hi baes so i actually used to work here for like a year in hs so i can give y'all the inside scoop. first off we truly do not give a shit if you are stealing, sales associates don't get any training on lp and the only info posters we have in the back room are about internal theft 😭 like be cautious w cams obvi esp if you're in a mall bc some security ppl go crazy on high shrink places but if it's a freestanding store you should be ok. like i promise you in small stores there r not enough of us scheduled to even take care of cash register & fitting room, there is not anyone watching you lol.
things to NOT be scared of:
a worker greeting you when you come in/a few minutes after if it doesn't happen immediately upon entering -- we get trained to do this, we HAVE to do it, corporate yells at us if we don't greet every customer and tell them our names so they can ask for help or something idk. if we miss you as you come in we have mics and another employee will radio to us and be like go greet that customer! you must! so it's nbd. we don't do it to be creepy or make you feel sussed it's to make the district ppl happy. AS does secret shoppers to evaluate employee performance so we are focused on trying to butter you up if you happen to be one of them lol (especially at beginning of the month/on busy weekend days)!
a worker talking over their mic to another worker about you: this seems like it could be coded language for them sussing you lifting, but it's not. if we say "oh there's a guest by blahblahblah who needs some help" it either means that we forgot to greet you, you're carrying a lot of stuff and we need to ask if you want a fitting room (see below), or you're struggling to get something down from a high shelf or longingly staring at something you can't reach and that means we need to go help you lol (if you use the hook things on your own or climb up we get in BIG trouble).
a worker asking if you want to start a fitting room: if you hold an item of clothing for more than like 30 seconds we are supposed to ask if you want to start one (on our guidelines for the secret shoppy). if the workers at ur AS don't they're either much much busier than mine or they just aren't following training hehe. it's so you feel special and loved and so we can try to convince you to buy more things so corporate man can buy more boats. if they ask just let them take it, give them your name (or a fake name idc), and then grab even more shit to bring in with you -- we don't check that at all if you already have a room started lol. it's also very easy to go back and forth from salesfloor to fitting room bc we keep your dressing room reserved for a while, so if you leave stuff and say like "oh ill be right back im just going to grab something!!" it's not sus at all.
a worker taking your items when setting up fitting room: we are not counting how many you have, we honestly don't even rly notice if you come out with less or more than you brought in bc there's so much shit in that area and we're just trying to make sure we don't drown in go backs and it's a whole big mess most of the time. if the worker seems to be studying what you handed to them, it's not to see if you're stealing, it's so we can see what size they are and what style section they came from. some AS stores have a policy where we need to look at the clothes you're trying on and then try to add on more items (also more expensive items) that you might also like. doesn't always happen but my home store always did it, while the mall location did not.
a worker asking for your name for the fitting room, or checking in on you a few minutes later: they just make us do this so you feel loved or something idk it always creeped me out bc like im half naked staring at myself in an elegant faux vintage mirror please just let me be sad in peace. but we have to do it lol we are not sussing you! you can give them a fake name, just make sure when they come to check on you that you actually respond lol
rfids in tags (if you can't see towers at the door): these are actually not to stop theft, at least at both the stores i worked at -- it's so we can be lazy and do inventory at night with a little scanner thing lmfao. we don't have to deactivate them at checkout, if you pay attention while at the counter we are just trying to scan and wrap your stuff as fast as possible bc of the huge lines lol if your store has towers, the rfids may actually trigger them. always be sus. but neither of the AS i worked at had towers and one of them was a huge shrink $$$ mall location so make of that what you will.
overall, we are running around like headless chickens trying to complete all of our tasks w/ every customer and make sure we don't miss the secret shopper. we are being exploited constantly and AS is a fake charity so like do whatever you want babe idk.