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

[CanILeavenowplease]

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?

Is his wallet on him? I was always setting the alarm off over the last 12 months. I got fed up one day in tk maxx and asked the guard as he didn’t even stop me, but it was embarrassing- he said most of the alarms are hyper sensitive now. He said it was most likely a card in my purse

@OP
I thought you meant he was doing it on purpose, not by accident.

Not going into detail, but I always used to set off airport security because of gunshot residue in my skin.

He doesn't play with guns does he?

Check shoes and jackets for any tags. Library book? Some of them set off shop alarms - I work in a library and one of my colleagues pranked the boss by putting one of our tags under the insole of his spare shoes - took him several days to discover why he was setting off the alarms in Superdrug and Wilkinson's! Thankfully he'd got a good sense of humour!

A grinder? They set off shop alarms. Don’t know how old he is but if he hurries off to meet his mates after he may be hiding one down his pants!

Does he have a lot of cards on him? I always set off shop alarms going in and out, and one security guard told me it can be too many cards in your wallet (I have dozens of store cards )

Braces?

I went through a period of setting off the supermarket alarm at a specific supermarket. It turned out that my jacket that had a magnetic security tag thingy in the bottom hem that was not deactivated or removed after I bought it.

I have a metal pelvis so I always set off the alarms in the airport specifically as they are more sensitive

Thank you OP, you reminded me I have a hat I was given for Christmas that still had the full sized tag on it. DSis who gave it to me had lost the receipt. Just Googled removing security tags and a very helpful YouTube video showed how with two forks. It works too!

This happened to my husband for ages. Was a tiny white tag in his wallet! A security guard put us out of our misery

This has been happening to me randomly pretty much my whole life- I just assume it's a leftover tag in something I'm wearing or something magnetic I've got on me without realising it. Absolutely the same at airports, sometimes I get through with no issue one way and, wearing the exact same thing, set off the security sensors on the way back! I expect it's something similar with your son, a stray tag or barcode on something he's wearing- could well be more than one!

Had this problem with DD, Tesco and shoes from Zara. I took her back to Zara after deciphering the cause and couldn't find the tag. It was hidden at the bottom of the tongue where nobody would ever think to look.

It should be the tags on the clothes, everything5pound is a pain for adding in extra security tags!

Take a couple of the cut off tags with you next time you go to the store. Tell the security guard and explain that you want to test them and why.

Has that worked for you OP? #FingersCrossed