On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:57:38 -0500, George >
wrote:

>blake murphy wrote:
>> On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:19:03 -0500, George >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Virginia Tadrzynski wrote:
>>>
>>>> When I worked for Walmart as a Customer Service Manager (mid level
>>>> management) I was told that we could physically 'observe' someone stuff
>>>> goods into a bag and walk out with it but could do nothing. Corporate
>>>> policy was that an "Assistant Manager" or higher had to see them steal
>>>> before they could be stopped. Find an assistant manager on the floor at any
>>>> time.....Good luck. So it got to a point that in the break room the
>>>> cashiers and the floor associates kept a tally of who saw how many people
>>>> steal. But come bonus time, there wasn't one because 'we allowed
>>>> shrink'.......go figure.
>>>
>>> Big box stores know that with the deep pockets they have it is cheaper
>>> to let someone walk away with $100 worth of stuff than to be involved
>>> even in token litigation for say $12,000 which I understand is the
>>> current amount your "council" can pretty much ask for and you will get a
>>> part of simply to go away.
>>>
>>
>> bullshit, george. how about a cite?
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
>It is an everyday thing that businesses do that isn't published for
>obvious reasons. There is a cost to defend any suit or for that matter
>investigate any claim. Since ultimately it comes down to how much
>something will cost it makes sense for a deep pocketed business to
>simply make a deal and pay a token amount to make it go away rather than
>proceed with litigation.
>
>There are lawyers that thrive on this kind of stuff. It isn't
>multi-million dollar get your face on the front page deals but it is a
>constant income. My cousins husband is a local lawyer (honest guy, just
>makes an average income) who started out working for a firm that had
>their partners pictures on the city buses telling everyone that they
>would help them. He said there was a constant parade of people who knew
>the possibilities coming to the firm and the junior staff would get
>those cases. He said it is common knowledge in those circles how much
>can be demanded.
>
>My buddies wife is a paralegal and actually works for the same firm my
>cousins husband worked for (we all bust her about getting an honest
>job). She doesn't name names but always has lots of stories about these
>types of cases that they handle.
>
>Same thing with insurance companies. There is a certain threshold where
>they don't even look at a claim because the cost of an investigator is
>more than the claim.
>
>As Virginia said the big box stores know all of this and that it is a no
>win situation to even try and stop or pursue people because of possible
>litigation because of their deep pockets so they choose to write it off
>as shrinkage. I am friendly with the police chief of a nearby town where
>most of the local big box stores are located. I was in his office a few
>months back and he showed me a DVD of a shoplifter and we got into a
>discussion about how they handle it. He said a mom & pop shop might do
>something on their own (which I think is right) and detain the person
>but the big box places simply call the police after the fact and bring
>them into the room where the DVRs are located, show them what happened
>and burn them a copy.

sorry, george. your cousin's husband's 'buddies' wife doesn't count
as a cite except on alt.rightwing.kook.

i'm not saying that some retailers aren't lax about corralling
shoplifters, but it's more concern for employee safety - they don't
want them conked on the head or worse (and possible lawsuits arising
from that) - not from fear of suits by thieves from the vicious
'council' they all have on retainer.

you also seem to be seriously deluded about the number of people who
win their suits against large corporations. hint: it ain't many.

your pal,
blake