To wonder if this was done on purpose ?

[Teenagecrisisagain]

Took dd shopping today, walked into a shop and started to look around. It was very warm so took both our coats off which meant I was then holding coats, handbag and dds bag(it's a lunchbox we take all her things in when we go out)

Picked a few things up then dd wanted to try a dress on and I put our bags down and she tried it on. I noticed a woman (who worked there) hovering but then we moved on to look at something else. Woman hovering again. Kept happening.
Dd wanted to try trousers on so we went to changing rooms. They were unattended and some other people just walked in so we did the same, tried things on then paid.

Walked out and the alarms went off so went back in. We were told to walk back through and they went off again. Then they said for dd to walk through alone, she did and alarm didn't go off. I did and it did so had to show nothing on me. Then they said to put handbag through-alarm went off, I opened it and said there was nothing in there! I myself put it through again and the alarm didn't go off. They said to then pass dd bag through and it alarmed, they checked (it only has medicines in) but then I passed it through again and it didn't go off the second time??

AIBU to think perhaps the alarm can just be made to go off somehow and they did that each time a different bag was passed through by them so that they could check? As when I did it without warning myself it didn't go off?
I'm wondering if they thought we looked suspicious as we just had so much stuff with us ? I'm assuming people may hide things under other stuff to steal them and maybe that's why we were being watched whilst shopping?
After they had checked everything we walked out and no alarm? I was really confused as to why it went off sometimes and not others and it seemed like they just wanted to get every bag checked ?

[WorraLiberty]

It sounds like a faulty alarm to me.

A couple of months ago I set one off on the way in to a shop

[Teenagecrisisagain]

It just seemed to be going off for each item/me until checked then not the next time. I had visions of someone out of sight pressing something just to make it go off so they could check each bag!

[Witchend]

At one point I had a bag that always set off the Tescos alarm if I had it on my shoulder. If it was in the trolley it didn't. Talking to security...they got yo the point of recognising me and waving me through, they said that did happen sometimes and they didn't really know why.

[Floggingmolly]

They wanted to check every bag because you set the alarms off.. You knew you hadn't nicked anything but they didn't.

[TheoriginalLEM]

I would have gone ballistic, like fuck would they be routing through my belongings.

[NeedACleverNN]

Sounds like the alarm was faulty though.

I used to work in a shop that was sensitive to new look clothing. If you had bought anything from new look the tag would set the alarm off. Used to be we saw a new look bag and either waved it off or offered to de tag it. Most wanted us to de tag whilst others was happy to leave it

[Teenagecrisisagain]

I just thought perhaps a tag hadn't been removed off something. Would have been easier if they had just asked to look in each bag rather than the palaver of they pass a bag through and alarm goes off yet when I did the same bag it didn't??

It was obvious we were being watched, and tbh in a way I can't blame them, we had a lot of bags and coats and kept stopping and putting stuff down, carrying a lot of items etc and I wonder if they've had a lot of thefts lately but it was a bit embarrassing standing at the door with people watching while they made us walk through and pass the bags through

[GabiSolis]

Airport security can set off alarms at will, but I can't imagine that a high street shop would. Like others say, it's more likely to be a faulty alarm.

[Teenagecrisisagain]

I did wonder at first if it was dd as she has a pump and a glucose monitor (this uses bluetooth and sends signal to a receiver and an iPhone) but when she walked through it didn't go off ?! I said "perhaps it was this" and they said "no, no it's not you have to go through then we'll put the bags through"

[Teenagecrisisagain]

That's what I wondered Gabisolis that maybe they could set it off when they wanted just to check anyone who appeared suspicious

[KitKat1985]

It sounds more like a dodgy alarm to me.

[BigDamnHero]

Certainly, when I was a supervisor in a shop we had no way of setting off the alarm at will but I don't know if it varies from store to store depending on the alarm system.

[ToastyFingers]

Where I used to work, if staff wanted to check bags with no clear indication of theft, they'd hide a security tag in their sleeve as they passed bags through the alarmed gates at the entrance.

It sounds like this is what happened to you, especially as you feel you were treated with suspicion while you were shopping, I don't know where you'd stand with making a complaint though, as they'd certainly deny having done it.

[glenthebattleostrich]

This happened to me all the time until a security guard put my bag on one of the mat thingies which deactivated whatever was setting the alarm off. Apparently lipstick is the most common cause.