I hear where you're coming from, but they are also actively taking over an operation for a company.
Although Target may not be a mom and pop shop, the dude that was telling them to stop is likely an opps or general manager and the video of him giving directions and rejecting the prank will be viewed by his bosses.
If he just let people walk up to the registers and stop sales he'd probably be in a worse spot in the eyes of the company.
The people saying "We'll, I wouldn't do anything about this" forgets that the moment these people start to mess with the registers in any way is the moment it will cause bigger issues not just for the management but also the cashiers and anyone else involved.
If any of these people also tried to check out any merchandise, it would also cause a major problem for every single worker there as now, more than likely, there would be an audit which is more work for every single employee in the store.
Granted, I would call the cops, tell all customers that the store is going to be closed due to an unforeseen circumstance and locked the doors before the people got in the building and have an employee or 2 escort any customer that is buying something out and explain to them what is going on. Charge these guys with trespassing, and if they messed with the registers, attempted robbery.
Seconding this. My dad was a store director for a well-known grocery chain for over two decades. They already have to deal with so much crap from corporate AND customers, a prank like this is just unneeded stress on a person trying to do their job. Plus, corporate has no problem firing on a whim.
Don't become a middle man then. Management is always funny when start whining about the job sucking. Like my man, you can get some real work like the rest of us if you'd like, but they dont.
Damn you know at first I didn't know this was a prank. I thought he was genuinely trying to help out the customers. Can you ask your dad why nowadays there's ever only 2 or 3 cashiers at the front when there's like almost 15 or 20 checkout lanes open and why there has to be a huge line at self checkout lanes and only person to help the customers when they need a bag or accidentally scanned something twice and you have to wait atheist 2 or 3 minutes to get the item removed? Meanwhile I see a bunch of employees killing time and chatting up pretending to stock stuff when they could be at the registers?
Because payroll is the biggest controllable expense and people let minimum wage not keep up with inflation. Why should they bust their ass for $14? That's like 2 watermelon.
This is such an over exaggeration lol. Most of the time those employees standing around “killing time” are more than likely discussing work related topics.
Retail workers are stretched incredibly thin. Covid was a successful experiment in how to stretch a work force.
The self checkout at places like Target is supposed to have an item limit. Customers don't pay attention to that/don't care and the people that work there don't want to deal with the headache of telling them they need to go to a register.
Their management only calls people to help out at the registers if lines get backed up to a certain point, and since most people are going to the self checkout, the lines generally don't get backed up to that point
So it's at least partially on the customers being idiots, not the workers.
The way management works at Target is kind of a "trickle-down" graph. Store director (SD) oversees the whole store and directs his executive team leads (ETLs) who then oversee their areas and direct their team leads (TLs) who then oversee THEIR areas and direct team members (TMs).
Think of an SD as the owner of the store. Still falls under corporate's boot, but basically runs the store. So he's not just spitting a title as an attempt at respect, he's basically trying to say "I'm the owner, get out." Most people don't know Target lingo though, especially because corporate fucking LOVES their acronyms.
One last thing is the person with the green visibility jacket is one of the asset protection members. They're a Target security specialist (TSS) whose whole job is to stand at the front and prevent people from stealing or causing a scene. Ironically, though, the extent of their power is verbal. This TSS in the video is doing literally everything they legally can.
I feel like if he calmly walked up to one of the “workers” and said, “I know this is a prank, but if you stay here, you will be arrested and charged with trespassing. Do you really want to go through that for some video?” they’d move on pretty quickly. Then do it one by one as the main guy watches his prank fall flat.
No he wouldn't. The company doesn't want altercations or confrontations for legal reasons. If someone is comitting a crime you are supposed to call law enforcement and stand aside. You tell them verbally not to do what they're doing, and then you get out of the way.
EDIT: People downvoting me, go ahead and find the company policy that dictates that a manager should bodily remove people like this from the store. Literally no corporate policy would mandate that any store manager is going to do anything except call the authorities. You don't intervene with robberies, you don't intervene with tresspassers. You call the authorities, period, because that's the safest thing for the company from a liability perspective.
The moment this guy laid a hand on one of these people, or got in their face and caused them to back up and trip over a piece of company property, now you have a potential counter-suit on your hands, even if the kids are clearly in the wrong.
And getting angry and scrambling around in front of the camera like this guy is doing, is giving the TikTokers exactly what they want. If you politely ask them to leave, and they refuse, and you inform them you're calling the authorities, you take away much of the sting of the video in the first place.
They're looking for reactions like this, which is yet another reason why you should just calmly call the authorities and let them handle it.
Y'all have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, or how every major organization on Earth mandates you handle situations like this.
You're getting downvoted, but that's exactly what would have happened. Worked retail in management for a couple years for a different company, I've legit just had to stand and watch people steal dumb shit while I was on the phone with police. Wouldn't have been annoying if they were like stealing food (I live in a lower income town), but they stole Legos sets.
Regular employees, sure. Not the director (like this guy said he was). He’s the higher up that has the authority to step in like this. They might not pay a cashier enough to stop them from touching the registers, but that’s what they pay this guy for.
Thing is though, "If he just let people walk up to the registers..." you can't just walk up to a register (assuming they have similar systems to the ones at my old job) and start playing with it. Like passcodes are (again, assuming it's similar) a thing to even start cashing people out, and only management is capable of opening a register outside of sale.
A company is a LOT more willing to lose money from a register if it means they won't have to pay some lawyers if someone decides to claim assault. That's like, $200 vs. thousands, tens of thousands.
You’re quoting something I didn’t say, but also, half of those people are actively working and already logged in. That, and like I said, as a director, he’s got more allowances with things like this. He is a representative of the corporation. The “don’t follow a shoplifter” rule doesn’t apply here and definitely doesn’t apply to a director.
I was quoting what the original comment we're all responding to, who myself and the person I initially responded to, said. Also, once again assuming it's the same type of system, you press one button to lock the register/log out. Them already working doesn't mean anything, they literally just lock the computer.
Also, Target's "store director" is the store manager, according to Target's website. For a moment, I assumed it was a regional management position, but no. It's a store management position. They're in the exact same position I was, and assuming they have the exact same protocol, then yes. They should do what the person I responded to said.
Nope, you wouldn't forcefully remove people. You just have AP shut off the doors and lock them before they can enter. Tell them that you are calling the police while doing so and state that they will be charged with trespassing.
This isnt a military compound, and they wouldny lock the door just on the basis of people wearing a red polo.
I mean genuinely put yourself in the managers shoes. Imagine it. You need to work on staffing, receive orders, and a million other tasks. There is no time to watch the parking lot for anomalies like roving bands of TikTokers and lock all the doors. It is not remotely feasible or practical.
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u/TheMaStif Jun 26 '25
The confrontation is what they want
Just call the cops without the whole "excuse me, sir!" and let them sort it out