# What to do if dept store forgets to remove anti-theft device from a purchase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181 "2006-03-13T16:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/21 "2006-03-13T21:34:25Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I had always assumed they could pull up a record of the transcation (i.e. a duplicate receipt) from just scanning the bar code. The bar code just identifies what the item is (e.g., pants, brand, size, color…). It doesn’t identify _which_ pants they are, who bought them, when they were sold, or anything else. If you are going to a different branch of the same store _and_ they have centralized records, then they may be able to call up your purchasing records to prove that you bought a pair of those pants six months ago. That wouldn’t prove that the particular pair you’re holding is the pair you bought, and if you didn’t identify yourself to the clerk, they’d have no way to check at all. I’d just call and ask for a manager and explain what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/22 "2006-03-13T21:46:29Z")
Am I the only one that thinks this would have been a great basis for a Seinfeld episode? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/23 "2006-03-13T22:05:29Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I once bought a pair of trousers and got it home…and found the anti-theft attachment thingy still firmly attached. it clearly did not trigger the door warning. This is another thing – why the eff did the alarm not go off as I left the store? Or is it one of those deals where 90% of the security tags are duds? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/24 "2006-03-13T22:57:32Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This is another thing – why the eff did the alarm not go off as I left the store? Or is it one of those deals where 90% of the security tags are duds? Well, I don’t know ANY specifics here, but I do know that at least one of my local stores has “deterence detectors”. Not only are their detectors silent, but they have no power leading in, have no batteries, and in fact no circuits of any kind inside. This info per an employee I used to associate with. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/25 "2006-03-13T23:37:19Z")
Happened to me, but I noticed only a month later that it was still attached, I still had the receipt (go go gadget packrat!), and the store hadn’t closed. I took it in, explained what happened; the clerk was apologetic, removed the anti-theft device, and out the store I went. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/26 "2006-03-14T00:15:36Z")
When this happened to me, the customer service person I talked to (Lord & Taylor) offered to _send someone to my house_ to remove the item for me (I was putting it on, a few weeks after buying it, for the first time and I was in a hurry). But it seemed quicker to just go by the store. _Wearing_ the dress. Very annoying. I was late to my event. And for once it wasn’t my fault. I did once remove one on something that I bought for my husband. Pliers & Xacto knife. I had put it in layaway because I had no place to hide it. The store (Sears) also wrapped it. Walking out of the store after picking it up I heard the alarm go off and thought, “Hah, they got somebody.” No idea that somebody was _me_ until he unwrapped it. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181/27 "2006-03-14T14:40:54Z")
I have had this happen a couple of times. I have taken it back to the store (with receipt) and had them remove it. I don’t think they would have looked sideways at me if I didn’t. I just brought it back in the store bag and went straight to a cashier. I also got home to find one and decided to try a magnet (since that is what the device embedded in the counter seems to be) and it worked. It needed a little finagling, but I got it off without using force. Heh…I had a cow-orker who showed up to work one day with a tag flopping about on her pant leg. Apparently her mother had bought the pants for her and this was her first time wearing them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-dept-store-forgets-to-remove-anti-theft-device-from-a-purchase/348181.md?page=1)