Watching the Seinfeld show the other day, Elaine got banned for a year. Kramer got banned from the fruit store, so did Jerry. How does one go about banning someone? How do you make it stick?
Well, my sister manages a CVS store, and when someone gets caught doing something like shoplifting/being a jerk, she bans them from the store. If they return she calls the cops. Pretty simple.
Zette
Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high.
Not enough and you’re gonna die…
Click here for some GOOD news for a change Zettecity
A good question; when i was an impetuous youth I got semi-caught shoplifteing candy bars. I managed to stick them back under the counter under pretense of not understanding the clerks english, so he couldn’t prove anything. Point being, would he even remember me if i went back in? Do store owners post up little polaroids of offenders?
“C’mon, it’s not even tomorrow yet…” - Rupert
If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet
The way I do it is to tell them to get out and don’t come back. I always get cussed out at this point.
They almost always return though (sigh) and I have to go through the same bull again. They try to act innocent, but they know they’re not supposed to be in the store. Never had to call the cops, but I would if I had to. One threatened to call the cops on ME. Yeah, right!
It amazes me, the nerve some people have.
I used to manage a CD shop, which is a magnet for shoplifters. Upon catching them, we would call the police, have a report filled out, the police would tell them they are ‘personna non grata’ (I know my Latin sucks so if it’s wrong, deal with it…) We would take a Polaroid of them, and post it in the back room. If they returned, they can be arrested for trespassing. This was in Pennsylvania, and I imagine state laws vary on how this procedure is carried out.
Gambling casinos are serious about making sure that banned gamblers like card counters stay banned. Most use big books of photos to compare against closed circuit television monitors, but at least one is testing a new computerized photo ID system that can compare the image from a CCTV camera against a database of hundreds of photos using advanced AI and fuzzy logic techniques, and make fairly accurate ifdentifications. I saw this demonstrated on TV (Discovery Channel?); I’ll look around for some links on the web. Very cool, yet kind of creepy from a Big Brother point of view.
TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
While we’re on our way to Cuba – I saw a show about a guy who was a card counter. Most casinos wouldn’t let him in but one always would. The TV people asked the manager why they let him in when they always lost money. The manager replied that they get a few card counters but they get a lot of people who think they’re card counters!
Let’s see. I lathered and I rinsed. But did I repeat?
I see a few shops in Calif, USA, with signs that say: “we have the right to refuse service to anyone.”
Since the “Soup Nazi’s” place was on private property, he can pretty much boot anyone out of the store if he doesn’t like them, limited of course by civil rights law.
Well you’re talking about banning someone for doing something illegal. Nobody did anything on Seinfeld except express an opinion.
Yeah I know TV isn’t life.
I mean how can you make it stick. If a store owner banned someone, for a reason lik that, and the person showed back up, and the store owner called the cops, in Chicago the cop would be mad at the store owner for wasting his time. (now there is a run on sentence.)
And you can certainly put any sign you want in the store, “We reserve the right to refuse service” but you couldn’t do it just cause the guy was black or whatever.
What I ban people for mainly is running up big late fees on their own and other people’s accounts, then trying to start a new account or rent on someone else’s account. Or they’ll just never return a tape and then 2 years later come in and argue that I shouldn’t blame it on them (I have this situation going on right now).
Or I have this one person who is very vocal about anything that she doesn’t like. Her son ran up a big late fee, they had moved away for a while, then when they came back, each member of the family came in trying to rent. I would have let her rent, except that she called and cussed and yelled at me for what seemed like a very long time over the son’s situation. So I told them that none of them could come back. Then they send girlfriends, boyfriends, just friends, etc. in to try and get tapes for them. When I turn them down, here goes another session. She told me that was discrimination. I said discrimination on account of what? a smart mouth? Ain’t no law against it that I know of.
Another recent case involved a guy that came in with his girlfriend and spent a $50 bill. He left before I gave her the change. He came back a little while later and started yelling and cussing and saying I hadn’t given her the change and trying to make me count out my cash drawer right then in front of him. I told him I would cash out at the end of the evening just like usual, but that I knew I wouldn’t be off because I absolutely remembered giving her the change. I don’t get that many $50 bills. He left, cussing, called again for another session, called the police (they laughed at him) THEN called again and they had found the rest of the change I had given them and was that ok? I said sure, just don’t ever come in here again. It would take too long to tell all the details of that one, but I was ready to clobber him by the time he finally shut up.
What really aggravates me is they never seem to give up. On what seems to be a regular basis, each deadbeat will try it again. You wouldn’t believe how clever and inventive and sneaky they can be. They’re breaking no laws by coming in, but I’m not gonna be stupid enough to rent to them again. The only time I would feel justified in calling the police would be if they just refused to leave. This is a small town and the police wouldn’t mind at all if I called them. I just don’t want to make it a habit to call for something I feel I should handle myself.
AFAIK, a store owner has the right to refuse service for any reason unless he/she is discriminating on account of race or religion. But what a hassle trying to run these buggers off.