"Middle-class shoplifting" - is this a thing?
Posted by LagerBitterCider197@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 219 comments
I was reading some articles last night on this - while everyone has their idea of what a shoplifter looks like, I was surprised to read about the increase in so-called middle-class shoplifting.
Does anyone have experience of this or will admit to doing it?
Consistent-Potato-20@reddit
I’ve gone to circle k and stuck monster cans in my bra under my boobs and walked out no problem lol
Alyssa388254@reddit
Ur. Evil 😂💞 I’m a 42DD my bf makes me carry a bottle of wine through security under my boobs also my teacher in school makes us put our phones in a little bag I just carry mine in my bra put it down deep enough to where it’s not noticeable carry my bfs as well lol
Consistent-Potato-20@reddit
😂😂😂😂 hilarious when I go to a theater me and a friend completely stuff our bras those small fireballs we usually can Carry about 10 each lol
Alyssa388254@reddit
My friends purposely buy bras with bigger sizes so they have extra room for stuff
Consistent-Potato-20@reddit
Honestly great idea I can’t wear dresses cause my tits will show I only wear skirts or v necks
Alyssa388254@reddit
I wear dresses all the time guys be staring at me it’s creepy 😭 my girls be hanging idc lol
Consistent-Potato-20@reddit
if I wear a dress everything goes in my bra lipstick lipgloss wallet iPhone keys
Alyssa388254@reddit
nah shoving monster cans under ur bra is crazy 😂 prob freezing 🥶
Consistent-Potato-20@reddit
I
Important_Bat_7648@reddit
Why are employees excluded from the shoplifting narrative?
Proof_Ball9697@reddit
Not in the UK but now that they have so few workers working in the grocery store it's easier now more than ever. Do it after 7:00 p.m. when all of loss prevention has gone home for the day. Go in and out as fast as you can and don't put anything in your pockets. Walk out and nobody knows anything. I shoplift quite frequently and I got really good at it when I was homeless. I just refuse to support corporations at this point in the game. They raised everyone's rent prices and all the food prices so I have to save money somehow.
PositionMysterious90@reddit
I'm sure this happens but I think it's to be expected when basic goods are marked up and down like the stock market. A bottle of water will cost you anywhere from $1 to $5 depending where you're located. I don't think anyone feels sorry for them.
Remarkable-World-129@reddit
Most middle class are entrenched in a prison of fear through conformity. The job, the mortgage, the family, the car, the holidays etc. I suspect it is a cathartic exercise to prove that whilst they are in their middle class prison of their own making, they can be free.
The freudian f u if you will...
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
You wish. They're just richer working class. It only emerged after ww2.
LagerBitterCider197@reddit (OP)
what do you mean "emerged after world war 2"?
barkley87@reddit
Both things are true
Djinjja-Ninja@reddit
Its been a trope for donkeys years. Bored middle-class housewives nicking stuff for the thrill of it.
Vernacian@reddit
It's even a minor subplot in Breaking Bad that Marie is pilfering things for kicks.
_DeanRiding@reddit
Pretty sure there's an episode where Marge does this on Simpsons too. There's definitely one where Lois does it on Family Guy.
misanthreddit@reddit
To be fair marges was an accident - slipped the Kentucky bourbon in her jacket pocket by mistake ;)
VerbingNoun413@reddit
A decent lawyer should have gotten her off for that.
VerbingNoun413@reddit
A decent lawyer should have gotten her off for that.
pajamakitten@reddit
She also did not get my Flintstone's Chewable Morphine.
snarfalicious420@reddit
She did not pay for her bottle of Colonel Kwik E Mart's Kentucky Bourbon
misanthreddit@reddit
No I guess she didn't!
ToastedCrumpet@reddit
Francine in American Dad did too, even developing the crotch walk and other methods but she treated it like an art form
greylord123@reddit
I know breaking bad gets a lot of praise but looking back, the writing for the female characters was atrocious. They wrote every female as basically a nagging housewive, a nuisance or an obstacle for the plot.
I enjoyed breaking bad but it's not until you watch better call Saul and you can see how much the writing has improved from breaking bad.
jodorthedwarf@reddit
I do wonder if that ends up working in Breaking Bad's favour. Breaking Bad is very much a show that shifts between Walt's and Jesse's perspectives. Much of the naggy housewife characters could just purely be the result of Walt's perception of his wife and Marie.
He's a massive narcissistic and appears to subconsciously disregard the female members of his family. He doesn't regard Marie as anything other than a bit of a judgemental snitch and an extension of Hank who is his main rival and the man he seems to compare himself to pretty regularly.
As for Skylar, he sees her as an obstacle to be worked around and not someone he loves, necessarily. He may have loved her at one time but now he just sees her through the lense of his own status and reputation. The has been trophy wife of a business enterprise that he sold his shares in way to early.
As for Better Call Saul. The female characters have a greater amount of variety because they encounter a greater number of people. The varied perspectives of different characters reflect on themselves and the female characters to create better rounded personalities.
There's also the possibility that Better Call Saul is much more based on Saul's personality and view of other people. He's a dodgy guy but he doesn't do it out of malice or narcissism (at least not until much later).
PiemasterUK@reddit
Exactly. You could look at it that in Breaking Bad every character, male or female, other than Walt himself, was just an obstacle to overcome.
Game_It_All_On_Me@reddit
I disagree. I thought Marie had some stellar character moments (dealing with Hank's anger and PTSD, agreeing early on that Walt had the right to choose whether he took treatment) and while Skyler was definitely overbearing in the first few episodes, I went on to have real sympathy for her, despite the many fans whinging about her not embracing Walt's dealings with open arms. Sĥe provided conflict for Walt, but I thought her reactions were often understandable, and she was never reduced to just* being an obstacle.
*I did also see a few fans referring to Kim as a bitch as soon she >!split with Jimmy. People just suck like that.!<
Teaandtrafficjams@reddit
It's usually the men who have to stump the cost of the grocery bill
eggs_and_ham_i_am@reddit
Middle-class shop lifting had a big upturn once the internet got more popular.
No longer could these middle class ladies get a thrill from getting their rat out in the readers wives section of a raz mag, so they turned to shoplifting.
I blame the internet.
Tarjhan@reddit
Surely the internet is prime real estate for displaying your rodents…. Pretty sure there’s a website dedicated to just that.
DavidRellim@reddit
I don't think it's the most considered of opinions
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
I don't know if I want to Google what "rat out" means.
original_oli@reddit
The spam butterfly, mate. The predator's face. A stamped bat. You get the picture.
Onetap1@reddit
Spam butterfly?
I fear your gift for creative writing has been somewhat wasted.
original_oli@reddit
Gash in a werewolf's shin. Burst sofa.
Does no one read or use Roger's Profanisaurus anymore?
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
This is why women don't want to have sex with you. The minute I heard you calling it a rat, it would shrivel up like an old cockle and calcify over.
A_Chonky_Raccoon@reddit
You know you've fucked up when someone called u/Cuntoffredditcunt calls you out on your use of language.
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
Exactly. They should be ashamed of themselves.
eggs_and_ham_i_am@reddit
It's like you can see into my soul...
It's from a TV programme, People just do nothing. I suggest you give it a watch and broaden your narrow horizons.
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
Lol, they didn't invent it. It's been around since at least the 90s.
AthenaRedites@reddit
thanks for that image
BigSillyDaisy@reddit
And Richard Madeley!
theevildjinn@reddit
And TV chefs:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/09/antony-worrall-thompson-caught-shoplifting
Redgloveslo@reddit
My mother does it
YatesScoresinthebath@reddit
Work in the police. Although interest I've never once come across a middle class shoplifter or heard of it happening. Closest you'll get is their husbands committed fraud at work
TheClimbingBeard@reddit
Is that perhaps because you're not looking for them? Everyone has unconscious bias, I'd be shocked to hear that isn't nurtured in the forces.
Peter_Sofa@reddit
That's because the milkmen have gone extinct
bhendahu@reddit
this is a sub-plot in my upcoming supermarket based comedy novel ‘late bloomer’, but there’s a twist!
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
Did they steal a tardy loaf of bread?
bhendahu@reddit
something like that~
terryjuicelawson@reddit
I think a lot of people do it and feel they can get away with it through sheer denial. Like they scan all their shopping through and "forget" a steak was left in their bag. If caught - "oops, I'll pay for that!" and no harm done. It is this level rather than shoving the steaks down your trousers and running off.
plantmic@reddit
To be fair, it would be SO easy to put two items into the self checkout area at once, then when the worker comes and okays it, you just don't say anything. They never actually check anyway.
Is that technically shoplifting, if the staff member approves it?
(Not that I'd do it, but it wouldn't be hard)
acarine-@reddit
Self checkouts are weight based though? So putting two items through at once would throw it off right?
plantmic@reddit
That's why you get the worker to okay it.
You don't even need to say anything... just literally just look at them and I'd wager in 75% of cases they would just put their code in and okay it. Then it's not technically you that did it, it's them.
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
I used to do this with Monster, if you scanned the mutli-packs with the plastic wrap, the cans themselves had the individual prices, while the outer wrapper had a multi-pack price.
If you timed it right the computer didn't realise there was a weight imbalance
nothingtoseehere____@reddit
Yes, because you have dishonest intent, I'm pretty sure.
banisheduser@reddit
Unless you whisper quietly that there's another one?
josikins@reddit
I think you’re supposed to cross your fingers behind your back, legally speaking
terryjuicelawson@reddit
It is theft by dishonesty, but it is kind of partly on them when they just log in and OK everything. It is a bit of a soft check, again exploited by people who look normal and middle class and not an obvious thief.
PikeyDCS@reddit
I was a retail security camera operator in Oxford street for 2 years. You get everything. It doesn't stand out in volume, but yes, and these often were troubled people looking for excitement.
Deep_Banana_6521@reddit
i have a friend, very intelligent and high earning guy. will always pinch something when he's at the supermarket. He'll do a £70 shop, and pocket a little tub of olives or a mini wine. he can afford it, i think he just likes to be rebellious in his older age.
worotan@reddit
He isn’t being rebellious, though. He’s just knicking stuff because he’s in a safe group.
butterjamtoast@reddit
I do this but only with vanilla essence.
Hosta_situation@reddit
I know a guy, he calls it his 10% rule. He says it's him fighting back against supermarkets clearly price gouging. He started late 2020 in that wave off massive price rises post-Covid. If his shop is £50, he knicks something worth a fiver, a big jar of marmite perhaps. £100 shop, maybe some posh shampoo and conditioner, about £10 worth.
I'm told he just mixes it in with his normal shopping. He's never been challenged, he's never been stopped. Good looking, well-spoken middle class guy, if he was stopped, it was obviously just an accident.
Supermarkets want to do self-service, this is the price. They complain about the theft, but they are trading at record volume making record profits. As if the staff give even a modicum of shit. Problem of their own making.
I respect his reasoning.
ASY_Freddy@reddit
for me it's shopping in Aldi but using Lidl bags
marxistopportunist@reddit
It's a mini adrenaline rush, or if it's something worth 20 quid or more, a big rush.
Or you might do it just because it covers all the times when you're overcharged for something.
Or, it's something you wouldn't buy at the listed price, but equally it's something you'd really enjoy.
karma3001@reddit
Is he called Marie Schrader?
SoiledGrundies@reddit
Richard Madeley.
Drath101@reddit
Worked retail my whole life and seen shoplifters from literally every walk of life. You can often spot them, but not always. One of our shoplifters I'd seen at my last job was a pretty rich old man. Just took newspapers or the odd meal deal item usually. He ate in the customer cafe and always had a wallet stacked full of 50's. He'd put them in his wife's handbag and if he was ever caught he'd blame it on her dementia. He'd been doing it for years
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
How can you tell? I always feel like I act suspicious in shops. I don't shoplift at all, but as soon as I see security or a worker, I think, "Shit, act normal or they'll think you're stealing" and then I forget how to act normal, so end up looking sketchy, I think.
SpudFire@reddit
It's the stripey jumper and a bag with $ printed on it that usually gives them away
InYourAlaska@reddit
Lmao I remember getting followed around my local supermarket because I kept flitting from one aisle to another, to go back to the exact same one
My son was maybe about 6 weeks old. I was just incredibly sleep deprived and could never remember what I bloody wanted in that aisle. Add on the fact like many parents I was using the pram as a makeshift trolley security probably thought I was gonna try and stash something in the pram. It unfortunately happens quite a lot with parents with prams
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
When I was a yoof we used to play games of seeing how long we could get store security to follow us around
SwordfishSerious5351@reddit
freezing in the aisle when they turn a corner, slowly backstepping to break line of sight before peeking your head round the next aisle and running? yeah hate it when i accidentally do that
plantmic@reddit
I wonder if some of it is a sense of superiority from hoodwinking others? Sort of like how conspiracy nuts think they are smarter than everyone else.
coderqi@reddit
Or a small little thrill.
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
Or his wife's dementia
Dependent-Soup1635@reddit
I think it’s the knowing that he could probably get away with it due to his social class. I dread to think what else he’s gotten away with 🫣
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
Money talks and walks away.
darthyoda76@reddit
I shoplift constantly, especially now they've made it even easier with scan and shop. Never used to but now refuse to pay the ridiculous prices supermarkets like to charge for everyday products. £7 for a tub of lurpak, feck that. Couldn't get away with it when they actually had store assistants and had to use the old conveyor belt. If they hadn't price gouged the fuck out of everything I'd probably still be doing an online shop.
simonsuperhans@reddit
Good lad, makes me proud. I'm amazed that everyone doesn't do this, saving a tenner or so on each shop really adds up quickly, plus it makes shopping a bit more enjoyable!
Chaya_kudian@reddit
Name checks out
marxistopportunist@reddit
Low risk
Save lots of money
Better nutrition, live longer
Save time, if it means you cook less
ElectricalActivity@reddit
The word is kleptomaniac and these people exist in all walks of life. No actual middle-class people are shoplifting because they can't afford food.
Sid_Vacuous73@reddit
Winona Ryder got caught doing it I think?
Liam_021996@reddit
She did and it totally derailed her acting career until fairly recently
Sid_Vacuous73@reddit
Lindsay Lohan as well.
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
There are many people out there living a "middle class" lifestyle, that cannot afford it.
Especially as things get tighter, they can't go and change their outgoing appearance, like sending little Timmy to private school
I remember after 2008 when the likes of Lidl/Aldi/Iceland the car-parks were full of Range Rovers.
SavlonWorshipper@reddit
They can afford food, but they can't afford the food they were buying previously. So they shoplift some of it rather than shop somewhere cheaper where they could pay for everything they need.
GrandDukeOfNowhere@reddit
Too poor for paint, too proud for whitewash
OptimusKai500@reddit
But it's not necessarily because they can't afford, more because they can save on spending.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Wine though.
MattyFTM@reddit
Supermarket security here - yeah, it's absolutely a thing. It's especially prevalent via self scan because people have the mentality of "well if I'm being forced to scan my own shopping, mistakes will happen". Well, Brenda, it's not a mistake if you're deliberately doing it. And it's blatantly obvious that it's deliberate, I'm not stupid enough to think that of all the things you forgot to scan it's the five most expensive things in your trolley.
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
I used to work on self-serve/scan as you shop and caught a repeat offender my first week. She split her shopping into two lots, and on the scan as you shop had missed 5 bottles of Jack Daniels and on the self-serve three £30 items of clothing.
She claimed it was an "accident".
She only got caught because I refused to detag items without a receipt as I'd been told. Others didn't do this, so she'd gotten away with it for months.
Paracosm26@reddit
Does she still shop there now?
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
She didn't come in while I was still there, but she could have just seen me and avoided my tills at the same time.
Wakingupisdeath@reddit
If they are doing it then they are doing it at Waitrose and M&S lol
Calemcuk@reddit
Me and the husband often get followed round M&S!!!! I blame it on my "eclectic" (husband says deranged kids tv presenter) style of clothing and him looking like a grizzly mountain man!!! 😂😂😂 I work in retail and am thinking mate while you're scoping us out bloody Jeremy and Ethel are having a field day stuffing their shoppers with prawn cocktails and trifles!!!!!
Xx-Apatheticjaws-xX@reddit
On Christmas M&S gets robbed empty, the one in Angel there’s many self checkouts that don’t even use scales.
You see people just go there when it’s packed and barely scan anything and walk out, there’s no camera, no scales either and as it’s Christmas the staff kind of didn’t want to make a fuss.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
My local M&S food hall gets robbed blind. It's 20 meters from the meat to a waiting car in the carpark. Shoreham.
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
One that made me realise how "sheltered" some peoples lives are, was when my mum was driving us all to an away match, stopping in a retail park to get some drinks. Me and her best mate stayed in the car, and a lad was legging it out with a bag of meat followed by security.
Mums friend was absolutely beside herself with excitement at seeing it unfold.
Then I realised that my life has always involved some smackhead coming into the local boozer flogging off gear they nicked, and stealing to order (Looking at you PSP I got for Christmas)
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
I normally go into the M&S food hall at 8am so first thing, it only something I've done this year as I have a bit of cash so I've upgraded from Tesco and Lidl. I was chatting to a friend who I hadn't seen for years and they now work there and I jokingly said how nice and pleasant it was and a relaxing scum free zone and that's when the stories poured out, when it gets busier it gets bad and when they pointed out the short distance from the meat to the door and a waiting car it looked more like a bank heist than a supermarket. They have also had dirty needles pulled on them too. Glad I left retail 25 years ago, it was bad then but now...
Awordofinterest@reddit
Know someone who works in the local M&S - apparently some months it wasn't uncommon to loose 20-30grand of meat stock in a month.
They have security guards now. If you ever see security checking an old ladies rolling trolley bag thing on the way in, it's because it's not rare to find the bag has been lined with foil/aluminium tape so the alarms don't get set off on the way out.
Nobody would ever expect the little old lady...
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
Incidentally I was in Aldi the other day, to see the (very overweight and thus useless) security guard huffing and puffing as he was putting security stickers onto products.
Same stickers that are easy to just...remove
searchplusone@reddit
God forbid old ladies have a hobby!
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Local Sainsbury's expected to have a lot Turkeys on the stock take just after Christmas, they had just 3. Two weeks later they had security gates fitted. If it ain't nailed down....
oxy-normal@reddit
Thanks for the info, know any good getaway drivers?
KarateGoldfish@reddit
My mate Tyrone's done a rally driving course.
BuzzVibes@reddit
What the fuck can he get away from?
SciFiMack@reddit
It was at a funny angle
BlueTrin2020@reddit
Nothing like a getaway in a Range Rover with a £3 pack of salami you just nicked
BlueTrin2020@reddit
Mango slices are by the entrance
searchplusone@reddit
I imagine it's different to the security guards at Tesco who think the world is going to end unless they tackle the homeless guy who's nicked a pack of ham. With M&S, you can probably take a leisure stroll to the bus stop.
baileyyrat@reddit
Thanks for the tip
thegroucho@reddit
Ah, good to know, maybe I should post it on r/brighton for better visibility...
YES OFFICER, THIS ONE HERE
Popped into the Worthing one on Sunday for a sandwich, it's probably less to a street without car park to slow you down. I suspect they get cleaned regularly too.
pajamakitten@reddit
My sister used to work at Waitrose and shoplifting was rife there, especially as they had no security guard. Some of it was gangs targeting it for that reason, however they also had their share of middle class people doing it too.
Bacon4Lyf@reddit
I used to work in a b&m with a Waitrose next door, we used to always get people nicking in our store, but nobody ever stole from the Waitrose. That never made sense to me, if you’re gonna nick shit, why wouldn’t it be so nice shit from Waitrose instead of cheap tat from b&m. Always wanted to ask one of them why but they were never big talkers
GIJ@reddit
A lot of the time it's middle class people who usually spend a lot in their local upmarket food shop so they feel they're entitled to steal something every now and then. I suppose they think they won't be confronted over it because they don't look like the type.
Wakingupisdeath@reddit
Now that is privilege lol
Numerous_Influences@reddit
My brother use to work in M&S and once had a dude pull up in a Jag, fill up two bags with steaks, then drive off. He got away with £500 worth of the things.
Gungadin34@reddit
I have a "friend" who steals small things from supermarkets. Like those £2.50 pro biotic ginger shots or a Fajita mix packet ... Why? I couldn't possibly say, you'd have to ask "him"
T0pMarks4NotTrying@reddit
Why is "him" in quotation marks?
pip_goes_pop@reddit
Because he's talking about himself and trying to look smart.
Gungadin34@reddit
I'm not smart, nor was I trying to look smart but if you think it made me sound smart, then we probably have something in common
_DeanRiding@reddit
Exactly what I was wondering 😆
bacon_cake@reddit
Does your friend genuinely not know why they steal? Maybe therapy could address it. Those items definitely aren't essential or high value so it's obviously not the usual reasons.
Gungadin34@reddit
He comes from a farming family so probably has some beef with supermarkets and feels he's winning, in the most minor way possible
bacon_cake@reddit
Okay. Sucks for the rest of the customers though though. I worked for a department store and we just increased our margins to compensate for erosion due to theft. Ultimately the shop never suffered, only the other customers who had to pay more.
Gungadin34@reddit
All shoplifters should feel a sense of collective responsibility regarding this problem. Unfortunately, they don't so the rest of us have to eat it up
lucwhy@reddit
Used to work in Waitrose and got some very middle and upper class people shoplifting. One guy switched the yellow stickers - which I'd printed and put on - on a massive cut of meat to try and get it for £1.99. I saw him do it and called him out on it and he still tried to deny it.
Paracosm26@reddit
I've switched reduced stickers on items in Tesco, for example they will sometimes have a clubcard offer of two boxes of 10 porridge sachets for £4.50 when they'd normally be £3.50 each. Then when I actually go to buy any, the offer has ended. So I find the cheapest item in the reduced section, take the yellow sticker off and put it on the porridge box and nobody has ever said anything at the till.
After-Dentist-2480@reddit
Cough! Richard Madeley. Cough!
MRRichAllen2024@reddit
I've worked in retail, some people are so pathetic they'll go on the nick in a chuffing Charity shop!
ExoticBattle7453@reddit
Yes. As someone who watches the self serve tills middle class pensioners "feigning" ignorance trying to steal steak as a carrot is probably the most common person I catch nicking.
Old people are the worst shoplifters by some way be cause they know nobody will challenge them.
Conveth@reddit
I used to be a peon in B&Q. Our store detective apprehended a bloke in a 500 quid coat and flat cap (expensive type not for hassling whippets) who was stealing maglite torches...the guy was only the lead bloody surgeon at the Royal Infirmary! He was stealing for a thrill!
DaHappyCyclops@reddit
You trusted us with self-service.
Who is really to blame?
Interrogatingthecat@reddit
"They trusted us with knives so who is really to blame"
"They trusted us to drive to the pub and get hammered so who is really to blame"
Stupid comment
DaHappyCyclops@reddit
Murder 🤷♂️ not paying for a banana
Stupid person
Interrogatingthecat@reddit
You're still claiming "Oh they made it easier to do so of course people do it", as if people don't have free will to choose not to do a crime
Reasonable-Target288@reddit
Sigh- there's a reason human psychology is a field. There's a reason prisons exist. There's a reason crimes been a thing since the dawn of humanity-
Yes, people can choose not to do a crime. But our nature is fickle, if you saw £100million in your account randomly and you knew you wouldn't get caught if you spent it...what percentage of the population do you think would take it?
Ambiguous93@reddit
I'd take it!
St2Crank@reddit
Even if I knew people would find out, I’ve move it out of there and be on the first plane to Costa Rica. No fucks given.
Interrogatingthecat@reddit
And yet it's still the person's fault if they take it.
Reasonable-Target288@reddit
No one said it wasn't. You haven't said anything insightful or in contention.
Impossible-Invite689@reddit
TBF it used to be way easier when they hadn't figured out how people were abusing self checkouts
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
And the amount of tax dodging and wage theft these corporations take part in.
They can go fuck themselves
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
Uh, the people shoplifting?
Warm-Pint@reddit
I know a couple of lads with well paid jobs who shoplift or as they call it ‘racking’ loads. Supermarkets is almost a given, but they’ll do goretex jackets etc.
Airport duty free seems a piss take n all, I’m not sure why they risk that as surely they’ll not get their flights.
Easy one I’ve seen a few times, trying sunglasses on, pretend to answer the phone, put the glasses ontop of the head, walk out the shop on the phone. Honest mistake 👀
Mindless_Word_8554@reddit
I used to work in a building under a shopping centre, we'd get a weekly update on who was wanted for shoplifting by the police. Or those who were caught and were now banned.
You'd get a full printed dossier of pictures, plenty of which were people in their work gear, even some wearing lanyards.
Subtle
swallowyoursadness@reddit
When I got my first job at 18 I was living away from home. The job required I wear makeup and paint my nails. I couldn't afford nice make up so I would go into boots, buy the expensive make up I liked, then go back the next day, pick up rhe same items and 'return' them. Getting my money back and keeping the items I couldn't afford. It was so stupidly easy that I started doing it with clothes and shoes too. I don't look like a shoplifter at all. I wasn't doing g it out of boredom I just wanted nice things I couldn't afford at the time and I was an irresponsible teenager masquerading as an adult
Missing-Caffeine@reddit
As someone that worked at Boots and saw loads of things like that: we knew. Just don't care enough to cause an argument - and management usually has to bend all the rules to keep the customer happy. The amount of times I saw people getting stickers from one thing and attaching to the other, moving stuff around shelves and claiming it was cheaper etc etc. People think they are more clever than the cashier, but guess what, we are seasoned AF 😅
swallowyoursadness@reddit
That's fair enough but there's no way anyone saw me do anything. I bought items, left the shop then the next time I went to the shop I just picked up items and took them to the till again. What was there to see?
The first few times I was so nervous the till would somehow show it wasn't the same item being returned..
Stuffedwithdates@reddit
Richard Madeley
samgf@reddit
Watched a very normal looking middle aged woman stood next to me at the M&S self checkout only scanning every other item and just doing it quickly so no one would notice. The self checkout tills there don’t seem to have scales so it seems easy to get away with.
Moop_the_Loop@reddit
Half the people in my work do it on scan and shop. Just one item like a big packet of chicken at the bottom. I did it once on a tune of Ben and Jerry's and I shit myself too hard and probably looked too guilty and at the tills I scanned it anyway and probably looked like a nob. I'd lose my job for a fiver if I have a record so no thanks.
thoughtlessengineer@reddit
Anthony Worral-Thompson was once lifted for trousering fine cheeses in a Waitrose for the thrill of it. You can't get a better example of middle class shoplifting.
SQ_12@reddit
I used to work in Poundland, when things were still a quid. I went in the back one day and there was a very well presented middle aged man there - turns out they were waiting for police as he’d been caught shoplifting cling film! He definitely had money and could afford it. Some people do it for the thrill or simply because they can!
Aggravating-Corner-2@reddit
Yes, in my experience in retail. It's generally large scale nicking or stealing to sell on, but it definitely happens.
It's generally what I call "I only want one" stealing. Eg. Ripping a single item out of a multipack and pocketing it. On the rare occasions we can pinpoint a time frame for it being done It's always nicely dressed, middle class types.
They're also generally the ones trying to swap sale tickets onto full price items, claim refunds for stuff they've clearly used to death/didn't even buy from us, and claim they gave the cashier a £20 instead of a £10 and immediately changing their minds when I say we'll check the till cameras.
pineappleshampoo@reddit
I had a neighbour who would not correct staff if they missed something on a self checkout check, like he’d put two items down at once and they’d come swipe to ‘fix’ the self checkout so he got it accepted by the scales but not paid for. Would get three Krispy Kremes but tell the checkout it was one (apparently that’s accepted and never checked?) shit like that. He saw it as payment for scanning his own shopping without a discount or wage when his local supermarket stopped manning checkouts. Not summat I’d ever do as the risk of being caught could seriously affect my job but I got it. Shops have raised prices as high as they can get away with while removing customer service and expecting customers to play checkout worker for free. They have it coming.
Once had to struggle tryna get a decent sized shop through self checkout right before Xmas a few days after childbirth, all the lifting and putting down was excruciating and made me keep wetting myself, asked for help and someone to open a checkout and they simply wouldn’t. If I thought I could get away with shoplifting from them I can’t say I would feel it’s wrong.
ofjune-x@reddit
Stupid cause using the self checkout for 5 minutes you’d earn like 90p in wages if you were being paid same as the staff. Krispy Kreme prices would be hours of work.
PeppercornWizard@reddit
Girl I know said years ago she bought a dragonfruit and put it through the self scan as an onion, if that counts.
nothisisdog@reddit
She should try a PS4 next time
Impossible-Invite689@reddit
I'd also have accepted bananas
Alarming_Group_5212@reddit
The Waitrose self scan are very easy to use and leave with a free block of cheese
thecrowsarehere@reddit
Honestly been lifting in M&s ever since they brought in the self checkout machines that don't have scales in the bagging area. Just sneak in 1 or 2 items into the bagging area without scanning them.
dbltax@reddit
Ask this guy
thehibachi@reddit
I miss the days where this was big news
Cuntoffredditcunt@reddit
I don't remember the story. He got caught shop lifting?
bex100xyz@reddit
Cheese and wine from a Tesco
Awordofinterest@reddit
He's a massive prick in almost every way. Not a nice man at all.
Flagship_Panda_FH81@reddit
I've no doubt it happens, but I worked 7 years in Shepherds Bush as police and I only dealt with 4 kinds: kids, drug users, the genuinely desperate, and organised crime gangs (doing it industrially at Westfield). But then, this is about who got caught by security of course.
IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN@reddit
And who they actually bothered to call the police on, they probably just let the middle class ones pay for it.
bacon_cake@reddit
Good call.
"Sorry I didn't mean it, it's a mistake" is probably all you need if you have the right appearance and attitude.
Simple-Wave2177@reddit
Yep, I once walked out of a shop with a bag full of stuff I didn't pay for (I scanned it, put it in the bag, but forgot to pay lol) and the security guard just stopped me and told me nicely I forgot to pay lol
IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN@reddit
Pretty much, probably some occasions where a genuine mistake was treated as intentional when people didn't have the right appearance/attitude too.
Flagship_Panda_FH81@reddit
May I ask if that's an assumption or direct experience? Most of the staff intercepting these people were just shop staff themselves, not dedicated security. Hardly the sort at all with any interest in the "establishment", far removed from central interest or management, but pressured to suppress loss of stock.
You can never tell exactly what reasoning a security or staff member will be thinking when they start to monitor someone, and of course we only get called to the ones caught; where their instincts have been vindicated; nevertheless I think in fairness to most of the ones we dealt with, I think they'd have been most happy to have caught out someone who ought to know better, or who wasn't in a desperate or vulnerable position to start with.
The only security who subscribed to any corporate attitude were the ones directly employee by Westfield and frankly they were most likely to enjoy dragging a suspect into a detention room and making them think they were about to be beaten up. By and large, I disliked dealing with them. Many were little more than besuited bullies, though I think that was rather the point.
Own_Passenger1101@reddit
Ask richard Madley
eivoooom@reddit
Yep especially on self service, always a weight issue pops up, scan one steak put two on the scale..
nervous_veggie@reddit
Absolutely. M&S shoplifters are prolific
Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
The store I worked in a few years back,caught a middle aged woman,who'd been frequenting the store for years. All the staff knew her, she was friendly to everyone. She was seen taking something of value,and putting it in her bag. When the police went to her house post arrest. There were rooms full of stock she had taken over the years, just left in bags or hanging on rails None of it had been used. She said she had no use for them, and could easily afford them, but it was just fun to take them.
butterbean1968@reddit
28 years in retail here,the middle class bored ladies have nicked for years,small things like nail polish to the very best Japanese knives,consistently every week. We eventually got her,a bankers wife who knew all of us by name,brought treats in for her favourite beauty concessions and spent thousands at the same time! She got banned,not prosecuted if I remember as our shop doesn't like to do that to nice people...yeah I know!! She came back after a year or so,pretty much everyone was new and didn't recognise her. Don't know what her kink was this time but fair play she still swanned about waving at people and charming them.
MRRichAllen2024@reddit
Nope, you can shoplift from Waitrose or another "posh" place and it's still classed as shoplifting with the same legal penalties, social class is irrelevant, as it should be.
tcpukl@reddit
Richard madley infamously stole wine from the local Tesco's.
peculiar-pirate@reddit
I know of a couple of middle class people who shoplifted when they were teenagers. They would nick stuff like makeup and clothes. I don't think it had anything to do with being middle class though they were just bad at decision making.
banisheduser@reddit
I once accidently stole some bananas.
The self-weigh machine was broken. I was going to weigh them at the scan as you shop but forgot about them.
Felt bad about that.
A few months later, I stole some baby wipes.
The barcode was so big on the box that it wouldn't scan.
I didn't feel bad about that.
Willz093@reddit
Anyone remember when Antony Worrall Thompson was caught stealing cheese from Tesco?! Is celebrity chef considered middle class? Either way everyone does it apparently!
superkinks@reddit
Yes, I used to work in a supermarket. I vividly remember a guy who got stopped trying to walk out with a bag full of meat that he hadn’t paid for along with his shopping that he did pay for. He was terrified his wife was going to find out. I don’t know whether he was trying to reduce their weekly spend or he was just doing it for the thrill of it.
rich2083@reddit
Somone I know occasionally takes things from B&Q because they are rip off merchants. £9 for steel washers that cost pennies to produce?
ATSOAS87@reddit
It's called kleptomania for the middle class.
It's called being scum if you're poor
weeladybug@reddit
When I worked in retail we had a well known footballer’s wife who’d regularly come in and nick stuff. This was in a bang average high street clothing shop.
Rossco1874@reddit
Had an elderly woman blatantly not pay last week. They were told hadn't paid watched for me to turn my back and left. Was so obvious on the camera. I also have a posh woman about 40s who steals pick in mix she scans about 6 sweets and prints off a label scans that has about 30 quid worth of sweets.
flOAt_yA_aRmadillo@reddit
I used to work in waitrose and for 2 years we were plagued with the phantom hot smoked salmon thief. It's a long elaborate story but yeah they do exist.
Chonkthebonk@reddit
You can’t tease us like that, what’s the story? Who was this salmon thief? Where they ever caught? How much salmon are we talking here?
flOAt_yA_aRmadillo@reddit
It's the most middle class layered story. The phantom salmon thief ended up stealing over £1k in salmon. Every shift I'd worked we'd find a few half eaten packets of salmon stashed in the shelves, no shelf was safe. Rumours are rife amongst staff but we figured huh odd cat lady stealing salmon to treat her cats, not great but no big deal. This continued for 2 years straight, it became like an Easter egg hunt to find the half eaten salmon each shift. The hunt continues but no suspects. Cut to the end of the hunt where we find the culprit is an women in her early 30s who just loves the thrill of eating half a pack of hot smoked salmon everytime she dips into waitrose. This is the same store where someone broke in the middle of the night to wonder round, browse the wine department and only take one bottle of vintage wine and climb back out of the window they broke.
Chonkthebonk@reddit
That gave me a good giggle thanks for sharing! People are wild glad you found the phantom salmon thief in the end and our fish can now be safe once again!
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
My mate used to work on the checkout in Tesco. She'd fail to scan more expensive items.
Original_Bad_3416@reddit
What like putting the president butter at the bottom of the bag whilst doing to the scan and pack?
jeffprop@reddit
Not sure about the UK, but self checkout stalls in stores caused a huge jump in theft at stores in the US.
cisnerosian@reddit
stealing is based if its from supermarkets
CliffyGiro@reddit
Sounds like a load of tripe.
There are organised gangs that shoplift high value items and will often dress to look the part. They mainly target airports but they aren’t “middle class” their job is stealing that’s what they do for a living.
Source: Police Officer.
uttertosser@reddit
It’s known as doing a Madeley
Key_Effective_9664@reddit
Yeah I do it quite a lot at Sainsbury's as they disgust me with their opportunistic price rises during the cost of living crisis.
I don't do it often but if I feel they are ripping me off for something then I might forget to scan something else to balance it out. I've never done it anywhere else.
KermitsPuckeredAnus2@reddit
Last week, the woman guarding the self scan was berating her young colleague in front of numerous customers, calling him lazy and smelly, being a real bitch about it, so I stole a loaf of tiger bread. Stick it Tesco.
LitmusPitmus@reddit
Yeah uni opened my eyes to this. People whose parents paid for them and who lived in multimillion pound houses but they were shoplifting from urban outfitters. Was very baffling and thought they stupid as fuck tbh
zzonn@reddit
It's the only way I can get off.
JennyW93@reddit
Winona Ryder has entered the chat
TheDawiWhisperer@reddit
I occasionally intentionally don't pay for carrier bags at Sainsbury's
GatewaytoGhenna@reddit
Worked for Tesco, Waitrose and Co-op. There's no demographic for nicking stuff, but there are a few usual tricks. The middle class one is to use Scan As You Shop, scan cheap shit and 'accidentally' put the high end version of the product in your bags.
The other middle class trick is to 'accidentally' damage something or ask for something to be opened, then offer to buy it for a massively reduced price to 'help out'.
Customer: How do I open this? Me: ~demonstrates~ Customer: Well I can't buy that one now, it's opened and could be unsanitary.Tell you what, reduce it to £1 and I'll take it off your hands, save you getting in trouble.
Gherki@reddit
They're more likely to get away with it because they don't fit within the stereotypes of a shoplifter. Security won't pin them as a potential thief.
rezonansmagnetyczny@reddit
I had a mate who earned good money and would things which he wanted but didn't think we're worth the price.
Usually branded toiletries and cosmetic products
marxistopportunist@reddit
More expensive brands/items can actually be easier to lift.
E.g. small jars of manuka honey vs the normal jars
smellyfeet25@reddit
fare evasion yes . that goes from chavs to university students but i always thought shoplifting more of a lower class crime . maybe a misconception
jj198hands@reddit
A few famous people have done it, Richard Madeley, Antony Worrall Thompson & Winona Ryder come first come to mind but am sure there are others.
The_Blip@reddit
When I was a teen I did. I wanted the stuff on the shelf, didn't want to pay for it, and didn't care about how it affected Tesco's profit margin.
CanIDevIt@reddit
Middle class shoplifting is usually plausibly deniable, like a kid stashing something in the buggy or an item being worn, but they know alright so is still shoplifting.
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