Zeller's Aggressive Theft Policy

[mykalberta]

I have no problem with it at all. If parents are unable to properly school their child in right and wrong then they deserve to have the financial penalty attributed to them.

[Sainters7]

At least they're doing something about it. Back when I was a teen I briefly worked at a clothing store in the mall and we had the wussiest policy. I spent almost an hour helping some H.S. kids one time and in the end they ran out the door with 2 full garbage bags of clothes. I caught one of them and detained him, I was so pi$$ed. Pretty much told him he's f***ed.

I left him to the manager, expecting security to come shortly, but 10min later I saw her escort him out of the store and let him go, even less than a slap on the wrist. On the way out he gave me the cockiest smile too, one of the things on my bucket list is to curb stomp that kid at some point in my life.

[Calgaryborn]

The problem with a financial penalty is it hurts the poor more than the rich. Also, a private company should never have the ability to fine or punish. That is the responsibility of our legal system.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

The problem with a financial penalty is it hurts the poor more than the rich. Also, a private company should never have the ability to fine or punish. That is the responsibility of our legal system.

Shouldn't they just leave it up to God? If they don't repent their sin, they burn in hell.

Much better than a paltry fine.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I have no problem with it at all. If parents are unable to properly school their child in right and wrong then they deserve to have the financial penalty attributed to them.

Either you forgot to use green text, or you really have no clue.

[mrkajz44]

I like it, even kids at such a young age should be taught that with crime there comes punishment. Personally I feel theft is reserved for real dirtbags, nothing gets me angrier than hearing about theft; I have no idea why people think they have a right to take something that is not theirs.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

The problem with a financial penalty is it hurts the poor more than the rich. Also, a private company should never have the ability to fine or punish. That is the responsibility of our legal system.

This is the legal system, they are allowing a "settlement" in lieu of them suing you.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I have no problem with it at all. If parents are unable to properly school their child in right and wrong then they deserve to have the financial penalty attributed to them.

I'm sorry, that is just a load of crap, especially considering someone just a couple posts before you shared their story.

Parents can do an amazing job of raising their kids, and kids are still going to.. wait for it... be kids. My parents were amazing parents, and I still made mistakes.

Stupid post.

[postman56]

I most certainly agree there must be a punishment for theft, and I have dealt
with it with strong measures, but HBC and Zellers having some agency sending out Recovery of Civil Damages" notices for what was recovered ,$15 worth of lip gloss and asking for $595.00 is unethical.
There are many blogs pertaining to this, and I did some calling around, and the LSBC Lawyers' directory does not list anyone by the name of Hyde as a practicing lawyer. There is a woman with that last name, but she is non-practicing in any event. Certainly a letter or call to The Law Soc. of Upper Canada is in order.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

This is the legal system, they are allowing a "settlement" in lieu of them suing you.

Is that what the letter states? Or is it written as if it's some sort of fine? Seems to be walking a mighty fine line between an offer to settle and extortion.

[moon]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

I like it, even kids at such a young age should be taught that with crime there comes punishment. Personally I feel theft is reserved for real dirtbags, nothing gets me angrier than hearing about theft; I have no idea why people think they have a right to take something that is not theirs.

I agree that they should be taught about punishment, but they should be taught with proper punishments not some BS $600 charge for stealing a $1 candy bar.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Sliver

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.

Zellers isn't the victim to the tune of $600 though. Why waste giving money to them that they don't deserve? You can still teach the kid a lesson without going overboard and giving Zellers money it doesn't come close to deserving.

If this was an adult with a history of this sort of stuff and stealing something much more valuable then I could see acting in this way to try and prevent them from doing so again in the future but this sure seems like a young kid making a silly mistake that is likely not going to happen again and certainly not going to cost the store anywhere close to what they are claiming.

[Bill Bumface]

Stealing that $1 candy bar probably ends up with a manager tied up for a couple hours dealing with the kid, another hour in paperwork, someone else in the office following up with the police, consulting a lawyer to draft the letters they are going to send to all the delinquents, hiring security to catch the little buggers, and offices for all of the people who have jobs solely because of the thieves, $600 sounds like a deal.

[Hack&Lube]

Remember, LPO's can't do anything to you until you leave the premises. So stuff a bunch of stuff into your pockets and look shifty if you want to. You'll get a bunch of guys following you. Go toward the exit, and then suddenly veer toward the cash register and pay for it. Sometimes you can even turn around and try to strike a conversation with the LPO's and ask why they are following you, etc. for fun.

[fredr123]

Meh. If you don't think they are entitled to that much money, ignore their offer and make them prove it in court.

[puckluck]

Really do not understand people blaming the parents in this situation.

Kids are at school for 7-8 hours a day interacting and learning from other children. You can teach your child all the bad things about this world and what is right or wrong, but kids will be kids.

So maybe we can blame schools?

What Zellers is doing is Horse crap and they are punishing the kid a lot more than the kid being charged. That $600 might not seem much to some people, but to a lot of families that is the difference between paying rent or being evicted.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Meh. If you don't think they are entitled to that much money, ignore their offer and make them prove it in court.

The question I have is whether or not these letters make it clear that this is an option, or if they're written in such a way that people feel they have no choice but to pay.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by puckluck

That $600 might not seem much to some people, but to a lot of families that is the difference between paying rent or being evicted.

That compassion nonsense is the same character flaw that leads to shopping at Zellers in the first place.

We clearly need to start cutting off hands.....teach these kids about character. Besides, Zellers would probably make way more money selling "I'm with Stumpy" t-shirts than they do with the $595 fines.



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Kidding, obviously
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[VladtheImpaler]

Let's see a scan of your letter, postman (black out your name)...

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Really do not understand people blaming the parents in this situation.

Kids are at school for 7-8 hours a day interacting and learning from other children. You can teach your child all the bad things about this world and what is right or wrong, but kids will be kids.

So maybe we can blame schools?

What Zellers is doing is Horse crap and they are punishing the kid a lot more than the kid being charged. That $600 might not seem much to some people, but to a lot of families that is the difference between paying rent or being evicted.

Why is that relevant at all to Zellers.

To them they had to spend time and money on both loss prevention and on this particular case. They probably also factor in their overall losses to theft.

Zellers isn't there to care about families of customers and shoplifters paying rent at all.

The fine is probably much cheaper then the family hiring a lawyer and going through the court system.

And to me, theft is theft whether its a candy bar or a T.V. or clothes. If you give the kid a 50 dollar fine its probably not going to have an impact or act as a preventive measure in the future.

This calls attention to the crime, and sufficiently punishes the shoplifter to make him think twice.

I have no problems with the fine or the system.

If the parents don't like it, they can go to the court system.