Middle class shoplifters partly to blame for rise in retail crime, says Marks & Spencer chairman
Archie Norman says the "social phenomenon" has become a "global problem".
"Some of it is by gangs or people stealing to fuel a drugs habit," he said. "No doubt that's probably increased a bit, it's always been there.
"Then you get the sort of middle class... with the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people go in and think, 'well this didn't scan or it's very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time, it's not my fault, I'm owed it'.
"So you see with the self-checkouts... just a bit of that creeping in."
It's not my fault, I'm owed it. It isn't clear how many people Archie Norman is referring to, but it's not difficult to imagine a few people making this excuse, at least to themselves.
In our experience, M&S self-checkout scanners aren't particularly good. Less responsive than Tesco or Sainsbury's and more fussy about the position of the barcode. Momentary annoyance followed by excuse - it's not difficult to imagine. It's tempting to wonder how they vote too, but maybe not.
8 comments:
I've told my wife that if a scanner rejects something just put the thing aside: it's Sainsbury's job to collect it and return it to the shelves.
The bloody things let her down so often that I'm not convinced they save her any time. I simply refuse to use one.
In the 1960s there used to be that odd phenomenon of the outwardly ultra-respectable middle class woman who was done for shoplifting, and the neighbours would - with a suitable mixture of hushed concern and glee - tell how the police had found her house full of contraband.
"It must have been a cry for help...some sort of breakdown..."
Today, we don't bother to differentiate. They're all just shoplifters, and the nursing sister or accounts manager (back in the '60s they were mainly foreman's wives) is expected to be as dishonest as the tattooed ones who attack the coppers when arrested.
dearieme - we don't have that problem at Sainsbury's, although I think the equipment is fairly new at our local store. M&S is not as good although it always works eventually.
Sam - ah yes, I remember the cry for help explanation. It even occurred in a few sitcoms I believe. As you say, they're all just shoplifters now.
I must admit, when using the self checkouts, I frequently steal plastic carrier bags
Bucko - I don't remember seeing any plastic carrier bags by our checkouts. They used to be there, but I don't think the new checkouts have them.
Oh, they do in our Tesco. You're supposed to scan them like any other item
A neighbour reported a recent shoplifting where the thieves, male and female, put stolen items from their trolley into the boot of their car, while a shop employee removed them from the boot and put them in his trolley. After a while, the two drove off, with the boot lid still up. To his knowledge no one filmed it, which is a shame, as it would have been hilarious. Fortunately, there was no violence involved.
Penseivat
Penseivat - that sounds like a missed opportunity to make the kind of video which goes viral. We once saw a chap walking round Lidl with his own version of a shopping basket. While waiting at the checkout we saw him nip past an unmanned checkout with his full basket and stroll out of the store. It took a while to realise what he'd done and although the staff eventually cottoned on they were too late to catch him.
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