Lowes Home Improvement- how do they afford it?

Tailhunter

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Was at a Lowes in Greensboro, standing in line to pay for some items, when an african american male goes darting by with his arms full. My first reaction was man there is a line for a reason, use it.
He continued out the store and jumped into a waiting car. Off they went.
I asked the clerk, what the heck did I just see, she said that was what goes on here all the time, matter of fact that same guy was in here two days ago.

Well yesterday I went to lowes to purchase a small mig welder and the clerk was looking for the one the computer showed they had.
He said well I guess that one is gone. We got talking about theft and he told me that this particular lowes gets hit for about 1k a day.
He said they were not allowed to intervene in any attemps to stop it either.
Lowes got hit with a big lawsuit when one of their employees stopped an AA woman for stealing and she claimed she was profiled. They caught her with the goods too. Doesn’t matter.
One of their employees had tried to stop someone from running out of the store with a bunch of stuff, she got knocked to the ground and then fired.
He said he watched a guy every friday take tools out of the store. So the next time he stood there and asked the guy, “can I help you” continually until the guy got mad and said stop harassing me. So he backed up and continued to watch him.
Finally the thief got mad, pulled the tools from under his shirt and through them at the guy.

How do you run a shop when the thieves know they are a protected species?
 
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I used to work part time at one a few years ago. They had a loss prevention guy. He was allowed then(2010) to engage the crooks and do whatever he had to basically. We saw a few fights, also saw him get cut and go get sewed up a few times. Not worth it to me to protect someone else’s stuff. And a write off for Lowe’s
 
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I've sat through their initiation training (worked there for almost a year several years ago). That's exactly what they teach...employees are to do nothing.
 
Back in my youth I worked in a grocery store and we tackled shoplifters all the time. These days there is too much liability.
 
I used to work part time at one a few years ago. They had a loss prevention guy. He was allowed then(2010) to engage the crooks and do whatever he had to basically. We saw a few fights, also saw him get cut and go get sewed up a few times. Not worth it to me to protect someone else’s stuff. And a write off for Lowe’s
This store says they share a LPG with another store but he stays mostly at the other store.
I told him I’d take the job but I’d need a baseball bat.
 
i tell you how they afford it - they pass the cost on to us.

i was at lowes a few months back, saw same thing - guy running out with dewalt boxes. pretty sure he didnt need them for his job either. cashier said "happens all the time". i think i was angrier about it than any of the staff standing there.

then this morning was at home depot renting a jackhammer, guy was helping a customer said they only had one truck to rent cause the plates had been stolen off the other. "happens all the time".

somebody is paying for it and it aint the criminals.
 
At $1K loss a day they should hire some off duty uniformed police officers to work the store. Guarantee their presence alone would drastically redice the thefts, and if someone were ballsy enough to still try it, the LEOs could do something to stop them.
 
Yup, happened in front of me too at Lowe’s... I was told the only thing they are allowed to do if possible is write down the car plate number.
 
Hey, I need a new washer and dryer. If I get the washer one day can I come back for the dryer the next? Wait, don't they have pickup trucks? Can I get one if those too?

How can they afford it? Note the cost of the items you're buying.
 
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Guess if I need any new poeer tools a trip to Greensboro is in order. Lucky for the local guys that you can get all your hardware free at. Lowe's.
 
i tell you how they afford it - they pass the cost on to us.

i was at lowes a few months back, saw same thing - guy running out with dewalt boxes. pretty sure he didnt need them for his job either. cashier said "happens all the time". i think i was angrier about it than any of the staff standing there.

then this morning was at home depot renting a jackhammer, guy was helping a customer said they only had one truck to rent cause the plates had been stolen off the other. "happens all the time".

somebody is paying for it and it aint the criminals.

This is the correct answer. I could tell you boys stories on how this exactly works... but, then I would be liable for suit. I can't believe the brazen theft or the lack to combat it... because you just decide to raise prices or beat vendors up to cover it....
 
At $1K loss a day they should hire some off duty uniformed police officers to work the store. Guarantee their presence alone would drastically redice the thefts, and if someone were ballsy enough to still try it, the LEOs could do something to stop them.
ALDI grocery stores in Greensboro have an off duty officer there during all operating hours. Tell me that doesn’t make a statement
 
ALDI grocery stores in Greensboro have an off duty officer there during all operating hours. Tell me that doesn’t make a statement

Having never been there, I assume it does?
 
Lowes profits 8 figures a year. That is after all cost have been factored in and I mean all cost.

You really think a couple thousand here and there is a big issue.

They are more worried about letting go that 30-35k a year employee than theft.

Ask me how I know
 
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ALDI grocery stores in Greensboro have an off duty officer there during all operating hours. Tell me that doesn’t make a statement
Yeah, but Aldi's?
 
The first couple here were in less than stellar areas
 
Ive said it before, here it goes again but condensed - HD is the same way.
I'll tell you a secret - there are one or two LP people in the whole triad for Home Depot.

I feel like my WS store was around 60k one year in lost/stolen merch.
Now SOME of that could have been mistakes when marking something down...but nowhere near 60k worth.
I even said, for half that money we could get someone in here full time.
Nah, theyre good with one guy per district.

I hate it. I hate thieves. I hated knowing someone was stealing and I couldnt do anything about it for fear of losing my job.

Guy at work got fired after 13 years because he put his hands up when a thief was running full tilt towards him. He put his hands up in a defensive posture, made no move towards the guy, didnt TOUCH the guy. Nope. GONE.



And something else - Home Depot will return almost anything if it'll keep the customer happy.
Got a kobalt tool that is sold exclusively at Lowes? No worries, repeatedly say that you know you bought it here and you demand a refund for your item. They'll do it. Happened all the time. Guess what they did with those Kobalt/Craftsman/etc tools - dumpster. Manager did it or Id have had a few more tools.
 
I was in Home Depot shopping when a number of employees kept asking three different guys if they needed help and what they were looking for. Each guy got pissed and were talking smack to the employees but they kept trying to help them. I asked what was their problem and the employees said they come in every week and steal stuff but nobody seems to care and they can’t confront them. So they just follow them around until they tire and leave.

I was at Home Depot one day when a woman left with two cases of multi power tool kits. They kept saying mama but she just continued to walk. The crooks know nobody is going to do anything but the police, which are 10 minutes from arriving.

@Tinman was telling me a story of a visit where a couple guys were driving off with a preassembled building after disassembling it. He went in and told them but I think they did nothing. Bottom line is they add a loss merchandise percentage to every item in the store. You pay for thieves. I hate everything about Lowe’s. They let criminals walk and treat their employees like crap with low pay/short hours. The one in Hickory never stocks their shelves unless a vendor gets it down which is who actually is tasked to do the work.
 
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What they are worried about is the muti-million dollar law suits brought to them by people that feel it is racist to stop them from looting.
 
Yes, possibly a profiling lawsuit. But, and to put two current threads together, what if the thief was tackled and died by freak accident, ala the WF coach and one punch to the face/head?
Think of the millions they'd pay out in damages if the family pushed for it in court. It's possible, right?

We live in a society that, sadly, is all about some lawsuits and getting something for nothing.
Rowdy student that jumps out of a moving bus through the emergency exit and gets hurt in the process? Family gets money from the school system.
It's happened.

They are covering their butts. I dont like it, because thieves take advantage of it, and, in turn, hurt us with higher costs, but I get it.
 
I loathe the term "african -american", it's a neo-marxist way to divide American citizens. If you were born in Africa, then became an American citizen, THEN you qualify to be an African-American. I know two, and they're both blue eyed blondes.

Thomas Sowell just released a book I'd like to read.
https://thefederalist.com/2018/08/0...nation-disparities-book-racism-america-needs/

Hahaha yeah I work with a true African-American. He’s whiter than me.

As for this appeasement of thieves, it’s corruption that’s sure to grow. And it’s not just the big box home improvement stores. Who even knows how much credit card companies pay every year for theft and fraud. A failure to make any effort to stop it signals a free-for-all for anyone with no morals. How long before they step up the game?
 
To sum it all up: This is a big economic bubble for the big box stores that ignore this stuff and that bubble will eventually make itself known that it is about to burst when the losses for the insurance companies, the tax write-offs, and the customer's price increases become intolerable.

For every action, there is a reaction.
 
I hate thieves... itd be nice to see them get caught, and back roomed by a large guy named vinny or something..
 
You guys think anything will come of catching them and prosecuting the thieves? Cops know they will get nothing come court day. Signature bond and released with no time. The court system and lawsuits make for these circumstances. The wussy young generation of managers are more concerned about job security.
 
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I don't see how this is tough to resolve. I'd fire the cashiers, sell all the registers and scanners, and place a large collection plate at the exit door. The savings would surely exceed $1,000 per day. :)

 
Your life is not worth a Lithium battery, $600 power combo kit, etc etc.
I work at HD 20 plus years, we had one 'customer' climb the garden fence,
a fillet knife fell out of his pants, could have hurt somebody below him,
he also was HIV positive, in California guy tells cashier give up the cash,
she calls ASM, he gets outside and is shot with .45 one round, died right there,
he was gulf war vet, two kids with third on the way, never caught gunman.

One of our cashiers asked to check a receipt, guy was pleasant then cold cocks
the cashier, his head hits the concrete floor, he was in hospital for weeks, he back at work now.
They eventually arrested the man for his crimes.

Another guy was stopped outside by one of our LP guys, he pulled away,
lost his hoodie, and his I phone, 'Dude I got your I phone now, come inside and
you can have it back', he ran to a waiting car and drove off.

Just part of doing business, we all pay for it, what helps my company is the store
credits are now linked to the driver license of the person who returns the stuff,
useless if they are sold or bartered.

Sometimes it is internal, one ASM advertised on CL he can get you anything you need,
he was eventually arrested and charged for internal theft.
 
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This works for the big box stores during good times, but when times get tough, it puts them at a significant disadvantage to online competitors. These people can't readily steal from Amazon. And if you abuse Amazon's return policy, they will simply ban you, which is something the large chain brick & mortar stores wouldn't dream of doing.

We see a related phenomenon with the "flash mob" thefts at Apple stores, where a large group of "teens" walks into an Apple store, mulls around the gear, then simultaneously grabs and dashes. None of the Apple employees is going to lift a finger, and Apple isn't going to chain their products to the displays, nor are they going to do any kind of profiling. So Apple customers will subsidize this behavior.
 
One thing I will say about the camel jockeys is that they know how to real with a thief.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. The stupid legal system in this country is only good for extorting money from the honest citizens.

This is another example of where people need to wake the hell up and stop relying on the government. My response to the idea of a discrimination lawsuit by some stupid Africant Americant is the same as with an HOA thinking they’ll go legal, “trust me, you don’t want to go there with me. The price will be too high”.
 
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When I work retail at circuit city and Best Buy years ago, I stopped a handful of active thefts by being annoying as hell, confrontational, and insisting they put the product back. Never had someone sprint out the door on me but it did happen once to a couple coworkers.
They chased after him for about 1/2mi, caught him, wrestled a bit, and got the product back. They were a razors edge away from being fired. Companies don’t want the liability.
The liability fear bothers the heck out of me because criminals know they are free to steal.
 
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