References

True stories from our customers

Over the past two years, hundreds of Alert MetalGuard systems have been installed throughout Europe. Since many of our customers prefer to remain anonymous in the hopes of arresting and prosecuting the shoplifters they detect, any list of references would be sadly incomplete. However, here are some of the amazing stories they've told us.

Three arrests the first day!
After installing one of our first systems in Italy, a major retailer in Milan caught no fewer than three different people with booster bags on a single Saturday afternoon! As a result, the chain, which specializes in high-quality furs and clothing, has installed MetalGuard in all of its stores throughout Italy.

38 stolen DVDs didn't trigger the conventional system
Over Easter in 2001, the security guards in a large European music/video store noticed two young customers behaving suspiciously in the video department. Even though the pair was carefully watched, store security guards were unable to observe any shoplifting. However when leaving the store, the two teenagers were asked to open their rucksack – and 38 stolen DVDs were revealed. A check showed that even with 38 security tagged DVDs inside the rucksack, the conventional AM security system was unable to detect them. The rucksack “booster bag” was so expertly made, it had to be cut up with a knife before the tinfoil could actually be verified. Not surprisingly, the store is now installing a MetalGuard system.

Fastest payback time on record
An optician discovered that nearly 70 pairs of the most stylish and expensive eyeglass frames had been stolen by a “tinfoil shoplifter”. Even though all of the frames were protected with high-quality, reliable security tags, they had not triggered the security system. Immediately after this incident, the shop installed a MetalGuard, which cost considerably less than the glasses stolen by just one thief. No more thefts have been reported.

Chanel No. 5 in a milk carton
In connection with our recent installations in Poland, the latest innovation among tinfoil shoplifters was demonstrated us - empty milk cartons covered with enough layers of tinfoil to avoid detection even in the most powerful conventional systems. These cartons are easily hidden under jackets and coats – and in this instance, provided a perfect way to steal small bottles of expensive perfume, CDs, and DVDs. The Polish chain has effectively stopped these thefts using our MetalGuard detectors.

The hand is quicker than the eye
One of our European customers learned of this story from an American colleague. A young girl had invented a smart way to fill her booster bag with CDs and DVDs without looking suspicious. She simply entered the shop with a bag full of potato chips in her rucksack. As she went around the store eating chips from the rucksack, at one point she started putting the CDs she was looking at into the rucksack with exactly the same movement she used to eat her chips. Although she managed to cheat the people watching the video surveillance – a random check luckily revealed the theft. She had numerous CDs and DVDs in her well-made booster bag rucksack, representing a commercial value of almost $1000. If this shop had had a MetalGuard installation, she would have been caught, despite her well-rehearsed performance.

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