Someone in G+ knows the answer to this… Today I went to the change room at a popular us clothing store with 9 items and joined a lengthy line of ladies wanting to try on clothes. We all had to hang our items and then get a silly number to go into the change room… i was of course informed 9 is 'too many' , 8 is the max… and I would need to get dressed and come back out for the one item.
Annoying. Fine. But when all was said and done and I came out of the change room, handed over the number, but i kept some of the items because i was purchasing them. She didnt bother counting them and i had already walked away.
I realize there is some sense of anti theft security in these number systems… but really.. what is the point? Is she going to run after me because 8 items didnt come out? Never happened to me.. so why not let me take 9 items in…
+You Mad Bro?
8? here, the limit is 3. #firstworldproblems ? 🙂
Technically the person giving you the number is supposed to check how many items come back out, including the ones you are going to buy. Obviously this clerk doesn't bother. It was designed to help stop theft.
🙂
Could happen.
I got tackled the other day leaving a store.
I wasn't stealing anything, but I got pretty hurt.
So…
Yeah… I just don't argue anymore. People's is crazy, who knows what kind of day they've been having. And I've had 'em snap on me.
Yes – you got the theory right – but on minimum wage there is a tendency to stick to the rules whilst not actually doing the counting or caring… :o)
Maybe they limit the number of items so you don't hog the changing room all day .. and they're just being polite by accusing you of being a potential thief (after all, seems suspecting everyone of being a criminal is the 'in thing' these days.) lol
Well.. yes.. i get it.. but why argue about the first rule… when your not going to bother with the second… thats the point… do people stop thinking in minimum wage? Maybe i forget…
+Amanda Blain Yes – I think a lot of them do :o(
theft issues
+Amanda Blain "Do people stop thinking in minimum wage?"
Hell yes we do!
Do you think they pay us enough to do more than stand there. I need TWO of those jobs, and they both suck, just to make my rent. They don't pay you enough to think, or care. They just pay you to be there. And when they don't need you to be there, they cut your hours and just assume you'll get another job.
Why give a damn?
It's hard to have a work ethic when you are completely irreplaceable, and may be replaced regardless of how good your work is. And there are plenty of other jobs just as bad that will barely pay your rent and leave you in the red at the end of every month.
Do they stop thinking? No. They just don't care.
Until the meet a customer who notices and treats them with dignity and respect, then they'll give you the world, and screw the rules.
People are people, you can always rely on that. Be their friend, they'll bend rules for you, and care about the rules you set.
Wal Mart had this idea down while Sam Walton was alive, after he passed on, it started going the way of most corporations.
If corporations are people, they must be very lonely. They have no friends.
Well, I guess in an effort to stem loss from theft the company established a limit. The employee just didn't do the math.
what I don't understand is if they are counting the items that go in…
why the limit in the first place.
because changing room attendants can't count to 9? O_o
It's just easier to tell if you've shoved something in your bag or down your pants if there's less items to keep track of… lot's of places limit it to 3 per changing session… 8 seems pretty high.
+David Andrews Maybe they don't trust their employees beeing able to count further than eight correctly?
They limit the number because they want you to be selective and not try every thing in their store.. also it takes time to put the items you didn't want back on the rack and they want everyone to get opportunity to get the item.. i think!
They count to potato.
its like the lock on your door – many security 'devices' only work against people who never test them (honesty or fear) – a serious criminal will get around them all …
The biggest reason for limit the # is because a very large % of people will leave what the don't want to buy in there. It could have started because of theft. With all the laws now, I kinda doubt that's still the main reason. Nothing can be done or even implied until the item has left the building, not the changing room.
Every item i tried on also had those "tag security ink" things… so it all seemed really redundant to me. It just made me think how whatever it was put in place for … is just annoying to the customer.. and not doing.. well anything else.
when it's ready .. let's go:-D
sometimes, just annoying the customer is the only goal
😉 no one actually works retail and knows? 🙂
Those tags have another purpose also. At least here they do. They are internal tracking for restocking. Clothing is sold in sizes. Each type tag represent a size as well as brand. So when it is scanned it tells the system for instance wrangler size 24/26 needs 25 items restocked, and so on.
+PJ Rosenberg That sounds reasonable, but when I go to a store that has a limit, they see how many things I have and don't ask me to put them back. they also don't have a problem with my swapping items not in the dressing room with one I left outside. Them telling me I can't take everything in still doesn't give other shoppers access to what I want to try on.
Another plausible explanation is that they don't want people to be in the dressing rooms for too long. Allow others a chance to use it (although it still doesn't work).
Right +Aldene Preddie i thought all those same thoughts… no matter the 'reason' no other rules seem to be put into effect so.. it really seemed pointless.
+Michael Jones interesting… I didn't know that.
I think they do these things for many reasons
1) keep your time in the changing room minimal (Limit the number of items you can take at once) hence, if you take too long in there, someone will be knocking on the door. (regardless of the reason you took so long, it is good for both parties to check)
2)give other people a change to go in and try things on, so you will have to get inline again.
3)Make people who want to steal a bit nervous.
4) the Company-Policy-Don't-Ask-Why thing… they just like to make our lives just a bit harder 🙂
I hear ya +Amanda Blain, it bothers me sometimes, but we males do tend to take less items to try out lol
Not sure if this helps answer your question, but +Grace O'Malley was right in her answer – or at least they're supposed to according to this link:
crimeprevention.rutgers.edu/crime/shoplifting/fitting%20rooms.html
And this article on dressing rooms, is kind of humorous. =)
jeannieinabottle.hubpages.com/hub/Dressing-Room-Etiquette
It may have to do with the amount of time one is taking up in the changing room. However, if a store is slow at the time I see no reason why the limit should and could not be overlooked. In the past I have worked in retail for 15 years, But never in softlne Mdse.
good
+Lisa Bimmerz Shoplifting!! Never thought about that!! Only problem is that most stores do not follow them. there have been many times when I leave the fitting room and no one is outside to take my number. I just leave it and take the clothes with me. There are always ways to circumvent the system.
I used to work at Abercrombie and those brats that shop there would try on so much crap, leave it inside out and on the ground in the fitting room and stroll out, leaving me to touch their worn garments. Yuck!
funny thing to complain about
+Jera Wolfe Wish you'd make that comment into a post so I could share it.
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you're missing the point. You do not have to verify every action for a deterrent to have an effect. You had already complied with her direction to go with one less. You had already been caught out by her. That made it unlikely that you would steal anything. Moreover, it also had an effect on those around you. It is a trade-off between effort and reward. We could investigate every murder, but we don't. We investigate more murders than shoplifting though.
The actual answer is because she's a lazy ass.
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Well u never know what they are taking all these security measures for…
Only 3 items in oklahoma allowed
MAKING LOVE
+Amanda Blain The number is done to keep the time you're in the dressing room down so others can use it. The number system is pretty arbitrary, as in busier stores will have a less number of articles you can take in. There's also the risk that people will put the clothes on and then walk out of the store, but sensormatic tags with ink pretty much dropped that risk.
???? ????
+Amanda Blain +Andrew Thompson know that there are people out there who have the machine to take off the security tags? the one I see them using in stores aren't very big. If someone has one and takes it into a dressing room, removing it is a piece of cake.
Stores lose millions of dollars in merchandise even with sensormatic tags on them. How is is that so much stuff can walk out the stores with these tags on them?
+Beth Cassar It doesn't just happen at Abercrombie & Fitch. It is absolutely disgusting to see clothes piled up on the floor where people have left them behind. I never leave things I am trying on behind and I will even pick up things left behind by other (only in my stall, not the entire place). It is very inconsiderate!
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