• MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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    5 days ago

    Pretty sure $1000 is the line where it becomes a felony. Walmart has been known to keep track of theft and wait until they have enough evidence to bust you for a felony. “If we hit them with a felony, they go to prison and they can’t steal anymore,” is the justification. Really, they just don’t see us as humans.

    • InappropriateEmote [comrade/them, undecided]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      It was Target that was well known for doing this, tracking shoplifters and waiting until someone could get arrested for a felony when a minimum amount of dollar worth was stolen. I never did, but from my understanding, Target was the place shoplifters knew not to shoplift as it was and likely still is extremely aggressive this way and more likely to break the law itself by detaining you against your will (which in the US is technically not legal but that doesn’t always stop them from doing it, especially if they think you don’t know that). Walmart on the other hand, was actually surprisingly hands-off and one of the easiest of those kinds of stores to steal from, I was told. It’s possible this has changed in the last couple years that I haven’t kept up, but well into “post”-covid times, if you were shoplifting from one of the big box stores like that, a good bet was Walmart while Target was regarded as the hard-ass goon-hiring bastards and hence the one to avoid.

      – EDIT: Removing a bunch of stuff I’m not 100% sure is wise to leave up

      I will note here, that while these are among the laws you should know about and use to your full potential benefit, it doesn’t mean that the stores necessarily will, know them or follow them. Regular grocery stores, from everything I know, really don’t give a shit. The method I described above works so well because even if someone does eye what you’re doing and get suspicious, it will be underpaid retail workers and grocery baggers that almost certainly don’t care or are even glad to see that kind of thing happening. BUT other kinds of stores are not necessarily like that. Part of why Target was so bad is because they were known for not caring that they themselves and their thugs were the ones breaking the law. A time could be coming when even grocery stores start getting more like this, and there are probably ones that already do. It can’t hurt to test out the situation on something light. A single bottle of shampoo. Get a feel for the store. Items do matter. Don’t steal the alcohol. THIS is watched heavily in large part because of minors who frequently try to steal it for obvious reasons. I knew someone else who often stole from grocery stores literally by walking in, taking shit and walking out. None of this trying to look legit shit. He was shockingly successful until he tried doing it with liquor. That ended his shoplifting career. At least from grocery stores. In that town. For a little while.

      I hope this has been a helpful comment.

      Mods: If any of this shouldn’t be here, I get it, no hard feelings if it’s deleted. I’ll also gladly be the creator who removes it if that’s better.

        • booty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          5 days ago

          You can probably only do that like once or twice before they post your picture everywhere and somebody bans you from the store (at which point they can bring the cops next time and have you arrested, talking US law here) but damn that looks satisfying lmao

          • In the music video? Yeah, that’s not going to last for anyone, lol. But for what I was talking about above, I know people who have been doing that at the same stores weekly since covid began and have never had a single issue besides an evil eye stare.

            • booty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              5 days ago

              Oh yeah definitely, more subtle food theft is no problem for the most part. Especially keeping in mind the thing you quoted about detention. Legally, nobody is allowed to keep you from leaving a store except, like, literally a cop if there happens to be one around. I’ve never intentionally shoplifted and I still just walk past receipt/bag checkers. Usually they don’t even bother saying anything, if they do I just say “no thanks” and keep walking. It’s my shit, not theirs, they got no right to rifle through it. And they can’t prove that the same doesn’t apply to you, unless you give them permission