I accidentally shoplifted - advice needed

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NC as this will be outing.

I work in the NHS and there is a shop on the premises which I go to near enough every day Monday-Friday. Today at about 11am I went and bought (?!) my usual packet of crisps and can of Coke. I used the self scanner as I always do and walked out.

This afternoon I got a call from my supervisor saying the big boss wanted to speak to me. When I went to her office she said I hadn't paid for my items and the shop have me on cctv not paying. I was absolutely mortified and checked my online banking and sure enough there's no charge from the shop today so I don't dispute I have done it. I don't know if I've tapped my card and it's not gone through or if I've absent mindedly scanned the items then walked off with them. I genuinely haven't got a clue. She said the shop wanted to escalate it to head office but advised me to go and speak to them myself.

I went to the shop and apologised and offered to pay but the manager had gone home. The shop assistant phoned her manager and he said I was not to pay but was to come and speak to him on Monday?! So instead of this being resolved on the day I have to worry about it over the weekend.

I'm not particularly worried about police involvement etc, I know I didn't mean to do it and have never stolen in my life so can't imagine it would go anywhere. However, I am concerned about work. Could this impact my job?! I asked my own supervisor and she said she doesn't think so but couldn't say for sure. I'm so worried! I can't believe all of this drama for less than £3 which I have offered to pay!!

If anyone has any knowledge I would appreciate any insight you have on what I can expect the outcome of this to be.

You patronise this shop almost every day, and you made an honest mistake. Apologise, pay for the items, but do not grovel. It was an accident, nothing more.

So does it show you at the till but the payment hasn't gone through? That's slightly different to you just walking out with the item's.

Items *

If they have you on CCTV 'not paying' then surely they'll have evidence that you did at least try to pay, but something has gone wrong?

Is the manager of the shop an actual idiot? Eh?! How is this even being taken seriously surely anyone could have seen it was a genuine mistake? This is bonkers

No advice, OP, but if it's any comfort, I just wanted to say that I once walked out of a shop without paying for an item, so you are not alone. I don't know what happened in my case, I think my mind must have been elsewhere. I went straight back and paid for it as soon as I realised.

Hopefully, you can just go and explain on Monday and it will all be fine.

To be guilty of theft you have to dishonestly appropriate the items with the intention of not paying. You did not intent to not pay and you were not dishonest. I appreciate you are worried but there is no hope of any prosecution here. Pay on Monday. Apologise as PP say and end of.

How exactly does the CCTV show you "not paying"?

And how on earth did they track down your manager, but not you?

Of course the shop has to take this seriously, otherwise everyone could just get stuff for free and say they forgot to pay. The fact you are a regular customer hopefully goes in your favour as they are more likely to believe it was an accident. Probably depends also whether you tried to pay, and perhaps the card didn't scan, or whether you just walked off. I hope they are ok with you on Monday.

@Aquamarine1029 Yeah I will try my best to be firm when I go in on Monday.

@dementedpixie I'm not actually sure, she didn't say and I didn't ask because I was flustered because I was so embarrassed. I assumed it would be just a case I would go down and pay for the items. She said it showed me at the self scanner and I am sure I scanned the items but I'm not really sure if I tapped or not but I definitely went to pay for the items, I didn't just pick them up and leave.

I asked the shop assistant why no one said to me at the time because I'm sure the til must have bleeped if I took the stuff without payment but they said they didn't know. The self scanner is also right next to the till and annoyingly I can't remember if anyone was on the till or not.

Did you try and pay or did you just walk out with them?, I mean did you go to the self scanner?

Someone is massively overreacting, I can't tell who though. What should have happened is the manager catch you next time you're in (sounds like they know they'll see you on Monday) and say that it didn't seem to go through last week, can you pay up. The whole "escalate to head office" is completely ridiculous and over the top!!

Just go in on Monday as usual, say you're so sorry, didn't realise your card hadn't scanned properly, you come in every single day and it was just a mistake. Don't grovel or self-flagellate. Pay up, buy Monday's food, job done.

I once walked out with £90 worth of shopping hanging off the side of the pram but a whole chicken in the bottom of the pushchair I had forgotten to pay for. I went straight back and they just laughed and said it happens all the time. I also once realised DS1 was holding a packet of crisps sitting in the pushchair - he had swiped it as we had walked past a display in Boots and I hadn't noticed!

For those asking I definitely went to the self scanner. Which is why I'm not sure if I tapped my card and it didn't take payment or if I just scanned the items and then picked them up and left. And they'll have been able to trace my manager because I had my uniform on, I was on my tea break.

If they have you on CCTV 'not paying' then surely they'll have evidence that you did at least try to pay, but something has gone wrong?

I’d ask to see the footage.

I can’t understand why they made such a fuss when you are in most days and they know you.

And I can’t understand making you wait either.

@SheldonesqueIsUnwell If it's not a straightforward case of me apologising and paying I will ask to see the footage. I really don't understand either. There are only about 5 staff that work there and I seen them all regularly. If they seen it happen or the self scanner alerted them I don't understand why they didn't just call me back.

It's horrible that you have this hanging over you all weekend, but I really think when you explain what happened to them and pay what you owe, that will be the end of it. It's an honest mistake and I think that's clear. It sounds as though the shop manager blew things out of proportion that day but I think you shouldn't have any issues with your own manager.

If you went to the self service till you obviously had the intention of paying, everyone makes mistakes and the manager sounds like they are being an absolute jobsworth 🙄 it could easily have been rectified by you going in and paying but someone's on a power trip, how sad

I genuinely had no idea, when I was walking to see the big boss I was worrying a family member had died because I couldn't for the life of me think why she would want to talk to me!

I’ve accidentally shoplifted a couple of times in my life, all since having my little boy. He grabbed a toothbrush while we were shopping and I didn’t notic it until we’d got round the corner. I ran back and apologised, paid for it and we all had laugh about it. I also walked out of the supermarket with an onion I had forgotten to put on the conveyor so it was at the bottom of the trolley. Another time I think there was a tub of sudocrem at the bottom of the trolley and I hadn’t put it through by accident? Anyway I think we’ve all done something similar at one time or another. You CLEARLY tried to pay and didn’t realise it hadn’t gone through, the manager is ridiculous to try and “escalate” this over a total mistake and for the sake of £3. If he got the police involved they would surely charge him for wasting police time lol. Don’t give it another thought, you’ve done nothing wrong.

Don’t worry OP, all you have to do is go in on Monday, be clear it was an honest mistake, pay, and that’s it.

However, as you are a regular customer it is odd and concerning this has escalated so dramatically, and also odd the shop manager went to your boss not you. Are you by any chance in a relatively junior role? It doesn’t feel to me they would have reacted this way if you were a doctor or manager.

Do you have a union? If you do I would drop them a line to arrange a call on Monday, simply to lodge the fact the shop manager has been inappropriately heavy handed in their treatment of a regular customer making an honest mistake. This way the Union can ask the hospital management to address this with them. If you don’t have a Union, I would drop a clear and simple email to your line manager/HR.

It could be the till that fucked up for all you know. I honestly wouldn't worry about this one little bit. You clearly attempted to pay but a mistake, one way or another, happened. Hardly the crime of the century.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. I'm so embarrassed about it. The big boss is new so she doesn't know me so I'm embarrassed that she might think I stole on purpose. My own manager was clear she knew it would have been an accident.

Sounds stressful Op but don't worry. It's hardly the Italian Job! You'd think in these days of "being kind" that it could be resolved with a bit less stress... Like oh I don't know, just accepting the payment when you offered it?! But obviously some jobsworth wants to feel a tiny bit of power and make you wait.

@partyatthepalace I'm a domestic so yeah, I did wonder if that had something to do with the drama of it all!