Police looking for alleged shoplifter from Tops

its no wounder, you see the price of food latley ?tops are out of there mind lol

I'm really surprised that this story is about TOPS. Here is a problem that I see, and maybe it's because I'm in the security/surviellance field and tend to watch people, but 95% of the time I walk in to Tops people(especially kids)are helping themselves to items in the bulk food section. Stealing is stealing .... there are NO free samples, yet the Tops managers that I have even mentioned it to just ignore it. So, yes, we kept paying higher prices because store employees and Managers are afraid to confront the thiefs!

Greg, do you finish your spying all the way to the checkout line to see if they pay for what you perceive as being stolen? I can't tell you how many times I've grabbed a candy bar in Walmart or Home Depot and consumed it while shopping. I always run the wrapper over the scanner while checking out the rest of my items.

Edit: Neither store has ever accused me of stealing. Their loss prevention must be doing their job and not getting all jumpy.

I'm no expert on the subject but I don't think little kids popping a grape from the bulk food section is why we're paying higher prices.

Edit: Have you ever seen how much of that bulk food gets tossed into the dumpster at the end of every day?

Without hesitation, if I'm shopping and I'm thirsty, I open a bottle of cold water or tea at whatever store I'm in and drink it as I'm walking down the aisle. I always pay for it along with the rest of the goods, which indeed are costing more and more these days.

When I was a cashier at Tops I saw what Doug and Billie described frequently, one woman would enjoy a banana when she shopped (I worked on the weekends while I was in college so I'd have my set of regulars) and then would pay for it on the way out. There would also be the occasional kid who would munch on some cereal while their parents shopped, at the end I would just scan the cereal and hand it right back. Given that the vast majority of people who did the above paid for it at the end, it really isn't worth making a fuss about. Shoplifting has been around since the beginning of markets, but i don't think that Tops is hurting too bad from it, they're still in business after all.

Greg, how often do you turn in the suspects you watch?
I suffer from low blood sugar. I have taken orange juice while shopping, but make sure I pay for it on the way out. If there is a clerk, nearby, I'll explain what I am doing so that I won't be embarrassed by some observant shopper turning me in.
Sunday, in another store, we purchased three 12 packs of pop. Before we left the store, we checked the tape and discovered we were charged for four. We asked the clerk if we could just pick up the extra 12 pack. She nodded, yes.
So, the 12 pack went from the store to the car without going through the checkout.
Your observing nature would assume, without merit, that we were walking off without paying.
It is admirable to be observant, but not everything you see is criminal.

Shoplifting doesn't occur until the suspect attempts to exit the store without paying for an item or items.
I must not be very observant, I go in to Tops at least twice a week and have yet to see anyone helping themselves to the bulk foods,. Maybe I'm just not a good spy.

Not to be picky but how do you pay for a banana once you've already eaten it since the price is dependent upon the weight?

Beth, maybe they weigh it before they eat it at the self weigh and price station,lol.

I confess, on more than one occasion, I have picked a product or two off the shelf and presented the cashier with an empty package to scan.

Beth, for fruits, veggies and bulk. you weigh and place the sticker on the bag. Regardless of how many candies you munch while strolling through the store, or a banana, or whatever, when you get to the checkout, the price on the sticker is what you pay.

Bananas generally aren't sold in the bulk section. They're sold in the produce section and you pay by the pound. Most produce is sold like that where I shop. Even at the self checkout at Tops you put them on the scale and put in the code and it computes the price.

Beth, I believe the assertion is that once you have weighed your bunch of bananas and calculated the price; eating any of the bananas would not alter the total sale cost. The assertion presupposes that the grocery's scales print a label with the total cost/weight encoded. Wegman's scales print a label. The Tops in LeRoy does not have scales that print a label. I can't vouch for the Batavia Tops as I do not shop there.

C.M.,
Batavia does allow you to weigh your own produce and place the sticker on the bag, bananas included.

Until it's paid for (running the wrapper later, or not) as far as I'm concerned, it's still the stores property. Look it up! It is considered petty theft. The problem is that most stores don't follow through with the process. Eat BEFORE you go to the store. It's a matter of right and wrong.

Greg,
So everything in your cart is "petty theft" until it goes through the checkout?
The Batavia police could make a bundle by just walking in and arresting everyone who hasn't made it to the checkout line.
Trust me, low blood sugar doesn't know the time or when you last ate. When it hits, you have to have something immediately or run the risk of passing out. Generally, I keep something in my purse, but when I don't I'll grab an orange juice.
You may look at it as petty theft, I look at it as a contract with the store. My part of that bargain is that I'll pay for what I have in the cart regardless if it is a full bottle of juice or an empty bottle.
If you are really concerned about a child munching on a few cheerios, a guy grabbing a power bar, a lady sipping on water, or someone drinking a juice, while shopping, then you should mount a campaign to have each and every one of them held accountable for their perceived transgressions.
As I said earlier, you would have turned us in for taking that 12 pack of pop without going anywhere near a cash register. Yet, we had the permission of the clerk and the receipt showing that we paid for it.
How often would you cry "wolf" before the store and the police get tired of checking receipts and finding that good citizens do pay for items consumed?
Not everyone you see in a store is a criminal. Not everything you see is black and white.

I don't mean to offend anyone. I guess it's just me .... and how I was raised. I'm sure that no one would shop at Tops anymore if I were the Manager!

Bev,

Be realistic. PRIOR to paying for the groceries, if you consume something in your cart ........ PRIOR to paying for it, it IS considered shoplifting. I'm really not trying to piss anyone off, but this section of this site is for opinion. And my opinion is that it's wrong to eat food that you haven't yet paid for.