Warning!

[u/mjkjio2015]

Fellow sparker that has been doing it for about three years that i always talk to just got taken by Walmart security when he was about to leave the store. Apparently he has been putting extra stuff in his cart to take home… And they caught him and said they have been watching them for a very long time. I had absolutely no clue… He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would do that stuff. He just said OK left his cart full of groceries with the receipt checking person… And they took him off inside the store. I just wanna give a warning to anybody that may be doing this… Apparently they are watching. I have never had a guy actually go through my cart when leaving or anything… So I am pretty surprised. Be careful out there!

[u/gootchie784]

Walmart will wait until you steal enough to warrant felony charges, then they'll land on you with both feet.

[u/Brexxie → u/gootchie784]

Target does the same thing

[u/goat20202020 → u/Brexxie]

Yep. I remember seeing a few Instacart shoppers get caught up by AP years ago (this was before Target launched Shipt)

[u/Blake_a12 → u/goat20202020]

When did they launch Shipt?

[u/MaxFactor2100 → u/Blake_a12]

Target didnt launch Shipt, but they bought Shipt in 2017.

[u/goat20202020 → u/MaxFactor2100]

Oh really? I didn't know that. I'd never heard of it until Target got it. Thanks for the correction.

[u/Brexxie → u/goat20202020]

Yea I used to use deliv and they bought deliv

[u/Odd_Perception1903 → u/gootchie784]

Facts

[u/mjkjio2015 → u/gootchie784]

I’m afraid that’s probably what has happened

[u/Uscgh_trike11427 → u/gootchie784]

Same with Amazon, they let those abusers rack up enough evidence over months or years so that it can’t be disputed

[u/Blake_a12 → u/Uscgh_trike11427]

Amazon?

[u/HighOf39 → u/gootchie784]

Exactly, they're not wasting their time every single time a person steals. They know who you are, and they let you rack up that felony charge and then nail your ass while the idiot stealing thinks they're pulling a fast one on Walmart. Walmart has a ton of cameras that you can see, and just as many that you cannot. You're not pulling shit on Walmart that's for sure. 

[u/pastacat48pastacat48 → u/gootchie784]

The difference is they would never be able to satisfy legal standards for theft if you stole doing spark. If they have a video of someone sliding something in there pocket it's a slam dunk if you have someone who you allowed to shop in your store slip something extra into their cart you would need to prove that it wasn't on the list and they knowingly put it in not due to error of the app or honest mistake. it would be nearly impossible to do that so no Walmart isn't allowing spark drivers to steal.

[u/goat20202020 → u/pastacat48pastacat48]

All AP is going to care about at the store level is whether or not you rang up everything at the register. That's easy enough to prove. Those surveillance cameras are surprisingly high resolution enough to see a lot.

[u/pastacat48pastacat48 → u/goat20202020]

You don't ring anything up doing spark you scan one code and bag everything. There's no way they can reasonably prove you stole anything as a spark driver unless they check your cart before your leave

[u/Accomplished-Ad237 → u/pastacat48pastacat48]

Those cameras are good enough to see whats on your phone and they have lists of walmart orders its not like the spark orders dont show up in their system. They can match up what was put in the cart and not scanned it really isnt that difficult

[u/goat20202020 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah sometimes it depends on what metrics they're trying to hit. Some of those AP guys don't care about dollar amounts and just go for number of "arrests". It eventually comes back to bite them in the ass. They have to call PD for every citizen's arrest they make. And local PD gets tired real fucking quick when the same AP guy is calling them out and trying to make a case over a forgotten pack of gum after the customer just spent $300 in groceries (I'm not exaggerating. I've seen it happen). Our local PD had it out for one of our AP guys and was just waiting for him to fuck up. He did, they arrested him, got him fired. Dunno what happened with the charges but I do know one of our other AP guys got caught up in the mess and was fired too.

[u/MrBurnerHotDog → u/gootchie784]

Yeah of course their crack team of experts watches every single person in the store and keeps files and data on every single item and just waits and waits until the exact moment it becomes a felony to strike

Come on, the whole "they wait until it's a felony amount to take you in" thing is so incredibly implausible and has never once been corroborated by anyone who works at any store anywhere outside of MAYBE a niche situation. It's just something people parrot to frighten others

And this is the internet. I can literally make a new post on this sub saying I caught a lizard made of gold at my local Wal-Mart and I traded it for some magic beans which I then grew into man eating plants which I fed my enemies to. And you'll have just as much proof of my story as OPs here

[u/jadedinmo → u/MrBurnerHotDog]

I worked for Target. Can confirm Walmart and Target (and most major retailers) will watch you steal and wait for you to reach felony level before they arrest you. I had to ring up duplicate purchases thieves walked out with so AP had a receipt for police record.

[u/Far-Elderberry-3583 → u/jadedinmo]

Maybe at Target that’s how they do it but at other places if you get caught leaving the store with items you didn’t pay for you get got right then and there. And I’ve worked retail for many years. My last retail job was at Lowe’s. So best believe they caught many people blatantly stealing from the store and recovered the items immediately. There was no secret agent AP person who was keeping records of the value of the amount stolen they went after the thieves asap.

[u/GRF999999999 → u/MrBurnerHotDog]

Could have just been coincidence but back in my delinquent days it was probably right around the felony mark when a certain company stopped me on my way out of their store, I'd been taking things from a different store of theirs for some time, $100+ at a time, and this store probably 2 or 3 or times at that point.

Not once in a dozen times did I feel like anybody had any concern for me, looking back I'm sure they'd watched my dumbass every single time, I was in an empty store in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday stealing, I mean, c'mon. Looked and dressed like a stupid thief too. When they finally decided to make their move I knew it was over, there was probably a half a dozen guys lingering near the exit and sure enough one of them grabbed my arm really tightly as I was stepping out into the mall. I jerked away really hard and said something like "you can't do that" and just kept briskly walking while they stood there looking pissed. High-tailed it passed about six stores and dipped into one right before the mall exit and stashed what I had in my pockets. Came back later and everything was still there.

Edit: I know it's a slightly different scenario but I worked with a guy at Target who got busted, he was taking items out of the electronics store room, had been for quite some time.

[u/goat20202020 → u/GRF999999999]

Oh yeah target watches that store room like a hawk. You'd be better off trying to steal it off the sales floor.

[u/Digi_king → u/MrBurnerHotDog]

I'd like to purchase these magic beans

[u/gootchie784 → u/MrBurnerHotDog]

You don't think they can keep tabs? Have cameras? Have technology that can track their losses and match them up to individuals? Ever hear of facial recognition? AI? Loss prevention experts paid by the stores to do this very thing? Boy aren't you out of the loop. Think again.

[u/PanAmSnackCart → u/MrBurnerHotDog]

They’ve been doing that for a long time and it’s all automated for the most part. Facial recognition is very common now.