An Unlikely Shoplifter And Some Sound Advice

I was on tills at a neighborhood grocery store. Around noon, an old lady came up with a large basketful of groceries. I scanned them all and placed them on the left-hand side of the till. I always place unscanned items on the right desk and the scanned items on the left.

While scanning, I asked for her membership card, which she presented. After I scanned the last item, I mentioned the total, which was around £40, and asked, “Will that be cash or card?”

The lady probably didn’t hear me and started packing her items. I asked her three times, as loud as I could without screaming. My eyes met with the next customer, and I gave them a bemused look.

Then, to my surprise, the old lady started walking off with the groceries! I pressed on my headset to ask how I should respond.

I deducted her groceries from her membership points since she had enough points to pay for most of the items; I used her points to try to minimize the loss of the store.

Then, my manager said, “Stop her!” I left the till to try to stop her, but my manager was faster. After pointing from afar to confirm whether the lady near the door was the one that hadn’t paid, he said to the lady, “My colleague is waiting for you to pay for your stuff.”

She returned to the till and paid for her items. After I took off her points, I think it was about £0.20 remaining that she needed to pay.

After this incident, I asked my manager what I should have done and he said, “If it’s old ladies, try to stop them. If it’s guys who can beat you up, just let it go.”