Here we go - Who'll be the first shot down?
Walgreens will be first retailer in U.S. to test on-demand drone delivery
Walgreens is set to lift off and make history with a drone pilot in Virginia.

Beginning in October, the drugstore giant and Wing Aviation, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, will partner on a pilot of “store to door” delivery of health and wellness, food and beverage and convenience items via drone delivery. (Prescription deliveries are not available in the pilot.) According to Walgreens, customers will receive their orders within minutes of placing orders.

The pilot will make Walgreens the first retailer to offer on-demand drone delivery service in the U.S. The companies will launch the test in conjunction with FedEx in Christiansburg, Va. Eligible FedEx Express customers who live within designated delivery zones in Christiansburg, and who opt in to the Wing delivery service, will be able to receive select packages via delivery drone. chainstoreage.com

Redding, CA: 99 Cents Only store to pay $1.2 million after workers sexually assaulted in walk-in freezer
Employees of the Redding 99 Cents Only store were sexually assaulted in a walk-in freezer there, leading to a $1.2 million settlement, the state announced Tuesday. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing said in a statement the former employees filed complaints with the agency in August 2018. One of the former employees said the incidents happened between December 2017 and March 2018.

The former employees said their supervisor, Assistant Manager Michael Wiegel, sexually assaulted them in a walk-in freezer in the back of the store "and subjected them to other forms of sexual harassment," according to the state agency. Wiegel's only past incident in Shasta County Superior Court is a traffic violation, electronic records show.

The former employees also alleged that managers at the Hilltop Drive store retaliated against them when they reported the incidents, and that included "additional scrutiny at work and reduced hours."

The state says an investigation indicated that violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act had happened, so the business agreed to pay the former employees and the agency a combined $1,225,000.

"Employers must take seriously their duty to provide a work environment that is free from sexual harassment and sexual assault," agency Director Kevin Kish said in the press release. "DFEH will hold to account companies that allow harassment and retaliation against employees who complain."

Commerce-based 99 Cents Only also will hire an outside monitor to track the chain's compliance with the settlement for the next three years as part of the agreement. Managers also have to complete training, and the business must give annual compliance reports to the state for the next three years, the press release says. redding.com

FTC-CFPB workshop looks at accuracy in credit and background screening reports
When consumers apply for credit, housing, or employment, consumer reports are often used to help decide whether they can get that loan, apartment, or job. With so much at stake, the accuracy of those reports is of the utmost importance. On December 10, 2019, the FTC and CFPB will host a workshop to discuss issues related to the accuracy of traditional credit reports and background screening reports used by prospective employers and landlords.

A lot has happened in consumer reporting since the FTC’s 2012 study on accuracy in credit reports and the follow-up study a few years later. The CFPB has conducted supervisory reviews of large credit reporting agencies, as well as providers of consumer financial products or services that furnish information about consumers to CRAs. Then there was the 2015 multistate AG settlement requiring stricter standards for matching records, removing certain public record information, and restricting medical debt reporting. And tech developments once on the horizon – for example, the use of machine learning and alternative data in making eligibility determinations – are right here, right now.

The FTC and CFPB just posted a list of discussion topics and would like your feedback. Save a step and file your comment online. We’ll leave the public record open until January 10, 2020. Interested in volunteering as a presenter or panelist? Email us as AccuracyWorkshop@ftc.gov.

The workshop – it’s free and open to the public – is set for the FTC’s Constitution Center conference facility, 400 7th St., SW, in Washington, D.C. We’ll also webcast it live on the FTC event page.

Mesa, AZ: Nationwide Mall Modeling Agency Exposed;
Parents and children scammed out of thousands of dollars
They thought they were competing for modeling jobs, until the stage disappeared from the mall. Parents say they thought they were working with a talent agency. But after families spent hundreds of dollars, the company packed up and left town. The Miami Fashion Board states in an ad that it has produced over 5000 events nationwide. When 12 News tried contacting the owner of The Miami Fashion Board, Bill Waldbueser about these discrepancies, he said he was unavailable and would not agree to a phone interview. According to its website, the company is headquartered at the Dolphin Mall in Miami, however a spokesperson at the mall says they have no record of the company being there. 12news.com

Why it was easy for the alleged suspects in video of brazen theft
at the Mall of Louisiana
After the viral video showing a group of people apparently just walking out of a store in the Mall of Louisiana allegedly without paying for an arm full of clothes, plenty of people wondered, why did nobody stop them? People who work or own stores in the mall tell us that other than calling mall security--which they say is often slow--there’s not much they can really do. A mall store owner who asked to stay anonymous, says that even though her store has cameras all over, she’s still limited in what she can do to stop a would-be thief. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said he hopes the publicity of this case is enough to be a deterrent and if that’s not enough, maybe the possible penalties for working together could be. wafb.com

Vector Security Reaches 10,000 Customer Reviews on ConsumerAffairs.com

Company is a highly-rated security provider with a near 5-star rating
on third-party consumer news and resource website

PITTSBURGH, September 19, 2019 - Vector Security, Inc., the leading provider of intelligent mobile security and automation solutions to homes and businesses, recently reached a milestone 10,000 customer reviews on ConsumerAffairs.com, a third-party consumer news and resource center that features over 1 million customer reviews across more than 3,000 brands in 300 categories of goods and services.

Vector Security is highly ranked in security by consumers on ConsumerAffairs.com based on its near 5-star rating given by real-life customers.

“We are ecstatic about reaching this milestone,” said Art Miller, Vice President of Marketing for Vector Security. “We love to get feedback from our customers…the good, the bad and everything in between so we can continue to improve our service delivery and adapt our product and technology offerings to meet our customers’ changing needs.”

“We care about what our customers have to say; and we read and respond to each and every review,” Miller added. “Thanks to all the customers who took the time, and to our employees for their daily efforts to collect these reviews!”

The 10,000th review was a 5-star rating from a customer out of Vector Security’s Nederland/Houston branch. “Thanks Vector Security…I recommend you guys to all my friends,” the customer wrote.

“Congratulations to Vector Security for reaching this impressive milestone,” said Corinne Parkinson, Client Performance Strategy, Consumer Affairs. “As we have watched their presence grow on ConsumerAffairs.com over the last several years, the feedback provided by their customers will help inform consumers as they make important choices about security providers.”

By Stephen O'Keefe - President, Bottom Line Matters

There are 2 things we can be sure of in today’s world of Loss Prevention and Investigations. Firstly when an incident takes place, there is no shortage of CCTV footage or cell phone videographers to draw from. Secondly, when an arrest is made, there is no shortage of folks who claim they were not surprised and knew something.

So why didn’t they say something? Well, they may have. But they were heard above the noise.

Many retailers have adopted the practice of “hands off”, or “no arrest" for fear of having that footage appear on the front page of the most sourced news or social media channels, as well as safety reasons.

Then there are the regulators; those tasked with policing our operating practices. In essence they are there for the right reasons, to make sure we do what we are supposed to do. How they do this differs from one agency to another, and in some cases when the agency is self-funded and relies on the fines they impose, their ability and motivation to catch us doing something wrong is far beyond our wildest expectation.

So how do we make sense of this new world of investigating in a transparent world? A world that is watching our every move.

I recently tried to help a client navigate through all of this, and thought I would provide an outline of the methodology I used to get them to where they need to be.

The 3 step process to build a management system
Quite simply the three step process is to; (1) conduct a risk assessment, (2) conduct a gap analyst, and (3) implement a process improvement plan.

The risk assessment covers the regulatory requirements of running the business, as well as the operational components to delivering results based on the strategy of the business. I use a heat map to weigh out the most important items, in terms of the impact and probability that they will be a hurdle or have a detrimental effect on the results.