Bottle Loks Vs. Dumb Crooks

When you work in a store that sells beer and wine, you have the additional issues with theft that go along with that type of product.  It is an inevitable problem, and the staff has to learn what to do to deter and stop the losses.  Bottle Loks are a fantastic and easy solution to this problem, and they work in many ways.  They deter theft merely by their presence on the bottles, with the word “alarm” clearly printed on them.  They work with the Checkpoint System, so if there is an attempt to remove them from the store, the alarm will sound.  Plus, they have the capability to self alarm if tampered with or if taken beyond a predetermined point.
I work for a small retail pharmacy and I have to deal with my fair share of theft.  We do have the occasional professional booster group of shoplifters, but mostly we encounter everyday petty theft.  Along with that group is the subset of “dumb crooks”.   Yesterday I had to address one of their apparent key members.  I had a guy come in the store and drop off a prescription at the pharmacy.  He told them he would return in twenty minutes to pick it up.  As he made his way to the front exit, he strolled down the wine aisle, which is near the checkout.  The clerk at the front was ringing someone out at the time, but my staff is trained to be aware of shoppers in that aisle, especially in the early hours.  She saw choose a bottle, and then he walked past her over to the cosmetics section of the store.  The clerk assumed he was with someone else, since he walked over there.  Instead of that, he stuffed the bottle down his pants, Bottle Lok and all, and went straight out the door.  The alarm sounded, but he quickened his pace and left before he could be stopped.  
The part that I did not get was that he had to come back to pick up the medication he had just ordered.  So I went upstairs, got a good shot of him on the camera, and waited.  Sure enough, twenty minutes later he was back.  So I walked to the pharmacy, another bottle in hand, and when he came to the register to pay, I calmly told him I would be happy to ring him up for his medicine, plus I would be adding the bottle of wine to his purchase.  Of course, he tried the old “I didn’t do it” story, but I shut him down quickly.  I explained to him that he would break that bottle he stole before he would get that Bottle Lok off of it, so the plan was simple and he could follow it or he could go to jail.  He listened then.  I made him buy the wine, go back outside and get the bottle he stole, and we would trade when he came back in, in exchange for me not having him arrested.  
One, it wasn’t worth my time to go to court.  Two, he was coming back anyway, and he could not get the medication unless he paid for the wine.  Three, he would not do very well in court, or jail for that matter, considering his lack of intelligence.  The Bottle Lok did it’s job, so the best case scenario was to get it back without him cutting his hand off trying to remove it.  Win win for both of us in my book.

When you work in a store that sells beer and wine, you have the additional issues with theft that go along with that type of product.  It is an inevitable problem, and the staff has to learn what to do to deter and stop the losses.  Bottle Loks are a fantastic and easy solution to this problem, and they work in many ways.  They deter theft merely by their presence on the bottles, with the word “alarm” clearly printed on them.  They work with the Checkpoint System, so if there is an attempt to remove them from the store, the alarm will sound.  Plus, they have the capability to self alarm if tampered with or if taken beyond a predetermined point.

I work for a small retail pharmacy and I have to deal with my fair share of theft.  We do have the occasional professional booster group of shoplifters, but mostly we encounter everyday petty theft.  Along with that group is the subset of “dumb crooks”.   Yesterday I had to address one of their apparent key members.  I had a guy come in the store and drop off a prescription at the pharmacy.  He told them he would return in twenty minutes to pick it up.  As he made his way to the front exit, he strolled down the wine aisle, which is near the checkout.  The clerk at the front was ringing someone out at the time, but my staff is trained to be aware of shoppers in that aisle, especially in the early hours.  She saw him choose a bottle, and then he walked past her over to the cosmetics section of the store.  The clerk assumed he was with someone else, since he walked over there.  Instead of that, he stuffed the bottle down his pants, Bottle Lok and all, and went straight out the door.  The alarm sounded, but he quickened his pace and left before he could be stopped.  

The part that I did not get was that he had to come back to pick up the medication he had just ordered.  So I went upstairs, got a good shot of him on the camera, and waited.  Sure enough, twenty minutes later he was back.  So I walked to the pharmacy, another bottle in hand, and when he came to the register to pay, I calmly told him I would be happy to ring him up for his medicine, plus I would be adding the bottle of wine to his purchase.  Of course, he tried the old “I didn’t do it” story, but I shut him down quickly.  I explained to him that he would break that bottle he stole before he would get that Bottle Lok off of it, so the plan was simple and he could follow it or he could go to jail.  He listened then.  I made him buy the wine, go back outside and get the bottle he stole, and we would trade when he came back in, in exchange for me not having him arrested.  

One, it wasn’t worth my time to go to court.  Two, he was coming back anyway, and he could not get the medication unless he paid for the wine.  Three, he would not do very well in court, or jail for that matter, considering his lack of intelligence.  The Bottle Lok did it’s job, so the best case scenario was to get it back without him cutting his hand off trying to remove it.  Win win for both of us in my book.

For more information contact us at BottleLoks.net or call 1.770.426.0547