what's classed as stealing in supermarkets.

[mrspirite]

can someone please settle an argument....if you pick up a sandwich while doing your shopping in a supermarket,and then eat it while walking round,but take the empty package to the checkout to pay for said sandwich,is this classed as stealing,and is it a prosicuteable offence..i say it is stealing.p.s. the same sandwich in the instore cafe,costs more to eat in.

[boxtops]

Dotty, that's your store policy, it's certainly not the same in all of them. Read that legal link - the definitions of theft and misappropriation are there. If your store deals with it that way, that's their decision.

[boxtops]

disagree NOX - part of the contract in buying fuel is going into the kiosk afterwards and paying for it. We don't drive off and use some of the fuel then come back and pay for it afterwards (which is what you do when you eat a sarnie before paying for it)

[venator]

It's a matter of intention - mens rea - and you can't prove the intention until the person has had a chance to pay. Once past the till, he/she's guilty.

That's why store detectives arrest shoplifters on the street.

[dotty.]

imagine the CPS letting a case go to court where the customer ate a pasty whilst shopping in asdas but only paid for it at checkout, the police wouldn't even arraest the person, it's pointless.

The ones that should be arrested are the nasty little oinks that eat the pick and mix before filling the cup! they're stealing bang to rights , but of course it would be deemed financially a waste of time to put them through the legal system.

[dotty.]

but boxtops it is the same as eating a pasty, as the petrol is then in the tank and in possession of the car driver. it can't be returned to the pump.

[NOX]

Says who Boxtops? Where is this ' contract' you speak of, I've certainly never seen one in a garage, and it is the given thing to pull off the pumps before you pay for fuel to make room for those behind you to get on, so you DO use some fuel before purchase.

[venator]

Dotty - it's quite simple - it's the intention to steal which matters.

"The ones that should be arrested are the nasty little oinks that eat the pick and mix before filling the cup"

Agreed, but the age of responsibility comes into it -I don't suppose a three year old would be prosecuted!

[venator]

Nox - read my post at 12.54 about the contract, and again, it's the intention - mens rea - that counts.

[factor-fiction]

dotty said: "boxtops unless a customer has left the store without paying for an item it is not deemed as theft, "

I know you work in retail management dotty but I'm pretty sure that's not quite right. I am sure people have been charged without leaving a store if there was a clear intention to permanently deprive.
Barmaid will know

[DTCwordfan]

the other issue in eating food, especially a sarnie, pastie or pie is VAT.......

[DTCwordfan]

on the premises of course.....

[dotty.]

it's been the same policy in every store i have worked in in the last 40 years, if they leave with goods concealed or otherwise unpaid for they get detained, if they dump them in store before they leave they cannot be detained, if they have not left the store they have stolen nothing, whatever they intended to do. no loss prevention officer will attempt to detain anyone without them having seen the actual concealment either, unless there is a clear sighting of an attenpt to conceal and remove an item there is nothing that can be done either except ask the person to return to the store voluntarily, if they decline to return and the loss prevention has no clear sighting of goods being concealed then the person alledgedly or suspected of theft will get away with it .

[mrspirite]

thanx one and all,not conclusive,but helpful.

[dotty.]

it's not even really about the statutes and legislation it's about how the loss prevention wants staff to deal with theft, the idea is to go for deterents and prevention rather than let them get out and then waste time with police and paperwork and courts. we had an incoident on thursday where a loss prevention officer was in store and saw a bloke conceal a helicopter under his coat, the officer just asked him to put it back or pay for it, the bloke handed it over and left the store. the officer could have let him leave and then arrested him, but where's the point in that? causes everyone alot of work and man hours.

[LyndaB]

I can't believe the number of people who think that just because shops have a built in margin to cover theft that its ok to eat goods on the way round! And what about the people who read a magazine from cover to cover before putting it back on the shelf and going on their merry way? Or the ones who rip the money off coupons from newspapers without buying them. Then there are the people who steal the free gifts from the front of magazines and comics - and trust me, they are by no means all kids!

[dotty.]

Lynda you must work in the same store as me.............

[dotty.]

they don't just steal the toy and make the magazine unsellable, they magazine still has to be paid for and the profit is lost too. It's only blokes that read magazines though and they are only Steam Railway publications or fishing magazines, or sometimes the odd Vintage Tractor enthusiast. they think they are doing nothing wrong but they have enjoyed the use of the product for 15 - 20 minutes and read it cover to cover and then don't buy it, but could any court convict them of theft? lol

[tonyav]

How about Custom Car, dot ?.

[Khandro]

Historically, you went into a shop and stood at a counter and waited for someone to hand over the goods after payment. When 'self-service' came along you chose and handled the goods before payment. This saved on staffing, encouraged you to buy things on impulse and increased profits. I think stores accept that people may consume edible items before payment, after all they are doing very well out of the system and as long as you don't walk away from the premises without paying there is no harm done.

[dotty.]

that's on the list tony, in the town centre store they have put a very annoying tune on a recorded loop to deter the 'fixtures' to stand reading. in our store we tend to not bother too much unless we are on a tidy deadline before closing, that's when they get annoying and we have to delay tidying around them, it's not a library though after all.