The more I think about this topic the more suspicious I am that this was a troll. Maybe some interested in getting other people in trouble for pumping out sample Creed into decant bottles!
Crazy thread on Gent's Scents Facebook group.
- Thread starter masonjarjar
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You know, before the internet you had to go out of your way to watch Jerry Springer in order to see trash sensationalized. Then, as the internet expanded to what it became today, trash discovered a powerful new tool to empower themselves. Remember trash loves an audience. Troll or not, the guy is trash. We have to ignore trash, ban trash, or risk allowing a great medium to fall into their hands. I know now that I hardly frequent Facebook anymore.
All in all, it’s always been this way. Radio had the same growing pains save for the fact not all trash had access. It was usually government. AKA 1930’s/40’s Germany. Ultimately it was regulated.
It’s such a fine line. But ultimately trash is why we can’t have nice things.
My mother always told me it was because of me that we couldn't have nice things.
LOLz!
Just today I was at the mall and sprayed a couple of fragrance test strips to compare a few Creed scents. When discussing the scents with the saleslady, I didn't even have the courage to ask for a sample vial (not sure if they even do that). This guy stood there and sprayed himself his own 10ml tester? Yikes.
Regret I am unable to agree with you.
As I see it, what he was doing was stealing...pure and simple.
The samples are not provided for the purpose of filling up one's own decanter. They are provided solely for sampling the scent in the store by spraying it. Creed doesn't abandon its proprietary rights to it's product simply because it's in a tester. If that were the case, anybody could just walk out of the store with a tester bottle, or all of the tester bottles, with complete impunity! It makes absolutely no difference that he transfers the liquid to his own decanter...it's still theft, just as if he took the tester bottle itself.
You know...will you accompany me to Nordstrom's?, because I'm going in there with a big bag and I'm just gonna sweep all of the testers into it and walk out of the store. Ill need you to explain to them, as a retail professional, that it's really not stealing at all. I'm just sampling the testers.
I should like to proffer the observation that a gentleman is never seen to be overtly rude.
However, that is not to say that a gentleman is without recourse to insult where warranted.
Deftly pointing out the baseness and shortcomings of the peasant has always been the prerogative, indeed, the sport of gentlemen! It is the manner in which the riposte is executed that separates the true gentleman from the rank pretender.
A gentleman of class will never directly insult the object of his scorn. Rather, he will instead feign to compliment the miscreant, bestow undeserved honour or defence to him...laud him in language that discreetly conveys a double entendre...which to those like-minded of his class, will be understood for the witty, under-handed insult that it is intended to be.
Not the best example, but one of my favourites:
Lady Astor to Winston Churchill: Mr Churchill, if I was your wife, I would poison your coffee.
Churchill to Astor: Madam, if I was your husband... I would drink it!
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Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
i was actually wondering how long it would take to spray it out into a bottle and go unnoticed
I m surprised i didn't see this whole fiasco on my Facebook feed ....
Oh wait..i m not on Facebook. Lo
This is reason 10,567
Let's put this to some lawyer/legal types. Certainly this forum has some. Samples don't have a set retail price, whereas sealed products to purchase do. Samples are typically supplied to the retailer at no cost, hence no retail value. I have been involved with so many instances through the years of people taking or removing items from the store, and the requirements law enforcement demand to determine loss and make theft charges apply are what shaped my remarks. In working with authorities, the retailer has to provide a value to determine a loss amount. Hard to do with a portion of a bottle. Now if we took every sample bottle from the store as you suggested, we likely would be in trouble I would assume that since what was removed was a large number of bottles, the store could somehow claim a loss of property with an estimated value. You and I both know what this person did at Nordstrom's is beyond reasonable or customary. I doubt police or a judge for that matter would consider it theft. The reporting officer would give you a "you called us over that?" type of remark. We all know taking something from someone else without permission is stealing. In that sense the clown at Nordstrom's was stealing, but considering all the facts, I doubt the law would see it that way. Legal eagles, what do you say?
I know way better than to express a legal opinion on a public forum! Here is someone's idea of a legal opinion though. I absolutely do not endorse it. Accused of Stealing Free Testers
There are lots of example on-line of folks being arrested for stealing samples of one sort or another. Also examples of people suing for being so arrested.
There are lots of example on-line of folks being arrested for stealing samples of one sort or another. Also examples of people suing for being so arrested.
Again, I respectfully disagree with your analysis and conclusion.
The fact that samples are supplied to the retailer at no cost is immaterial. They are supplied under contract as a marketing tool and the retailer is obliged to use them as directed, i.e. they cannot be given away to employees or anybody else without violating their contract. Thus, they can indisputably be said to be items of value. To say that a cologne sample has no value is indefensible. It is up to the retailer to assign a value to it if it is stolen. Whether a retailer cares to do this or not is another matter.
The fact that they are not offered for sale and have no retail price is also immaterial. The coat hangers owned by the store have little value and are not offered for sale, yet they remain the property of the retailer, and taking one amounts to theft, just as if one took the chair in a dressing room. If I walked into a Macy's in the 1990's and removed the staples from the Anna Nicole Smith posters advertising Guess jeans, rolled them up and walked out of the store with them, I would be guilty of theft. Plain and simple. Yet they are provided free of charge by Guess to the stores, who will throw them out when the promotion is done. Ostensibly they seem to have no value...yet still it is theft.
I would argue that the police and courts in your scenario would absolutely consider the taking of samples to be theft, as long as the retailer claimed a monetary value for the taken item(s). And, I disagree that assigning a value to a portion of a bottle of cologne would be "difficult to do. The market value of the "retail" bottle of cologne could easily be used to "substantiate" the alleged value of the sample. Alleging a value is easily and simply done. Certainly, a defendant will not be heard to complain that such an item has no value, if the retailer alleges a value for it.
The only problem is whether the retailer is willing to prosecute the theft of mere "marketing tools" or not.
Surprising or not, courts have even held that one has a proprietary right to one's own refuse, such that a person can be convicted of theft (or conversion) of rubbish left out for pick-up. Thus, a retailer could even prosecute for theft of refuse deposited in their dust-bins in the stores. So, if some one throws away a half-eaten sandwich in a Nordstrom's dust-bin, don't retrieve it, as you could be guilty of theft!
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You and I are having a civil debate over this matter, since we are gentlemen, unlike the Nordstrom guy, that is good. Points we have made are valid. I see your point of view and logic, and agree all could and should be done in cases of theft. And both of us would agree that what should be done morally and legally, should be. We could go on and on about the details and semantics of this Nordstrom matter, but we have already done enough of that. I am basing my remarks on what I and other management personnel have seen, what our company has experienced, in over four decades of working in the retail industry. We have been trained and schooled on retail theft and the ever evolving shrinkage problem in retail. Training is provided by security experts, police department officers, and even legal types provided by our retail cooperative. We have been trained on what actions constitute theft. We have testified in court countless times in theft cases. So I am not a novice at this. I also am not a legal expert. What I have seen through the years shapes my opinion that your typical police officer would tell you trying to press charges on this Nordstrom incident would be a waste of time. If you wanted to force the issue, you are at the mercy of the legal system, mainly the judge hearing the case. The chance a store could get a conviction is not likely. Possible yes, but not likely. Certainly, theft and deception laws vary somewhat by state. For instance, something you discard in the outside dumpster, which is on store property, is no longer property of the store in some locales, and in others, it is. In our city, items in the dumpster are no longer store property. We have to sometimes have law enforcement remove individuals rummaging through our dumpsters, as officers will not allow the store to press charges. But anything inside the building or outside the building, according to our local laws, is store property if it is not in a outside trash receptacle. Unfortunately, it boils down to how much time, effort, and expense you want to incur in pleading your case. Forty six years in retail has shown me many things, I could tell you stories for hours on end involving theft and shoplifting, and the things people do to rip off the store. Razorboi, you are sharp as a tack, and to you and all fellow members, have a safe and enjoyable 4th!!
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