this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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I have gone to a local electronics store, Best Buy, several times in the last few years because I wanted something immediately only to be stopped at the last moment by a locked shelf and no one around to unlock it. What the fuck are you even supposed to do there? Scream and shout until someone arrives? Quietly stalk an employee until you find your moment to strike? I just fucking leave, I'll wait for shipping.
I honestly wonder, is it illegal to simply unlock those things, if you have no intention of actually stealing from them? It's not like they use particularly high security locks. You can probably buy some simple lock raking or cylinder lock tools.
Is it actually violating a law to unlock one of those cases if you don't have any intention of actually stealing something?
You can actually just buy whatever keys you need online. When I worked in retail it was a major issue. Groups of thieves would come in and hand off the key to multiple people so each could go grab stuff from different areas.
lol that's way too much effort to give your hard earned money to a shitty company
I avoid Best Buy like the plague, I can't even remember the last time I went there, maybe 5 years ago? I went to buy a monitor and had to pass like 3 fucking security checks and a receipt checker.
The whole experience was so off putting, I just never went back.
A few years back bought something at Best buy and they asked if I needed a receipt or was I ok with just getting it emailed. I said I didn't need a receipt. Then I was stopped at the door because I didn't have a receipt, and they had to get the cash register person to vouch for me.
To their credit, for a gift card so I bought something there this past weekend and it was pretty much frictionless. Walked by the guy at the door with the product and no receipt or anything and didn't signal at me.
Walmart near me on the other hand has an interesting strategy. If I am carrying stuff in a bag, no problem. But if I skipped the bag, they ask to see my receipt. So guess you just need a plastic Walmart bag to shoplift...
The last thing I tried to buy at Best Buy they simply didn't have in stock, despite their in store computer system and their web site insisting they had dozens of the damn things. Never mind getting someone to unlock the case; I couldn't have bought it for any price no matter how badly I wanted it. I gave up. I haven't been back since.
Microcenter is pretty much the only brick-and-mortar electronics/computers store left that's worth a damn, which is convenient because they're also pretty much the only one left, period. Too bad they have barely any locations compared to Best Buy.
It probably is.
My state has a definition in its shoplifting statute that includes tampering with packaging, removing tags, or defeating security devices even if the product does not leave the store. I'm sure others do as well. Technically they could probably bust you even if the very next thing you did was take the thing to the checkout and pay for it. Not worth it, in my opinion. Just buy from someone who doesn't pull that shit and let that good old fashioned Free Market Economy these chucklefucks love so much take care of it.
Technically it would be trespassing, since your entering an area you're not authorized to enter, but no damages, assuming you don't like break the lock or something.
You're not likely to get sued for nominal damages (one dollar) for a technical trespass. They might ask you to leave. If you have a key and nobody is around, go for it. The keys are generic.