I accidentally shoplifted - advice needed

[iamsodumb]

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.

@Cokie3 - read my exchange with Intermittent that should clear up your confusion.

You haven't corrected/explained anything and your points are as clear as mud.

@Cadent

Intermittent, but that was my point, the manager likely needed more time to work out what he wanted to do, hence pushing it back to Monday.

The manager shouldn't have needed more time. The OP was a regular. If the shop assistants knew her regularly as a customer, they could vouch for her. He shouldn't have needed more time. He should have simply accepted her payment then and there. He made a big deal out of something, mortified a regular, and has probably scared her away as a customer. He did an own goal.

The kicker of course is him not even bothering to speak with her. That is unprofessional and speaks so much more about him than the OP, who actually wanted to clear it up!

and ignore posters suggesting you show some random shop manager printouts of your bank statements - ridiculous!

God, you poor thing. I'd have been upset by that.

I accidentally stole a towel once. Well my baby for. He yanked it into the pram and I didn't see it until we stopped at a cafe. Very posh shop. OMG I shot back there mortified and they were far more interested in cooing over the baby.

I'm really sorry for the way you've been treated.

[quote Cadent]**@Cokie3* - read my exchange with Intermittent* that should clear up your confusion.

You haven't corrected/explained anything and your points are as clear as mud.[/quote]
I read the exchange. Hence why I REPLIED to ONE (1) of your points. You seem very confused about how this all works.

@Cokie3

But that's all conjecture on your part. Saying 'he shouldn't have needed more time' doesn't address the fact that he wasn't there on Friday as he had gone home and wanted to deal with it on Monday.

@Cokie3

I read the exchange. Hence why I REPLIED to ONE (1) of your points. You seem very confused about how this all works.

I suggest you read my entire exchange with Intermittent. She knows how to argue this pointless issue.

It could be that the manager needed more time or guidance.

But I doubt it.

He had plenty of time to contact OP’s manager and make a show of her instead of looking for guidance though...

He was just flexing his little manager with the endbell.

If he allowed the payment (which he didn’t allow on the Friday) on Monday while still sorting it out with his HQ, I call shenanigans.

It was handled very badly and I would be singing like a lintie.

Cadent, you ignored my second point, which was that I think it highly unlikely that a shop manager should be able to handle non-payment issues without having to ask their superiors.

@IntermittentParps but again, that's conjecture, I don't work in retail so I don't know where a SM's authority ends.

@SealHouse

The problem here OP is that you have been defamed. The shop manager contacted your employer and accused you of a crime. It’s absolutely unbelievable. Notwithstanding that it was ‘only’ £3. It was plainly an error at the self-service till. If he was so concerned about the ‘theft” of £3 worth of goods, his correct course of action would have been to either report the theft to the police. Alternatively, he could have, if he recognised you tried to track you down himself without notifying your employing of the reason.

The issue now is that you have been defamed - YOU are now the injured party. At the very least, the shop chain should be apologising to you, correcting the record with your employer, and compensating you for stress and repetitional damage. At the very least! You may actually have a case in law if you wanted to go that route - your good name has been tarnished TO YOUR EMPLOYER, you’ve been defamed.

The shop’s head office will know immediately that the shop manager has badly mis-handled this situation and will be aware of that this is a serious data breach. They will be hoping that you aren’t aware of your rights under Data Protection legislation and in defamation law.

If it happened to me, OP, I’d be looking for compensation. How bloody dare they put you through that and go to your employer - unbelievable stuff!

Just to clarify OP, the breach of Data Protection legislation and the defamation issue applies here irrespective of whether or not you intentionally failed to pay for the items (and, of course, it's obvious to any reasonable person that you didn't). In other words, the manager had absolutely no right to contact your employer even if you had stolen every item in his stupid shop.

It'd be a poor show indeed if a shop manager didn't know procedure on/have authority to sort out non-payment. What a waste of a superior's time if every WHSmith manager has to contact them to sort this out every time.

And anyway, as SheldonesqueIsUnwell says, it doesn't add up – how could he suddenly know how to/have authority to allow the payment today if he was still in the process of 'sorting it out' with HQ?

Well good luck with skiing for defamation, it's extremely costly and long winded, and dare I say that WHSmith have deeper pockets than the OP.

But maybe OP could get free legal advice, a stern letter to WHSmith HQ about the manager's conduct. Also the employer's conduct. It doesn't seem right.

*suing 🙄

Maybe he spoke to his superior on Monday and is now backtracking, as pp said. If Sheldon is right about the DP legislation, then he has seriously messed up. But my point stands.

@ForwardRanger

Well good luck with skiing for defamation, it's extremely costly and long winded, and dare I say that WHSmith have deeper pockets than the OP.

But maybe OP could get free legal advice, a stern letter to WHSmith HQ about the manager's conduct. Also the employer's conduct. It doesn't seem right.

I'd certainly be sending WHSmith HQ a solicitor's letter seeking an apology and some compensation and ensuring that they correct the record with my employer.

Start this by saying the manager shouldn't have contacted your employer, that is where he has fucked up.

But at a guess, either they watched you go to the till and not pay, or they found the transaction on the till and watched the CCTV back to see what happened.

Depending on which system they have on the CCTV, it would be a long process to go back and see if you are a regular shoplifter, you say its just £3 but imagine if you had been doing that 3 times a week for months. That is probably why they wouldn't take payment and wanted the weekend to go back through the footage.

You can complain to HO but from experience they are going to do fuck all other than tell the area manager and he is going to mention it to the manager.

WHSmith treat staff like shit. That's why this sort of thing goes on.

I guess what would be nice for OP is for those who accused her to apologise. People make mistakes, she did, they did. Everyone needs to say sorry and show goodwill, especially those in a position of authority.

Thank you everyone who has supported me on this thread, I felt a lot braver walking into the shop today than I would have if I hadn't posted! I really struggle with asserting myself and your advice and kind words and rage on my behalf really helped. And thank you to those who have stood up for me on this thread.

@Cadent I don't know anyone who wouldn't moan about their reputation at work being tarnished over a very small and genuine mistake. Especially when their employers shouldn't have even been made aware of the situation.

Thank you to @BrownMilk and others who provided me with information about data protection. I haven't decided whether it's worth reporting to the ICO but will have a think about that tonight. I'll definitely use the information you gave when I'm writing my complaint to WHSmith.

@SealHouse This is the bit that has upset me the most. I am a real people pleaser and hate being in trouble so always try to avoid it at all costs so this has been a pretty excruciating situation for me. I can't even explain how mortified I am to have had my first ever interaction with the new head of department be about an allegation of shoplifting made against me. She will always think of me as the girl who stole from WHSmith! Working in a hospital, trust and honesty is so important so I'm quite gutted about this.

But my point stands. I don't see how. But if it's so important to you

@iamsodumb

When you are writing your complaint, focus on the telling your employeers, not on the making you wait over the weekend.

@IntermittentParps

But my point stands. I don't see how. But if it's so important to you

Well, not really. You and Cokie are like dogs with a bone on a throwaway comment. Not sure why you bothered arguing it if all you have is conjecture.

@youshallnotpass9 Will do, thank you! Should I mention that at all or just leave it out do you reckon?

[quote BrownMilk]There's even a temple complaint letter that you can use.

ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/raising-concerns/[/quote]
Use it Iam!

USE IT!

I would say something like I was made to wait over the weekend to resolve this and the fucker didn't even have the manners to come and deal with me himself.

Feel free to change words on it ;)

But yes I would mention it, but it wouldn't be the main focus of the complaint. You did shoplift, they have a right to investigate, they don't have the right to inform your employeers.