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Original poster

To ask why my teen keeps setting off the supermarket alarm?

91 replies

CanILeavenowplease · 24/02/2019 16:09

Can no longer take my teen in the supermarket - any supermarket - where there is an alarm system on the door as he sets it off! We have tried various combinations - no phone, phone, no belt, belt, money in his pockets, no money in his pockets etc but the alarm goes off 9/10. We have suffered the embarrassment of searches and my teen is fed up.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
Yesicancancan · 24/02/2019 16:10

In or out of the shop ?

Original poster
CanILeavenowplease · 24/02/2019 16:11

Both! But more out than in.

OP posts:
Yesicancancan · 24/02/2019 16:12

Hmmm .
Sorry if I’m wrong here. but are you sure the alarm is sounding for no apparent reason.

Kanelbullar · 24/02/2019 16:13

Hi

When I was at uni we had a magnetic swipe card to get in to the halls of residence. We were always triggering off the alarms in Topshop etc! Has he got anything magnetic on him?

Not2BBs · 24/02/2019 16:14

Has he got a tag stuck to the bottom of his shoe?

MustBeAWeasly · 24/02/2019 16:14

This happens to my dad everytime we go through a security checkpoint. I swear some people just run on a different frequency!!

covetingthepreciousthings · 24/02/2019 16:14

Does he have any piercings? Some of mine used to set off airport alarms it seemed.

Original poster
CanILeavenowplease · 24/02/2019 16:15

Yes, the alarm is sounding for no apparent reason. He’s not stealing - nothing has been found on him and I have been with him more than once.

OP posts:
GiantButtonsAreMyFave · 24/02/2019 16:15

Is he always wearing the same jacket? Could there be a tag left on inside his coat pocket that you’ve never noticed? That’s all I can think it might be

Original poster
CanILeavenowplease · 24/02/2019 16:15

Magnetic, no. Checking his shoes now!

OP posts:
HoraceCope · 24/02/2019 16:16

This happens to me,
i do have a magnetic strip on my work pass, that could be it

ItsAllBollocksAgain · 24/02/2019 16:16

DH had this trouble 70% of the time in supermarkets, it got to the point I'd go in on my own it was so embarrassing.

A security guard solved it for us in the end, inside a card holder in his obviously battered old wallet was a security strip that hasn't been deactivated, he peeled it out and waved it over the detectors setting it off.

Check his trainers/shoes there might be something tucked under the laces.

Evilspiritgin · 24/02/2019 16:16

My teenage son years ago had an alarm tag in a coat that nobody knew was there, he set off alarms on and off for a few months before it was found

eurochick · 24/02/2019 16:17

Shoes?

I had a handbag that used to set off alarms once. There were no visible security tags. Maybe there was something in the lining.

Original poster
CanILeavenowplease · 24/02/2019 16:17

Shoes look fine but there has been more than one pair worn anyway. Looking carefully at jackets now.

OP posts:
TheKitchenWitch · 24/02/2019 16:17

Yes I had this, was a tag thing stuck in my bag which hadn’t been deactivated.

LoisWilkerson1 · 24/02/2019 16:19

Some shoes have a secret strip embedded in the sole or heel, could be that.

Bamchic · 24/02/2019 16:20

He’s more than likely got a tag that hasn’t been removed - I had one on my purse for months before a security guard in next in oxford sorted it for me!

BeanTownNancy · 24/02/2019 16:20

It was a security tag (Barcode strip) stuck in my purse.

melj1213 · 24/02/2019 16:20

Is he always wearing the same clothes/coat/hoodie/trainers etc? Or has he got something new that has triggered it?

I work in a store and we often have ladies setting the alarms off with their handbags/purses because a lot of companies now sew security tags into the linings of bags/purses. This means that if it isn't properly deactivated, or is somehow reactivated by passing too close to another tag reader, then they will start setting off security alarms.

Whenever this happens (especially when it is a customer coming into the store) I will invite them over to the customer service desk and (once we've established that the alarm isn't from stuff they have bought not being detagged at the checkout) ask if they have bought anything new recently and offer to run their bag/purse etc over our detagging machine to save them any further embarrassment in other stores.

Pennykins · 24/02/2019 16:20

This happened to me for a few years when I was younger. It's very annoying. And very difficult to explain to security guards. I don't know what caused it but it's stopped happening now. My dad can't wear watches as they stop when he puts them on. As a pp said, I think we're on a different frequency! No helpful advice I'm afraid but just wanted to let you know its weird but it can happen!

Xiaoxiong · 24/02/2019 16:20

I had this once with a jacket - I set the alarm off going out of the shop when I bought it, the guard came over, I showed him my receipt and he let me go. I then set the alarms off in every other shop! I went back and it turned out the girl at the till hadn't properly demagnetised the strip inside.

Igneococcus · 24/02/2019 16:22

This happened a few years ago whenever we went in or out a supermarket with dd who was about 9 or 10 at the time.One day the security guy at Tesco asked us to let him have a look at her jacket and he took the tags out which were in the seam inside the jacket and she never had that problem again.

fuckwitseverywhere · 24/02/2019 16:22

I was doing this all last summer. Turned out the small bottle of sun cream in my handbag had a tag on Hmm

Could be something hidden in his coat?

Yesicancancan · 24/02/2019 16:22

Oh an old security tag never removed maybe

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