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If you recognized men who had recently stolen from you, would you demand prepayment?

Franisdaman

HR King
Nov 3, 2012
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Heaven, Iowa
This Chipotle manager did just that and was soon fired. Chipotle's policy is to make the food first and then ask for payment and if the customer cannot pay, then the food would of course be withheld.

The man who was denied service, of course, videotaped the encounter with his phone, posted it online on Twitter, claimed racism, tagged Chipotle in the post so that they would see it and the video went viral. Millions saw the video. People commenting on the video of course were outraged and said that the store manager was in the wrong, a racist, & worse.

Then Chipotle was tipped off that the person who had posted the video had previously bragged on Twitter about dining and dashing, where he would order food and then run off without paying for it. The manager was offered her job back after corporate investigated and learned that the man who originally claimed being racially profiled had dined and dashed many times in the past.

It's crazy because this restaurant is near where I live and it was all over the news and that poor store manager was falsely labeled as a racist.

Link to story: http://m.startribune.com/chipotle-offers-job-back-to-fired-st-paul-manager/500859691/
 
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No. Chipotle is a major brand who has decided that small local losses aren't worth bad publicity. If company policy is to make the food and then take payment, that's what I'd do. Reputation has value.
 
Classic example of the “masses are asses”. It reminds me of many of the jackasses on this board that so often rush to judgment with little information.
I edited the original post with this:


It's crazy because this restaurant is near where I live and it was all over the news and that poor store manager was falsely labeled as a racist.
 
They not only were frequent dine and dashers, two days earlier the same group of guys had come in and their credit cards were declined and this manager let them take their food for free. This was a game to them and she was in a friendly way calling them on their repeatedly not paying for their food. The guy video recorded her and made her look like a racist because he is an ass. She seems to be the good guy here.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ger-fired-called-racist-offered-job-back.html
 
They not only were frequent dine and dashers, two days earlier the same group of guys had come in and their credit cards were declined and this manager let them take their food for free. This was a game to them and she was in a friendly way calling them on their repeatedly not paying for their food. The guy video recorded her and made her look like a racist because he is an ass. She seems to be the good guy here.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ger-fired-called-racist-offered-job-back.html

And surprise surprise, the man taking the video had already contacted a lawyer. Too bad for him that he did not delete his many Twitter posts where he bragged about dining and dashing. Luckily someone took screenshots and send the screenshots to Chipotle so that the store manager could be exonerated.
 
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No. Chipotle is a major brand who has decided that small local losses aren't worth bad publicity. If company policy is to make the food and then take payment, that's what I'd do. Reputation has value.

I am guessing that managers have to answer for losses. Any food they make but don't sell has to be thrown out typically. Those losses can add up and the company wants to keep those losses small as possible.
 
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I am guessing that managers have to answer for losses. Any food they make but don't sell has to be thrown out typically. Those losses can add up and the company wants to keep those losses small as possible.

It is also possible (but I don't know for sure) that Chipotle's restaurants are owned by franchisees and not the company.

Either way, if I'm a business that has to choose between a reputation of holding lawbreakers accountable or accepting the loss and spreading it out among my paying customers, I'll choose the former every time.
 
It is also possible (but I don't know for sure) that Chipotle's restaurants are owned by franchisees and not the company.

Either way, if I'm a business that has to choose between a reputation of holding lawbreakers accountable or accepting the loss and spreading it out among my paying customers, I'll choose the former every time.

Yep. Try shoplifting at any major store like Scheels or Menards. They trepass your ass in two minutes.
 
It is also possible (but I don't know for sure) that Chipotle's restaurants are owned by franchisees and not the company.

Either way, if I'm a business that has to choose between a reputation of holding lawbreakers accountable or accepting the loss and spreading it out among my paying customers, I'll choose the former every time.

I agree with this.

On a personal note, a former close friend stole money from me when we were in college. I didn't see him do it, but he was the only person that knew where I kept extra cash. At the time, $100 was a hell of a lot of money with me being a freshman in college. He never paid me, but I delivered him a thorough beating.
 
It is also possible (but I don't know for sure) that Chipotle's restaurants are owned by franchisees and not the company.

Either way, if I'm a business that has to choose between a reputation of holding lawbreakers accountable or accepting the loss and spreading it out among my paying customers, I'll choose the former every time.

Yep. Try shoplifting at any major store like Scheels or Menards. They trepass your ass in two minutes.
On the flip side, Victoria’s Secret refuses to press charges against anyone who shoplifts. Apparently, they had an incident where a security member chased down a group of teens running out with handfuls of merchandise and one of them fell, got hurt, and won a lawsuit.

Ive seen this happen a few times in Davenport and Iowa City. The kids are all minors so even if they get caught, they get released right away and VS wont do anything. Only thing they can do is ban them from the mall.
 
On the flip side, Victoria’s Secret refuses to press charges against anyone who shoplifts. Apparently, they had an incident where a security member chased down a group of teens running out with handfuls of merchandise and one of them fell, got hurt, and won a lawsuit.

Ive seen this happen a few times in Davenport and Iowa City. The kids are all minors so even if they get caught, they get released right away and VS wont do anything. Only thing they can do is ban them from the mall.
JC Pennys is the same way. I had a friend that worked there about 5 years ago. They couldn’t even confront people they knew were stealing merchandise.
 
This is the dumbest thing posted today.

Why? It makes perfect sense. If Chipotle has a SOP that you make the food and then collect payment, why would I deviate? I'll deviate and "do the right thing" if someone is in harm's way, but for this? The manager in this case deviated and now Chipotle's brand is in discussions where someone is calling a now-former manager a racist. It's easier to eat the $12.
 
Why? It makes perfect sense. If Chipotle has a SOP that you make the food and then collect payment, why would I deviate? I'll deviate and "do the right thing" if someone is in harm's way, but for this? The manager in this case deviated and now Chipotle's brand is in discussions where someone is calling a now-former manager a racist. It's easier to eat the $12.


The reason you would deviate is if you recognize the person in line and know from past experience that they will take the bag and walk out the front door.

Are you kidding with these posts?
 
No. Chipotle is a major brand who has decided that small local losses aren't worth bad publicity. If company policy is to make the food and then take payment, that's what I'd do. Reputation has value.

This is what I took out of the whole thing. Say the employee was completely right, yet her employer still told her policy is not to do this.

All of a sudden those "employers get to make the rules" posters switch sides and demand the employee be marked a martyr.
 
The reason you would deviate is if you recognize the person in line and know from past experience that they will take the bag and walk out the front door.

Are you kidding with these posts?

Even if your employer specifically requires you to do otherwise? You'd quite literally violate directions from corporate to make a point they don't want you to make?
 
Yep. Try shoplifting at any major store like Scheels or Menards. They trepass your ass in two minutes.

Scheels relies on West Des Moines police (at Jordan Creek) and the court system to save them money. There was a good article about a year ago about the impact that one store has on the ability to police the entire city at various times and the cost it has to the citizens, in process of saving a retailer money.

I'm not advocating that shoplifters shouldn't be prosecuted, but the allocation of cost question is intriguing. If Scheels, for example, makes up 50% of all theft charges in a community, what should Scheels be paying for that publicly-sponsored loss prevention?
 
You can bet if the manager has a high waste count the company isn’t going to like it. They also don’t like bad PR. This is a no win situation for the manager all because some pieces of shit walk through life playing race card.

True, and the employee/manager should raise those issues with corporate. Corporations often have bad policies that hurt their employees.
 
Even if your employer specifically requires you to do otherwise? You'd quite literally violate directions from corporate to make a point they don't want you to make?

I understand the point you're attempting to make, but you are the definition of PC run amok.

But I'll ask you directly if you're aware of where in the Chipotle corporate handbook does it say "even if you recognize a repeat shoplifter, please go through all normal routines and let them have the food. OUR REPUTATION IS AT STAKE!"
 
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I would guess shoplifting is a drop in the bucket compared to how much stuff employees take.

I wonder what percentage of the brand new still in the box stuff on EBay is employee theft?
 
Scheels relies on West Des Moines police (at Jordan Creek) and the court system to save them money. There was a good article about a year ago about the impact that one store has on the ability to police the entire city at various times and the cost it has to the citizens, in process of saving a retailer money.

I'm not advocating that shoplifters shouldn't be prosecuted, but the allocation of cost question is intriguing. If Scheels, for example, makes up 50% of all theft charges in a community, what should Scheels be paying for that publicly-sponsored loss prevention?
Just read the article. Google scheels west Des Moines police to find it.

Wow, talk about over the top.
 
Just read the article. Google scheels west Des Moines police to find it.

Wow, talk about over the top.

My post, or the article? The article was definitely over the top, and probably found the only one "actually innocent" guy to make its centerpiece. But the overall point still stands, at least imo.
 
I understand the point you're attempting to make, but you are the definition of PC run amok.

But I'll ask you directly if you're aware of where in the Chipotle corporate handbook does it say "even if you recognize a repeat shoplifter, please go through all normal routines and let them have the food. OUR REPUTATION IS AT STAKE!"

I'm PC run amok? I haven't even discussed one time the racial claims, or anything remotely close. I've only discussed a rule specifically put forth by corporate and pointing out that you are essentially saying the employee should be fighting this issue, even in the very face of corporate.

Their policy was stated by corporate after it happened. That policy is up to them, not to me. Apparently you want it up to you.

To challenge your bullshit "PC" claim against me, which ironically is exactly the same as the "racist" claim you are complaining about in this thread, I have no problem with a company or employee requiring pre-payment, even if the reason for doing so is inappropriate. Unless, of course, their boss tells them not to do that very thing.
 
My post, or the article? The article was definitely over the top, and probably found the only one "actually innocent" guy to make its centerpiece. But the overall point still stands, at least imo.
I was referring to the stores actions. Pretty obvious the guy made a mistake. Even have the cop asking the store to drop it.
 
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The reason you would deviate is if you recognize the person in line and know from past experience that they will take the bag and walk out the front door.

Are you kidding with these posts?

A lot of companies have policies like this because they deem the cost of the loss to be more tolerable than the risk of a scandal, legal case or physical harm to someone. Some do, some don't. It's classic risk management.
 
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Chipotle Caught Lying After Firing "Racist" Manager; Backpedals When Internet Outs Food Thief
https://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden

Chipotle is scrambling to contain the fallout after they fired a St. Paul, Minnesota manager named Dominique for refusing to serve a 21-year-old black man she suspected had previously stolen food. The company reversed course and reportedly offered to rehire her after the internet sleuths discovered that the man had a lengthy Twitter history admitting to dining-and dashing.

What's worse, Chipotle admitted that they knew of the man's history of theft before firing her, but did so because they had "no choice" but to believe the word of the man who was convicted in January of theft and had previously pleaded guilty to another theft charge, according to the Daily Caller's Luke Rosiak.

St. Paul, Minnesota, resident Masud Ali posted a video on Twitter of Chipotle employees refusing to serve him and a group of black men after asking for proof that they would pay, saying that Ali had left without paying previously.

balance:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...racist-manager-backpedals-after-internet-outs
 
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Chipotle shouldn't be allowed to collect anything for their supposed food.
 
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Chipotle is committed to organic ingredients when possible. If your body can’t handle these organic items might I suggest a Slim Jim rolled in a piece of bread.
Chipotle is nasty. It might be organic but usually stale and low grade as taco Bell
 
I understand the point you're attempting to make, but you are the definition of PC run amok.

But I'll ask you directly if you're aware of where in the Chipotle corporate handbook does it say "even if you recognize a repeat shoplifter, please go through all normal routines and let them have the food. OUR REPUTATION IS AT STAKE!"

Actually, it's capitalism. They have looked at the cost/benefit ratio and made a business decision. I understand the manager's actions, but she didn't help the company. Instead of a $12 loss they now have tens of thousands in bad press.
 
Actually, it's capitalism. They have looked at the cost/benefit ratio and made a business decision. I understand the manager's actions, but she didn't help the company. Instead of a $12 loss they now have tens of thousands in bad press.

What you deem to be "bad press" might actually be something that the quiet majority supports. People notice these things. People might not tweet about it or make a big deal about it, but they appreciate companies that support law & order.
 
What you deem to be "bad press" might actually be something that the quiet majority supports. People notice these things. People might not tweet about it or make a big deal about it, but they appreciate companies that support law & order.

Feel free to open a chain of stores that celebrates profiling it's clientele (right or wrong) and see how profitable you can become catering to your "quiet majority". I won't hold my breath.
 
Feel free to open a chain of stores that celebrates profiling it's clientele (right or wrong) and see how profitable you can become catering to your "quiet majority". I won't hold my breath.

Why do you think there is profiling here? She recognized the man as a previous shoplifter, after all. Please support your position.
 
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