Big Retail Chains Dun Mere Suspects in Theft

[spinbaby]

Demands for Money
Can Leave Targets
With Little Defense

After Miami handyman Glenn Rudge was accused of shoplifting an $8 set of drill bits at Home Depot, he thought he'd settled the matter when he showed his receipt to prosecutors and they dropped the charge.

But a few weeks later, a law firm hired by Home Depot began sending him letters demanding first $3,000, then a total of $6,000, implying he'd be sued if he didn't pay it.

In an escalating battle against theft, retailers are going after anyone suspected of shoplifting, turning over their names to lawyers and collection firms, who pursue the suspects for stiff penalties and split the take with the retailer.

There is little oversight of a system retailers call "civil recovery," created by special laws passed in all 50 states. With no proof of theft, the retailers demand money -- often $200 but sometimes far more -- and promise to avoid suing if it is paid quickly. Laws vary by state, but in general, retailers can demand these sums even if the item at issue was worth far less and was quickly recovered and put back on the shelf.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120347031996578719.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[TheDebbieDee]

1. Unbelieveable. They can legally "shake you down"......

[Richard Steele]

5. Yup. Legalized extortion, plain and simple. Grrrecommended.

[scarletlib]

10. It happened to a member of my family.

Fourteen year old tried to shoplift a $9.00 pair of earrings and got caught in the store. The earrings never left the store. It ended up costing his mom over $600.00 via this system. She could hardly afford that much less a lawyer. It happened in Florida of course and the store was JC Penney.

[Selatius]

2. Glenn Rudge should countersue Home Depot in civil court: Mental anguish and financial loss.

On second thought, he apparently did that already and settled.

[uppityperson]

3. That is a wild article. Thank you for posting this.

[dysfunctional press]

4. home despot needs a better spokeswhore...

Home Despot's spokesman, Ron DeFeo, defended going after Mr. Rudge even though prosecutors dropped charges when he showed a receipt. "In Florida, no criminal conviction is needed to pursue civil demand," Mr. DeFeo noted.

what a GREAT stand to take, public relations-wise... you go, despot!

[Hydra]

6. Profit margins are dropping! Time to start suing the customers!

What a world.

:eyes:

[spinbaby]

9. Anything they can get away with

This country seems to have gotten to be about corporations squeezing money out of people.

[AzDar]

7. Un-freakin'-believable.

:wow:

[Celebration]

8. LOL

Mr. Glenn Rudge was wronged, but I bet he was glad, as there was a settlement in his case against him, and the settlement is "private."

A private settlement=Home Depot paid him big bucks!

[jmowreader]

11. This didn't happen in the last nine months, or in my district

My district's Loss Prevention Manager decided, about nine months ago, to turn his LP effort against internal theft--theft by employees. Our Loss Prevention Associates aren't allowed to pursue shoplifters anymore, and if a non-LP-trained associate follows a shoplifter through the door, that associate gets fired--no exceptions.

The scumbags know this, unfortunately, which is why our shrink numbers are so abysmal. We don't catch shoplifters. We don't try to. But...we DO now have a rule that unless you get the approval of the store manager, marking down an item for store use is considered theft and grounds for termination. I've actually witnessed associates buying, with their own money, cleaning supplies to use in the store. The fucking store manager never comes in, so he's not there to approve markdowns, and he won't delegate the authority to the assistant managers.

I promised my wife I'd stay there three more months. I'm counting the seconds, and I only work weekends now.