Home Depot and power tools

And it's probably the excessive tare weight of the other bag that's the problem Frank's having--his bag weighs too much so it figures the sorry sob customer is trying to sneak something out...too many "smarts" for its own good. :(

And now I have yet another reason add to my list of why to avoid the d-d things completely... :)

--

Reply to
dpb
Loading thread data ...

But it does NOT know what an itemX weighs if it is not sold by weight. Putting the bag on first makes the machine think something has gone through without being weighed. Putting the bag AND item on at the same time satisfies the system. Try it. It works.

** Posted from
formatting link
**
Reply to
clare at snyder dot ontario do

I suspect the scale resets/re weighs the remaining bags before each new transaction.

Reply to
Leon

Oh yes it does. I have had the self check out tell me to rescan an item that was too heavy. I had a heavier and lighter weight item in my left and right hand. Accidentally I scanned the lighter more expensive item with my right hand and dropped the cheaper and heavier item from my left hand, in the bag. It balked. Even back in the mid 80's merchandise was being weighed per part. General Motors could, with some accuracy, determine if a shortage claim was legitimate by comparing the parts sold to a dealer with what the actual weight of the order was before it was shipped to the dealer. If the shipping weight was under the actual weight of what the order should have been there was no problem having the claim accepted. I assure you that the with 99% certainty weight is know on every item with a bar code. This is very helpful in determining shipping costs on a shipment before an order is picked. I am sure that the rest of the retail industry has caught up in the last 25 years. But there is a possibility that not every retailer is taking advantage of this information.

If you have already started the transaction the bag will be considered an item to be purchased. At some point between the last customer and the next customer the scale has to reset otherwise replenishing an empty bag hook would set off a warning.

Reply to
Leon

Hmm... wonder if anyone's been successful at using that to his advantage (although maybe I shouldn't even bring this up and give anyone ideas?). If somehow he should know a couple of items that are equal weight - within whatever tolerance is used - could he scan the cheaper one and place the higher-priced one in the bag? Say a gallon of paint vs a $200 power tool? Or is the system smart enough to only de-activate the sensormatic tag when the correct barcode has been scanned?

Reply to
Keith Carlson

If the system isn't smart enough to tell the difference I'd hope the employee watching over the self service scanners would be.

Reply to
Nova

Reply to
mapdude

Well you could always just scan one and not the other, but then you get caught at the door. I don't know if the self check outs deactivate also, I often have the head cashier come over and assist when he or she hears some kind of alarm.

Reply to
Leon

In the DC area 0300 meant nothing.

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

And at Dart that could well be the case. Maybe they've improved. Hopefully they're gone. IIRC, the guy who owned them also started the first discount book store. Can't recall the name, but I shopped there now and then. Almost as bad as Dart.

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

... snip

Why? I can see once, but after that, why put yourself through that kind of hassle?

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

Weight. Those collection areas have scales to ensure that you aren't cheating the system by scanning something cheap and bagging something more expensive.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

Prices.

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

The machines in my area have ATM-style cameras, as well as cameras hanging from the ceiling above.

Since so much retail store theft involves employees, I have no doubt that all of it works.

Reply to
B A R R Y

It's interesting how this works. In general I think I've read that most retail theft is from within, but in places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc. it's from customers. The biggest areas - power tools. Can't imagine how one could walk out with a new cordless drill, complete with plastic case, but they do.

To top that - two local Home Depot stores were recently hit for pretty big wire thefts. The culprits cleared an entire shelf (one that required a ladder to access), of spooled copper wire. You're talking stuff that required a flat cart to carry. Worse, you're talking materials that required the "customer" to use a ladder to clear off the shelf - the kind of thing that would seem to stand out to store employees since customers are not allowed on the ladders. The wire spools were all tagged with the anti-theft devices. Yet, the thieves managed to get the products, remove the tags, and get out of the stores with the cart full of the stuff. The estimated value from at least one of these two stores was $3,000. That's a lot of spools of wire.

A good friend is the electrical associate in one of those stores. He was working that night and is pretty diligent about tending his department. All it takes though is a customer (or accomplice) to distract an associate in another aisle. HD's policy is that if a store discovers a theft like this, they notify the neighboring stores so they can be on alert, since so many times these are not isolated incidents. When they notified the other stores, one discovered that they too had been hit in exactly the same way.

Just shows to go ya...

Reply to
Mike Marlow

"Shrinkage" is a major problem at the retail level.

I have a friend who was involved for many years in retail fraud investigation and now is a cashier at Home Depot.

You would be amazed at some of the methods used to steal material, then sometimes try to return it for full credit at the same store.

A lot of it is by independents but it appears organized gangs are now targeting DIY operations like Lowes, H/D, etc.

As this is being written, the City of Long Beach, CA is being attacked by a bunch of thieves stealing manhole covers.

New: $500; Scrap: $10 max; however, major problem is liability when someone drives into an open manhole before the City can make repairs.

Times are getting tough out there.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I think it is obvious how power tools get taken out. The cashiers have become lazy and do not always bag items that are large, like power tool boxes and I have never seen any one investigae the alarm at the exit doors when it goes off.

The employees don't really believe that any one would steal that much but

80% of the time if the customer does not get the stuff down off of the high racks him self he is not going to get it. Again, the alarm is typically ignored. At best they look at who is walking out the door as the alarm goes off but this happen so often they don't do any thin about it except acknowledge that it is happening. They just figure that some one did not disable the tag.

Yup, that has been goiung on for many many years. When I managed an automotive store in the mid 70's we called the sister stores when we discovered 208 of a single part number of spark plug missing. No theft detection in those days except for patroling the store.

Reply to
Leon

At the same time a lot of employees are afraid to take the risk. An the companies send out mixed messages also, clerks are told to cooperate with a armed robber, yet are expected to run down a shop lifter. I worked loss prevention for a couple of years and you're never sure what you are dealing with. The worst of course is a user trying to get enough cash for their next fix, the least dangerous are the professional thieves.

There was an unarmed security guard shot here within the last six months when he went to confront a shoplifter

Reply to
asmurff

I never quite understood the concept of an unarmed security guard, it makes as much sense as him carrying an unloaded gun.

Reply to
Leon

Sometimes a Uniform is off puting. And Armed security guards have a reputation for winging the innocent - whether or not that reputation is deserved is another matter. Think Dick Cheney with a shotgun. :)

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.