To tell you about my accidental shoplifting and ask - has it happened to you??

[Spice17]

Mortifying and please no flaming, this was 100% accidental.

Shopping with DM, her DH and my DD in her buggy yesterday and we're sharing a basket, I plonk loads of baby essentials in it and then wander off to get some toothpaste, leaving them looking at crockery. Anyway, I chat to a friend I know on the till next to the one I'm paying at and leave.

An hour later, I go to top up the car parking and find the toothpaste in my bag! Can only asume I absentmindedly chucked it in the bag as I had it over my arm as you would a basket. Imagine if someone pulled me aside, I genuinely would have had no idea and they would have been thinking 'heard that one before Darlin'.

There's another one too can you tell I'm ridiculously 'Miranda' in my general uselessness!

On my lunchbreak a few years back, popped into a clothes shop, when I got back to work, a size 8 sequinned playsuit was attached to my bag by the hanger. The odd thing was, not only did no one stop me in the shop but I walked all along the high street and no one batted an eyelid. I took that one back but it was extremely embarrasing and the shop assistant was looking at me like I was a little bit loopy.

Please share, I feel like a total klutz!

I went through the self service c/out at tesco when I was 10 days overdue with ds. I had a basket full & a large bag of nappies, I rested the nappies by my feet, & I guess my bump got in the way. I walked off without them & a member of staff actually chased after me saying I'd forgotten them. I didn't realise even then, I just thanked them. It was only when I was in bed that night that it dawned on me. I meant to go back & pay, but I went into labour that night, so....

We visited clarkes for shoes for DD. it was summer and she was wearing sandals , no socks , so i asked a really snotty assistant if they had some socks she could borrow,she said no they sell them at the counter, so i duly put on a pair of socks at a really expensive price, then DD wanted to wear her new shoes ,so away we came and yes we forgot to pay for the socks .
I actually felt quite smug (blush)

So does anyone really go back and pay or do you just think "cool, free stuff"?

Another self-service checkout one, I had a trolley and a small kitchen knife got stuck in the side of the trolley, I didn't see it until I got to the car.

I went back in and paid for it. Real hassle as I'd already strapped DS into the car at that point, had to haul him out again.

I once walked out of waitrose with a side of salmon without paying. I had ds in the trolley and he liked to have the food passed to him so that he could chuck it in the trolley. I had picked the salmon from the fish counter man, given it to ds, paid for trolley contents and walked back to car to find a £20 piece of fish under his bum when I lifted him out!
I did go back to pay - 'polish halo'

I have stolen a handbag from next, I had it hooked on my arm. I went up to pay for a top I wanted and then walked out with the stolen bag! didnt realise for quite a while!

I once accidentally stole a load of kids clothes from Tesco. I had loaded them all onto the conveyor belt and the checkout lady was taking all the tags off but she was having a massive barney with the checkout girl opposite about changing a shift and didn't bother scanning them through. I didn't notice either as I was busy packing/supervising DS/enjoying the show. She put the rest of my shopping through and I paid and left.

I only realised a couple of weeks later when I was working out the shopping budget and realised I had 'extra' left over.

I once "stole" a litre of soya milk but I did not profit from my ill gotten gains as the carton exploded when I collapsed the pushchair to put it in the car. I ended up with an enormous wet patch of soya milk all the way up my leg to my crotch. I had no time to go home to change so had to complete the school run looking as if I had peed myself. Divine retribution!

I went into B&Q and put some items into an orange bucket I also wished to purchase. The cashier somehow didn't scan the bucket and I didn't realise until I was at home. I had my free bucket for many years.

When i was around 14 I was shopping with a friend to get a gift for another friend. When I found something for her I got it wrapped, left, after 2 minutes a security guy started running behind us telling me I had to come with him immediately because we were shoplifters

I honestly had no idea what he was talking about and denied all allegations, in the end it turned out that I was so busy chatting to my friend that I actually forgot to pay. They originally wanted to call the police (I can imagine that a 14 yr old shoplifting girl isn't exactly a rare unicorn), luckily I managed to convince them that if I really meant to steal the item, surely I wouldn't have let them wrap it...

When my DS was little I walked home from town to find loads and loads of very small but expensive soft toys in the rack under the pushy. We'd been standing in a posh toy shop next to a display & I was chatting to another mother while my DS had been piling at least £100 worth of these gimmicky little things under himself.

I went straight back, walked to the till and showed the woman the contents of my son's pushchair basket. They were lovely, and thanked me nicely for bringing them back. He was fine about it too, oddly enough, no great howls.

I once walked out of Ikea with a pair of bottle brushes. DD was playing with them and I forgot to pay when we went through self service. I realised when we got to the car and my husband refused to let me go back and apologise!

I may have been the most MN of thieves- I was at a boden town hall sale... Tried on some belts, bumped into friend, chatted, paid for items in basket, went for coffee, went to loo- red suede belt still round my middle! Friend more envious than appalled!

loads and so did my mum when we were young. We regularly got home still carrying whatever item she asked us to carry.

Lots of dozy thieves in our family

Yes, I walked out of The Works with a book balanced on top of the pram hood. In full view, and no one stopped me. It was an interactive DVD thing worth about £20 lol. I actually got a good 5 minute walk away before I realised.
It was at this point I realised how immoral df is because he tried to convince me (unsuccessfully) not to take it back

Just remembered one that I didn't return for...I was getting stocking fillers at Tesco last Xmas and using my vouchers to pay. The vouchers were valid for toys only, and on scanning a big multi bag of bath crayons for £10 she said i couldn't use the voucher as they were art and crafts not toys...so I said I'd leave them and find something else to use the last £/0 voucher on.
So went back round the shop...on getting to the bath crayons I actually changed my mind and picked them up again...went back and paid the £10 cash and left.
When I got home, there were two packs in the bags... I think I must have slung the ones I was 'leaving' in the bag after the checkout girl had removed them from the receipt.
I didn't take them back, the Dc had a pack each for Xmas instead of one between them...

I got told I was subject to a rescan after going round waitrose with their scan your own stuff thing the other day. I was stressing the whole way through in case I had inadvertently not scanned something! The woman made me feel like a criminal anyway or perhaps I just have a guilty nature...

I used to work in boots and a couple of years ago some women came in with a young girl about 3,the girl picked up a hello kitty bag and the mum was laughing at her as they all walked out without paying for it.
I went and asked for it back and the mum tried to say she had no idea what I was talking about,so I pointed to the bag on her dds arm.
She did give it back but it was very obvious she wanted to steal it.

I popped into Staples once to get a few bits and bobs (most likely a diary and pens knowing me lol). Anyway, half way home, my OH suddenly says 'I think we have a big problem'. I thought something was seriously wrong with Josh by the way he said it. But no, Josh was fine and had a look of pure glee on his face at his little Pritt Stick prize! He was only 18 months at the time and I thought it was quite funny and a milestone of parenthood, but my poor OH was mortified bless him.

Also, years ago after my dad left. I was begging my mom to get me this Ali G book (I was a young teen then) and to my shock she just slipped it behind her handbag in the trolly and didn't/forgot to pay for it!! So I got home, read my book and burst out laughing at the end. The final sentence read 'Thank you for buying my book, or even better nickin it!'

My coat once stole a ring

It was a woolly coat which was a bit scratchy with lots of tiny fibres poking out from it (so a cheap coat then). I was walking down the main shopping street when suddenly I noticed this glinting thing on my coat just on my waist. It was a ring, it had a bunch of beads on it which my thieving fibrous coat had snaggled itself on. Finally figured out it must have come from Accessorize where they keep tiny shiny trinkets just at the spot where you have to lean over to put your pin in...

I've remembered another one. My Nana once stole loads of packets of flower and veg seeds. Completely intentionally, but in her defence, the display at the front of Woolies did say FREE in massive letters, (but she hadn't read the footnote *when you buy any item over £10!) She didn't return them!

This is only a nearly - but its the 4th generation of my family on this thread I was standing outside the disney shop chatting to dd, her dd came running out (she is only 3) with a lovely princess bag - it set off the alarms ! we ignored her dad went back in with her - so technically she hasn't nicked anything yet - but my dd might come along and say different !

You'd only come to the attention of security and staff if you were acting suspiciously, and you're not acting like that if you're actually unaware you're shoplifting.
It happened to me years ago in Canada. I was browsing in a ski resort and walked out of a shop with an expensive ski jacket hooked on my bag behind me by its hanger. A few minutes walk later my boyfriend was like, Do you know you have a jacket on your bag? It was a women's jacket in my size. I kept it.

My mum got half way up the street before she realised she had a shopping basket of Woolie's finest over her arm. No one seemed to notice. She trotted back to the shop quickstyle.

I brought some nail sticker things from boots yearsago and 2 packets were stuck together so i only got charged for one, they were quite expensive as well, i didnt notice til i got home and didnt know what to do with them, theyre still around somewhere i didnt want to use something i didnt ppay for, DP has teased me about it ever since!
I also accidently stole a packet of magic stars i had them on the top of my pushchair and they fell in my bag