Is this shop lifting?

Basher · 27 Jul 2011 at 17:22

Marky said:
My "logic", as you put it, is to take an item and use it/eat it before paying.

So no you wasn't.

*weren't.

Marky · 27 Jul 2011 at 17:37

Basher said:
*weren't.

Thank you

Vonhelmet · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:15

leaskovski said:
PETROL STATIONS!

What have they got to do with it?

Andy90 · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:17

El_Watcher said:
I didn't say it had anything to do with law, and no it would not be burglary, it would be theft and trespass, but only the theft would be criminal.

Ermm.....

Burglary is defined by section 9 of the Theft Act 1968 which created two variants:

1.
A person is guilty of burglary if he enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser with intent to steal, inflict grievous bodily harm or raping any person therein, or do unlawful damage to the building or anything in it.(section 9(1)(a))

2.
A person is guilty of burglary if, having entered a building or part of a building as a trespasser, he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building, or inflicts or attempts to inflict grievous bodily harm on any person in the building.(section 9(1)(b))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglary_in_English_law

kylew · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:37

She's only in the wrong once she tries to leave the shop without paying, until then she's done nothing wrong. "We think you were gonna steal that" isn't good enough, they've got to have you at the door really. Same goes for putting things in your pockets, while it might look extremely dodgy, you've technically done nothing wrong until you try to leave without paying with the items, if you go to the till and take them all out of your pockets and pay, it's okay. Is reading a magazine you're gonna buy, while walking around the store "stealing"? No it's not.

McPhee · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:38

People eat in the Supermarket all the time. When I worked at Sainsbury's the policy was that as long as it's not a catchweight item the customer can carry on. They're not allowed to do it, but as long as they pay the correct price for the item on their way out then nobody cared. The occasional one would try dumping the packed and leaving, which then becomes shoplifting (leaving the store with goods without paying for them).

In this situation we'd probably have just informed the customer of her mistake (assuming the item was catchweight and not out of a bag of bananas) and let her continue shopping. If it was from a barcoded bag then nobody would have bothered her. It's really not worth upsetting a genuine customer over a banana.

kylew said:
She's only in the wrong once she tries to leave the shop without paying, until then she's done nothing wrong. "We think you were gonna steal that" isn't good enough, they've got to have you at the door really. Same goes for putting things in your pockets, while it might look extremely dodgy, you've technically done nothing wrong until you try to leave without paying with the items, if you go to the till and take them all out of your pockets and pay, it's okay. Is reading a magazine you're gonna buy, while walking around the store "stealing"? No it's not.

You're technically not allowed to consume food bought from a supermarket on the premises. It's not stealing until they leave the shop, but that doesn't mean it's OK to eat in the shop.

kylew · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:41

nonhelmet said:
What have they got to do with it?

In a lot of them, you fill up your tank, what you do after that determines if it's stealing or not, ie do you go in and pay, or do you do a drive off? One is stealing, the other isn't.

Danthus · 27 Jul 2011 at 18:54

satchef1 said:
You're technically not allowed to consume food bought from a supermarket on the premises. It's not stealing until they leave the shop, but that doesn't mean it's OK to eat in the shop.

Except of course when the supermarket hands out samples of meat and cheese for you to try.

nshire · 27 Jul 2011 at 19:07

I can't believe so many people think its normal to eat while your wondering about the supermarket. In Taunton Sainsburys I've only ever seen it once.

The only time I have ate something in a supermarket was when I was about 10 with parent in a long xmas queue and staff member was giving out sweets for waiting for so long.

I do view it as. It's not yours till you've paid for it!

Gackt · 27 Jul 2011 at 19:28

OldCoals said:
Except of course when the supermarket hands out samples of meat and cheese for you to try.

Of course, but they're giving that to you for free with the intention that you'll consume it in the shop and then purchase the main product if you like it.

It's all very well intending to pay for it, but how does the store know that you're going to actually pay for it? Or not change your mind? Or that you can even afford it?

Danthus · 27 Jul 2011 at 19:31

Gackt said:
It's all very well intending to pay for it, but how does the store know that you're going to actually pay for it? Or not change your mind? Or that you can even afford it?

That is the same when people fill up with fuel for the car as others have mentioned.

kylew · 27 Jul 2011 at 19:37

Gackt said:
Of course, but they're giving that to you for free with the intention that you'll consume it in the shop and then purchase the main product if you like it.

It's all very well intending to pay for it, but how does the store know that you're going to actually pay for it? Or not change your mind? Or that you can even afford it?

They can assume you're not going to pay for it, but they're only sure once you try to leave without paying for it, which is when they should act.

I could walk around a shop looking dodgy, putting items in my pockets and bag but I wouldn't be doing anything wrong until I attempted to leave the store. As I said in my other post, I could very well be taking them to the till. How does the store *know* you're intending to pay for anything just because you're walking around a shop with a trolly filling it with items, looking "normal". It doesn't mean that they're definitely intending to pay for everything, they could go to self service and "forget" to scan a few light items regardless of if they're consumables or not.

steve-h · 27 Jul 2011 at 19:49

Why is this still thread still going on?

It's OK to eat foods that aren't paid for by weight.

Morgoth · 27 Jul 2011 at 20:00

steve-h said:
It's OK to eat foods that aren't paid for by weight.

Debatable.

That's why the thread is ongoing.

Nitefly · 27 Jul 2011 at 20:00

kylew said:
I could walk around a shop looking dodgy, putting items in my pockets and bag but I wouldn't be doing anything wrong until I attempted to leave the store.

Technically not true, you could have committed the act of theft before you have left the shop. Proving it is of course another matter, but if you have a jam jar shoved down your pants it's not hard to allege dishonest intentions.

Captain Chaos · 27 Jul 2011 at 20:52

A person is guilty of theft if he/she dishonestly appropriates property with the intention of permenantly depriving the other person of it.

In this case short of curling the banna out on the checkout counter she is guilty of theft as the item did not belong to her at the time.

Nitefly · 27 Jul 2011 at 20:57

colthillary said:
A person is guilty of theft if he/she dishonestly appropriates property with the intention of permenantly depriving the other person of it.

In this case short of curling the banna out on the checkout counter she is guilty of theft as the item did not belong to her at the time.

You must be trolling, because you even post the definition, yet still apply it wrong.

She certainly appropriated it, the dishonesty part is debatable.

Raymond Lin · 27 Jul 2011 at 21:00

I must have written all my posts in this thread in forum blue colour!

Captain Chaos · 27 Jul 2011 at 21:01

debatable perhaps.

How can you pay for a weight of a grown item which has yet to be weighed? Simple answer is that you cant.

She stole it. She may be a dumbass but she stole it

bitslice · 27 Jul 2011 at 21:17

I read the magazines on the racks and then leave

sometimes I eat the loose grapes if an assistant isn't hovering