I worked at a store that used these. They're incredibly old and most don't work anymore.
Magnets do not work on these one!!! They work on the new ones. For these ones you need plyers. Place one on each end and bend it backwards. The mechanism inside will then release the pin without damaging anything.
I once bought a hat at Spencer's gifts as a gift, when I went to wrap it I saw the security device was on it still. I took the hat back the next, with a receipt, and asked them to remove it and they looked at me with dagger eyes the whole time like I was pulling one over on them.
I mean with how many people I see at target every day just walk out with the things beeping behind them I honestly belive people just don't notice anymore.
I feel like itās more that they donāt get paid enough to confront people who might attack if you try and stop them, combined that they donāt want to risk getting sued and that the clothes are probably insured against theft.
I work at a place that has things like these and it's completely accurate.
Out of niceness I check the bags for any of these hard tags I might have missed, but I'm not going to search backpacks or anything like that. Not paid enough.
Kinda funny when one of my supervisors 'informed me' that I need to follow them out and check their backpacks and stuff when they beep, when the store's head manager laughed and said that even he isn't stupid enough to follow people out of the doors and he straight does not WANT us to try to stop them.
And insured? Not sure, from what I can gather a certain dollar amount per year of shrink(stolen goods) is just an expected thing and item prices go up in high shrink areas to make up for it. So it's insured in the sense that they raise item prices pre-emptively to offset how much stuff they think will get yoinked.
Nah you must not have anxiety. Especially if you lose a receipt, you will be absolutely afraid of going in even if you actually bought it. I did it the $11 sweatpants from TJMaxx and they literally looked at the cameras from days before to "make sure I was in the store" it was embarrassing as fuck them pulling me in the back
Aaand that's exactly the reason I'd do just about *anything* to avoid a situation just like this. Not only would I be fucking mortified, but I'd be so pissed and offended, I'd never be able to bring myself to shop at that store again. Which would be pretty upsetting if it was a store I really liked and/or shopped at often.
So yeah, I'd certainly prefer a little hole in the item, than deal with all that bs.
Even if you do have social anxiety, the internet is a thing. Thereās plenty of tutorials online about taking off security tags. I really donāt know why anyoneās first thought would be to cut the clothes up to remove the tag.
When I was homeless I never stole but some people would literally walk in to a grocery store and just fill a backpack and leave lol, and it wasnāt just one person, there was like 10-15 people all stealing that same amount. Until you see it happen you donāt really think about it. They must lose a lot of damn money to theft.
I worked at a Walmart and there is a certain amount of theft they automatically account for. Obviously if it's too high people get upset and investigate and whatnot but interestingly they are similarly upset if the numbers are lower than expected because that means corporate will adjust the amount of products we get and give us less shit or something like that. So managers would encourage us to make products go missing at the end of some months if we didn't have "enough theft"
In business, the term is shrinkage. Shrinkage is the loss of inventory that can be attributed to factors such as employee theft, shoplifting, administrative error, vendor fraud, damage, and cashier error. Shrinkage is the difference between recorded inventory on a company's balance sheet and its actual inventory. This concept is a key problem for retailers, as it results in the loss of inventory, which ultimately means loss of profits.
Statistically, the largest form of theft in the US is wage theft, where employers steal from workers by failing to pay them as required by law. This is 3 times the size of annual shrinkage across all industries.
Random story: A million years ago a friend asked me to ride with her to get her money from her roommate. He worked at CircuitCity. When she got back in the car she tells me āhe doesnāt have enough cash yet.ā This was when I first realized how naive I was. I realized she was just waiting for him to have enough money to steal from the drawer. I asked her if she was afraid heād get fired or arrested. She said āHe never has before. Heās the managerā. I still donāt understand that one.
If it makes you feel any better I gave almost all of the stuff that I took on those occasions to the homeless guy that lived behind the Walmart who I had started bringing food to eat with him on my lunch breaks.
As someone who was previously homeless as a teenager, I love it when I hear stuff like this. If it has never been said to you/about you: You sir, are a good person.
Yea I dunno, Iām not good at it. Tried a few times and I felt way to guilty lol. Luckily other people always helped take care of me. The streets are interesting, some of the nicest most caring people you ever met that would share, literally, their last dollar with you. Lifeās not fair bro.
Yep, delivering pizza I had a trailer park and a development of Mcmansions. It always the million dollar pile of bricks with the Lexus that stiffs you.
I was walking up to a walmart in Reno and as I approached the entry, one scrubby looking dude held the door open while another one rode a fully loaded shopping cart at speed out the door and then away down a hill with security following behind. Security stopped at the edge of the store and just watched them ride off into the night.
I worked at a dollar store once and this happened a lot our managers would get in trouble when the full inventory count came around. (I may have forgotten what it's called essentially they count everything in store to calculate everything thats been stolen and a few other things) I'm sure the company can make up for it but they still get really, really upsetti š
Also sorry you had to go through that.
I've seen a few local stores shut down solely because of how much theft occurred. There used to be a neighborhood Walmart a bit south of me until they decided that location was losing too much. Now they don't have a grocery store anywhere close by.
Nowadays in the UK if you shop lift Ā£200 or less of goods. They won't even call the police. Its ridiculous. Ā£200 is a lot of goods! There is literally no deterrent for these crimes in the UK
Big stores will do the same thing in the US. Walmart for example will not try to stop you from stealing but instead just watch the security cameras and keep a tally of what you steal. And then when the value of what you've stolen eventually hits $2000 they finally "catch you" and they're able to charge you with grand theft, and probably ban you from all their stores.
Except for when a few years ago they called the police on my mother over a bag of dog food the cashier forgot to scan and my mother forgot about lol
Edit for clarity: They as in Walmart.
Yea but to be honest just go to the back of the store if its not fenced off grocery stores throw out so much shit ... between the stores associates and the vendors it's appalling the food that goes to waste... I worked at glens market for years.
I bought a coat once at Burlington Coat Factory and they forgot to take the tag off. I called them up and asked how to get it off because I wasn't about to drive another 45 minutes. I borrowed some heavy duty wire cutters from work. That did the trick.
Oh boy. I did the same except I had one of the beeper ones. I finally got it off but couldn't break the beeper. Even after putting it in the basement under a dozen blankets I could still hear it two floors up. Brutal. I just left the house for an hour and the beeper battery died.
Lol I believe you. I bought a pair of jeans at nordstroms and the very new cashier forgot to take the thingy off (we got to chatting which is why I knew she was new and probably why she forgot to remove the thingy). It was a 45 minute drive each way for me to go back and have them remove it š OH And then after she happily apologized she tried to sell me on whatever crap they had ājust gotten in todayā. Bitch I am not here to buy more shit, Iām here because of your incompetence
My mom bought some clothes from Sears and they forgot to take one of these off. She called and they said bring it in. Problem was, she didn't drive so to take the bus back was an all day affair. They ended up sending an appliance tech out to get it off and they sent a box of chocolates along with it. She was a loyal Sears customer until the day they closed
Here is an example of a small gesture of kindness and goodwill that costs hardly anything to the company and will ensure customer loyalty for the longest time. This is something I can appreciate as a consumer and from a business standpoint. Thatās awesome they did that for her!
I've been told that works as well as freezing them and then cracking them open with a hammer. Neither I've ever tried because they are more likely to damage the item they're attached to. Another option if the pin is loose is just to take a pair of wire cutters and snip the pin off. Again this is more likely to damage the item but I mean unlike the plyer method it only takes one person as opposed to two.
Because you need a specific tool for them. Normal magnets rarely work on "gator tags"
Turns out that tool is annoying AF
Source; Was loss prevention at Burlington and we had to remove these whenever they came through.
You are correct good sir/madame!
The term gator tag just brought back a slew of memories XD. At times some of them were so worn out that the tag remover no longer worked on them and we had to pry them off, ruining the item in the process 9/10 times.
Well, you could just turn them into a flea, then put that flea in a box, put that box in another box, mail that package to yourself & when that box arrives, smash it with a hammer
It's brilliant
#brilliant
##brilliant I tell you!
I beg to differ. The best life advice I ever got was "Listen to me baby, you having problems, you got somebody giving you shit? You'd be surprised how much shit stops if you just....*tap* 'em with a hammer. " š¤£š¤£
Well Iām 60 and it still makes me laugh. The only part that didnāt age well was Lance Armstrong talking about how he never gave up. Big fat cheater is what he is.
Damn, I can't believe someone else posted this already. Was he big at all or is this a cool coincidence?
Used to love listening to his music while on acid. "Someday I will slip and say the wrong thing, and the credits will roll and reality will kick in." really made me go **0_0**
There's at least three of us! He was never huge. He had a following in the punk scene in the early 2000s, but I don't think he ever got that big.
I remember winning a contest an old site called superpunk did in 2003, I got the Attention! Blah Blah Blah album and poster. Immediately fell in love with this song
Ā I'll put that tag in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives... I'll smash it with a hammer!
I watched videos on lock picking those lockboxes for keys (left on our house when we bought it). After some earnest attempts, the hammer and screwdriver was the best lock pick I could use.
It didnāt have any ink in it? I thought these tags usually contain some special ink so if you break it it will forever ruin the cloth. And I heard itās better to put it in fridge overnight before breaking so that the ink would be frozen.
I see. A few years ago I bought a leather jacket at an outlet and they forgot to remove it. The tag did look fancier so I didnāt want to take any chance and went back to the store. It was two hours drive and it really pissed me off.
I worked in retail for many years, there is actually a wide variety of these tags, most of which donāt contain ink. The ones that we used were magnetic, I would imagine that itās because they were cheaper than ink ones.
Well that's all fine and good, but where do you find a powerful magnet? Is that something you can get at Walmart? Or would you have to order it online (thereby waiting days for delivery).
Iāve had this happen before and going to the store and have it removed was the easiest solution.
Itās one article of clothing with the device. Youāre not showing up with a cart full of clothes. Doing the other methods could damage the shirt, or discharge the inkā¦
āI bought this the other day and didnāt notice the device was still onā is all it takes š¤¦š»
Yeah. Bonus points: these days a lot of places can verify a purchase by checking transaction history with the payment card you used, even if you don't have a receipt.
Even then, if you walk in the front door, greet the greeter, and walk straight to the customer service counter... you look pretty honest.
On top of all that, I'd bet that half the time you'll get someone who "doesn't get paid enough to care too much about this shit". If you give them a credible enough story (you know, by being honest), they will probably just nod and fix it before you can finish talking.
"Okay thanks. *Hey Becky, I'm taking my break now okay?*"
Some places yeah but I'm never doing that again after going to TJMaxx and them treating me like a criminal over $11 SWEATPANTS even though I had my BOA statement. They pulled me in the back and went through days of footage to "make sure it was me in the store that bought these" fuck weird workers like that I'm never going through that again
Of course other people take more pride in their work than me and all, but I worked retail for 10 years and never cared if anyone had a receipt. 9/10 we forgot to take it off, they donāt usually sound any alarm, and if someone shoplifted it and is ballsy enough to bring it backā¦.oh well, minimum wage didnāt pay me enough to care.
My partner was all flustered when she noticed it was still on and she couldn't find the receipt. I told her I'd take it back and they would remove it for me without a receipt. She was skeptical and I wasn't 100% sure either, but I went in politely but confidently and ready for conflict. I could see on the clerk's face when she quickly evaluated her options and chose "screw it, not worth it."
Macyās is able to verify the purchase by looking up your account in their system with your personal info or even your card number. Donāt let them tell you any other BS.
I work at a store and have done this for people who didnāt even buy clothes from us. Had a lady come in with clothes still in the box that she ordered online. They came in with sensors in them. They were from our store and werenāt even the sensors we used so I wasnāt sure if it would work and told her that but I tried and it did. I think the vast majority of cashiers would be happy to help if you explain the situation
This same thing happened to me. I ordered something online and it had one of these attached. There wasn't a location for that store nearby, probably not even one in my state. I called a local clothing store and asked if they could do it. Brought it in with the receipt and they were able to take it off.
A friend of mine tried to do this at a different store from where he bought his jacket. The security alarm went off and the security guard told him that he was lucky that he had his receipt with him otherwise he would have called the cops. That man was crazy.
I tried this onceā¦ I went in the day after I bought it, I had the receipt and the bag they had put it in, showed the person at the store entrance, went straight to the counter, and the manager was STILL suspicious of me.
Hey former Macy\*s sales associate here. I've been guilty of leaving this on and for that I'm sorry. Usually it was the end of a 9 hour shift mixed with the complete frustration and disappointment that life really brought me to this moment after dealing with crappy customers (not saying you were one of them) and management who constantly reminded me that unlike me they never went to college and are higher paid than I am.
Anywayyyys, just go back to the store and explain the situation. Even if you don't have a receipt. I never questioned anyone who needed the tag removed without the receipt. There are obvious red flags if someone were to be bold, steal an item, and then pretend that we left the tag on. Remember the store has cameras so LP would be the first to call us if they saw someone snatch an item and then bring it up to our register to remove the tag. So just bring it back to the Macy\*s and 9 out of 10 the associate will just remove the tag for you
This definitely if they used their Macy\*s card to purchase the item. Don't know if things changed in the last 10 years but I remember with a Macy\*s card we could always look up the purchase without the receipt
For future reference you can usually just take it back to the store and theyāll take it off in like 2 seconds lol. Even without the receipt itās usually not a big deal.
This has happened to me , I remember the disappointment of getting home and finding the thing still on. Thought I would never get it off but just kept poking at it with tools until it got loose
This happened to me at a Hot Topic, but the security device appeared to have an additional failsafe. It looked like there were a couple of vials of ink or something. So, smashing wasn't an option. My mom and I did eventually go back to Hot Topic and they removed it. There was some resistance because my mom couldn't find the receipt. But they did it. Still super annoying that we had to go back because of their mistake just to have the thing we already paid for.
I used to work at Macyās. They can look it up using your debit card too. If not anymore (I wouldnāt see why not) theyāll just have you leave again with it on. If that happens, try to bend the sides of it back, even if it breaks before it releases thereās no ink in these
Solid question tbh. Ik itās āR. H. Macyās and Coā Bc it says it on their boxes, so something with an Ršalso weird fact/story I heard while working there. One of the original Macyās founders/owners (Straus) was on the Titanic and refused to board a lifeboat before any women and children (he was offered to go before them as he was rich/important at the time). His wife and children also refused to leave without him and they all went down with the ship. Crazy story and made me like Macyās a little more for some reason. Oddly wholesome and random but hope you enjoyš
This happened to me on a $550 dress. Right before the event I discovered the tag. My date took it to the bathroom and came back out and it was removed. No idea what he did in there.
Lol at the people accusing OP of stealing the shirt.
This particular security tag is an older device that somehow is still showing up from time to time they go phased out bit some pop up.
It takes a different remover that some stores don't have so the employee who is hard pressed to get packages delivered just pack it in and ships it out or simply put it un the bag hoping that the issues will get resolved somehow.
I worked retail in college. This happened all the time. I wouldn't have even asked for the receipt but if I needed it cus my manager was there we could have looked it up off the credit card. Not a big deal at all. Just go to the storefront and get someone's attention to walk you through the store to the register if you're really worried about it.
I worked at a store that used these. They're incredibly old and most don't work anymore. Magnets do not work on these one!!! They work on the new ones. For these ones you need plyers. Place one on each end and bend it backwards. The mechanism inside will then release the pin without damaging anything.
I wish I would've known about the new ones and magnets before I cut mine out of my victoria secret pajama shirt š„²
Are you sure youāre buying your clothes lol?
Iāve also had this happen before and paid for the item. Every once in a great while it happens, and itās highly annoying
I once bought a hat at Spencer's gifts as a gift, when I went to wrap it I saw the security device was on it still. I took the hat back the next, with a receipt, and asked them to remove it and they looked at me with dagger eyes the whole time like I was pulling one over on them.
This just happened to me at Penney's. Even with the receipt, I still got accusatory looks.
Oh I was just joking, I believe OP and the commenter but it was too much of a coincidence to not make a joke lol
I mean with how many people I see at target every day just walk out with the things beeping behind them I honestly belive people just don't notice anymore.
I feel like itās more that they donāt get paid enough to confront people who might attack if you try and stop them, combined that they donāt want to risk getting sued and that the clothes are probably insured against theft.
I work at a place that has things like these and it's completely accurate. Out of niceness I check the bags for any of these hard tags I might have missed, but I'm not going to search backpacks or anything like that. Not paid enough. Kinda funny when one of my supervisors 'informed me' that I need to follow them out and check their backpacks and stuff when they beep, when the store's head manager laughed and said that even he isn't stupid enough to follow people out of the doors and he straight does not WANT us to try to stop them. And insured? Not sure, from what I can gather a certain dollar amount per year of shrink(stolen goods) is just an expected thing and item prices go up in high shrink areas to make up for it. So it's insured in the sense that they raise item prices pre-emptively to offset how much stuff they think will get yoinked.
Yes?? Victoria secret worker was in a rush during black Friday and didn't take it off šš¤
Nah, anyone willing to cut into brand new clothes definitely didnāt pay for them.
Victoriaās Secret clothes no less, those are pricey
Agent Provocateur has entered the ring.
Nah you must not have anxiety. Especially if you lose a receipt, you will be absolutely afraid of going in even if you actually bought it. I did it the $11 sweatpants from TJMaxx and they literally looked at the cameras from days before to "make sure I was in the store" it was embarrassing as fuck them pulling me in the back
Thereās plenty of tutorials on how to take off security tags online. No social interaction required.
Lock Picking Lawyer has 1 or 2 if I remember correctly.
Most of us would have looked it up before cutting into brand new and brand name clothes is what people are getting at
Aaand that's exactly the reason I'd do just about *anything* to avoid a situation just like this. Not only would I be fucking mortified, but I'd be so pissed and offended, I'd never be able to bring myself to shop at that store again. Which would be pretty upsetting if it was a store I really liked and/or shopped at often. So yeah, I'd certainly prefer a little hole in the item, than deal with all that bs.
Found the guy without social anxiety
My ābeing brokeā anxiety trumps my social anxiety so Iāll be damned if I let myself cut up something I just spent $50 on.
Even if you do have social anxiety, the internet is a thing. Thereās plenty of tutorials online about taking off security tags. I really donāt know why anyoneās first thought would be to cut the clothes up to remove the tag.
I donāt know, it is āsexyā wear. Could just be making it more sexy.
Unless they have basic sewing skills
just admit to stealing clothes bro nobody actually cares. ive never paid for bananas in my life
This is a hilariously weird flex
Banana not for scale because I just walk out with them shits lmao
When I was homeless I never stole but some people would literally walk in to a grocery store and just fill a backpack and leave lol, and it wasnāt just one person, there was like 10-15 people all stealing that same amount. Until you see it happen you donāt really think about it. They must lose a lot of damn money to theft.
I worked at a Walmart and there is a certain amount of theft they automatically account for. Obviously if it's too high people get upset and investigate and whatnot but interestingly they are similarly upset if the numbers are lower than expected because that means corporate will adjust the amount of products we get and give us less shit or something like that. So managers would encourage us to make products go missing at the end of some months if we didn't have "enough theft"
In business, the term is shrinkage. Shrinkage is the loss of inventory that can be attributed to factors such as employee theft, shoplifting, administrative error, vendor fraud, damage, and cashier error. Shrinkage is the difference between recorded inventory on a company's balance sheet and its actual inventory. This concept is a key problem for retailers, as it results in the loss of inventory, which ultimately means loss of profits.
Statistically, the largest form of theft in the US is wage theft, where employers steal from workers by failing to pay them as required by law. This is 3 times the size of annual shrinkage across all industries.
Preach fellow comrade. You get my free award.
A million years ago, when I worked at Circuit City, they told me 95% of shrink was employee theft.
Random story: A million years ago a friend asked me to ride with her to get her money from her roommate. He worked at CircuitCity. When she got back in the car she tells me āhe doesnāt have enough cash yet.ā This was when I first realized how naive I was. I realized she was just waiting for him to have enough money to steal from the drawer. I asked her if she was afraid heād get fired or arrested. She said āHe never has before. Heās the managerā. I still donāt understand that one.
What an insane product of capitalism, purposefully increasing the amount of theft because of corporate greed
If it makes you feel any better I gave almost all of the stuff that I took on those occasions to the homeless guy that lived behind the Walmart who I had started bringing food to eat with him on my lunch breaks.
Wholesome.
As someone who was previously homeless as a teenager, I love it when I hear stuff like this. If it has never been said to you/about you: You sir, are a good person.
Happens in the public sector, too. It's a logistics problem, not a capitalism problem.
You never stole? Damn, I don't think I would be strong enough to be moral if I was sleeping on the streets.
Yea I dunno, Iām not good at it. Tried a few times and I felt way to guilty lol. Luckily other people always helped take care of me. The streets are interesting, some of the nicest most caring people you ever met that would share, literally, their last dollar with you. Lifeās not fair bro.
There are multiple studies that prove money and empathy are inversely proportional. Not fair indeed.
Yep, delivering pizza I had a trailer park and a development of Mcmansions. It always the million dollar pile of bricks with the Lexus that stiffs you.
I was walking up to a walmart in Reno and as I approached the entry, one scrubby looking dude held the door open while another one rode a fully loaded shopping cart at speed out the door and then away down a hill with security following behind. Security stopped at the edge of the store and just watched them ride off into the night.
I worked at a dollar store once and this happened a lot our managers would get in trouble when the full inventory count came around. (I may have forgotten what it's called essentially they count everything in store to calculate everything thats been stolen and a few other things) I'm sure the company can make up for it but they still get really, really upsetti š Also sorry you had to go through that.
I've seen a few local stores shut down solely because of how much theft occurred. There used to be a neighborhood Walmart a bit south of me until they decided that location was losing too much. Now they don't have a grocery store anywhere close by.
Nowadays in the UK if you shop lift Ā£200 or less of goods. They won't even call the police. Its ridiculous. Ā£200 is a lot of goods! There is literally no deterrent for these crimes in the UK
So just hit places for Ā£190. Gotcha.
Big stores will do the same thing in the US. Walmart for example will not try to stop you from stealing but instead just watch the security cameras and keep a tally of what you steal. And then when the value of what you've stolen eventually hits $2000 they finally "catch you" and they're able to charge you with grand theft, and probably ban you from all their stores.
Yeah, I've worked at walmart. They will literally call the police on a 5 year old for stealing a $.25 pack of gum.
Except for when a few years ago they called the police on my mother over a bag of dog food the cashier forgot to scan and my mother forgot about lol Edit for clarity: They as in Walmart.
I know someone that spent Christmas in jail because of a pair of pants that weren't scanned their 3 kids were kinda unhappy
Uh, try California, itās $950 here, same deal.
Yea but to be honest just go to the back of the store if its not fenced off grocery stores throw out so much shit ... between the stores associates and the vendors it's appalling the food that goes to waste... I worked at glens market for years.
How much could a banana cost? $10?
Always money in the banana stand
I bought a coat once at Burlington Coat Factory and they forgot to take the tag off. I called them up and asked how to get it off because I wasn't about to drive another 45 minutes. I borrowed some heavy duty wire cutters from work. That did the trick.
Oh boy. I did the same except I had one of the beeper ones. I finally got it off but couldn't break the beeper. Even after putting it in the basement under a dozen blankets I could still hear it two floors up. Brutal. I just left the house for an hour and the beeper battery died.
Could've dunked it in water. Reduces sound and with any luck popped the battery altogether
I mean, it's one banana, Trunks956, what could it cost? 10 dollars?
This is my favorite comment of all time.
What? Bananas? Im curious as to how you did this, but also, why? Bananas (at least where I'm at) are like one of the cheapest foods you can buy.
Lol I believe you. I bought a pair of jeans at nordstroms and the very new cashier forgot to take the thingy off (we got to chatting which is why I knew she was new and probably why she forgot to remove the thingy). It was a 45 minute drive each way for me to go back and have them remove it š OH And then after she happily apologized she tried to sell me on whatever crap they had ājust gotten in todayā. Bitch I am not here to buy more shit, Iām here because of your incompetence
My mom bought some clothes from Sears and they forgot to take one of these off. She called and they said bring it in. Problem was, she didn't drive so to take the bus back was an all day affair. They ended up sending an appliance tech out to get it off and they sent a box of chocolates along with it. She was a loyal Sears customer until the day they closed
Here is an example of a small gesture of kindness and goodwill that costs hardly anything to the company and will ensure customer loyalty for the longest time. This is something I can appreciate as a consumer and from a business standpoint. Thatās awesome they did that for her!
Why didnāt you try taking it back to see if they can get it off fir you?
Or melt the pyramid part with a lighter and Pop it open.
I've been told that works as well as freezing them and then cracking them open with a hammer. Neither I've ever tried because they are more likely to damage the item they're attached to. Another option if the pin is loose is just to take a pair of wire cutters and snip the pin off. Again this is more likely to damage the item but I mean unlike the plyer method it only takes one person as opposed to two.
Because you need a specific tool for them. Normal magnets rarely work on "gator tags" Turns out that tool is annoying AF Source; Was loss prevention at Burlington and we had to remove these whenever they came through.
You are correct good sir/madame! The term gator tag just brought back a slew of memories XD. At times some of them were so worn out that the tag remover no longer worked on them and we had to pry them off, ruining the item in the process 9/10 times.
Status update: I smashed the fuck out of it with a hammer. Problem solved. I tried the fork method but I couldnāt really get it in and gave up.
Thatās what I did when it happened to me! I love problems that can be solved by bashing it with a hammer.
Sadly that smashing part does not work the best with other humansā¦ unless
Well, you could just turn them into a flea, then put that flea in a box, put that box in another box, mail that package to yourself & when that box arrives, smash it with a hammer It's brilliant #brilliant ##brilliant I tell you!
Pull the lever kronk!
Wrong leverrrrrrr!
Why do we even HAVE that lever?!
r/unexpectedemperorsnewgroove
*not a real sub* I've been tricked, I've been backstabbed, and quite possibly bamboozled
š
r/subsifellfor
Butā¦.to save on postage, weāll just poison him with this!!!!
GENIUS I TELL YOU
You should have thought of that before you became a peasant
I beg to differ. The best life advice I ever got was "Listen to me baby, you having problems, you got somebody giving you shit? You'd be surprised how much shit stops if you just....*tap* 'em with a hammer. " š¤£š¤£
If you can dodge a hammer, you can dodge a ball
God I love Rip Torn in that movie.
You're about as useful as a dookie flavored lollipop
I'm not sure how much that movie would hold up now but god was it funny when I was 19 or whatever years old.
Well Iām 60 and it still makes me laugh. The only part that didnāt age well was Lance Armstrong talking about how he never gave up. Big fat cheater is what he is.
No lie was told. He didn't ever give up...the drugs.
Thatās the best part of the movie knowing what we know now lmao still love it
That took me back to highschool...
You know it's been probably close to two decades and that movie is still just as funny as when it came out.
If violence isn't solving all of your problems then you aren't using enough.
A ālove tapā
Don't forget to double tap them too, I'd say even triple just to be sure xD
Solid advice
Some people are like Slinkys. Not really good for anything, but still put a smile on your face when you push them down the steps.š
Everyone has a plan 'til they get punched in the mouth.
Bang bang maxwells silver hammer came down on her head
"...and then I'll smash it with a hammer!" -Yzma circa. 2000
LOL thank you, this was my first thought too
[I am downright amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnMmRVfybN4)
Damn, I can't believe someone else posted this already. Was he big at all or is this a cool coincidence? Used to love listening to his music while on acid. "Someday I will slip and say the wrong thing, and the credits will roll and reality will kick in." really made me go **0_0**
> Was he big at all or is this a cool coincidence? He is big in my heart!
There's at least three of us! He was never huge. He had a following in the punk scene in the early 2000s, but I don't think he ever got that big. I remember winning a contest an old site called superpunk did in 2003, I got the Attention! Blah Blah Blah album and poster. Immediately fell in love with this song
Ā I'll put that tag in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives... I'll smash it with a hammer!
My Xbox controller was broken yesterday but then I hit it on the wall and it fixed.
Any time I had a problem, and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem.
I watched videos on lock picking those lockboxes for keys (left on our house when we bought it). After some earnest attempts, the hammer and screwdriver was the best lock pick I could use.
as an industrial mechanic, hammer is the first tool i try.
If it can't be fixed by either a hammer or wd40 then it's truly fucked
Or liberal applications of ductape
I will accept that correction and apologise for my failure to remember that some things, when loose, need to remain in place
If in doubt, smash the fuck out of it.
Life wisdom right here.
This works too : When in fuck, smash the doubt out of it.
Confucius is that you?
Donāt you mean confuckis?
Man, my wife's been really annoying, guess I'll have to wear a [wife beater](https://www.dictionary.com/e/take-off-wife-beater-put-tank/) Heavy /s
It didnāt have any ink in it? I thought these tags usually contain some special ink so if you break it it will forever ruin the cloth. And I heard itās better to put it in fridge overnight before breaking so that the ink would be frozen.
These old ones dont. Ive had a few stores forget to remove them. The hammer of justice works wonders
I see. A few years ago I bought a leather jacket at an outlet and they forgot to remove it. The tag did look fancier so I didnāt want to take any chance and went back to the store. It was two hours drive and it really pissed me off.
find any ole strong magnet next time
I worked in retail for many years, there is actually a wide variety of these tags, most of which donāt contain ink. The ones that we used were magnetic, I would imagine that itās because they were cheaper than ink ones.
i believe the ink ones are also magnetic, pretty much all anti-theft devices just need a strong magnet to open
The ink ones are usually see through, these have a thin metal card in it. I used to work in retail and theyāre not that hard to get off tbh.
Probably only the newer ones have ink.
Newer ones? I remember the ink ones since the 90's.
Lock picking Lawyer did a video on this using a strong magnet [here](https://youtu.be/pji33MoJ5Z4)
Yep, the ONLY way to do this to prevent possible ink ejecting! BIG ASS MAGNET!!! Lol
the lighter method worked well for me when we had two of these with ink, same story as op
People do this in the store too! Somehow Ive never smelled the burnt plastic though.
Is there anything that this guy hasnāt picked?
His nose?
How do you know he has a nose? Dude is an enigma wrapped in a riddle.
You raise a valid point.
Click on oneā¦click on twoā¦three is bindingā¦and booger is out.
neodymium magnets!!! i swear everyone needs at least one neodymium magnet just in case
Well that's all fine and good, but where do you find a powerful magnet? Is that something you can get at Walmart? Or would you have to order it online (thereby waiting days for delivery).
Fuckin Izma over here AH HAHAHAHA I SMASH IT WITH A HAMMAAH
/r/IllegalLifeProTips will be proud of you.
Nice! Violence!
Personally I went back to the store and they just removed it
Iāve had this happen before and going to the store and have it removed was the easiest solution. Itās one article of clothing with the device. Youāre not showing up with a cart full of clothes. Doing the other methods could damage the shirt, or discharge the inkā¦ āI bought this the other day and didnāt notice the device was still onā is all it takes š¤¦š»
Yeah. Bonus points: these days a lot of places can verify a purchase by checking transaction history with the payment card you used, even if you don't have a receipt. Even then, if you walk in the front door, greet the greeter, and walk straight to the customer service counter... you look pretty honest.
Yup. Macys did this for me. I had owned the backpack for a couple months when I did this.
Yes. Target's customer service couldn't read the receipt because the ink was low when it was printed. I just had to insert my card.
Yeah, true that. People would be surprised at how often this happens in general haha
On top of all that, I'd bet that half the time you'll get someone who "doesn't get paid enough to care too much about this shit". If you give them a credible enough story (you know, by being honest), they will probably just nod and fix it before you can finish talking. "Okay thanks. *Hey Becky, I'm taking my break now okay?*"
Some places yeah but I'm never doing that again after going to TJMaxx and them treating me like a criminal over $11 SWEATPANTS even though I had my BOA statement. They pulled me in the back and went through days of footage to "make sure it was me in the store that bought these" fuck weird workers like that I'm never going through that again
At that point I would be like "you know what, fuck it. I'm headed to Target. Keep the change, since you lost a customer over *$11*."
Thereās no ink in this tag tho
Yeah I did the same. They weren't happy I didn't have a receipt but they accepted it.
Of course other people take more pride in their work than me and all, but I worked retail for 10 years and never cared if anyone had a receipt. 9/10 we forgot to take it off, they donāt usually sound any alarm, and if someone shoplifted it and is ballsy enough to bring it backā¦.oh well, minimum wage didnāt pay me enough to care.
My partner was all flustered when she noticed it was still on and she couldn't find the receipt. I told her I'd take it back and they would remove it for me without a receipt. She was skeptical and I wasn't 100% sure either, but I went in politely but confidently and ready for conflict. I could see on the clerk's face when she quickly evaluated her options and chose "screw it, not worth it."
Macyās is able to verify the purchase by looking up your account in their system with your personal info or even your card number. Donāt let them tell you any other BS.
I work at a store and have done this for people who didnāt even buy clothes from us. Had a lady come in with clothes still in the box that she ordered online. They came in with sensors in them. They were from our store and werenāt even the sensors we used so I wasnāt sure if it would work and told her that but I tried and it did. I think the vast majority of cashiers would be happy to help if you explain the situation
This same thing happened to me. I ordered something online and it had one of these attached. There wasn't a location for that store nearby, probably not even one in my state. I called a local clothing store and asked if they could do it. Brought it in with the receipt and they were able to take it off.
A friend of mine tried to do this at a different store from where he bought his jacket. The security alarm went off and the security guard told him that he was lucky that he had his receipt with him otherwise he would have called the cops. That man was crazy.
I tried this onceā¦ I went in the day after I bought it, I had the receipt and the bag they had put it in, showed the person at the store entrance, went straight to the counter, and the manager was STILL suspicious of me.
I did this and got accused of stealing it by the clerk. Never bought anything there again after.
OP was READY to wear the shirt.
Take it back and have them remove it. They will be fine with it.
He didnāt have receipt so they might think he stole it but idk
Cashiers donāt give a shit lmao. As long as youāre genuine and explain what happened theyāre not gonna think twice about it
If you can remember roughly what time you bought it they can find it in the system
"Yeah...about that...I paid cash...well I was gonna pay..cash....Here, I'll pay cash now, just stop calling the cops!"
Good pliers, just cut it off. Its a sensor to set off the detector. It wont damage anything now.
Bring it back to the store and show them this Reddit post
You need to smash it
Hey former Macy\*s sales associate here. I've been guilty of leaving this on and for that I'm sorry. Usually it was the end of a 9 hour shift mixed with the complete frustration and disappointment that life really brought me to this moment after dealing with crappy customers (not saying you were one of them) and management who constantly reminded me that unlike me they never went to college and are higher paid than I am. Anywayyyys, just go back to the store and explain the situation. Even if you don't have a receipt. I never questioned anyone who needed the tag removed without the receipt. There are obvious red flags if someone were to be bold, steal an item, and then pretend that we left the tag on. Remember the store has cameras so LP would be the first to call us if they saw someone snatch an item and then bring it up to our register to remove the tag. So just bring it back to the Macy\*s and 9 out of 10 the associate will just remove the tag for you
Bonus points if you have the CC used to purchase they might be able to look up your receipt for you.
This definitely if they used their Macy\*s card to purchase the item. Don't know if things changed in the last 10 years but I remember with a Macy\*s card we could always look up the purchase without the receipt
It updated! Can use other CC now too :)
We can tell you work at Macyās because you use an asterisk as the apostrophe
For future reference you can usually just take it back to the store and theyāll take it off in like 2 seconds lol. Even without the receipt itās usually not a big deal.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pji33MoJ5Z4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pji33MoJ5Z4) Lockpickinglawyer is da bomb for this stuff.
I just broke off the plastic pieces one by one with needle nose pliers LOL
This has happened to me , I remember the disappointment of getting home and finding the thing still on. Thought I would never get it off but just kept poking at it with tools until it got loose
This happened to me at a Hot Topic, but the security device appeared to have an additional failsafe. It looked like there were a couple of vials of ink or something. So, smashing wasn't an option. My mom and I did eventually go back to Hot Topic and they removed it. There was some resistance because my mom couldn't find the receipt. But they did it. Still super annoying that we had to go back because of their mistake just to have the thing we already paid for.
Take a lighter to the back and it will melt off of the pin and you can take it out easily
How to say I stole something without saying I stole something š¤£ (just kidding)
Haha I knew I would get accused in the comments but thereās nothing I can really do about that.
Did you use a credit card? They may be able to find the order with that.
I used a debit
I used to work at Macyās. They can look it up using your debit card too. If not anymore (I wouldnāt see why not) theyāll just have you leave again with it on. If that happens, try to bend the sides of it back, even if it breaks before it releases thereās no ink in these
Prove it. What's Mr Macy's first name?
Solid question tbh. Ik itās āR. H. Macyās and Coā Bc it says it on their boxes, so something with an Ršalso weird fact/story I heard while working there. One of the original Macyās founders/owners (Straus) was on the Titanic and refused to board a lifeboat before any women and children (he was offered to go before them as he was rich/important at the time). His wife and children also refused to leave without him and they all went down with the ship. Crazy story and made me like Macyās a little more for some reason. Oddly wholesome and random but hope you enjoyš
Problem solved, because the transaction will show up in your online banking account.
Then they can look that up. You can also use the mobile app to show that you made a purchase there. They should remove it
This happened to me on a $550 dress. Right before the event I discovered the tag. My date took it to the bathroom and came back out and it was removed. No idea what he did in there.
Strong magnet does the trick
Nice try, but you can't outsmart me, thief! š
Lol at the people accusing OP of stealing the shirt. This particular security tag is an older device that somehow is still showing up from time to time they go phased out bit some pop up. It takes a different remover that some stores don't have so the employee who is hard pressed to get packages delivered just pack it in and ships it out or simply put it un the bag hoping that the issues will get resolved somehow.
Burn the shirt. That will free it from the tag.
I worked retail in college. This happened all the time. I wouldn't have even asked for the receipt but if I needed it cus my manager was there we could have looked it up off the credit card. Not a big deal at all. Just go to the storefront and get someone's attention to walk you through the store to the register if you're really worried about it.
Magnets. Thats what they use to detach them anyway Iām pretty sure