General > General Technical Chat
Fry's Electronics Going Out of Business?
james_s:
--- Quote from: Sal Ammoniac on September 27, 2019, 03:40:35 pm ---I don't like these checks so I vote with my wallet. I don't shop at places like Fry's, Best Buy, and Costco that have receipt checks. There are plenty of places that don't. Fry's is a laughing stock these days anyway, so the only time I go there is just to see how much further they've fallen. It's actually rather sad because I can remember when Fry's was a good place to buy techie stuff.
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I appreciate it at least when people who insist on behaving like children shop elsewhere so that the adults can shop in peace without some self important prick holding things up by throwing a fit about something as simple and sensible as a receipt check in a business that sells lots of small and valuable items. Why anyone thinks they're special compared to everyone else I'll never know. Find a better way to weed out the dishonest people and the receipt checks will vanish. People steal stuff every day, it costs businesses many millions a year. Every single customer is a potential shoplifter, huge numbers of even generally honest people would take advantage of a mistake given the opportunity. I'd go so far as to suggest that a large majority of people who got home and discovered an item in their bag that they had not paid for would simply keep the item, if it was a particularly valuable item most would celebrate their windfall. What percentage do you suppose would return the item or offer to pay for it? 20%? Maybe?
Sal Ammoniac:
--- Quote from: james_s on September 27, 2019, 03:53:03 pm ---I appreciate it at least when people who insist on behaving like children shop elsewhere so that the adults can shop in peace without some self important prick holding things up by throwing a fit about something as simple and sensible as a receipt check in a business that sells lots of small and valuable items. Why anyone thinks they're special compared to everyone else I'll never know.
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:palm:
--- Quote ---Every single customer is a potential shoplifter
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How far are you willing to go with this? How about pat-downs? After all, it's easy to stick a small, high-value item in one's pocket, and this won't be caught by a bag check. Should Fry's set up metal detectors at the exit and make everyone empty their pockets?
nctnico:
--- Quote from: james_s on September 27, 2019, 03:34:08 pm ---
--- Quote from: djacobow on September 26, 2019, 02:57:18 pm ---I don't throw a fit about it, but I don't like it. The problem is that for the store, shoplifting is a problem, but statistically, very few customers shoplift. So they take action to reduce loss by essentially treating all their customers as potential shoplifters and asking them to prove that they're not. Do you really not understand why people might resent that?
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No I really don't understand. All customers *are* potential shoplifters, it's a huge and pervasive problem, why shouldn't they assume that I might be one too and check? I mean it's a simple receipt check, not a body cavity search or patdown and I would bet it is a significant deterrent.
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It is all about the economics: how much income is lost due to people going to a different store if a store has receipt checks versus how much income is lost due to shop lifting. This doesn't say nothing has to be done to prevent shoplifting. Most shops over here do random checks based on data that is collected. They look at things like previous behaviour of the person and the combination of products. It turns out that the type and combination of products bought can be used as a probability indicator a person stole something or not. The exact algorithms are a closely kept secret.
BTW: you shouldn't rule out the employees either. Probably most of the shoplifting is done by the employees. They have much better opportunities to steal stuff.
Sal Ammoniac:
--- Quote from: nctnico on September 27, 2019, 05:12:49 pm ---It is all about the economics: how much income is lost due to people going to a different store if a store has receipt checks versus how much income is lost due to shop lifting. This doesn't say nothing has to be done to prevent shoplifting. Most shops over here do random checks based on data that is collected. They look at things like previous behaviour of the person and the combination of products. It turns out that the type and combination of products bought can be used as a probability indicator a person stole something or not. The exact algorithms are a closely kept secret.
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Stores have ways of identifying shoplifters without doing bag checks. I object to bag checks because they are a form of "guilty until proven innocent". Honest customers should never even be aware that anti-shoplifting measures are happening.
--- Quote ---BTW: you shouldn't rule out the employees either. Probably most of the shoplifting is done by the employees. They have much better opportunities to steal stuff.
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Bingo. It's well-known that most loss is due to employees, not customers.
wilfred:
--- Quote from: nctnico on September 27, 2019, 05:12:49 pm --- Most shops over here do random checks based on data that is collected. They look at things like previous behaviour of the person and the combination of products. It turns out that the type and combination of products bought can be used as a probability indicator a person stole something or not. The exact algorithms are a closely kept secret.
BTW: you shouldn't rule out the employees either. Probably most of the shoplifting is done by the employees. They have much better opportunities to steal stuff.
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So, not random after all.
If I look at the cameras at supermarkets they are in the highest density directly over checkouts. At least one per checkout. It would be so easy for staff to miss scanning an item for a friend or give the wrong (too much) change.
Although perversely I once got home still unsure I gave a $50 and only got change for a $20. So I rang the manager and gave him the date time on the receipt (another good reason to always take them). He rang me back the next day after reviewing the footage and said he could see I did tender a $50.
I hope they don't start recording people PINs. I cover the keypad.
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