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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Wrongfully accused of shoplifting!

266 replies

user1465893706 · 14/06/2016 11:10

Thursday I visited a well known supermarket that I frequently visit. Did my shopping fine (without the aid of kids....lovely) went to leave the shop and the alarm barriers went off, backed up my trolley (thought it may have been the gentleman walking beside me who had triggered the alarm) and tried again, same thing happened. I got the attention of the lady working on the self service checkouts and showed her my receipt. I told her the probable cause of the alarm was the razor blades I had purchased. She checked my receipt and couldn't find razor blades on it. I had to dig through my bags to finally find the razor blades in the middle of one of my bags. Was a little annoyed at this point as the checkout girl had obviously not scanned correctly (to busy moaning to me about supermarket and how she has got a new job lined up). I was then taken to customer services and I paid for the razor blades after pointing out that maybe they should have words with the checkout girl to make sure she scans products correctly. I then left the shop. Got to my car, had to repack most of my shopping as most of it had been taken out of the bags in search of the razor blades, loaded my bags into the boot, put the trolley in the bay, got into my car and went to put my key into the ignition (all this had taken a fair amount of time). Just as I was about to start the car I had a tap on my window. I opened my car door to a woman dressed in black who then asked to see my receipt?!? I explained to her that all this was sorted out in the shop and I had paid for the razor blades. She then continued to tell me that was not the issue and it was the fact I had a lot of products in my shopping trolley not bagged up??? At this point I was getting very frustrated. I emptied the contents of my handbag only to find receipts not their then realised they must be in my shopping bags in the boot. I had to get the woman to move out of my way (she had came round the side of my car door as if to block me in) to exit the car. When I got to the boot of my car I was astonished to see the manager behind my car and 4 other employees a little further up blocking the car park??? 6 people in total!!!! I'm a 5ft woman in her 20's!!!! At this point I was absolutely furious, shaking and on the verge of tears. I managed to find the receipts and got the woman to look in my car although after all that she wasn't bothered in checking all my bags and just simply said "I can see its all there" (how when its all packed I do not know) I then asked the woman and the manager for an apology. She begrudgingly apologised but the manager point blank refused saying " I don't have to apologise if I suspect a thieve" they then left me. Luckily there was someone who witnessed all this that knows me from sight from my daughters pre school so she calmed me down enough so I could drive home (although I do not remember actually driving home). Luckily my husband was at home that day and as soon as I got home I had a full blown panic attack. My husband calmed me down, got a friend to sit with me, and took all my shopping back and demanded a refund, he eventually got it. He asked to speak to the manager 3 times and each time he refused to come speak to my husband. On the 4th attempt he got the employee to relay on the phone that he was not willing to come and apologise as in his eyes I was still a thief? I have written a letter of complaint and am still awaiting I response.

OP posts:
TakeItFromMe · 14/06/2016 16:24

How do you know the Manager said "in my eyes she's still a thief", if it was being reiterated from a phone call by a third party employee? Genuine question, could you hear him say that, or could the employee just have been stirring the pot?

Not that it really matters though - you were still called a thief by a member of store staff.

BerylStreep · 14/06/2016 16:25

why is everyone ignoring the fact that she was caught with unpaid for items?

OP was not caught with any unpaid items. There was a mistake on the till which was rectified by the OP going to a staff member, when it set of the bleeper (with no interest from the staff). When she left the store she had paid for everything in the trolley.

This. Thank you for reading the thread Cherylene

2nds · 14/06/2016 16:30

BerylStreep I love your username lol

SilverBirchWithout · 14/06/2016 16:31

I can see why the store manager still sees her as a thief. The razor blades were actually unpaid for, this also cast suspicion on the rest of her trolley full.

I get that she says she did not intend to not pay for them, but from his point of view he only has her word that this was the case.

Yes it's a horrible experience for her, it's her word against theirs. She just needs to let it go now and shop somewhere else.

jennyblonde82 · 14/06/2016 16:35

Really horrific customer service from that supermarket. You have every right to be shaken. How intimidating and unnecessary to bring that number of people over to the car. Really pathetic attitude.

Ultimately it was their error and they should have been massively apologetic. I used to work for a high end department store and it was a serious issue if you left a security tag on a product. People had threatened legal action when the alarms had sounded and they felt it had caused them embarrassment and damaged their reputation. Blush

I really hope you have another supermarket near you so you can avoid that idiot manager. Flowers

TakeItFromMe · 14/06/2016 16:35

But, like us, the store manager has to take her story at face value as there is no evidence to the contrary. Calling her a thief just because he chooses not to believe her isn't really cricket.

mylovegoesdown · 14/06/2016 16:46

From what I've heard from friends working in retail, razorblades (those expensive ones) are a common and easy to steal item which is why they're now often in those boxes.

And I guarantee a store manager or security guard will have heard every excuse going so are probably cynical and suspicious.

OP is within her rights to complain to head office and should.

And it's fine to hope people will be sympathetic to someone with anxiety issues.

But it minimises real trauma or false imprisonment to suggest this is an example. It isn't.

TheEmmaDilemma · 14/06/2016 16:46

The fact that the CCTV will also show the OP attempting to leave the store, confirming it was her setting off the alarm and then contacting a member of staff about it clearly shows no attempt at theft was made.

They should apologise.

ReginaBlitz · 14/06/2016 16:50

I'm betting this was asda they are cunts for this.

snowgirl29 · 14/06/2016 17:01

Name and shame them OP. Flowers

I once had something similar happen to me. Security Guard blocked my only exit from the store to check through all my bags on the buggy. Why? Because he'd heard me say "No DS I don't have enough money" when the DCs asked for sweets.

HQ tore him a new one.

It's a massive overeaction and I don't know if it is still the case, but you actually aren't legally obliged to comply to a stop and search of your bags/car/ or person by anyone but the police.

Atenco · 14/06/2016 17:12

Panic attack? Snapping at family? Losing sleep? Unable to shop (that would never happen to me)

Actually we are all different. I've known people who've had to move house because someone broke in and stole while they were out. I just shrug it off.

thelonelyhamster · 14/06/2016 17:12

If the shop staff had been so convinced that the OP was a shoplifter they would have gone through her shop item by item (in a private room!!) using the receipt to make sure there was nothing additional in her bags of shopping (taking into account that the mistake with the razor blades had now been rectified)... except the OP says they didn't do this, all they did was to gang up on her, in public, to intimidate, and threaten her.

A strongly worded complaint to the most senior person you can find the contact details for is definitely in order. Then forget it and find somewhere else to shop, people who can behave like that and not have the decency to apologise when they are wrong generally can't be convinced that they were even in the wrong, there's no reasoning with them and you're better off not wasting valuable time and effort on them.

viviennewestood · 14/06/2016 17:26

I was taken aside by a security guard in Asda when I was 37 weeks pregnant and accused of shoplifting. I was so naive and thought he was going to help me to the cars with my bags because I was clearly struggling but he said that I had too much shopping for someone who had used the self check out. He then rooted through all my bags while I stood there in tears and found nothing that wasn't on my receipt. I didn't get an apology! I complained and eventually got a £20 vouched for a free shop Hmm

GassyS · 14/06/2016 20:16

OP - name and shame?

MumOnTheRunCatchingUp · 14/06/2016 22:39

I was wondering how they refunded it back into your card when your husband went back for the refund!

Also.... The fact this was a think 21 age restricted item would mean extra care needs to be taken. Did they ID you??

You said you were early 20's

NavyAndWhite · 14/06/2016 22:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MumOnTheRunCatchingUp · 14/06/2016 22:55

It's fraud if he entered her pin tho. Cashier would usually refuse it

NavyAndWhite · 14/06/2016 22:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SpaceUnicorn · 14/06/2016 23:04

I was wondering how they refunded it back into your card when your husband went back for the refund!

Money can be refunded back onto a card without the card being physically present and without the need for a PIN number.

SilverBirchWithout · 14/06/2016 23:08

You do need the card physically and although you do not use the pin, you have to sign the printed out slip. Which I assume would be fraud?

MumOnTheRunCatchingUp · 14/06/2016 23:11

Telesales can.... Op said her husband returned her shopping and got it refunded onto her card. So wasn't that method

You need to put the PIN number in ( and the name on card and last 4 digits on receipt must match...

And they would not put consumables back on the shelf if they have left the store at any point. If they had been tampered with and a customer bought re sold products, and subsequently suffered, then they would be closed down!

SpaceUnicorn · 14/06/2016 23:18

You do need the card physically and although you do not use the pin, you have to sign the printed out slip. Which I assume would be fraud?

I complained to Tesco this week (via email) about some poor quality veg, and they refunded it back on my card without me going into the store.

How did they do that, without the card and without me signing anything? Confused

MumOnTheRunCatchingUp · 14/06/2016 23:19

Telesales

coolaschmoola · 14/06/2016 23:51

It really is tiresome when people nitpick every little thing to try to score points. If you doubt the veracity of a post report it.

As I read it... Op did shopping, put it through a manned checkout, packed the razor blades (which come with a security sticker) as they were passed through by the staff member, paid and left the checkout.

As she arrived AT the first of a set of double doors the alarm sounded. She moved back in case it was the person adjacent to her, but when she moved forward towards the doors for a second time the alarm sounded again.

Still without leaving the store the Op approached a member of staff, advised that the alarm had sounded and suggested it could be the razor blades because, as a regular purchaser of them, she is aware they have a security sticker and she has previously experienced a failure in deactivation (as have I).

Staff member then goes through the Op's shopping, taking items out of bags, until the razor blades are located in the middle of an otherwise fully scanned shop. It is noted that they were not on the original receipt so the Op pays for them. She then leaves the store. Her previously bagged shopping partially unpacked in her trolley from where the staff member and Op searched to locate the offending razor blades.

At the point the Op left the store everything in her trolley was paid for. However she was followed to her car by six members of staff because there were unbagged items in her trolley. This was despite her returning when the alarm sounded, having her shopping checked by a staff member, the error in scanning identified and payment for the item being made.

The Op had her shopping gone through before she even left the store. Everything was paid for. To then be followed by six people and having them prevent her getting in her car, being called a thief, being asked to open her boot in public, for the end result to be all shopping present, correct and paid for. The message from a member of staff was that the manager still thinks she's a thief.

I'm astounded so many people struggled to comprehend what essentially is a relatively easy to understand piece of writing.

Incidentally it doesn't matter which member of staff said she was still thought of as a thief - a representative of that company, regardless of who, made that comment.

I have had many things refunded onto a card. I have NEVER been asked to hand it over since chip and pin came in. They can see the card number on screen to match it. Haven't had my signature even glanced at in years...

Oh, and if the adverts are to be believed Tesco do now refund or exchange food, including perishables, for any reason, including change of mind.

SmellyTelly · 15/06/2016 00:05

I have had the doors beep on me a few times and I just walk out, I know I havent taken anything so if the security guard does ask me to stop (which they never have) they I have nothing to hide. Think you made a bit of a mountain out of a molehill op.