Apprehending a shoplifter might seem simple enough. You suspect someone of stealing from your store; you stop them and demand that they give you your merchandise back. In the most general terms, that is pretty much what happens. This is, however, a very glossed over view of a shoplifting situation.
When you are faced with an actual or suspected shoplifting incident in your store, there are so many potential variables that one must be aware of to be able to determine, within that moment, what you have a right to do, and what you legally cannot do. Loss prevention training from a loss prevention seminar can help you muddle through the myriad of possibilities that might point your decisions in one particular way or another.
Did you know that as a retailer you could exercise your right to verify a customer’s receipt? If you suspect that product has not been paid for by a customer- intentionally or by human error- you may politely ask to see their receipt. If a product was rung up incorrectly, or not at all, you may ask the customer if they would like to purchase the item.
They have the right to either make the purchase, or leave the merchandise with you. You cannot force them to buy any item. It is no different than forcing any other customer to make a purchase. You can only retain the product that was not paid for. If the item was rung up incorrectly, and the customer does not want the item at the correct price, you will need to give them a refund for the erroneous charge.
Keep in mind that you should exercise good decision-making during this process. Depending upon the situation (such as a bad price label, or an employee training issue) you may opt to let the customer go without validating their receipt and correcting your operational error on your own.
If you do make the decision that the customer needs to be involved and their receipt validated, you may ask to see their receipt, but they do not have to give it to you. The customer has every right to leave without allowing you to check the purchase. If you make an attempt to force them to stay, you can be charged with an unlawful detainment.
This is part of why it is important to understand why you are trying to validate a customer’s receipt. If you have a policy to validate every receipt, you need to make sure every single customer purchased is checked, so no one feels singled out. If you are using an EAS alarm activation as a reason, you are only looking to make sure an error did not occur in the purchase- such as an item accidentally overlooked.
If you truly suspect that this is a shoplifting incident, you should use your loss prevention training and make sure that proper steps have been made to validate the theft. You should not be making apprehensions off of a receipt validation. This will leave you exposed to the possibility of a bad stop and loss of potentially honest customers.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.
Apprehending a shoplifter might seem simple enough. You suspect someone of stealing from your store; you stop them and demand that they give you your merchandise back. In the most general terms, that is pretty much what happens. This is, however, a very glossed over view of a shoplifting situation.
When you are faced with an actual or suspected shoplifting incident in your store, there are so many potential variables that one must be aware of to be able to determine, within that moment, what you have a right to do, and what you legally cannot do. Loss prevention training from a loss prevention seminar can help you muddle through the myriad of possibilities that might point your decisions in one particular way or another.
Did you know that as a retailer you could exercise your right to verify a customer’s receipt? If you suspect that product has not been paid for by a customer- intentionally or by human error- you may politely ask to see their receipt. If a product was rung up incorrectly, or not at all, you may ask the customer if they would like to purchase the item.
They have the right to either make the purchase, or leave the merchandise with you. You cannot force them to buy any item. It is no different than forcing any other customer to make a purchase. You can only retain the product that was not paid for. If the item was rung up incorrectly, and the customer does not want the item at the correct price, you will need to give them a refund for the erroneous charge.
Keep in mind that you should exercise good decision-making during this process. Depending upon the situation (such as a bad price label, or an employee training issue) you may opt to let the customer go without validating their receipt and correcting your operational error on your own.
If you do make the decision that the customer needs to be involved and their receipt validated, you may ask to see their receipt, but they do not have to give it to you. The customer has every right to leave without allowing you to check the purchase. If you make an attempt to force them to stay, you can be charged with an unlawful detainment.
This is part of why it is important to understand why you are trying to validate a customer’s receipt. If you have a policy to validate every receipt, you need to make sure every single customer purchased is checked, so no one feels singled out. If you are using an EAS alarm activation as a reason, you are only looking to make sure an error did not occur in the purchase- such as an item accidentally overlooked.
If you truly suspect that this is a shoplifting incident, you should use your loss prevention training and make sure that proper steps have been made to validate the theft. You should not be making apprehensions off of a receipt validation. This will leave you exposed to the possibility of a bad stop and loss of potentially honest customers.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.
While there are many ways that you can shrink your liquor inventory through employee theft, bottle services are one such way where the inventory dollars lost can escalate quickly. Having secured controls on your inventory and the operating procedures for your host staff will help to reduce some of those potential liabilities.
When you evaluate the execution procedures for your bottle services, you might start to pinpoint areas where a breakdown can occur, making theft easier and far less detectable. Let’s explore some of the methods and breakdowns that we have seen in various nightclubs and entertainment venues that have lead to employee theft.
One of the easiest ways a waitress or hostess can sneak entire bottles out of your inventory without you realizing it is when these employees have a carte blanche access to the inventory. On one hand it makes logistical sense to allow these employees to bring out bottles for their tables at their discretion and time frame. Having to involve another bartender or manager to get the bottles not only makes the service take longer, but also eliminates the sales that could be made by that bartender if they were not caught up retrieving bottles.
Unfortunately, without that check and balance you have no way to monitor how many bottles are leaving your storerooms and if they are actually being paid for. We have found that losses of this nature occur even unintentionally. A waitress that is distracted during a busy service and forgets to charge for an additional bottle that was served still incurs a loss, even if it was not intentionally stolen.
The next part of having open access to full liquor bottles is that a waitress might take a bottle under the premise that it is for one table, but actually gives it to another party. This can happen with other tables that have paid for a bottle service, but it also can be given to other patrons that do not have the service.
When you work in a club over a length of time, you start to know and befriend your regular customers. Some employees may take advantage of open access to the bar’s inventory to help their new friends out.
Some ways this can be prevented is by limiting who has access to bottle inventory. There can be a policy in place that all inventory must be rung up, tallied, etc before it leaves a stock room. Wait staff can be limited to only one table, if they are seen at another table, which should raise questions as to their involvement. Finally, if patrons are seen with full bottles (instead of portioned cups) beyond VIP tables and areas, questions should be raised as to why they have a full bottle in their possession.
Managers, bartenders, and even security should keep an eye out for these potential signs of losses at the hands of an employee. It is one thing to have losses from a bartender over pouring, or handing out a few extra drinks. Having a wait staff hand out entire bottles of liquor for free is a completely different escalation of profit loss.
For more information on Bottle Caps, Bottle Lock, Bottle Locks, EASy Bottle or Bottle Services in your Nightclub please contact us at Bottle Service or call 1.770.426.0547
All of the most prominent nightclubs, bars and venues in New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Virginia Beach, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas use Bottle Services for their best clientele. Don’t let your nightclub miss out on this VIP experience.
While there are many ways that you can shrink your liquor inventory through employee theft, bottle services are one such way where the inventory dollars lost can escalate quickly. Having secured controls on your inventory and the operating procedures for your host staff will help to reduce some of those potential liabilities.
When you evaluate the execution procedures for your bottle services, you might start to pinpoint areas where a breakdown can occur, making theft easier and far less detectable. Let’s explore some of the methods and breakdowns that we have seen in various nightclubs and entertainment venues that have lead to employee theft.
One of the easiest ways a waitress or hostess can sneak entire bottles out of your inventory without you realizing it is when these employees have a carte blanche access to the inventory. On one hand it makes logistical sense to allow these employees to bring out bottles for their tables at their discretion and time frame. Having to involve another bartender or manager to get the bottles not only makes the service take longer, but also eliminates the sales that could be made by that bartender if they were not caught up retrieving bottles.
Unfortunately, without that check and balance you have no way to monitor how many bottles are leaving your storerooms and if they are actually being paid for. We have found that losses of this nature occur even unintentionally. A waitress that is distracted during a busy service and forgets to charge for an additional bottle that was served still incurs a loss, even if it was not intentionally stolen.
The next part of having open access to full liquor bottles is that a waitress might take a bottle under the premise that it is for one table, but actually gives it to another party. This can happen with other tables that have paid for a bottle service, but it also can be given to other patrons that do not have the service.
When you work in a club over a length of time, you start to know and befriend your regular customers. Some employees may take advantage of open access to the bar’s inventory to help their new friends out.
Some ways this can be prevented is by limiting who has access to bottle inventory. There can be a policy in place that all inventory must be rung up, tallied, etc before it leaves a stock room. Wait staff can be limited to only one table, if they are seen at another table, which should raise questions as to their involvement. Finally, if patrons are seen with full bottles (instead of portioned cups) beyond VIP tables and areas, questions should be raised as to why they have a full bottle in their possession.
Managers, bartenders, and even security should keep an eye out for these potential signs of losses at the hands of an employee. It is one thing to have losses from a bartender over pouring, or handing out a few extra drinks. Having a wait staff hand out entire bottles of liquor for free is a completely different escalation of profit loss.
For more information on Bottle Caps, Bottle Lock, Bottle Locks, EASy Bottle or Bottle Services in your Nightclub please contact us at Bottle Service or call 1.770.426.0547
All of the most prominent nightclubs, bars and venues in New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Virginia Beach, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas use Bottle Services for their best clientele. Don’t let your nightclub miss out on this VIP experience.
If you are aware of library asset theft, then you more than likely have fielded an increasing number of complaints from students who have had things stolen from them while inside the library. If you take a closer look at the situation, you will probably discover that the root cause of your issues comes from not having a library theft detection system.
If students or administrators are aware of theft issues of “monitored” library resources, can they be convinced that the student body population will not also become victims of theft?
When resources like magazines, reference materials or electronics start to go missing, students start to view their library as unreliable. They are forced to seek outside resources to complete school projects, research assignments or just enjoy the quiet a library provides.
If the library is slowly becoming unreliable, but also is deemed unsafe, the reputation of the school is also damaged. The perception of an unsafe library can make the entire school deemed as unsafe, or seedy.
This can create a downward spiral as student enrollment drops, and alternative sources of funding are no longer available.
The nice thing is that this situation can easily be avoided through the installation of Checkpoint Systems for library theft prevention.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Library Theft Detection System devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop inventory losses.
For more information on a Library Theft Detection System, Library Theft Prevention, or a Checkpoint System and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to stop inventory losses in your library or call 1.770.426.0547
When you suspect an employee of stealing from your business the employee theft investigation is broken down into two main components: The Fact Finding, and The Interview. During the first part, all efforts are spent on separating fact from fiction, and solidifying the who, what, when and where. The interview section is designed to corroborate the evidence and to determine why it happened.
The starting point of conducting an employee theft investigation is garnering a lead. That could be a suspicion based on your own personal observations, a lead from another employee, or information that has shown up on a report (cash over/ short log, exception report, etc). Wherever you get the information from, it should start you in the direction of where, and possibly whom you need to investigate.
Based upon this information, you need to start to narrow down the scope of the losses. If you have a till that was short one day, you would start to reduce the number of suspected employees. By reviewing transactions, employee numbers used, CCTV surveillance, you should be able to eliminate possible suspects. Sometimes it might be from tracking multiple losses over a period of several weeks or months to establish a pattern; sometimes you might find who the employee is based off of a single incident.
With merchandise losses, you would work the process in a similar fashion. Determine a starting point- was it a specific item of merchandise that went missing? Maybe it was an incident with a specific employee that raised the red flags. From this starting point continue to further investigate to see if you can substantiate this initial incident.
Once you have solidified who took what merchandise on which date and at what time, expand your search to see if this particular employee can be traced back to other losses using this same method. Also look to see if this employee is using multiple ways to steal, and if there are other employees involved.
One particular employee made a rather large purchase. Upon review of the journal tape, only a portion of the items was rung up. After reviewing the employees purchase history, it was determined that he had made several purchases where only a portion of the product was rung up to be sold. By reviewing multiple transactions, we found that there were at least three employees involved in under-ringing the employee’s purchases. We then looked at the employee purchases for the employees who had been the cashiers in these instances, and found that they too had made similar purchases.
Had we not continued to research, we would not have discovered just how much merchandise had actually been stolen. We also would not have known about the other three employees, potentially leaving them in their current positions to continue to steal from our store. We would have suffered even more losses due to the incomplete investigation.
The ways to successfully complete an investigation into employee theft are as varied as the actual methods used in those thefts. The end results, however should be the same- you can provide specific information as to which employee stole what product at this specific point in time.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
When you suspect an employee of stealing from your business the employee theft investigation is broken down into two main components: The Fact Finding, and The Interview. During the first part, all efforts are spent on separating fact from fiction, and solidifying the who, what, when and where. The interview section is designed to corroborate the evidence and to determine why it happened.
The starting point of conducting an employee theft investigation is garnering a lead. That could be a suspicion based on your own personal observations, a lead from another employee, or information that has shown up on a report (cash over/ short log, exception report, etc). Wherever you get the information from, it should start you in the direction of where, and possibly whom you need to investigate.
Based upon this information, you need to start to narrow down the scope of the losses. If you have a till that was short one day, you would start to reduce the number of suspected employees. By reviewing transactions, employee numbers used, CCTV surveillance, you should be able to eliminate possible suspects. Sometimes it might be from tracking multiple losses over a period of several weeks or months to establish a pattern; sometimes you might find who the employee is based off of a single incident.
With merchandise losses, you would work the process in a similar fashion. Determine a starting point- was it a specific item of merchandise that went missing? Maybe it was an incident with a specific employee that raised the red flags. From this starting point continue to further investigate to see if you can substantiate this initial incident.
Once you have solidified who took what merchandise on which date and at what time, expand your search to see if this particular employee can be traced back to other losses using this same method. Also look to see if this employee is using multiple ways to steal, and if there are other employees involved.
One particular employee made a rather large purchase. Upon review of the journal tape, only a portion of the items was rung up. After reviewing the employees purchase history, it was determined that he had made several purchases where only a portion of the product was rung up to be sold. By reviewing multiple transactions, we found that there were at least three employees involved in under-ringing the employee’s purchases. We then looked at the employee purchases for the employees who had been the cashiers in these instances, and found that they too had made similar purchases.
Had we not continued to research, we would not have discovered just how much merchandise had actually been stolen. We also would not have known about the other three employees, potentially leaving them in their current positions to continue to steal from our store. We would have suffered even more losses due to the incomplete investigation.
The ways to successfully complete an investigation into employee theft are as varied as the actual methods used in those thefts. The end results, however should be the same- you can provide specific information as to which employee stole what product at this specific point in time.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
A popular recruiting tool is to set up an employee referral program. The underlying premise is that birds of a feather flock together, or good employees have friends and acquaintances that will potentially also make good employees. It is an alternative kind of employee background check, one where a current employee provides the validation for the referral.
When you have two friends working together you are prone to have two completely different experiences as a result of their familiarity. One of the positives is that the current employee will help to self govern the referral employee. When you put your stamp of approval on someone, you want them to be successful because it then ads to your own success and credibility. If the referral employee turns out to be a dud, that can tarnish your reputation, so you are more likely to offer advice and guidance to help keep that employee on track.
Because the employee is giving you an unofficial pre employment screening, you have a deeper insight about the referral than if this person applied directly from the street. You can ask the employee’s opinion of the referral, and quite often will get much more information about where they work, why they are looking for a job, etc than an application would ever tell you.
Keep in mind that there are questions that you still legally cannot ask. These are the same ones that you legally cannot ask any applicant. Some things are better left for a professional employee background check, instead of a privacy violation caused by drilling someone’s friend.
Of course the downside is that relying on information from a friend can be unreliable and biased. If you were fired for stealing from your last job, would you tell your friend, or would you only tell them that you were out of work and looking for a job? Friends, no matter how close, may not actually know the full story, or their friend’s work habits and ethics. Just because someone is a good friend does not necessarily make him or her a good employee.
When two friends are working the same shift together, there is a potential for a negative work ethic to come into play. It might be as innocuous as two friends spending their work shifts gossiping and joking around instead of actually doing productive work. It is also more likely that two friends, who have a longer history together outside of work, will turn to employee theft. Because the requisite trust needed to steal together is already there, it is much easier for employees who are friends to create and execute schemes to steal from your company. It is also more likely that a dishonest employee will knowingly refer a friend with the intention that this particular friend will help make it easier for the employee to steal.
A few safeguards that you can put into place are to not hire friends, relatives, etc. when the referring employee is management. You can also decrease the likelihood of negative actions if the two friends are scheduled opposite shifts. Then there will be very few opportunities to slack on the job, or worse, to steal.
Employee referrals are a good place to find applications, as long as you keep in mind that there are basic hiring procedures designed to help ensure a better quality candidate. Employee background checks are vital to the process, regardless of where an application comes from.
To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547
A popular recruiting tool is to set up an employee referral program. The underlying premise is that birds of a feather flock together, or good employees have friends and acquaintances that will potentially also make good employees. It is an alternative kind of employee background check, one where a current employee provides the validation for the referral.
When you have two friends working together you are prone to have two completely different experiences as a result of their familiarity. One of the positives is that the current employee will help to self govern the referral employee. When you put your stamp of approval on someone, you want them to be successful because it then ads to your own success and credibility. If the referral employee turns out to be a dud, that can tarnish your reputation, so you are more likely to offer advice and guidance to help keep that employee on track.
Because the employee is giving you an unofficial pre employment screening, you have a deeper insight about the referral than if this person applied directly from the street. You can ask the employee’s opinion of the referral, and quite often will get much more information about where they work, why they are looking for a job, etc than an application would ever tell you.
Keep in mind that there are questions that you still legally cannot ask. These are the same ones that you legally cannot ask any applicant. Some things are better left for a professional employee background check, instead of a privacy violation caused by drilling someone’s friend.
Of course the downside is that relying on information from a friend can be unreliable and biased. If you were fired for stealing from your last job, would you tell your friend, or would you only tell them that you were out of work and looking for a job? Friends, no matter how close, may not actually know the full story, or their friend’s work habits and ethics. Just because someone is a good friend does not necessarily make him or her a good employee.
When two friends are working the same shift together, there is a potential for a negative work ethic to come into play. It might be as innocuous as two friends spending their work shifts gossiping and joking around instead of actually doing productive work. It is also more likely that two friends, who have a longer history together outside of work, will turn to employee theft. Because the requisite trust needed to steal together is already there, it is much easier for employees who are friends to create and execute schemes to steal from your company. It is also more likely that a dishonest employee will knowingly refer a friend with the intention that this particular friend will help make it easier for the employee to steal.
A few safeguards that you can put into place are to not hire friends, relatives, etc. when the referring employee is management. You can also decrease the likelihood of negative actions if the two friends are scheduled opposite shifts. Then there will be very few opportunities to slack on the job, or worse, to steal.
Employee referrals are a good place to find applications, as long as you keep in mind that there are basic hiring procedures designed to help ensure a better quality candidate. Employee background checks are vital to the process, regardless of where an application comes from.
To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547
