is anyone out there annoyed

[oldnugly]

im talking about those beeping and i mean beeping things at the doors of stores. they seem to go off at random and embarrass a lot of innocent shoppers. and then the clerks just say oh go ahead go through. if i ever steal anything from a store it will be one of those beeping things. then i will proceed to throw it in the trash. i wonder if they are worth the money? they do more to keep me from going there than they keep me from stealing.

[amethyst]

yes they irritate me also. If the cashier would do their job and rub it over that thingy properly...or enough times..this wouldn't happen. I find Zellers will let you go through...(who says i don't have a stolen something or other in my pocket???no i wouldn't steal...but it's not really a deterrant if they let you go through anyway.) But walmart and Superstore always always check.

[notfarnow]

Yes, drives me nuts. In fact, I like to just keep truckin', and make them chase me down. Caused quite a scene at Canadian Tire last year that way.

What bugs me even more are the talking Santas & other decorations. You get enough of those things going at once, and the noise is unbearable. Canadian tire is the WORST offender...I honestly don't know how the peopel who work there can handle listening to those all day.

WORSE YET are the TVs they have with bad commercials on looped tape. Over time, the sound gets scratchy and they become worse and worse. It is torture to be waiting at the Auto desk and listen to teh same tape for 10 minutes.

My new strategy is to unplug the stuff. Went to Canadian tire teh other night, unplugged Santa on the way in, and ended up turning off two TVs that were playing commercials in a loop. Ahhhhhhh!

[Woofer]

hahahahahahaa i gotta try that.

[hiph0p]

Your talking aout Walmart right? it happens to me ALL the time because of my cellphone ad yeah it ticks me off everytime i buy something im like make sure you ring that in right so it doesnt set the alarm off i goes offlike 50 times just when im in line its insane and annoying

[kaj27]

yes they irritate me also. If the cashier would do their job and rub it over that thingy properly...or enough times..this wouldn't happen. I find Zellers will let you go through...(who says i don't have a stolen something or other in my pocket???no i wouldn't steal...but it's not really a deterrant if they let you go through anyway.) But walmart and Superstore always always check.

It isn't always the cashier. Sometimes the customer if wearing a certain branded clothes with the security tags woven in, or a cellphone, mp3 player...the list goes on that can set them off.

At my store we ask the customer to return and check their receipt and their bag. Go to the security system put the bag through, if it goes off. Its okay, if not......

Some of our depts. Use different systems in scanning and cannot deactivate the tags. Blaming the cashier is just stupid, you must be the customers that leave flyer's and garbage around the store then complain the store is messy.

[amethyst]

It isn't always the cashier. Sometimes the customer if wearing a certain branded clothes with the security tags woven in, or a cellphone, mp3 player...the list goes on that can set them off.

At my store we ask the customer to return and check their receipt and their bag. Go to the security system put the bag through, if it goes off. Its okay, if not......

Some of our depts. Use different systems in scanning and cannot deactivate the tags. Blaming the cashier is just stupid, you must be the customers that leave flyer's and garbage around the store then complain the store is messy.

no i don't thank you very much. I NEVER leave garbage anywhere. That's not a good example to set for my kids.

I set those buzzers off all the time at Walmart and they take my bag..check it re-scan it on that thing and then it doesn't go off again. My cell phone has never set off the buzzer. So...essentially..people can walk out of the store without buying anything and set off the alarm? How embarrassing would that be?:biggrin:

[sugadip]

Library books will make the beeper go off as well.

[care78]

i do notice that the buzzers go off there quite frequently...i myself have never made one go off(thank heavens) and i also own a cell phone... i tihnk that some merchandise needs to be scanned more than once especially electronics!
i dont think it is fair to assume that this person litters around the store, im sure that it is getting that way because everybody is always in a big hurry at xmas time, i always feel like everyone is just storming through and not paying attention to where they are going...that is quite annoying!

[oldnugly]

kaj27..you work in a store that sells cameras etc. do you find that the warning devises are worth the money. for the tags and alarms and so on. i was told one time a $$$$ amount that a store saved by having this system in place and it was quite unbelievable. i have never witnessed anyone get caught by one. yet i have heard them go off countless times. one day last week i was at C T and it went off at least 30 times while i was there. i cant help but think there has to be a better way. one day i was going through a checkout and my daughter went out ahead of me. well it went off both scaring her and hurting her ears. i was on my way. luckily i got my wit about me before it went through the window. i was ticked and it cost that store 200+ bucks in a lost sale. not a big dent in a store that size but..i havnt gone back in three years......grudge much

[kaj27]

It's hard to say. I haven't seen anyone get caught like you said. But it's more of a scare tactic. It's there so people may be weary.

They do go off by accident, Like I said almost anything electronic can set them off. My old remote to my car use to set them off at blockbuster!

[oldnugly]

i can see them being good to deter the shady ones ( no disrespect to the rapping types out there ). but in the case of C T you think if its going off every second costomer they would find and solve the problem. in that case i can see it working against them. i have never stolen anything from a store in my life and dont intend to but i still dont like the idea of having that beeping finger point at me.....it draws to much attention to that table saw under my hat.<:)

[kb]

it is good to deter the shady ones thats exactly what it there for makes them think twice about it . most of the good thiefs already have ways around these things . i don't steal i also don't stop and go back when one goes off nor will i ever if they want to check my bag they can come and get it

[christine chittick]

sometimes when clerks ring something through and they run it over the scanner twice - it deactivates it the first time, it reactivates itself the second time run through. so if a person makes 2 swipes and the scanner goes off both times, get them to run it through a 3rd time - it will deactivate it again.

and not only that, sometimes those magnetic bars you see inside clothing or the plastic thing inside toys are in some pretty weird places. sometimes, it is an honest mistake when it doesnt get run through the scanner to be deactivated.

sometimes, when a new register is opened for the first time in the day, the clerk may forget to turn the scanner on - especially if they are used to coming on shift to a register that has already been used that day.

annoying and embarassing, yes very much so, but not always the fault of the person that rang in your items.

what irks me is the state some of the bathrooms are in. i understand that some toilets do break down but seriously, they seem to only break after someone takes a #2 - everytime!

[Nail]

I was walking out of Zellers Fredericton into the mall area one time, and of course, the "dingers" went off. It was my work's security tag setting it off. I stopped and told them what it was and their response was: "uhh, let us demagnetize it so it doesnt sound off again"...uhhhm no. I walked out. Getting back into my work building was on my lists of things to do.

[Cherry Pop]

My Keys make the thing go off all the time! I would like to know what's in my keys that would make it go off! Now that is embarassing especially when you don't buy anything and they look at you like you stole something - extremely embarassing!

[timmy]

For fun I like to peel off one of those cd thingies and stick it to something in the wife's purse, then just be careful not to walk through with her................

[oldnugly]

timmy.... how long do you plan on being with her? my dogs dont use their house. so if you dont have one allready let me know i can drop it off.

[Bawango]

I've only set off the alarm at wal mart once and It was because the cashier did not deactivate the security sticker properly( an honest mistake I am sure.) But anyway, I find that they do not care half the time the alarm goes off. Specially now as the stores are busier. Its hard for a door greater to do anything if the blasted things do go off specially when a big group of customers go out the door and the alarm goes off. I'm sure having an alarm system in place does save the company money as far as loss of merchandise. But stores like wal mart have floor walkers also that watch people that may potentially shift lift.
Also things like cell phones (some may), your electronic key card and even sometimes clothes or merchandise from another store may trigger the alarms. But overall when it does go off and your the one going through, it is annoying and embarrassing :)

[blondie04]

I don't know why they even bother this time of year,i know i was at walmart this past saturday and they alarm went off but there was at least 20 or 30 people all leaving the store at once...how would they even know who to stop and check....

[alsgal]

I went to the photo lab at the superstore the other day and I set off the alarm when I walked IN. The guy at the register asked to look in my bag and I said no. He called his manager, who asked mew the same thing, and I said no again, I had just come IN and it went off. The funny thing is that it didnt go off when I left the store. After I left, I stopped to talk to a friend in front of the photo place and the next 3 people who walked in set off the alarm. I am wondering if it was our cell phones that were setting it off.

[MissMem]

Could be worse. Last winter I bought a vest at Old Navy and didn't know the security tags were sewn in...never clued in cuz the alarm didn't go off on the way out. I ended up setting off every alarm at every store I walked into wearing the vest for the next month...still no one told me the vest had the tag sewn in.. So like a month and a half after christmas I just kept on ignoring the alarms, but when I went into Shoppers the cashier stopped me when I came in and set off the alarm, saw I had no bags except my purse, and asked if my vest was from Old Navy, so I said yes and she told me to come with her. She took off my vest, went inside the vest and took the scissors to my tag then told me to walk back through. Boy did I ever thank her. She just told me a lot of people were having that problem too so I didn't feel so bad....now I check everything I buy at Old Navy.

[fullprop]

They systems are very unreliable. My wife was Christmas shopping with her sister at C T. They were talking to the cashier, after my sister in law had paid for her stuff. My wife had a pop she was going to buy, but for some reason in the confusion of talking while she was still holding the pop in her hand walked right out and the buzzers didn't go off.

[daneast]

The "buzzers" are magentically triggered, a can of pop(unless one of those sticky magnetic bar codes is attached) will not set it off. Most of the time it is something with a magnetic charge (anything electric can become magnetically charged, cell phones etc..)..often it doesn't have to be much of one either.

[kaj27]

They systems are very unreliable. My wife was Christmas shopping with her sister at C T. They were talking to the cashier, after my sister in law had paid for her stuff. My wife had a pop she was going to buy, but for some reason in the confusion of talking while she was still holding the pop in her hand walked right out and the buzzers didn't go off.


Yeah normal bar codes don't set off the alarms. I couldn't see any store putting security tags on a can of pop.

Tags are usually either flat and look like a barcode sticker or long and thin. Some are outside some are in. You just never know.

[The_Dave]

HMMMMMMMMMMMM did she go back and pay for it???? Accident or not, that is stealing.

[jdcb]

Rogers Video goes off for every guest leaving...

at some places though they do the same...

I have a secret wish to see it beep at the wrong person and have that person drop kick it or something and take it right off the floor... but don't tell anyone...

[jdcb]

Tags are usually either flat and look like a barcode sticker or long and thin. Some are outside some are in. You just never know.

When I did tech support here in SJ for a major printer company, we got calls every now and then with customers freaking out that they found razor blades in their package. We actually substantially upgraded the first two that we got, before one of them mailed them in and we realized what they were talking about...

[user5624]

Do you have a newer vehicle by any chance? It could be the microchip in your car key doing it.

My Keys make the thing go off all the time! I would like to know what's in my keys that would make it go off! Now that is embarassing especially when you don't buy anything and they look at you like you stole something - extremely embarassing!

[jdcb]

Do you have a newer vehicle by any chance? It could be the microchip in your car key doing it.

Yeah, one of the ones that when you turn the key, it sends an electronic signal to the engine saying that 'yes, i am the key' keys?

[Lemme_LQQK]

HMMMMMMMMMMMM did she go back and pay for it???? Accident or not, that is stealing.

"TSK" Dave .....do you really want to know?...lol

[user5624]

Yuppers, that would be the key. My car key has one and it never sets off the alarms but if anything on the key ring is doing it, that microchip would be my guess.

Yeah, one of the ones that when you turn the key, it sends an electronic signal to the engine saying that 'yes, i am the key' keys?

[kaj27]

Almost doubtful that it is the 'chip' that sends the signal to the PCM in the car. Considering the range on the 'chip' is about 3cm.


It's usually the metals or sometimes batteries themselves.

[All you need is love]

I agree, they are annoying and embarassing. I set one off once at Winners, because some I purchased hadn't been scanned properly. They just came over and scanned it properly, then I was fine. And once at Zellers, during this Christmas holiday, my friend was returning a headset she had bought there and the buzzer went off when she walked through the doors. She just walked back out and held it over her head, and it was fine. The clerks didn't even look over. She had to do the same when going into Shoppers too right before that because it seemed to set off their buzzers too.

[kodiak_girl2001]

kaj27..you work in a store that sells cameras etc. do you find that the warning devises are worth the money. for the tags and alarms and so on. i was told one time a $$$$ amount that a store saved by having this system in place and it was quite unbelievable. i have never witnessed anyone get caught by one. yet i have heard them go off countless times. one day last week i was at C T and it went off at least 30 times while i was there. i cant help but think there has to be a better way. one day i was going through a checkout and my daughter went out ahead of me. well it went off both scaring her and hurting her ears. i was on my way. luckily i got my wit about me before it went through the window. i was ticked and it cost that store 200+ bucks in a lost sale. not a big dent in a store that size but..i havnt gone back in three years......grudge much

I used to work at the superstore in Quispamsis.......I witnessed quite a few people setting these off.....and quite a few people "did" have something to hide, not all but enough. I have also seen that some of these people had bought a new product ( purse, shirt, pants & even bra's) from another store & set the one at the supperstore off.

Also, some things come to the stores with a tag & then the store puts another on not knowing, now there are 2 tags. Cashier only gets the 1 deactivated.....buzzer goes off.

[Cherry Pop]

Do you have a newer vehicle by any chance? It could be the microchip in your car key doing it.

I don't think so...it's a 2001 chev cav everything is basic on it.

[Cherry Pop]

Rogers Video goes off for every guest leaving...

at some places though they do the same...

I have a secret wish to see it beep at the wrong person and have that person drop kick it or something and take it right off the floor... but don't tell anyone...

LOL I'd love to see that too!

[marriedchickie]

I used to work at C.T. ages and ages ago, when they first got those "beeping" things. They darn near drove us nuts. Anyone who had a pager or a cell phone would set them off. I understand the need to stop shop lifting, but the best thing for that is CUSTOMER SERVICE. In my opinion, stores don't want to have too many staff members in to make sure it doesn't cost them too much. But, if they had the staff in, the amount of stealing would go down.

I know someone who works at walmart as well, and when they take your receipt when the machine goes off, they take down the cashier's number and they get a write up for it. I'm not sure who puts the little tags inside the packages, i'm sure it must be the manufacturers, since some of the stuff is sealed in plastic, but they put WAY too many in them. And the poor cashier has to run the item over and over. I opened a purchase from walmart once and the cashier did run it over repepatedly, and the machine still went off. There were 8 of those tags inside my purchase.

The source does not have a scanner to run your purchases over, my mom and I went out last weekend shopping, and she bought a digital camera sony card thingy, and we went into another store, I think it was Zellers, and she was flocked by people. She was embarassed, and said she had just gone into the store. After they determined she wasn't stealing from them, they offered to "zap" it for her.

I could go on and on, but...i'm finished..:D