# You're a goddam cart thief, and they should call the cops on you. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 28, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181 "2012-09-28T20:22:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/81 "2012-10-01T16:51:00Z")
I’ve never stolen a cart in my life. Yet when I saw an anti-shopping cart theft commercial when I was a kid, I thought, “it’s just a cart; what’s the big deal?” Now I know better. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/82 "2012-10-01T17:31:47Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Probably not. Grocery stores do not have huge profit margins. I don’t have a cite, but I expect the cost of retrieving a cart – particularly when that involves sending an employee in a pickup truck to troll the streets for it–outstrips the profit from selling what was in the cart. Likewise, the people who do it once tend to do it over and over, so the store isn’t making much if any money from them. That’s probably true but doesn’t mean that the on-premises managers don’t _think_ it’s a good business decision still. I worked at a grocery store for a few years and you’d be amazed how awful some customers could be but the managers refused to ever “fire” them and tell them not to come back. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/83 "2012-10-01T17:35:37Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > The Target near me (Evanston, IL) has the cart “fence” installed and I always laugh at all of the carts stuck right near the entrance to the parking lot where the cart-stealers’ had to leave them on their way out. I’ve seen dipshits pushing carts from Target with all their might, never noticing that the front wheels have locked. It is to laugh! ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/84 "2012-10-01T17:44:10Z")
About ten years ago I read that those store shopping carts cost about $400 a piece. That sounds like a hospital or university (inflated) type cost to me, but what do I know? My local KMart has started using carts that lockup once outside the (limited) range of their parking lot. They have a key that unlocks them so their attendants can roll them back to the store. Two winters ago we had a lot of snow and the town dumped excess snow in the park I run my dogs in. When the snow melted there were several mangled shopping carts exposed. Too bad if they cost $400, or more. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/85 "2012-10-01T23:49:41Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Ha, I was referencing Bubbles from The Wire - but this works too! The Wire actually did a crossover with Trailer Park Boys. 2 Bubbles for the price of one: [http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cec4af1561/mashuppiece-theater-the-wire-trailer-park-boys](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cec4af1561/mashuppiece-theater-the-wire-trailer-park-boys) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/86 "2012-10-02T14:50:03Z")
[Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5--s0qASUE) where all the extra carts out there come from. (video) And [here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMlXDDMSCE) where they end up. (video) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/87 "2012-10-02T16:13:33Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > A lot of stores in my area are going to a system that somehow (I admit to ignorance of just how this works) will lock the cart’s wheels when it crosses a line at the edge of the parking lot. Employees somehow can unlock the wheels to roll the cart back where it belongs. Judging by the Target carts I occasionally see pushed about my neighborhood, the system has its flaws. I’m not sure if some just don’t work, if there’s an easy way to break it, or if be sheer force of determination you can hop the perimeter (not sure on how this system works.) I didn’t realize how common cart stealing was. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/88 "2012-10-03T13:10:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > This. At my local store they have like 8 different cart sizes – at least 3 of them have cabs attached to stick kids into, making them in human-powered buses about 10 feet long. Arrrrrgh! I hate those monstrosities and whenever I see them it’s invariably the parent trying to maneuver the lumbering behemoth through tight aisles when the children it’s meant to contain are running shrieking through the aisles anyway. The store I do most of my shopping at used to have the Worst Idea Ever: “Junior Shopper” carts. These were small, colorful carts just the right size for a 3-5 year old to push along while running full tilt without a care in the world. Coincidentally they were about knee high to a regular adult so when hit with one from behind at Warp 12 it was in just the right place to send you ass-over-teakettle. The kids would also load them up with crap the parent had no intention of buying, leading to nuclear meltdowns at the checkouts when Bryttyny found out she wasn’t getting the 10 boxes of Chocolate Frosted Crunchy Sugar Bombs she wanted. I haven’t seen them for about a year, so I figure either some sweet angel took out one innocent senior citizen too many, or they got stolen. That would be the one kind of cart theft I don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/89 "2012-10-03T15:17:00Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Similarly, while a quarter may be enough to get you to return your cart most of the time, it’s also an extremely low price for taking a cart all the way home. I can easily imagine some people somewhere who wouldn’t have “stolen” a cart before feeling somewhat authorized to do so when their quarter is in the slot. From my experience, and the experience of the posters above, this does not seem to be the case. I live steps away from both a Target and an Aldi. The Aldi has the quarter lock system. The Target does not. I have never ever seen a stray Aldi cart in the neighborhood, nor anyone pushing it down the street. They will occasionally get abandoned in the parking lot, but some enterprising kids will take them back because, hey, free quarter. Meanwhile, hardly a week goes by where I don’t see someone pushing a Target cart down the street or find one abandoned in an alley. I really don’t get these sociopaths. I once saw a couple of women push the Target cart to the other end of my block, abandon it on the corner, and then walk the half block to their house. (The entire walk from the Target to their house was less than 1/4 mile.) Who does that? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/90 "2012-10-03T17:43:20Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > … I have never ever seen a stray Aldi cart in the neighborhood, nor anyone pushing it down the street. > … > Meanwhile, hardly a week goes by where I don’t see someone pushing a Target cart down the street or find one abandoned in an alley. > … Why would they take an Aldi cart that costs a quarter, when they can get a free Target cart from the next parking lot? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/91 "2012-10-03T20:24:07Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Why would they take an Aldi cart that costs a quarter, when they can get a free Target cart from the next parking lot? So, the system works. That said, the people with the Target carts I’ve seen have bags full of Target items, and they don’t keep the carts–they abandon them when they get close enough to home, whether at an intersection or alley. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/92 "2012-10-03T20:46:36Z")
People who are too lazy to return their carts to the corrals and leave them in valid parking spots, especially in spots that are hidden by trucks and SUVs so I start to turn in only to realize I can’t because there are a couple of carts there and now I am in some sort of awkward parking lot limbo as other cars behind me wonder why I don’t just pull in because they can’t see the offending cart, are worse than Hitler… Adolf Hitler! ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/93 "2012-10-04T17:47:48Z")
The TJ Maxx that I go to all have a huge pole on top of the carts so they don’t fit out the door. So do the laundry carts in the local laundromats. Is that just a western PA thing? ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/94 "2012-10-04T20:06:15Z")
[Here’s](http://www.amazon.com/Stray-Shopping-Carts-Eastern-America/dp/0810955202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349380818&sr=8-1&keywords=shopping+carts+of+north+america) a comprehensive field guide for the places those abandoned shopping carts languish. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/95 "2013-05-22T12:00:26Z")
It’s a glorious day. The Kroger near my home finally implemented a solution to prevent grocery carts from leaving the premises. [here’s the solution.](http://www.gatekeepersystems.com/sol_cc_cartcontrol.php) I’m sure it wasn’t cheap: they had to cut up the pavement in the parking lot to install the trigger wires all around the perimeter, and then each and every grocery cart had a couple of special wheels fitted that lock up when someone attempts to roll the cart across that trigger wire. I’ve witnessed a couple of boneheaded cart thieves who didn’t read the giant new signs in the parking lot (see link above), and were baffled when the cart suddenly refused to move any further. In spite of the cost, it must have been cheaper than perpetually hunting down itinerant shopping carts all over the area. Wonderful. No more carts lying by the side of the road or in the ditches, and hopefully this will help keep Kroger’s prices down. Hell, they may even make money from this change: as I walked out of the checkout area last night, I saw that they had cheap two-wheeled shopping carts (similar to carry-on luggage) for sale for $30. Perfect placement: just when you realize you won’t be able to steal one of their carts, they offer to sell you one. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/96 "2013-05-22T12:48:34Z")
If you try to scam extra side dishes with your entree at the restaurant, does that make you an a la carte thief? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/97 "2013-05-22T13:23:50Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It’s a glorious day. The Kroger near my home finally implemented a solution to prevent grocery carts from leaving the premises. Mark this on your calendar, and come back in a year or so to tell us how successful this was. I remember a similar system installed at a supermarket near me once, a mechanical one. It was an abject failure. The anti-theft device was all too easily triggered by accident, causing the cart to careen wildly down the aisle. Since carts are well known to have poor wheels anyway, some shoppers just kept pushing them noisily until a manager ran up with the deactivation device. And it didn’t keep people from taking them off the premises, it just made them harder to push and more likely to end up in a ditch where it was harder to retrieve them. So let us know how it goes after a time. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/98 "2013-05-22T13:39:14Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The anti-theft device was all too easily triggered by accident, causing the cart to careen wildly down the aisle. That sounds like a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/99 "2013-05-22T14:06:07Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > That sounds like a feature, not a bug. Indeed, ordinary carts are known to careen wildly down the aisle. **Musicat,** how long ago did you see the ill-fated system you described? I wonder if there have been improvements since then, or if that system was from a different manufacturer or used different technology. I wouldn’t think that the manufacturer of such a system would last long unless they made substantial and rapid improvements to their product. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181/100 "2013-05-22T14:31:25Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That sounds like a lot of trouble when they could just use a real fence and some invisible paint. This post was too confusing for me so early in the morning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-goddam-cart-thief-and-they-should-call-the-cops-on-you/636181.md?page=6)