage in the mall, came into the store to the front table and looked at the lipglosses while i was ringing a customer up and ran away with a lipgloss. what? like i didnt notice you and your mop putting the lipgloss tester in your pants.
 

GreekChick

Well-known member
I've already mentionned this one on another thread...
One lady, she's a regular at our counter, tried to return a brush for a full refund, because according to her, it was shedding. When we inspected the brush, we noticed it had nailpolish on the tip of the handle. The color was Abstract, the same color my coworker had used to paint her brushes, for indentification purposes. How stupid does one have to be to return a brush that has obviously, can't-hide-it-if-your-life-depended-on-it, been stolen. It's already bad enough that some people steal, but if they're still going to do it, then they might as well be smart about it.
 

ms.marymac

Well-known member
Hmm. I've got some crazy ones from other stores I worked at, but the shoplifters at the counter are a little more tame compared to the "Cops" like scenarios I saw before.

We had a lady that was busted by the security camera trying to stuff SEVERAL employee brushes down her pants.
 

lara

Well-known member
Lip brushes are constantly going walkabout in my store. Covered ones, regular ones... people make off with them constantly, although I've noticed recently that people have become a bit more picky and upgraded themselves to blush and powder brushes. Way to go, geniuses.
th_rolleye0014.gif
HO is always wondering why requests for $50, $60, $80 tester brushes are always being sent in every month and why we're all antagonising for brush belts.

You know the travelling MU stations that Lancome, Chanel, Dior etc. use when doing podium events? I once had the pleasure of watching someone attempt to nonchalantly unplug one, fold it up and lug it away (they weight 30+ kilos full stocked, mind you) and then be crash-tackled by security. Good times, good times.
 

Bernadette

Well-known member
Not really my story but apparently at a local MAC store there is a lady that like to go in there, act like she is putting on lipsticks and bite the entire thing off. Then, she walks out of the store, takes the lipstick out of her mouth and takes it home, apparently to use? People are freaking nuts.
 

Johnny Wal

Well-known member
we have had SEVERAL women (no males have done this to us, yet) take items off the shelf, bring them to the front, and want to return it for a full refund. Most of the time, we catch them because the security devices we put on our products deactivate when they try to return them, and if they'd bought the products, it'd have been deactivated by then. and if not, itd have at least gone off when they went out, and we'd make SURE to deactivate it then
 

GreekChick

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Wal
we have had SEVERAL women (no males have done this to us, yet) take items off the shelf, bring them to the front, and want to return it for a full refund. Most of the time, we catch them because the security devices we put on our products deactivate when they try to return them, and if they'd bought the products, it'd have been deactivated by then. and if not, itd have at least gone off when they went out, and we'd make SURE to deactivate it then

Then people whine and complain about how mean we are because we ask for a receipt.
 

MisStarrlight

Well-known member
I had one girl get pissed at me for something (I think I told her I wasn't going to do her face for free, or I wasn't going to do a consult for her appointment for the next day, but I don't remember now...). I was ringing out another woman & she was standing next to her looking at the beaker of mascaras we have up front. She picked up a mascara & when I wasn't looking, opened it 1/2 way & put it back in the package upside down & then gave it to me to return. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but we are not allowed to call people out on stealing unless we actually see them do it twice.

She handed it to me to return & since it was on her Macy's card (meaning that she had bought a frikin mascara within the past 6 months) I had to take it back. I took down the name off her card & gave it to my manager & security.


We also have this one lady who comes in every few weeks w/ her bratty 15 year old daughter. The daughter makes a fuss while the lady steals anything she can get her hands on.

Or this one dude (dressed as a lady, with a TERRIBLE wig) who walked casually past our counter w/ his friend on their way out into the mall....of course, we all notice the bad attempt at drag....next thing we know our security girl comes bolting down the stairway, practically knocking everyone down in her path & the dude is being led up the escalator & the friend is nowhere to be seen. Apparently he thought his wig & hip hugger jeans were enough a disguise to fool our crazy security girl.

Ok, so none of them are really that crazy (nothing beats the lipstick eater I think), but people are just...odd.
 

GreekChick

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernadette
Not really my story but apparently at a local MAC store there is a lady that like to go in there, act like she is putting on lipsticks and bite the entire thing off. Then, she walks out of the store, takes the lipstick out of her mouth and takes it home, apparently to use? People are freaking nuts.

This one beats them all. I have never heard of this. Wow, just wow.
rofl.gif
 

Love Always Ivy

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernadette
Not really my story but apparently at a local MAC store there is a lady that like to go in there, act like she is putting on lipsticks and bite the entire thing off. Then, she walks out of the store, takes the lipstick out of her mouth and takes it home, apparently to use? People are freaking nuts.

eeksign.gif
 

ms.marymac

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernadette
Not really my story but apparently at a local MAC store there is a lady that like to go in there, act like she is putting on lipsticks and bite the entire thing off. Then, she walks out of the store, takes the lipstick out of her mouth and takes it home, apparently to use? People are freaking nuts.

lmao.gif


I've had a woman pull money out of her mouth to pay for something but that just takes the cake. Wow. Just wow.
 

calbear

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreekChick
Then people whine and complain about how mean we are because we ask for a receipt.

Or those who wonder why prices go up . If people understood that on any given day my entire row of green eyeshadows is now missing after the cute little group of 15 year olds leave the store. I then have to make new testers which means $$$.

and just as an FYI the mouth is not the most interesting place someone has given me money from. Imagine working an ice cream cart at a event where the guy staning in front of you turns to the woman whose got on a leash an nothing else and tells her to pay for the two haagen dazs bars he just ordered. ;-) GLOVES, I NEED GLOVES!
 

VioletB

Well-known member
This is theft in my opnion, but our security wasn't able to do anything about it.

This gross-ass lady who was sticking her gross-ass fingers in all of our creams and foundations and powders (and anything she could get her gross-ass hands on for that matter) took a mascara out of the open-sell tower. She took it out of the box, left the box on the counter, went to juniors, and used it. Then she came back and just threw the tube back on the counter. I was livid. Then she asked me for samples!!! The nerve.

On a different note.. being friends with security is an awesome thing. I've had to sit in on shoplifters as a witness (which helps to pass the time on a boring Monday night) and I have seen some fun fun things. I saw a lady pull out like 5 shirts from her bra (she was a big lady.) I've also watched a lady pee her pants in the chair. Teenagers who have to get undressed because they have bathing suits on under their clothes.. an 80 year old lady who is a "mall walker" stuff five pairs on earrings in her pockets.. and this one tops the cake. Two quadriplegics (SP?) in motorized wheelchairs scooting down the aisles with the cops. Man, this is pure comedy.
 

slowhoney

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernadette
Not really my story but apparently at a local MAC store there is a lady that like to go in there, act like she is putting on lipsticks and bite the entire thing off. Then, she walks out of the store, takes the lipstick out of her mouth and takes it home, apparently to use? People are freaking nuts.

*LMFAO* So many of the stories here were hilarious but that takes the cake. Good god.
 

*Dani*

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by calbear
Or those who wonder why prices go up . If people understood that on any given day my entire row of green eyeshadows is now missing after the cute little group of 15 year olds leave the store. I then have to make new testers which means $$$.

and just as an FYI the mouth is not the most interesting place someone has given me money from. Imagine working an ice cream cart at a event where the guy staning in front of you turns to the woman whose got on a leash an nothing else and tells her to pay for the two haagen dazs bars he just ordered. ;-) GLOVES, I NEED GLOVES!


OMG! That's so scary! I feel so sorry for all of you, with these crazy customers!
 

flowerhead

Well-known member
Omg, once I was makeup shopping with a bi-polar friend, and we went over to the Chanel counter, there was this huge secutity guard next to the perfume bottles, and she just grabbed a bottle of boxed Chanel no5...stuffed it down her fur coat and walked out of there...it was fucking terrifying!
 

BloodMittens

Well-known member
OMG! Lol. Victoria's Secret had it BADDD. Because we have no cameras in our store at all, but we have a lot of girls in one room, so we're always watching. Well anyways, most of the girls used to make me play security guard when little 15 year olds came in to try and grab our makeup or panties. Well... I'm 5'9" and I'm not exactly friendly looking, or so I have been told. So we have this leather jacket in the backroom that says "VS Security: Orland Mall" and everything someone would say the code word when someone was shoplifting in the store, the manager would run to the back, get the jacket and make me put it on. Then I would run into the room, look around all menicingly, find the girls and just walk right up to them and ask them if they needed any help.

Okay, two stories. One time, we had this girl who was about maybe 13 or 14 trying to shoplift while her friends didn't know, I saw her take a nail polish and three pairs of panties, shoved it in her bag. So, code word, grabbed jacket, and I walked up to her FRIENDS, when she joined them again after blatently stealing and almost yelled really loud so the whole room could hear me "Sooo... would you like a bag for your panties and nail polish there?" I was holding a shopping bag thing that we use and the girl looked at me, scared out of her mind. And I yelled again "Oooh, alrighty, well if you come with me I can take you to the back where you can actually PAY for your panties and nail polish dear." She shook her head really fast and walked into the next room, threw the panties and polish down and literally BOLTED out the door. Everyone in the store was seriously ROFL.

Another time I had again, another pair of little girls in the store, stealing panties, each one of them at least got one pair. So I walked up to them "Sooooo, do you guys have your free panty coupons with you today? I saw the selections you made, awesome choices!" they all just kind of looked at me and their eyes got really wide and they did the same thing as the other girl. So I called after them "Next time, don't forget your free panty coupons!"

I don't know if you would call this shoplifting or not, but I once had a kid grab a canned duster I was using and shove it down his pants, saying "It feels good on my crotch cus it's all cold." I had no idea what to say... so I just kinda stared until he took it out of his pants and put it back... 6(._.) Strange...

Also we have those HUGE returns. We once had a guy come in with two big bags of bras and say he bought them, lost the reciept and was all sad about it. We asked him who he had bought the bras for, and he said his girlfriend. Well, my manager picked up a 32A bra and a 34DD and said "Hmm... your girlfriend seems to be fluctuating a lot." BTW, that return was about $3000 no joke.
 

kblakes

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by calbear
Or those who wonder why prices go up . If people understood that on any given day my entire row of green eyeshadows is now missing after the cute little group of 15 year olds leave the store. I then have to make new testers which means $$$.

and just as an FYI the mouth is not the most interesting place someone has given me money from. Imagine working an ice cream cart at a event where the guy staning in front of you turns to the woman whose got on a leash an nothing else and tells her to pay for the two haagen dazs bars he just ordered. ;-) GLOVES, I NEED GLOVES!


I have to ask what event were you working at?

So this isn't a cosmetic retailer but it is a retail story. I used to work at Wal-Mart *shudders* and people were awful. I had a lady bring a $20 eye drop kit and return it without a receipt saying she couldn't use it and she picked out the wrong one. So I did the return. The next week she walks up and does the same thing. I had to do the return because I didn't have any proof but really did she not think I would recognize her?
 

MAC_Pixie04

Well-known member
Oh man I have tons!!!

The Perricone Lady:
There's a big blonde lady who comes into our store all the time shopping for Dr. N.V. Perricone skincare products--average price about $95-100, easily. She's shameless, she'll ask for help, introduce herself and everything. So me and another girl are helping her and offer her a basket for the items she grabs and is interested in. A few minutes later, I walk by the area where she was and see her basket on the floor. I look around and she's walking very very quickly towards the door. I thought maybe she got a phone call or forgot her wallet. I pick up the basket and it's unusually light. All of the boxes were EMPTY. That's about $500 GONE out the door. We have no cameras so I can't prove it, and we're not allowed to stop someone or chase them, only our two top managers can. So nothing I can do.
Two days later she comes back and RETURNS the stolen goods. And our return policy sucks BALLS, because we had to give her a gift card for the full retail value. She happily shopped with her $500 gift card...and yes, I did find empty boxes when she left. She hasn't been back for a really long time, but dammit whenever I see a blonde at Perricone, my blood boils.


The Chanel Bandits
So there's a ring of women that steal from Fashion Valley and return at my mall, UTC which is only a 10-15 minute drive away. So our new manager was working down at FV and noticed a group of young African American women with one baby and two strollers. She greeted them, answered questions, was friendly to them and said she was going to be walking around, to ask for help if they needed it. She'd seen them before so this was her way of trying to keep them in the store while she called security. I guess they saw her and panicked, because they started loading Chanel Fragrances by the handful into the strollers and then took off running. The top manager and the LP lead saw it, and chased them to the parking lot. They caught up to them just as they were peeling out of the mall, but they got the plate number and a great description of them and their car. Since it was a grand larceny case (They got away with over $700 in fragrances) it was turned over to the Police Department. A few days later the police called back to confirm information saying that they'd possibly gotten a call matching their description at another mall. She confirmed it and said she'd be willing to identify them if they were apprehended. Well, it turns out they went to another mall and robbed a store at GUNPOINT in BROAD DAYLIGHT. In retrospect, it's a good thing the managers at Sephora hadn't caught them, because there's no telling what crazy shit they could have done after running away with adrenaline pumping through them. There aren't enough Chanel fragrances in the world worth someone's safety or their life. Fuck that, I'd give them the fragrances AND the lotions and body washes if I knew they had guns!

The Bitter Holiday Hire
This story hasn't been confirmed to match its title yet, but it follows my theory. So, as a Sephora employee you are entitled to a discount and you also get lots of gratis from brands, it's usually brand spanking new in original packaging. However, to prevent interntal loss prevention, they're usually marked GRATIS or GIFT somewhere on the box and the product so that people can't try to return them for free money. And if you need to make a return you HAVE to have your receipt or a copy of your cast purchase record signed by a manager, NO EXCEPTIONS. So tonight, this girl and her friends come in with a HUGE bag of product. She says she's got a return but doesn't have her receipt, so she'd "be happy to take a gift card." To put it shortly, none of the items had boxes (gratis doesn't usually), two of the items we didn't even sell in our company, and three of the items were clearly marked "GRATIS" or "TESTER." So we gave the items back and said that we couldn't return them. Unfortunately we had to take back the other items and give her a store credit. We did and then after we did she complained that she wanted one of the items on a different gift card because it wasn't hers, so she wanted to give it to the person she was exchanging it for. She never expressed this when she threw her bag down and said give me a gift card. So we had to void out the return, then redo it minus the other item, then do the other item separately. The cashier and closing manager weren't happy, so sorry to her we didn't do it with a smile on our faces. The girl goes "Are you having trouble doing this for us? Is it killing you? We didn't do anything to you so you don't have to be rude." Nobody had been rude to her. We didn't kiss her ass if thats what she wanted, but no one was rude. So to confirm my suspicion that she was or still is a Sephora employee, she said "I wanna speak to your Store Director." we said she wasn't here. Most people would simply say "I wanna speak to a manager." because I think Sephora is the only company that refers to their store manager as a store director and the team of employees as a Cast, it's not language common to our everyday clients. So we tell her she's not here and she asks "Who's your Regional District Manager?' Most people say they wanna file a complaint or "I'm gonna email your corporate office." Not every company has a Regional District Manager, and certainly very few clients would know how to address that position. So we will be tracking that gift card, and if it comes up that she used it for an employee transaction (they all get saved on our database, easily looked up) she'll be fired and apprehended. Legally what she's doing is embezzelment, if she's returning things she got for free to get money back for them. To make it awesome after she accused us of being rude and unfriendly to her, she and her friends walked out of the store yelling "Later you stupid bitches! BITCHES!!!" Yeah...cuz we're the rude ones.
 

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