A former JD Sports worker has revealed the reason the company has greeters at its doors - and it’s not just to welcome customers into the shop.
Arriminta Hardwicke, 22, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, spent almost three years working at JD Sports, so is very familiar with how the business is run.
Speaking to the Sun, Arriminta revealed that although the greeters are there to say ‘hello’ to customers they’re also on the look out for thieves.
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She said: "I worked at JD for just under three years while at university and while I loved the flexible hours I hated dealing with thieves every day.
"The person who stood at the front of the store at all time was there to greet customers but - they were also there to check for stealing and whatnot.”
Although people running off with items of clothing was a problem for staff, it wasn’t the only type of theft they had to be aware of.
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Arriminta told the publication about a time a customer handed her £300 in fake notes and then returned for a refund where he was given legit currency.
She explained: "It was such a weird situation, the bloke paid me in cash and I counted and checked it, then they took it back off me, almost to count it again himself, then gave me it back.
"But I didn't check it that time - I just put it straight in the little box under the till called the counter cash, which is where we'd put large amounts of money, or use if the till was full.
"Basically that's what the scam is, when they take the money back off you they secretly switch out the notes for fake ones without you noticing.
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"Then they came back later asking for a refund, so then I gave them 300 quid back from the top of the counter cash, which was real. And the fake notes were at the bottom of the counter cash."
JD Group spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our staff is our highest priority as a business.
"We do not condone threatening, violent and abusive behaviour in any shape or form, and we have extensive protective measures and procedures in place to ensure colleagues do not have to encounter this to do their jobs.
"As a company, we take a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting and take all incidents very seriously.
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"We specifically train our store colleagues not to put their safety at risk and provide market-leading processes and technologies – from high-quality CCTV to sophisticated product tagging and panic buttons – to help prevent and respond to shoplifting incidents quickly.
"We also have strong relationships with the police in the communities in which we operate – and work closely with them to help bring perpetrators of retail crime, including industry-wide scams, to justice.
“For colleagues, we offer a range of training programmes as part of our onboarding process to ensure they are fully aware of the protections in place, and we regularly encourage them to submit concerns or suggestions on how we can improve practices, anonymously or otherwise.
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"The mental health of our colleagues is also of paramount importance to the JD Group and where an incident does occur, we have robust strategies and support networks in place to help ensure their wellbeing.
“Furthermore, JD provides store colleagues with highly competitive hourly rates of pay, as part of a broader benefits package."
Claire Reid