Former JD Sports Worker Explains Why Staff Greet Customers At The Door

Arriminta Hardwicke, 22, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, spent almost three years working at JD Sports, so is very familiar with how the business is run.

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.

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.

“但是我没有检查那个时间 - 我只是将其直接放在till叫柜台现金下的小盒子里，这是我们投入大量资金的地方，或者在ill填满的情况下使用。

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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."