Apple Store employees complained directly to Tim Cook over bag search policy

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  • Reply 41 of 132
    adonissmuadonissmu Posts: 1,776member

    The solution is simple. If you don't want a bag search, then quit. Don't work in retail if you don't want your bag searched as you walk out the door. I mean that's an occupational hazard. You know what you're getting. 

  • Reply 42 of 132
    adonissmuadonissmu Posts: 1,776member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     

    It’s too bad employers cannot trust their employees, and with good reason. American culture has degenerated into an entitlement hellhole. The culture teaches you that all employers are evil and exploit their workers and therefore you entitle yourself to steal what you think should be yours anyway. I mean just look at the culture that says it’s okay to steal music and software because the RIAA and MPAA are labeled as evil. We see that attitude in AI every time there’s an article about it. Add the fact that Apple products are premium products with premium prices and the temptation/entitlement factor goes way up. A retired friend of mine works for Walmart (because he wants out of the house, not because he needs to) Employee theft is rampant,even more than the shoplifters. Look at airline baggage handlers rifling through passenger possessions. 

     

    Bottom line, no employer can trust their employees these days. It’s a sad comment on American culture as it exists these days. 


    The reverse is also true. Many employers think that they should be allowed to run your private life and call you at all hours even when they aren't really paying you very much to be there in the first place. Employers pay less in taxes than their employees. Apple is a prime example of a billion dollar company who feels entitled. 

  • Reply 43 of 132
    mazecookiemazecookie Posts: 163member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by razormaid View Post



    Actually the post about employees theft is higher than customer theft is true. Even my local Costco will stand behind that fact. I asked the manager "why do some Costcos have their hard drives out where you can grab it and take it to the register with other items purchased and some Costcos make me fill out a piece of paper, pay for the drive at the register THEN go wait at the cage after checking out to get my hd. He said "since Costcos are franchised some owners have such high employee theft rate (by the way the technical term is called SHRINKAGE) that they make everyone -customers and employees - go to the cage to collect it and then they check you again as you leave the store checking your receipt too - especially employees! I was shocked. That's sad. I hate to say it but I only go to the Costcos that have the had out in the store. It's a hassle to stand in two lines especially two long lines at Costcos.



    My local BestBuys are even worse. If I have a backpack and leave the store they check it every time. One time I left my water at the counter when I was checking out. I had just at left the guard still in the store... literally turned around and told him "oh I forgot my water" walked back, grabbed it and they checked my bag again.



    It's a way of life unfortunately and anyone who dreams otherwise has never owned a business and watched their profit walk out the door literally. Employees take shit all the time and that's a fact.



    Wrong. I work in Apple Retail, and what you have just said is complete and utter rubbish. Nice try, though.

     

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AdonisSMU View Post

     

    The solution is simple. If you don't want a bag search, then quit. Don't work in retail if you don't want your bag searched as you walk out the door. I mean that's an occupational hazard. You know what you're getting. 


     

    What a ridiculous thing to say. "If you don't want a bag search, then quit." It not about what they want, it's about compensation. You are the simple one.

     

    I know plenty, as in hundreds, of Apple Retail staff. Nobody minds whatsoever. They just want to be paid for the wait, rightfully.

     

    It's an occupational hazard that should be compensated by the company. Staff don't require it. The company does, it should be at the companies expense.

     

    Please, logic.

  • Reply 44 of 132
    ipilyaipilya Posts: 195member
    Apple... please hire me... I am very Fashionable (http://goo.gl/wh6prX) and would love to work for you for a few weeks fore sure. :) /s
  • Reply 45 of 132
    davidwdavidw Posts: 2,036member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MazeCookie View Post

     



    Wrong. I work in Apple Retail, and what you have just said is complete and utter rubbish. Nice try, though.

     

     

     

    What a ridiculous thing to say. "If you don't want a bag search, then quit." It not about what they want, it's about compensation. You are the simple one.

     

    I know plenty, as in hundreds, of Apple Retail staff. Nobody minds whatsoever. They just want to be paid for the wait, rightfully.

     

    It's an occupational hazard that should be compensated by the company. Staff don't require it. The company does, it should be at the companies expense.

     

    Please, logic.


     

    That's not what the Supreme Court ruled. Unanimously, mind you.

     

    The logic is that if a bag that needs to be searched is not required by Apple to do your job, then it is on the employees time if that bag needs to be searched when brought into and out of the workplace.  

     

    But those that don't carry any such bag into the workplace should not be force to wait for those that do. They should be able to leave as soon as they clock out. Only those carry in and out a bag that needs to be searched, should have to wait until their bag is searched. And on their time, not Apple's.

  • Reply 46 of 132
    andyringandyring Posts: 54member
    Oh, cry me a river! You work in a coveted job, selling expensive, highly desirable products that are easy to steal and sell. And suddenly your panties are in a tizzy because your employer wants to ensure that products aren't stolen? Seems perfectly fine to me.
  • Reply 47 of 132
    bradipaobradipao Posts: 145member
    mazecookie wrote: »
    I currently work in Apple Retail, and as much as statistics will change based on location, in the time I have worked there, there have been no serialised products stolen by staff in our store. They are well tracked, and the staff know this. But there are thieves that will just rip a display iPhone off a table and run.

    Just curious (not sarcasm): on the basis of your experience in Apple Retail, how do you explain the "bag check" practice for employee?
  • Reply 48 of 132
    mazecookiemazecookie Posts: 163member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bradipao View Post





    Just curious (not sarcasm): on the basis of your experience in Apple Retail, how do you explain the "bag check" practice for employee?



    It was never explained to me. It wasn't brought up in an interview, or a welcome meeting.



    I just remember leaving on my first shift at the same time as some others, and they were getting their bag checked. So I opened mine, just following what they did.

  • Reply 49 of 132
    waterrocketswaterrockets Posts: 1,231member

    Employee loss prevention is a huge problem. With price/kg density so high on Apple and partner products, if this program prevents one person in each region from stealing, they are preventing losses in the tens of millions, easily. An employee can do a LOT more damage than a shoplifter. All it takes is for one teenaged employee to tell the wrong person how easy it would be to walk out with product, then you have a crime organization either tap current employees or get their own people hired. There's big money in it, and it happens at all sorts of retail stores.

  • Reply 50 of 132

    When I worked for Apple, my concern wasn't with the time it took to conduct the search (though it sometimes was a while), but the fact that it was carried out in the store in plain sight of customers. It could easily have taken place behind a door leading into the store.

  • Reply 51 of 132



    It is not total B.S. I quoted it from one of Dan Kennedy's "No B.S. books." Your comment is B.S.

    Where I saw this done it took a minute or less. No company is going to record stuff like that on its books. This is California entitlement.

  • Reply 52 of 132
    I don't understand why an employee is concerned about being checked before leaving an Apple Store. As a customer that uses his iPhone to purchase products without the assistance of a sales clerk on my way out of the store I always show the receipt on my iPhone to the Apple employee at the store. I feel better letting someone know I have paid for what I am walking out with.
  • Reply 53 of 132
    Dudes. Not sure there's anything to see here. Move along?
  • Reply 54 of 132
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AdonisSMU View Post

     

    The solution is simple. If you don't want a bag search, then quit. Don't work in retail if you don't want your bag searched as you walk out the door. I mean that's an occupational hazard. You know what you're getting. 


     

    You can also just don't bring  Bag and you won't have your time wasted getting it searched!!!!  These are the days we live in.  A few people screw things up for everyone else.  This really goes for anything.  This is why we have a zillion warning stickers that warn against the most stupid things, but people do it and then sue over it!!!!  A few bad Apples in Apple stores stealing and now everyone gets to be searched!  Don't want to be searched, don't work in retail.  Especially don't bring a large bag packed full of of your crap that takes forever to search through!!!

     

    This getting paid crap for waiting to be search, it's all ready been ruled on in court.  You don't get paid!!!  It's also been found the whole huge waiting in line to be checked has been greatly exaggerated.  It's generally only a few minutes at most.  What's next, expecting to be paid driving to and going home from work?

     

    Apple has to many SMALL devices that cost a whole lot of money!!!!  

  • Reply 55 of 132
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    Sad, but Apple Stores seem to have a victim of its own success. I worked for one during the first two years of their existence. There was a genuine esprit de corps; we felt special. Loss prevention was aimed at shoppers, not us. Apple recruited genuine Apple fanboys and girls. We still had the spirit of the pirate flag among us. Now, the sales force need is so great they probably hire laid-off Microsoft store employees. I can't imagine any of the people I worked with stealing. Some of us were stockholders.

    Still, having said all this, I'd like to see the figures. How much loss is attributable to staff versus customers? Is it enough to justify body searches? What if they are "normal" for retail? Apple has "not being normal" DNA. Even companies like Nordstrom and In 'N' Out have fiercely loyal employees— there's no law that says employees have to be considered untrustworthy. Trust and respect work both ways. I hope Apple's penchant for bringing in retail chiefs from outside hasn't poisoned the well.
  • Reply 56 of 132
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AdonisSMU View Post

     

    The solution is simple. If you don't want a bag search, then quit. Don't work in retail if you don't want your bag searched as you walk out the door. I mean that's an occupational hazard. You know what you're getting. 




    Apple has redefined retail and as a result has the most profitable stores in the world -- by far. 

     

    So why should Apple stop being exceptional and instead just settle for being like every other retail store? 

  • Reply 57 of 132

    Need to be compensated for bag check time? Appears to be 'union' mentality.

    As others have already stated - no company work is being performed.

    I used to manage a retail business and I recognized the need for 'bag' & other forms of security checks.

    Welcome to the 'real world'.

    I love Apple & all it stands for. If they feel the need for security checks when an employee exists the store at the end of the employee's day then that is what you as an employee should know before you come on board and accept as a part of the employment experience.

    **Theft has no color, no gender or economic level - it is an opportunity for all and must be recognized & treated as such.

    If I had the privilege to work with Apple I'd have innovation on my mind instead of the potential loss of 25 cents or less for time spent existing the workplace.

  • Reply 58 of 132
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Robin Huber View Post



    Sad, but Apple Stores seem to have a victim of its own success. I worked for one during the first two years of their existence. There was a genuine esprit de corps; we felt special. Loss prevention was aimed at shoppers, not us. Apple recruited genuine Apple fanboys and girls. We still had the spirit of the pirate flag among us. Now, the sales force need is so great they probably hire laid-off Microsoft store employees. I can't imagine any of the people I worked with stealing. Some of us were stockholders.



    Still, having said all this, I'd like to see the figures. How much loss is attributable to staff versus customers? Is it enough to justify body searches? What if they are "normal" for retail? Apple has "not being normal" DNA. Even companies like Nordstrom and In 'N' Out have fiercely loyal employees— there's no law that says employees have to be considered untrustworthy. Trust and respect work both ways. I hope Apple's penchant for bringing in retail chiefs from outside hasn't poisoned the well.

    If Apple has lost that spirit among its retail employees then I think it's a failure of management that needs to be corrected. I appreciate that it may be more difficult to maintain that spirit on a larger scale, but they MUST do it if they want to be true to themselves and maintain their success longer term. 

     

    Apple retail should not be judged by the typical standards of retail. It should be judged by the standards of Apple. 

  • Reply 59 of 132
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    bradipao wrote: »
    In which countries is it normal practice?

    The only one that matters, of course. USA! USA!
  • Reply 60 of 132
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Sad, but Apple Stores seem to have a victim of its own success. I worked for one during the first two years of their existence. There was a genuine esprit de corps; we felt special. Loss prevention was aimed at shoppers, not us. Apple recruited genuine Apple fanboys and girls. We still had the spirit of the pirate flag among us. Now, the sales force need is so great they probably hire laid-off Microsoft store employees. I can't imagine any of the people I worked with stealing. Some of us were stockholders.

    Still, having said all this, I'd like to see the figures. How much loss is attributable to staff versus customers? Is it enough to justify body searches? What if they are "normal" for retail? Apple has "not being normal" DNA. Even companies like Nordstrom and In 'N' Out have fiercely loyal employees— there's no law that says employees have to be considered untrustworthy. Trust and respect work both ways. I hope Apple's penchant for bringing in retail chiefs from outside hasn't poisoned the well.

    Is that a prediction that Angela Ahrendts will soon be fired? I thought retail was her job?
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