Physical attacks/threats on staff.

[almostlost]

Had a woman at work stupidly grab a shoplifters jacket, who then dragged her outside, slammed her into a securicor van hurting her elbow.

The shoplifter slipped his jacket off and ran off, when we got back in store inside his coat was his passport, keys, mobile and a dirty needle.  Police were informed, it took them 6 days to bother to show up for the guys stuff, it's now been 8 days and they havnt taken a statement or CCTV footage from us.

Funny how about a 6 weeks ago our sm had to have a meeting with the neighbourhood watch and local police, because our communication was poor with them. Wonder why ...

[Siren137]

We had an incident today which got nasty.

A couple came into the store and were noted by security and the store manager as the woman fell over in the foyer. Security watched them closely and it was obvious that they were drunk. Once they got to the checkout the woman serving them refuse them the sale of some wine as she too believe they were drunk.
They kicked off saying they were both over 18, had ID, weren't drunk etc etc. T/L came along and stuck up for the checkout staff. Security got involved and the couple began to get abusive. Duty was called and they got more and more angry. The man told the woman to call the police as Tesco were breaking the law by refusing the sale! The Duty asked them to leave at which point they threatened her, so the SM who was still in phoned the police. The couple refused to leave the store and stood there like lemons while the staff left them to it.
Suddenly they changed their tune, got all apologetic and asked to pay for the shopping and said they would then leave. The T/L began to scan the shopping as the police arrive. The couple saw that and kicked off all over again. They threatened to get a gang of mates to beat up the T/L when she finished her shift!
The police got involved, they still kicked off and in the end they arrested the woman and dragged her out the store as she screamed at the top of her voice to the security guy "You're a dead man, a f***ing dead man!"

To be fair all the staff were excellent. The T/L and managers all stuck up for each other. We had a team of male staff near the door in case they did a runner and everyone directly involved was asked if they were alright and if they wanted a break or to go home. The police were brilliant as well and came back later tonight for CCTV and statements. 

[bushido]

. We had a team of male staff near the door in case they did a runner

I hope they get paid extra for doing that just because they were male.

[Chubbychaser]

Would they get paid extra regardless of gender (?))   Even today we have female guards working at many sites.

[leon9723]

Think twice before jumping in and helping with shoplifters as you can not be 100% sure what they may be carrying on them. You may find your self getting stabbed or cut by a number of different objects like knifes, used needles etc. If the shoplifter is carrying bottles of vodka hidden on their body and a scuffle happens they might break cutting you and them you never know what infections he or she may have.

If your not trained to do security you may not get support from Tesco if something does not go right and you find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

I just wanted to point it out as things like this do happen to people when they try to help.

[clansman]

hello all I'm a security guard for tesco as i was walking home the other night saturday after my shift about 11 pm i seen a man who i stoped for shoplifting a few weeks ago he walked towards me and hit me in the face and ran off point being watch your self when your going home now i am missing a tooth lol

[weir-07]

lol

Um, sorry if this sounds rude but... are you for real?

I hope you are doing something about this incident or assault, have contacted the police etc?

Otherwise people are going to think they can get away with it - that there are no repercussions - and that it is just find to assault a member of staff. Its not on, its not right - and if you have not done something about it... what is to stop this man from doing it again?!

[clansman]

yes the police have been told about it and it is getting sorted out

[almostlost]

I had a woman call me an ar**h*le for not arming her son who looked 14, and his petrol can, and making her get out the car when she has a bad back and no shoes on (is it legal to drive barefoot ?) so I told her to use the bp up the road in future.

10 minutes her husband drives up, storms up to the till, asks my name and when I finish cos he will be waiting for me at 12.

Then the woman had the cheek to phone cs to make a complaint. The guy a&r cs actually burst out laughing when he was told the proper story, then said he would call them back and ask about the bits they missed.

The week before I was told I would be waited for at 12 by a thieving smackhead.

Neither of then turned up again.

[pete]

I had a woman call me an ar**h*le for not arming her son who looked 14, and his petrol can, and making her get out the car when she has a bad back and no shoes on (is it legal to drive barefoot ?) so I told her to use the bp up the road in future.

10 minutes her husband drives up, storms up to the till, asks my name and when I finish cos he will be waiting for me at 12.

These people must have serious 'issues'. I mean, they are really PATHETIC individuals.

[Chubbychaser]

is it legal to drive barefoot ?  It is North of border, but no such law down here.

[bloodhound]

http://allaboutthefeet.blogspot.com/2008/01/is-it-illegal-to-drive-barefoot.html

Nope! Totally legal!  
But slightly off topic..unless you are being attacked by some bare-footed assassin....best get back on track...shoes or no-shoes!  

[almostlost]

Had a knife pulled on me by a kid that looked about 16 this morning. Then he assaulted a copper. All over a copy of nuts.

[Major Dude]

At a time when alcohol fuelled violence and anti social behaviour is on the increase; and reading of all these incidents, I'm quite disturbed by the company's recent decision to cancel agency guarding at Extras and to have only the existing in - house Security staff on duty doing the same workload. It's perhaps not a major issue on days when there are a lot of staff around; but in a lot of cases it will mean that there will be only one member of the Security team on duty at night in 24 hr stores. Tesco is now showing its true colours and this decision clearly shows that it does not care about the personal safety of out of hours staff.

[almostlost]

"Tesco is now showing its true colours and this decision clearly shows that it does not care about the personal safety of out of hours staff."

The majority of my hours are evenings, we had no guard for about 3 years, when we did get one back, its taken two months for the SM to have a bad weekend for shoplifters on her shifts and the guard hours have been moved 8am-4pm, which helps her out, as she RARELY stays later than 6pm.  The first night we had no guard we had a guy standing just outside phoning his mates to tell them to "come up now, the guard isnt here". 

I have never just watched as many shoplifters walk out as i did last week, I cant be arsed challenging them anymore.

[gopher]

I work in an area where we get shoplifters regularly. Very recently there was a physical confrontation with a member of staff which involved grappling and threats to headbutt. I've seen lots of shoplifters and even though i am a strong enough lad, im not going to confront and try apprehend any thief- first thing i do is get the guard and other members aware then sort it in numbers and with a few pressurising glares like today. Confrontations are not worth the risks at all, and even though stock bonuses are heavily at risk- stopping shoplifters is not in my job description and I am not trained to deal with it- other than the three bell and notify other members of staff.

[nightshirker]

i was attacked earlier in the year called police turn up 30 mins after they had gone took photos and statement not heard anymore Tosco never even phoned me to see how i was i phoned them later in week to update them asked me when i would be back

[almostlost]

The comment I posted about having a knife pulled on me ...

My sm got a call at home from the eom and the guy above him (why has my mindfone blank and forgot his title ?). I was never asked though.

[penguin]

Punched in the mouth and side of the head today, all because we had run out of Lucazade.

Not to mention the huge amount of verbal abuse the guy gave me before and after hitting me.

[Nomad]

penguin, I hope you are physically & mentally OK.

[south-west-trains]

I second what Nomad said, Can't believe someone makes such a fuss over Lucozade, they need to get a life! 

[Jaycloth]

Exactly! Now if you'd run out of beer!  Hope they catch the rascal.

[ReallyUnhappyGA]

about two weeks ago a member of CSD was approached by a man wanting to return some DVDs (which he had already opened) he had been shopping and stopped on his way out to return them. when the CSD staff refused his request he got really aggressive and started shouting and swearing before throwing his handful of shopping at the desk, striking one of the ladies.

then, not two minutes later, the nonfoods trading manager comes down and.....yeah, you guessed it...gave him his freakin money back

wtf?!?!

[gambit]

Assuming that the CSD staff where wrong to refuse his request in the first place then by law the non-food manager had no choice but to refund the dvds.

If CSD did have a valid reason for refusing the refund and the non food manager allowed themselves to be bullied into refunding it than they did the wrong thing

Either way due to the way the customer reacted they should have allowed him to finish his business in the store that day. then kindly ask him to leave while informing him that he is no longer welcome in the store.   

[weir-07]

It depends WHY the customer wanted the refund, and why it was refused.

Could have missed the 30 day window, or could be simply because they had been that they had been opened. In some cases opened DVD's can be returned; unwanted gifts etc but given back on a Moneycard - not in cash... and if it is faulty in this case refunds are not supposed to take place and instead the customer receives a product exchange and goodwill gesture where required. Tesco tightened up the returns for DVD's about two years ago as people where buying them, making copies and getting full refunds.

But I think we just don't know enough to make any sort of judgement on the situation.

And if that was me the Manager made out to look absolutely stupid I would certainly be having words and be considering lodging a grievance. Especially after the customer had threw something at a member of staff.

WHY do some managers just give in, often against policy and their staff, and give what the customer wants as soon as they start kicking up a bit of a fuss. Some people need to get some integrity.