Zeller's Aggressive Theft Policy

[WhiteTiger]

In wandering around the 'net, I found this link.

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/story.html?id=4405488] ~ Zeller's charging boy's family $595 for chocolate bar theft

The site was asking if Zeller's was right to do that.

In doing a bit more investigating, it looks like Zeller's has taken a very aggressive stance against shoplifter's, but isn't actually CHARGING them with retail theft. I'm not sure how the mechanics of it work out, or if they have a legal leg to stand on, but it's interesting to me that they've decided to go after shoplifters like this.

Having worked as an assistant manager for a small local drug store, I know how much of an issue theft/shoplifting is. But even if we caught the folks red handed and on video, almost nothing was ever done about it.

I do have to wonder if Zeller's is going a bit too far, though. How can they claim $595 worth of damages for a chocolate bar is beyond me. I'm not really sure where I stand on this, actually. Good on them for pushing this issue, but I'm not sure if they have any recourse to make any of this (huge fines) stand.

[Kybosh]

I had no idea that there were things worth stealing in Zellers. Learn something new everyday.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

On the other hand WalMart had a no prosecution law for under $25 so I was always tempted to just go "shopping" for stuff under $25 and just walk right out the front door.

No harm, no foul if you don't get caught and no harm, no foul if you do get caught. Save maybe embarrassment and banishment from the store.

[CaramonLS]

While this is a fairly extreme case, I do applaud Zellers for taking a stand against shop lifters.

Organized Retail Crime is such a massive industry right now - it is honestly startling. Police don't/can't do very much against it because "white-collar" crime punishments are very minimal.

Especially since "no one" really loses with insurance being the way it is.

[Hack&Lube]

I know Zellers employs a lot of plains clothes anti-theft agents in their stores. Maybe they are attributing the costs to that? They're not very well trained though and are extremely obvious. Maybe that's part of the theft deterrance scheme. Who knows.

[Rubicant]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

On the other hand WalMart had a no prosecution law for under $25 so I was always tempted to just go "shopping" for stuff under $25 and just walk right out the front door.

No harm, no foul if you don't get caught and no harm, no foul if you do get caught. Save maybe embarrassment and banishment from the store.

Or you could just realize that stealing is wrong, whether you get caught or not.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I know Zellers employs a lot of plains clothes anti-theft agents in their stores. Maybe they are attributing the costs to that? They're not very well trained though and are extremely obvious. Maybe that's part of the theft deterrance scheme. Who knows.

5 o'clock shadow? Check.
Male? Check.
25-35 years old? Check.
Jeans/Hoodie? Check.
Wants to be a cop? Check.

99% of your LPOs right there.

[TurnedTheCorner]

I keep wanting this to be a newly announced sequel that Rockstar is developing.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The Zellers in the Signal Hill area is hilarious for how little employees are anywhere near the door. The tills are far off to the side, and no one really anywhere near the doors the couple times I went in there. It was a desolate waste land.

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

I would just refuse the demand and tell them to sue and get a judgment.

Than again, it's not really an issue for me since I'm not a filthy thief.

[RW99]

I don't have a problem with it, it's a lesson for the kid and the parents. This coming from a former Zellers employee who had chased down some shoplifters

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

5 o'clock shadow? Check.
Male? Check.
25-35 years old? Check.
Jeans/Hoodie? Check.
Wants to be a cop? Check.

99% of your LPOs right there.

Yeah, they aren't hard to spot. The guys at Kensington Safeway fit the description. They love to spy down isles at you while you shop for pasta sauce like it's worth it's weight in gold

[CaptainCrunch]

I think that they should have the right to wire their anti theft tags to auto turrets at the door.

You try to shoplift, you eat several hundred 50 calibre explosive tipped bullets.

"Clean up at exit door one, bring a mop"

[TylerSVT]

apparently they have been doing this for a long time, most people dont know that they have no legal grounds so they pay the 600 bucks and zellers makes out like gang busters.

Crowfoot Safeway has the highest theft rate in all of Canada (or at least it did 2 years ago from what I heard from an inside source )

[Barnet Flame]

I think it is OTT. This is a first offence for the kid - ok, it was the first time he was caught, but hopefully the involvement of the police will have scared him enough not to do it again.

Lets face it, a lot of kids have shoplifted at least once in their lives, I know I did when I was a kid - it was wrong, I got caught - (Coop - Village Square Mall) when I was 11-12.

The police got involved and it scared the hell out of me and my Mom punished me - it included a grounding that lasted two months - I was allowed out on my birthday and the grounding recommenced the next day. I felt so awful at how I'd hurt my Mom, I never once questioned my punishment - but I learned from it and I never did it again.

That is the type of result that would be ideal in this case though I accept that Zellers would be more justified in this type of action if they were dealing with repeat offenders.

[Porkchopp]

I'm working in a restorative justice program right now and most of our cases are theft unders. Just about every client we have gets the letter from the store demanding 300 to 500 dollars in damages and threatening legal action. However, from what I understand, there is no legal ground to stand on there, they just do it cause a lot of people pay out of fear. Kinda uncool from my perspective, but then I would be what Harper calls soft on crime, or as I like to call it, approaching crime with a logical, treat the cause and prevent recidivism based perspective. Anywho, ya, just about every retailer we deal with demands the money, even those who fully support restorative justice.

[PowerPlayoffs06]

If an MP3 stolen over the internet is worth $9000 then $595 for a stolen chocolate bar is actually a sweet deal.

[postman56]

I was doing a little research on this “Retailers Right To Recover Letter” I received on from Hyde Legal pertaining to my young daughters petty theft from the local Zellers here in Calgary.
Her poor judgment is scary enough to have to deal with ,and we don’t condone her stealing , but I find this letter unethical and a use of intimidation to extort funds from parents.

The real issue is whether HBC is morally right in threatening children,most of whom are first time offenders and already suffering the stigma and alienation of being caught shoplifting. While shoplifting is a serious crime, and one worth attempting to eliminate, an examination needs to made as to whether using scared, embarrased people who made mistakes as a cash cow should be allowed.

I most certainly will be firing off a letter to the Regional Prevention Manager at HBC in Edmonton, the offices of Justice For Children and Youth and a complaint letter to The Law Society Of Upper Canada.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by postman56

I was doing a little research on this “Retailers Right To Recover Letter” I received on from Hyde Legal pertaining to my young daughters petty theft from the local Zellers here in Calgary.
Her poor judgment is scary enough to have to deal with ,and we don’t condone her stealing , but I find this letter unethical and a use of intimidation to extort funds from parents.

The real issue is whether HBC is morally right in threatening children,most of whom are first time offenders and already suffering the stigma and alienation of being caught shoplifting. While shoplifting is a serious crime, and one worth attempting to eliminate, an examination needs to made as to whether using scared, embarrased people who made mistakes as a cash cow should be allowed.

I most certainly will be firing off a letter to the Regional Prevention Manager at HBC in Edmonton, the offices of Justice For Children and Youth and a complaint letter to The Law Society Of Upper Canada.

How much are they trying to get from you? It seems like this may be a good opportunity to teach your daughter about consequences and allow her to work off some or all of the penalty (i.e. you pay the penalty; she pays you back). Depending on what they're trying to recover from you/her, this doesn't seem outrageous. I mean, Zellers is the victim here, not your daughter and in principle I can understand how a significant penalty would act as a good deterrent. I don't think her embarrassment even comes close to a good punishment for this.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

So how do these letters work?
Do they say something along the lines if "If you pay up we won't prosecute", or are they after the police have done their thing and they try to shake you down threatening a civil suit?

If it's the former, I'd say it's probably a decent trade off, monetary consequences are probalby preferable to getting the cops involved.
If it's the latter then I'd say it's a stretch to claim those sorts of damages.