In some supermarket trolleys, I found it "the trolley will stop suddenly if you try to leave the facility".
How it is done? I noticed some trolleys have something attached to one of their wheels. But usually that makes them difficult to push even inside the stores!
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magnets I believe
Possibly around some exits and entrances, there are metal grids in the ground and the ides is that the trolley will just stop and the potential thief will not be able to move the trolley.
I am sure it must be magnets as the grooved escalators in my local B and Q prevent the trolley from moving as the wheels get trapped in the grooves while on the escalator.
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New line for light fingered: degaussing kit:)
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Yes it is magnets, remember back in the 90's my supermarket trialled them for the supplier, Rap something or other they were called.
Gave nothing but hassle, we had a wee red plastic key thing that you had to bend down and unlock the wheels with and of course being plastic key, with a plastic body it was a nightmare.
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Our local waitrose has them. They work well - all the trolleys are smooth to push and the wheel sjust lock if you pass the signs / car park
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The system works on a radio signal transmitted from within store via a sunken wire which surrounds the car park and is marked by a red line
Trolleys are fitted with a device within the wheels and if trolleys are pushed over the wire, a brake comes on and the trolley can no longer be easily pushed.
The brake is de-activated and the trolley can be wheeled once it is pushed back over the line
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So what's to stop you lifting it over the line? (Assuming it isn't too full...). Does it trigger alarms?
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Nothing but the wheels lock as soon as you go over the line and remain locked until you return so it would be very hard to push. No alarms
Not sure about the range of the signal vertically but you might get away with it if you hold the trolley above your head!
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It doesn't work if you push the trolley along the middle of the main access road of the supermarket car park.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 23 Dec 10 at 17:57
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Waitrose in Cambridge has ridged cobbles rount the perimiter that trigger a mechanical system.
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they do the best bacon rolls ever tho.
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Iceland in Ringwood have a new low tech approach, the store entrance has a horizontal bar across it about 8 feet up; each trolley has a vertical bar about 10 feet high attached to it. So if I want to make a quick exit with my turkeyburgers and pot noodles I have to get the trolley on two wheels and exit diagonally.
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I though most Iceland clientèle drove on two wheels entering the car park.
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Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley? Especially one without an engine.
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It's not stealing, it's just "borrowing" for long enough to take your shopping home, and then not returning it.
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>> It's not stealing, it's just "borrowing" for long enough to take your shopping home, and
>> then not returning it.
>>
There is a difference?
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What else can you dump in the canal? Its by far the easiest.
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In Skye you keep *your* shopping trolley in the back garden :-)
You also leave the keys in the ignition of your unlocked cars so you don't loose them.
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>> Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley? Especially one without an engine.
They are worth something as scrap metal for a start.
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>> >> Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley?
>> They are worth something as scrap metal for a start.
>>
That's not a very nice thing to say about Stunorthants' new car! ;-)
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Some ideas here:-
www.feraltrolley.co.uk/
EDIT
only 6 photos!
Well there's always the feral trolley of the week over on bitterwallet, this is this week's:-
www.flickr.com/photos/deadkenny/5270964453/
www.bitterwallet.com/do-you-have-a-feral-trolley-photo-send-it-in/1598
edit 2, particularly like this one:-
www.flickr.com/photos/duncansmith/133061591/
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 23 Dec 10 at 18:44
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...Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley?...
I once saw one in use as a baby's cot.
It was parked in the bay window of a small terraced house.
For shopping trolley enthusiasts, it was a small shallow one of a type I've seen in Marks and Spencer.
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I found one near home from Tesco. It was not a current model at the time. I phoned the nearest store and they asked if I'd bring it back - not pushing a trolley 3 miles and they tended not to fit in the boot of a Passat (sofas I did fit mind!).
So someone came for it and pushed it back. They were happy to get paid to do this of course.
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In Australia, the handle of the shopping trolley used to push it around is often removed and used as a weapon, known as a "trolley pole". Used in a similar fashion to a baseball bat, the pole is used to club and hit people, and features prominently in gang fights or gang attacks on people. They can cause substantial damage despite their relatively small size and light weight
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The posh gangs use Waitrose trolley handles, the hoi polloi Lidl?
John
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They don't have Waitrose down there. It was Safeway and BIG W the last time I checked
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>> It was Safeway and BIG W the last time
>> I checked
>>
Must be a while ago, Big W was Woolworths and went belly up ages ago.
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Nope
BIG W *was* Woolworth up till about 25 years ago. It was bought out locally and turned into a chain of food based supermarkets.
Still going strong. Biggest chain down there by turnover and profit.
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>> Biggest chain down there by turnover and profit.
>>
Ah a little regional outfit.
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Trolley handles.........Pah! In circa 1966-8 my American cousins were based here for a short time just outside London. From them I got a BB gun, much cherished for years then it just wore out or fell apart, but not before I had had fun with it. I also got a Child's baseball bat made of plastic, hard yellow plastic, short hard yellow plastic and mean beyond belief. Still got it and believe me, it is not for messing with.
M
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I didn't steal mine - I paid a pound for it
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Could have got it cheaper at the 99p shop
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No change there then, mind you another example of Rip Off Britain == Eurolands in Ireland are cheaper.
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>> Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley?
I imagine they were all the rage when Robot Wars was on TV. The castors could be used as jockey wheels, or to make some kind of skateboard to transport the things between the pits and arena.
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>> Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley? Especially one without an engine.
>>
Very useful in warehouses, both for restocking, and picking of orders.
I know of many car dealerships with one or 2 'adopted' trolleys......
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Now you mention it, the local hospital shifts medical records around in shopping trolley type things. Being NHS kit they are probably purpose built at great expense.
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I worked in a Safeway that was located in the middle of a housing area. Very strange set up, council houses all round it but once you crossed the main road, the private houses were upwards of £1/2m each.
We initially had the pound coin system but this caused so many problems it was dropped. We then went onto the magnet system described in the OP, company called Radlock did it. But folk learned to lift their trolleys over the sensors.
Every week we had a van that went out round the alleys collecting the trolleys in. We reported to the police constantly but they didn't take it seriously - take away a bottle of vodka worth a tenner and you will be charged but "stealing" a trolley worth £90 and you are not.
Most regular uses we witnessed were rabbit hutches and barbecues.
Folk really did believe that because they had put a pound in the trolley it was theirs to keep!
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"Why would anyone want to steal a shopping trolley?"
Rusting trolley is essential front garden decoration on the local estate. Complements the bit of old carpet and remains of Ford Escort.
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Recommended for building barbies round here.
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