Victoria's Secret Tips from a Former SA
There are many posts about lifting at VS. Thought I would add my own in case anyone missed anything. Worked at VS for 9 months in 2012. As with any lifting advice, proceed with caution as each store is different, and policies may change. There is no fool-proof method to lifting and you run a risk each time you choose to lift. Be Careful.
That being said, I worked as a Brand Ambassador(greeter in the front), cashier, regular SA, night shift stock girl, and fitting room attendant. This is what I remember from my time at VS:
-The SA wear head sets to communicate. They can speak to one another about customers discreetly. Most will pin the mouthpiece to their shoulder or their lanyard. If you know what mannerisms to look for you can tell when they are using their headsets.
-The girl who greets you at the entrance sizes you up and if you seem sus, she will alert other SA to follow you. So look at her and smile and answer her questions. If they sus you they will customer service you to death.
-Only the manager can directly ask you for concealed items *if* she sees you personally conceal on the floor. Fitting rooms are your best place to conceal.
-If you use shopping bags from other stores, make sure that those stores are actually walking distance from VS. Highly sus to employees of you have an American Eagle shopping bag and there is not one nearby.
-Groups of young people are watched. Dress rich and old for your age.
-No known cameras
-SA use mirrors to discreetly watch customers in other rooms. So be careful when you find a blind spot.
-RACIAL PROFILING: it happens every day. This was the worst part of my job. It was extremely embarrassing for me as a POC, because I had to follow my managers instructions to customer service black customers until they made a purchase. So shameful and embarrassing, and it happened every single day. Fuck VS.
-No LP other than SAās. More often than not they are clueless college chicks, except for the managers and fitting room attendants who seem to care a little more.
-The SA team has a collective sales goal for bras. A good time to lift is when itās pretty busy, because they will be focused on making sales with the customers who they think will make a bra purchase. A good tactic is to have a friend (do not enter store at exact time and pretend not to know each other) to distract by acting interested in making a purchase while you lift.
-Busy times are also good because itās noisy in the fitting room (so they wonāt hear the tags and magnet). Sometimes they wonāt count what you bring into the room, but even if they do you can just wait until the fitting room attendant leaves to help another customer to leave.
-Beauty items over $25 have soft tags. They are not hidden inside boxes. They may be deactivated by a magnet (I did it as a cashier) but to be safe just peel them off.
-SA will use a code name to talk about possible lifters. Its a basic white girl name but I donāt remember what it is (sorry) so if you hear employees speaking about āSarah needs help in Pink/beauty/swim/ā then they are onto you.
-Overall the SA are aware of lifters and their tactics, yet ironically have little power to stop them. Only a manager can accuse a lifter with sound proof, and they donāt chase. They will call security but by the time they get to the store you will be hopefully long gone.
Fuck VS and their racism, fuck their overpriced low quality shit, fuck their sweatshop labor, fuck their minimum wage, and most of all fuck their unrealistic and UNHEALTHY standards of beauty. Take everything!
