Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
Today I was in Home Depot, standing in line to pay for a couple rolls of
hardware cloth. In front of me was a gentleman, and I use that term
loosely, that had placed on the counter six one inch electrical PVC ells,
along with six couplings, each of which was attached to the ells. The
ells had their UPC stamped on them, but the connectors had a stick-on label.
To a woman clerk, that may or may not be wise to how such things look and
are used, it was very easy for the items to be scanned by the label only,
considering the UPC on the ells blended well with the other data printed
thereon.

That's what happened. The buyer paid with a credit card, the total coming
to under $3. It was obvious to me that he had placed the connectors on the
ells intentionally, likely thinking they would get scanned just as they did.
I did more than nothing, but I'm interested in hearing what others might
think would have been a good course of action to take. When I've heard
various opinions, I'll describe what I did, and why I did it.

I don't think it's absolutely clear cut that the guy was a thief, and
certainly not clear enough to secure a conviction. I have assembled
components in hardware stores to make them easier to carry, or to make
sure I've got the right number of each. I've even had shop assistants
assemble items for me, but usually when the same assistant is making out
the receipt. But if the cashier missed some assembled items I would
point out the error to them, unless I was in a complete daydream, which
is always a possibility. If I'd been there, I don't think I would have
done anything due to the lack of certainty. How do I know the store
doesn't have a 2-for-1 deal on elbows and connectors?

Chris