What, if anything, can I say or do?

[wonderfullyanonymous]

FInd out from a dealer if they put antitheft devices in the remote itself. If this is the case, find out if there is any way to deactivate the antitheft device.

I was in a shoe store, and going in there wasn't a problem, but when I left, I set both sets of doors off, it was loud, and people came running from everywhere. Scared the tar outta me.

The next time I went in, I stopped before I went in, and told them there was something in my purse that set the doors off. The manager says, oh yeah, I remember you. Sure enough, both doors again. I had some time to waste, so I stopped at the counter, and took my nook out, took my credit and debit cards out of it, ran it over the demagnitizer, then the same with my wallet.  My wallet beeped a couple times on their demagnitizer, and finally cleared. Oddly enough, it never set my works alarms off.

[*inviteseller]

As a retail manager, I understand the sensors.  As a customer they bug the silly out of me.  The one local grocery store has interesting sensors...not only my CD player in my purse, but a pair of metal knitting needles!  I stopped after work one day and had my knitting bag with me as I would knit on the bus.  I walk in, sensor goes off and Mr. Security Guard storms over to me and says "I need to check your cart"  Cue me  as I am standing just inside the door..facing inwards, with an empty cart.  I told him I had just walked in and obviously something in my purse or bag set it off..he proceeds to reach into the kid set where I set my purse and knitting bag and snatch both up and starts pawing through them!  I snatched them back..I didn't mind him going through my purse, but had he made me drop a stitch by pawing at my shawl I would have been all sorts of mad!  I swung them, one at a time at the sensor and my knitting bag went off, took out the project, ran it past the sensor and yup the needles.
I then left my cart and walked out of the store.

[CakeEater]

I set off sensors all the time, and I have never once had anyone even look up to see who has set them off, so I keep walking. I don't know why they even have them in shops here.

OP, I would hand your keys to the door person, walk through, and have your keys back. If there's no door person there, I'd ask any employee nearby to hold them for you. And speak to management to see what they can do.

[LeveeWoman]

If your remote start is anything like mine, it is built into the fob, so leaving it behind in the car is not going to work. Even with a separate key, having to remove the dongle from the keychain every time I entered this store would be annoying. I would also not give my key ring to anyone to hold.

I usually just keep on walking when I set these things off. I don't know if this is rude or not. I haven't had anyone come running after me yet. If I got searched by anyone, I would do as others suggested and tell management that you won't be shopping there anymore and why. I won't shop anywhere that treats me like a thief.

You keep on walking when you set off the store's alarms?

[JenJay]

If your remote start is anything like mine, it is built into the fob, so leaving it behind in the car is not going to work. Even with a separate key, having to remove the dongle from the keychain every time I entered this store would be annoying. I would also not give my key ring to anyone to hold.

I usually just keep on walking when I set these things off. I don't know if this is rude or not. I haven't had anyone come running after me yet. If I got searched by anyone, I would do as others suggested and tell management that you won't be shopping there anymore and why. I won't shop anywhere that treats me like a thief.

You keep on walking when you set off the store's alarms?

I do, too. I know I haven't stolen anything so if there's nobody there to quickly check my purchases I leave. I'm not going to stand around and wait for someone. I'll slow down and look behind me. If a store employee is approaching I stop but if they're all busy? I'm continuing on. They can follow me to my car if they want.

If my keys were consistently setting off the alarm and they always had an employee check my stuff I'd be really annoyed. Someone taking 5 minutes to go over 5 items would anger me. I'd absolutely call the store and complain. Tell them they're your favorite store, both for convenience and quality, but the hassle of being treated like a thief every time you shop there is causing you to reconsider.

[newbiePA]

I keep walking when I set alarms off. I know I'm not stealing.  They are anti theft, not metal detectors.  Hospitals, airports, courthouses are different, of course.

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Wow, inviteseller, I sure hope you reported his boorish behavior to the management!

[earthgirl]

I keep walking when I set alarms off. I know I'm not stealing.  They are anti theft, not metal detectors.  Hospitals, airports, courthouses are different, of course.

I keep walking too if the alarm goes off, but keep an ear out for someone shouting after me (which has never happened).

That came back to bite me once when I got home and realized that the cashier had forgotten to remove the anti-theft device on one of the sweaters I'd bought. 

[tinkytinky]

years ago, my dad bought a new pair of dress shoes and only wore them about 2 times before he passed away. My mom gave them to DH as they were his size as well. Several times when he was wearing them we were at the store (or a branch) that sold that brand and DH set off the alarm. We found out that this brand had an actual device IN the heel of the shoe. It obviously never got deactivated when dad bought them, however an employee at the store had DH take off the shoes and she ran them over the device to deactivate them and it never set off the alarm again.


Sorry, not that this helps YOUR situation. I like the idea of lifting the keys over the sensors at the door if at all possible. It would be a minor inconvenience if you really like shopping at that store. If it were me and that wasn't possible, I'm afraid i'd have to find another store in which to shop. I have done that before, not for that reason, but take a break for a couple of months (or weeks). I also don't think it would be out of line to let the manager know why you are leaving as they get a heads up and usually, if they care about not losing business they will work with you so you don't have it happen again.

[Betelnut]

I keep walking when I set alarms off. I know I'm not stealing.  They are anti theft, not metal detectors.  Hospitals, airports, courthouses are different, of course.

I keep walking too if the alarm goes off, but keep an ear out for someone shouting after me (which has never happened).

That came back to bite me once when I got home and realized that the cashier had forgotten to remove the anti-theft device on one of the sweaters I'd bought.

That's what I was going to say--at a clothing store I would definitely stop because I want to make sure that all the devices are removed.  I do not want to make a separate trip to have them take a tag off for me.

[lowspark]

I don't stop either. I'm not guilty of anything and no one ever comes running after me. Similar problem occurs at the library where they have some sensors which (I guess?) somehow make sure your books have been properly checked out. They set of a false alarm sometimes and I just keep walking. If they called out to me or came after me I'd stop. Otherwise, I'm outta here.

With the sensor tags, I'm pretty aware of those so if I'm buying something with a tag, I make sure it gets removed during checkout. By the time I'm leaving the store, that's ancient history.

Those sensors are somewhat like car alarms. They go off falsely so many times that generally everyone who would stand to benefit from them has stopped paying attention.

I will say that I don't shop at stores like Sam's or Costco where they check your receipt as you walk out the door. I don't shop at pay-to-be-a-member stores because I don't see their value, but if a store has to post someone at the door to make sure I'm not stealing, well, I'm just not all that interested in shopping there.

[Goosey]

I don't blame the stores for enacting those rules. I blame the people who steal for making the store feel it was necessary.

[lowspark]

Yeah, I get that. Doesn't make it any more pleasant to deal with though. And certainly not every store does it. So I'll just choose to patronize those who don't for now.

[flowersintheattic]

If your remote start is anything like mine, it is built into the fob, so leaving it behind in the car is not going to work. Even with a separate key, having to remove the dongle from the keychain every time I entered this store would be annoying. I would also not give my key ring to anyone to hold.

I usually just keep on walking when I set these things off. I don't know if this is rude or not. I haven't had anyone come running after me yet. If I got searched by anyone, I would do as others suggested and tell management that you won't be shopping there anymore and why. I won't shop anywhere that treats me like a thief.

You keep on walking when you set off the store's alarms?

I do, too. I know I haven't stolen anything so if there's nobody there to quickly check my purchases I leave. I'm not going to stand around and wait for someone. I'll slow down and look behind me. If a store employee is approaching I stop but if they're all busy? I'm continuing on. They can follow me to my car if they want.

If my keys were consistently setting off the alarm and they always had an employee check my stuff I'd be really annoyed. Someone taking 5 minutes to go over 5 items would anger me. I'd absolutely call the store and complain. Tell them they're your favorite store, both for convenience and quality, but the hassle of being treated like a thief every time you shop there is causing you to reconsider.

My current purse has a large metal clasp right in front that seems to set off these alarms some places. If they go off, I'll pause and make sure no one's coming to check me. Usually I just get waved through, though.  I've only ever had an employee check my things at a clothing store when I had made a purchase, to make sure the anti-theft device had been removed.

In your case, OP, I like the idea of holding the keys above your head when you go through. I also liked the suggestion of handing them to the greeter, especially if there's always someone right there.

[*inviteseller]

I did better than that WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot...I have never gone back to that store.  It is convenient for me to go there, but that was the icing on the cake for this place (they make their cashiers take surly training classes I think).  Going to the manager probably would have made absolutely no difference.