Followed round Wilko by shop security team.

[ThreeWarriors]

I was shopping in Wilko today when towards the end I realised I was being very closely monitored by a very unsubtle security team. I went to the till and paid for my shopping and told the lady at the till how obvious they’d been and how uncomfortable they’d made me feel. She did apologise. The whole thing was very unnerving.

I have never stolen a thing in my life and have no reason to.

I am a DV victim and probably come across as less confident. I also struggle to make decisions in shops so like to take my time. I think there were at least two men, definitely one. There was a lady there too but she was much less obvious.

I was mainly buying stuff to send to my DD at uni and am now thinking of returning it all and buying it elsewhere.

I don’t want to be followed around anywhere by unknown men.

Thing is, I've witnessed shoplifting 3 different times as well as an armed robbery.

One guy ran out of a mini supermarket carrying an armful of alcohol - nobody chased him.

Another guy had obviously made a day of it and taken the wife and kids along. Stood at the shop entrance shouting something along the lines of "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!", with plastic bags stuffed full of stolen goods - no security guards challenged him.

Man in Boots walked past and slipped a packet of medicine into his inside jacket pocket, while staring definitely at me. The staff knew about him because I heard them talking about it at the till. He just walked off, no security again.

Had just left a large branch of Tesco (luckily) and got in the car to drive home. Through the glass at the side, along the row of tills, I saw 2 men in balaclavas enter the shop. One was holding a huge wooden mallet, the other a sawn off shotgun. Shotgun man was shouting something and everyone hit the floor. Poor lady at one till handed over some bags of cash, while shaking and crying. They ran out, making their escape on a moped. No security guards to be seen throughout the whole ordeal!

I get followed all the time - John Lewis and Boots in particular - I won't even go in Wilco's - their security staff would give me a panic attack. I have never stolen anything. I wear trainers (arthritis in my feet), carry a back pack - who doesn't?
I am a Caucasian woman aged 70 - I always get a receipt. I think those men like scaring people. but they just put me off going in their shops. I mostly shop online now as I don't have to see their enraged faces.

There’s a charity shop in my local town I refuse to visit now. One of the volunteers asked me loudly if I’d paid for my goods . I actually had -but everyone turned round to look. Unacceptable

Amazon may be cunts but at least they can't follow you. These security blokes will be the end of the High Street.

Well it was either security or a smartly dressed creepy people. One at each end of the aisle.

I agree they most likely wouldn’t normally have a whole team but it could appear that way they were in training which I suspect they were.

@bagpuss90 I'd forgotten about charity shops.. one of the women in the local one where I used to live would watch me like a hawk. I must have donated hundreds of bloody pounds' worth of stuff to that shop. :-(

I think it's because I don't have a car so sometimes I'm forced to bring a bag into the shop from another shop

The idea that someone holding a bag from another shop is a thief, is a relic of the past I think. I’ve never had shop staff check my bags before - I’m in my 20s and live in a city. It’s normal to visit a shop holding a carrier bag from the shop next door.

I feel we’re encouraged your own bags on when shopping (even Zara charges for paper bags now) to be eco friendly. Also most supermarkets have a form of scan/bag as you shop so holding a carrier bag from the shop you’re in isn’t a symbol of you paying for your items or not, whereas it may have been in the past.

Encouraged to bring your own bags in*

Are you sure they weren't Mormons?

Small middle aged women shoplift too. I knew one that never bought make up... she used to shoplift it all.

I once had a security guard follow me around a certain area of a department store - but because I’d asked him to! My very elderly Dad had asked me for a torch that he could easily slip Into his pocket so I felt I needed to check with each on display. Clearly, slipping one in my pocket would have been a bright scarlet flag so I explained what I wanted to do to a (uniformed) security guard who then stayed with me for which I was grateful.

Actually, thinking about it, it would have been a perfect way to shoplift if I had had an accomplice to do the shoplifting while I was talking to the SG!!!

I've noticed recently in supermarkets, a shop assistant will suddenly appear beside me with one of those big trolleys and start restocking the shelves. Happens all the time and I don't think it's coincidence! As other posters have said, I find shopping stressful and like to take my time, wander round aimlessly and read the labels on everything. We shouldn't be made to feel like criminals.

Yes, but they are not the only ones who shoplift. For all the attention I get in some stores (and I get the shelf stacking thing all the time in my local supermarket which I have been using for years and have certainly not stolen anything from), actual shoplifters could have walked out with half the contents of the front shelves because security is far too busy watching me browse the yoghurts!

If someone starts stocking the shelves near me, I assume it's because the shelves need stocking.

Or do people really imagine there are a small team available at the drop of a hat with numerous correctly filled cages ready to go on some devious spying on the customer ruse?

Most shops have numerous cameras and are run with as few staff as possible.

@Nolongera The shelves need stacking regardless but I imagine they're alerted by whoever mans the cameras and select the ones nearest a suspicious character. Just my guess, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who works in a supermarket whether this is actually a thing.

As a side note, I did once see a man opening up packets of ladies' tights in Morrisons. He was putting his hands inside them, stretching them out and stroking them. There were security guards on the door, but it was a lady on the shop floor who moved him on.

I'm a really indecisive shopper. I pick things up, spend ages inspecting them, put them back. Walk off to do the same with items elsewhere in the shop. Then return to site of original indecisiveness and repeat the procedure.

So I guess it's not that surprising that I've attracted the attention of quite a few security guards in my time. It's annoying, but they're only doing their rather boring and unpleasant job.

This thread is really funny.

When i worked in john lewis the prime shoplifter demographic was smartly dressed middle aged women. They were the highest incidences of theft. Amazingly shoplifters dont usually walk around looking like junkies with a cardboard sign above them saying 'Thief.'

Amazingly we have men in suits, women with freshly highlighted hair in nice summer dresses, even people in their work uniforms steal.

By all means make a complaint to a manager or head office. You will be wasting your time. They will just say well done to the security for doing their job.

No we dont have to be covert. Sometimes we are explicitly told to make our presence known to prevent theft as thats easier to deal with then confronting someone after.

And dont talk bollocks about how its only poor little women intimidated by big horrible guards. We follow men all the time, even ones that try and intimidate us. Had one guy try and spray deodorant in my face as he was robbing a shelf of childrens toys.

And acting even more suspicious like zigzagging, moving things deliberately and even trying to engage us in pointless conversation is a huge red flag that marks you as a potential shoplifter and we will follow you more and then we will note down your appearance and let staff know for if you enter the store again you are now going to instantly be trailed.

Finally some who actually gets it.

I can see why John Lewis closed down in my city with an attitude towards customers like that.

Trust me the john lewis in your city didnt close down because of security.

What attitude?

The post that just insulted your mainstay customers.

True, ShaneTwane, John Lewis also managed to sell me a faulty computer which they spent months trying to fix before eventually giving me a refund, during which time I had to buy another computer, and fail to measure my floors correctly and leaving me with underlay and no carpet for 2 weeks.

I think I'll avoid it entirely in future. At some point, a retail business has to have some respect for its main demographic of customer, rather than being overly suspicious and stereotyping them as a whole.

Wheres the insult? That anyone can be a shoplifter?

I'm glad it's not just me.