LBS shoplifting woes

[dekindy]

I was talking with an LBS owner this morning about the Specialized Romin saddle and took a demo saddle for test. We looked at the saddles hanging on the wall. There were 3 models and the most expensive one was on the outside and were arranged in descending order of price. I pulled them all off the wall to feel the differences in padding.

I started to put them back, I was closer and there were lots of boxes around due to remodeling, and realized I was putting them back in the wrong order. I took them back down and put the most expensive one on the outside. The owner said it was no big deal and I replied he probably should have the most expensive first because that is the one that he probably wanted to sell the most. His reply was that it was probably better to put the least expensive one on the outside to make it harder for the most expensive one to be shoplifted.

I would never have guessed that size item could be shoplifted. He says that teams of shoplifters come into stores and steal the high end saddles. They had 3 Hispanics, 2 male and 1 female, come into the store and get away with an expensive saddle before they could stop them. They have cameras and got a license plate number on their van but it was a stolen plate so they were never caught.

I really did not know what to say. Retail is a tough business and getting tougher all the time. The LBS had recently moved to a different and it appeared a significantly smaller location. The LBS has a good reputation but it is a 55-mile round trip for me so I don't go there often. They happened to be the only shop with a Specialized Romin demo saddle so I will be making the trip twice!

[97CSI]

Sold a set of Wilson Audio speakers to the local Wilson dealer and the shop owner was the one who dropped by and picked them up yesterday. During our conversations he stated that he will no longer take credit card orders over the phone due to problems with identity thief and cc fraud. Am guessing our LBSs are having similar problems as well as outright thief.

[rePhil]

I hate thieves.

[spartacus]

I hate thieves.

Me too. I won't vote again.

[soul survivor]

I sympathize with the LBS -- but there's always been crime, and now that the poor and middle class are left sucking wind (primarily by the damn bankers whose asses we were stupid enough to save), there'll of course be more crime.

BTW, there was no need to state it was Hispanics -- what does it add? :rolleyes:

[Nil Else]

On the other hand, some years ago I was at my LBS, bought a set of wheels and had them in wheel bags chatting with the owner... then this other customer came by started to get in on our conversation. The owner then wanted to show something to this guy and went to back area of the shop... I didn't follow them.

This is normally a very busy crowded shop with bunch of people working there and all the regular customers hanging and going out on the rides etc but hey, this time suddenly I found myself there all alone (it happened before.. no big deal... they know me)... minutes go by and I'm looking at some frames and stuff in their display cases etc (I've seen everything there umpteenth times) twiddling my fingers coz I still had some questions to the owner. Well like 20 minutes went by and I figure I'll just see him next time I'm there and left to put my wheels in my car and leave.

What do you know... the owner followed out all the way to my car in the parking lot quite a ways away in a rather super weird suspicious mode but pretending to say overly friendly goodbye etc. He was thoroughly looking over inside of my car without actually admitting what he was doing. I was flabbergasted and... have to say 'offended'... I spent thousands bought 3 highend bikes and more there and they knew me. Hello... I was putting away $1000 wheelset I just bought there. I used to hang out there at least a couple of time a week if not more even in winter times. I remember talking with him about all their losses from people... mostly kids stealing and how they installed cameras and two way mirror so they can see the front store area from the shop area in the back.

But you know... he was the one who abandoned me in the shop for 20 minutes alone... and, moi???

That didn't sit well with me and the love that I thought I felt from them never felt quite so pure and lovely no longer for some reason. I eventually I stopped going there altogether. Once your loyalty goes out the window you start seeing all the bad things... ALL the bad things... a lots of it.... enough that I buy my own stuff and do most of wrenching myself ever since then.

[Louis]

Edit: Thought it might be better to keep my mouth shut.

[dekindy]

I sympathize with the LBS -- but there's always been crime, and now that the poor and middle class are left sucking wind (primarily by the damn bankers whose asses we were stupid enough to save), there'll of course be more crime.

BTW, there was no need to state it was Hispanics -- what does it add? :rolleyes:

Just relating the facts. Apparently they had already been alerted to this general description and the trio still got away with the saddle because they were an experienced group. Probably watching the store for a time when there was an opportunity. If it makes you feel any better I would have included he description if they had been black, white, purple, etc.

[legacysti888]

Sold a set of Wilson Audio speakers to the local Wilson dealer and the shop owner was the one who dropped by and picked them up yesterday.

Watt Puppies or Duettes? :rolleyes:

[97CSI]

Watt Puppies or Duettes? :rolleyes:CUB IIs with stands. Pretty rare these days. Think the dealer had a standing order from a customer and so he didn't quibble about price.

[peanutgallery]

Worked in shops for years, employees were usually the source of most theft as is the case in specialty retail. Never felt the random shoplifter was educated enough to run off with something of value like a higher-end saddle or wheels. The Saturday "test" ride got us a few times, fake or stolen drivers license was the worst.

One employee in particular was entrusted with a key and would back things out of inventory and then take them home to sell on ebay. Bikes, clothing, parts, you name it. Inventory counts would match and the bike tags would disappear but the financials would not add up. Drove me a little nuts, we ended up matching shipping receipts against sales receipts to figure out what went MIA. Most of the stuff was neither high-end or low-end that moved a lot so when it was gone you just assumed it had been sold, so it went under the radar for a while. Worst was the fact that he had taken off with the serial numbers on the bikes and it made it just about impossible to prosecute. Misdemeanor and the restitution was debatable. His girlfriend dimed him out, then we put all the pieces together. In a world of floorplanning and tough margins, incidents like this are a punch in the stomach

[alancw3]

unfortunately we the consumer suffer from shoplifting i.e. higher prces to cover the cost thereof.

[93legendti]

A few winters ago, while pulling into the parking lot of a local guitar store, I saw a guy come tearing out the store with a guitar in his hand-no case. He jumped into his buddies' car and they tried to speed off. The owner (a friend of mine) had run outside and was screaming at the shoplifter. I was still in my car and actually tried to block their way and make them plow into a snow drift. I failed, but slowed them down long enough for the store owner to take down the license plate no. of the getaway car. The thiefs sped off in the direction of the nearest police station (small village), so they were nabbed pretty quickly.

If someone could shoplift a $3,000 full size guitar, a saddle is probably easy to snatch and run.

[oldpotatoe]

Ask how many retail owners have been stolen from, from an employee or biz partner. VERY common, just happened to me by my former friend of 18 years, my business partner of 10 years..embezzeled 6 figures of $, product. Long term, systematic...I don't wish him well. It's been 12 months since I found out and 'fired' him. The shop now is doing great...amazing what plugging that hole will do. Shoplifting is the least of a retail owners problems..partners are for dancing...

VERY common these days.

[false_Aest]

10 years ago I worked in a Performance store

the amount of "loss" was ridiculous. the fact that our district manager was ok with it was also ridiculous.

memorable things that come to mind (stolen or attempted to be stolen): 1st year Giro Exodus display helmet with the straps cut off, repair stand, Thule cross bars, a left shoe from a display (Diadora Jalapeno IIRC) and 2 wire bead tyres.

I heard "I'm just gonna put this in the car and come back into to pay in a sec." way too many times.

unfortunately, the 1 thing that no one wanted to steal EVER was Performance's century shorts. We couldn't get rid of those POS.

[David Kirk]

I worked in a shop in Pensacola FL and the shop was in a very bad area of town and we had a lot of trouble with theft - oh the stories I could tell.

One day a teenager walked in the front door, gave us a funny look and grabbed a high end BMX bike (Harry Leary signature DiamondBack), pulled it off the rack, looked at us at the other end of the shop and smiled. He then ran out the door with it and sprinted down the street.

I ran after him and would not have caught him if it were not for the railroad tracks running diagonally across the street in front of the shop. The kid sprinted away and when he felt he was safe he looked back at me and flipped me off. A split second later he hit the tracks, got the front wheel caught and hit the ground vey hard. I caught up with him and held the lil' bastard down. He'd gotten some serious road rash on his shoulder and face and didn't even bother to fight back. The stupid ones are easy to catch.

The cops came and he went back to jail - again.

This pales in comparison to being held up at gunpoint or the time when thieves emptied the shop of a huge number of bikes through the attic but could,'t fit them out the attic door so left them all up there. I could go on all night.

Good fun in retail.

Dave

[BengeBoy]

Latest stats I could find online said that total "shrink" in retail chains is about 1.5%, of which more than 40% is due to employee theft.

I once interviewed an exec from a national teen-apparel and accessories chain who said their shrink was around 15% to 20% in most categories -- stuff was displayed on racks in the stores, and it would just disappear into pockets, backpacks and purses. They just marked it up to cover the losses.

In related news - BMW recently cracked a ring of employees who had stolen $4.7 million in parts out of a car factory:

http://rumors.automobilemag.com/6695750/miscellaneous/factory-fraud-german-bmw-employees-stole-47-million-worth-of-car-parts/index.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Microblog&utm_campaign=Twitter%2BTraffic

"One member would forge production orders for a certain section of the factory, and once parts arrived, would order quality control checks on the new parts. Another member, conveniently employed as a QA inspector, allegedly would spot the parts, declare them faulty, and order them junked. "

[rice rocket]

This might be venturing OT, but apparently Costco has one of retail's lowest rates of theft.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html

Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."

Mr. Sinegal begs to differ. He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to succeed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on benefits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands.

Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees, he said. And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers' expense. "This is not altruistic," he said. "This is good business."

[Elefantino]

I hate thieves.
Me too. I won't vote again.
Way tangential, but POTD.

[Ahneida Ride]

Just relating the facts. Apparently they had already been alerted to this general description and the trio still got away with the saddle because they were an experienced group. Probably watching the store for a time when there was an opportunity. If it makes you feel any better I would have included he description if they had been black, white, purple, etc.

The Facts are the Facts.

[shiftyfixedgear]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dekindy
Just relating the facts. Apparently they had already been alerted to this general description and the trio still got away with the saddle because they were an experienced group. Probably watching the store for a time when there was an opportunity. If it makes you feel any better I would have included he description if they had been black, white, purple, etc.


Something just doesn't add up in this story/analysis. Three people going to all the trouble to "watch" the store for a time, and then stealing a bike saddle that would net them what ? Maybe $20 on the street ? Even if they do that all day long they'll barely make any money considering all the travel and time/energy they would be spending.

[dekindy]

Something just doesn't add up in this story/analysis. Three people going to all the trouble to "watch" the store for a time, and then stealing a bike saddle that would net them what ? Maybe $20 on the street ? Even if they do that all day long they'll barely make any money considering all the travel and time/energy they would be spending.

Apparently they make money. They only take high end saddles. Have you frequented E-bay? I watch prices closely and find few bargains because the prices get bid up.

[Nooch]

I was going through the shop I work at one day and pulled down a set of Ltd Edition White Conti GP4000's, which I was already running on my bike. Pulled the front box down, and low and behold the one behind it was empty. Someone came in, took the tires out of the box, and walked off.

Unfortunately these things happen, even when you have a fairly tight knit community of cyclists who come to the shop for the weekend rides..

[rugbysecondrow]

I worked in a shop in Pensacola FL and the shop was in a very bad area of town and we had a lot of trouble with theft - oh the stories I could tell.

One day a teenager walked in the front door, gave us a funny look and grabbed a high end BMX bike (Harry Leary signature DiamondBack), pulled it off the rack, looked at us at the other end of the shop and smiled. He then ran out the door with it and sprinted down the street.

I ran after him and would not have caught him if it were not for the railroad tracks running diagonally across the street in front of the shop. The kid sprinted away and when he felt he was safe he looked back at me and flipped me off. A split second later he hit the tracks, got the front wheel caught and hit the ground vey hard. I caught up with him and held the lil' bastard down. He'd gotten some serious road rash on his shoulder and face and didn't even bother to fight back. The stupid ones are easy to catch.

The cops came and he went back to jail - again.

This pales in comparison to being held up at gunpoint or the time when thieves emptied the shop of a huge number of bikes through the attic but could,'t fit them out the attic door so left them all up there. I could go on all night.

Good fun in retail.

Dave

Owned a kiosk business with multiple locations for a few years before college. At one location I was broken into, the guy broke the window, climbed through, found the starting till for the next day ($30 bucks) but the glass on the window cut the **** out of him. There was blood everywhere, looked like somebody was attacked and stabbed in there.

I was satisfied that he earned every one of those 30 dollars, I bet it came out to about $.50 a stich. This may sound bad, but it makes me smile to this day that he was shredded while stealing from me. The law wouldn't allow the punishment he got, so I was happy. :D

[Dave B]

I was talking with an LBS owner this morning about the Specialized Romin saddle and took a demo saddle for test. We looked at the saddles hanging on the wall. There were 3 models and the most expensive one was on the outside and were arranged in descending order of price. I pulled them all off the wall to feel the differences in padding.

I started to put them back, I was closer and there were lots of boxes around due to remodeling, and realized I was putting them back in the wrong order. I took them back down and put the most expensive one on the outside. The owner said it was no big deal and I replied he probably should have the most expensive first because that is the one that he probably wanted to sell the most. His reply was that it was probably better to put the least expensive one on the outside to make it harder for the most expensive one to be shoplifted.

I would never have guessed that size item could be shoplifted. He says that teams of shoplifters come into stores and steal the high end saddles. They had 3 Hispanics, 2 male and 1 female, come into the store and get away with an expensive saddle before they could stop them. They have cameras and got a license plate number on their van but it was a stolen plate so they were never caught.

I really did not know what to say. Retail is a tough business and getting tougher all the time. The LBS had recently moved to a different and it appeared a significantly smaller location. The LBS has a good reputation but it is a 55-mile round trip for me so I don't go there often. They happened to be the only shop with a Specialized Romin demo saddle so I will be making the trip twice!


Was it motion cycles?

Cris and Ryan are just awesome guys, I hate to hear bad things happen. IN fishers no less! :rolleyes:

[54ny77]

Good one. :cool: :beer:

Me too. I won't vote again.

[dekindy]

Was it motion cycles?

Cris and Ryan are just awesome guys, I hate to hear bad things happen. IN fishers no less! :rolleyes:

No.

[wc1934]

Some loss of merchandise can be attributed to dishonest staff as well - think i told the story of finding a bike by the side of the road - returned it to the shop - one of the employees was taking bikes out the back door.

[mikki]

Stolen from our Day Spa:

Skincare products
books out for people to read in the quiet room
A showerhead (hello? they had to have brought in tools!!)

Front carved glass door shattered, nothing taken...then 30 days later thieves cut a hole in the ceiling, came down through the air conditioning area(breaking it) and broke open everything that had a lock on it including all the cash we'd made for the weekend.

Loved and trusted front lobby manager stole money that clients paid for their services. My husband smelled a rat and although she had quit, demanded that she pay back at least what we could prove she took. I actually filed in small claims court; stating that she "stole $900 from us". She was served while working in her next job and paid the entire $900 back.

Sucks to be stolen from! If I had known we would have had to experience all this I wouldn't have wanted my own business!

Good News: We foiled one probable burgulary early this year. I noticed a guy sitting in his car and copying our license numbers down. I started feeling wierd in the pit of my stomach and called his license number to the police. When one came out and ran his license, sure enough he was an ex-con and casing us...getting our license numbers so he would know when we WEREN'T there. The police went to his home and told him if anyone in our center was broken into, they would arrest him immediately; that they knew he was planning on striking there. He must've thought he was being tailed, for we haven't been hit.

[parris]

Here are a few:

A shop I worked at we came in one Saturday to find that someone had pried out the window on the back dock they worked their way through the store room to the front of the shop and bypassing several high end bikes, clothing, and accessories got into the front display case and stole some 600ex components which they had to move Super Record stuff out of the way to get to. The best part is that my boss had left the deposit in the open cash register drawer which they didn't see and left in place.

My last retail job was working at a Dicks clothing and sporting goods store. they had seasonal golf sales and during one of these sales someone walked out of the place with not 1 but 2 complete sets of Calaway clubs.

Doing what I do now there's a few "regular" inmates who with a fair amount of regularity make off with larger lcd and plasma tv's from some of the local merchants by putting the boxes in shopping carts and walking out the front doors. They wont tell how they trick the alarm sensors.

[cincytri]

I guess that I just shop at an LBS that doesn't have a whole lot of blingy stuff lying around. Never even thought about shoplifting at a bike shop. I'll have to ask them about it next time I'm in there. Is nothing sacred?....

[Dekonick]

On more than one occasion people have struck fire stations. It is pretty easy to do... just wait until all of the trucks leave with lights a flashing... and you pretty much have free reign... Someone even took the brass off of my uniform shirt... why they would want my lieutenant pins is beyond me... they left the shirt and wallet behind!

In DC it is common for refrigerators and TV's to be chained and locked.

Sad world isn't it?

[97CSI]

Especially sad for those who have been reduced to the level of stealing from fire stations, etc. I just retired from teaching math in a poor district. You cannot imagine what poor kids, who have no idea of anything different, have to live with. Coming to school for them often means they will have their only meal(s) and some warmth that day.