Had a run-in with a store detective

[MeetMyCat]

I bought some make up in my local Boots at lunch time. The self serve till asked me if I wanted a receipt, I said no. On the way out the store, my shopping obviously triggered some sort of alarm; hardly an unusual occurrence so I stepped back into the store, expecting a member of staff to approach me. I realised the item I’d purchased had some sort of security tag on, I assumed this had caused the problem. However Security came straight over, I assumed they would help me and de-tag the item. The woman asked to see my receipt, but I didn’t have one. I rarely request a receipt for small items. She kept repeating over and over ‘I need to see proof of payment’ and I kept repeating that I’d paid but didn’t obtain a receipt. In the end she said that if I didn’t provide proof of payment I would be detained.

I realise store detectives/security don’t have any powers of arrest, and also she was really petite and probably wouldn’t have been able to force me, if I had refused to go with her.

Quite a few people were watching by this point and it was getting quite embarrassing. Thankfully I then remembered that I’d paid using Barclays debit, and any transactions show up on my app almost immediately. So I logged into the app, showed her the transaction, she de-tagged my item and said I was free to go.

I think I’m just posting because I’m pissed off. What on earth would have happened if I hadn’t had my banking app as proof? Where would I stand? Surely failure to obtain a receipt is not the same as failing to pay, and most tills now ask you whether or not you want a receipt.

The moral of the story: forget about being green, always get a receipt

I used to work in Tesco and bought a tagged item at the store I worked in. I paid at the self service till, colleague saw me and said hello, came and approved a proof of age item but still demanded I show my receipt to de tag my clothing ffs. I'm faffing about with bags and my purse, dug it out and the item was handed back. Never used a self service to buy tagged items again.

Its not crap. What im saying is that Boots cannot discipline a person who is not their employee. The most they can do is refer the complaint to the guards manager, for them to take any appropriate action.

@Ilikewinter I didn’t mean that you were talking crap! Sorry if it came across that way. I meant if Boots punt the responsibility onto the security company

Not true. It needs to be an indictable offence.

Stores try not to print the receipt because it saves them a fortune in till roll costs.

There’s no element of customer convenience in their decision, nor is it because they care about the ‘Green’ impact, it’s just about the bottom line.

I had this in tesco with a food item which was totally mouldy long before its sell by date.

i returned to the shop the following day, and when they refused to exchange or refund, went to the shelf and pulled out multiple other packets of the same item which were in exactly the same disgusting state.

They still wouldn't refund me without a receipt (in fact I only wanted to exchange it for a non-mouldy one) until the manager came out.

They also prevented me from filming to show the state of the items on the shelf. I always, always get a receipt now.

She would have been able to look at transactions on the tills. Go back and complain!

That is dreadful, I always say no to receipts, not any more. I would die if that happened to me.

How bizarre! Yes, when taking a receipt from self-service is optional they should have offered to check the transaction log / cctv / whatever the normal process is and not kept insisting on seeing proof of purchase.

They can recall the transaction on the till. I had this happened to me once in sainsburys

This is why I tend to get a receipt and why if I know I have a tagged item go to a manned till - as I did have a security man insist I find a receipt which took some doing with bags and coats and multiple kids - when I was clearly just been in his line of sight at a manned till -demand one when till lady had missed a tag.

I thought then lucky I said yes to the receipt - as she did word it in such a way as to expect a no response. I'm sure there are ways round not having a receipt but did seem quickest way to stop it - and everything was checked off against the receipt not just missed tag item which was quickly identified.

The law on citizen’s arrest powers is here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/24A
Theft is either way, so I think still covered as indictable (it certainly was when this legislation was written). She could argue that she had reasonable grounds for suspecting you were in the act of committing theft if you walked away, but she would almost certainly have failed in court. Shop detectives I know who physically detain someone (rather than tell people they have to stay and try and talk them into compliance) keep to being certain theft has been committed and being certain it’s committed by the person they’re detaining.

I would have given her my name and address and told her:
”Here. You can check the self service tills and then write me an apology when you find the transaction.”
Then walked off.

I've noticed I'm being asked more and more whether I want a receipt. I usually say yes but have started to say no as its becoming more common to be asked.

I'm.going back to getting them again now. If shops might take a heavy hand and not adopt a new stance on proof themselves then they can provide a receipt to me.

That's awful and the shop is at error.

It's like car parking needing a registration plate to be entered into the machine AND having display rules, fining if its not displayed correctly without checking their own technology..drives me nuts!

I had this in Asda. The assistant just asked which till I had used and we went over to it and she was able to pull up the last transaction on the till and see the electronic receipt. All quite straight forward.

SIA licensed security officer here. I posted about this on a similar post recently where the OPs son was being stopped and searched IIRC unnecessarily by store security. My reply to that post is below in speech marks.

N.B. the value of goods has no relevance as to whether security officers can stop and/or detain someone. In one store the manager insisted we stop someone for a 50p bar of chocolate, as they had a massive issue with shoplifters. It would never have gone anywhere criminally but it was about acting as a deterrent.

Anyone (including security officers) can detain anyone who has, or is suspectedof committing an arrestable offence, if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person they detain has committed the offence. In addition to this the Police can detain someone who they think is about to commit an offence.

The shop security in your case was on very dodgy grounds treating like that when you simply had no receipt. They need to see you select, conceal and attempt to leave the store without payment to have any grounds to detain you. Unfortunately you encountered a shit security officer doing a shit job!

"that sounds way over the top for what you have described. They need to have a reasonable suspicion that he has stolen something (ie need to have been witnessed taking something and putting it in his pockets and leaving without attempting to pay - Google ASCONE) but they have no right to search anyway.

If they have a suspicion that he has stolen, then they can ask to search him but he can refuse. If he does refuse, they can detain him for the Police to search him, but again, only if they have a reasonable suspicion of theft.

Personally I would be making a formal complaint to the supermarket's head office, and the security company that they employ, utilising social media if necessary.

If I had been stopped in the manner that your son has described, I would be loudly complaining at the time and making as much of a fuss as I could, without being aggressive, rude, swearing etc but appreciate that your son feels unable to do that. It definitely sounds like the security is going OTT and you are being fobbed off by the store."

Just to clarify - the police need to believe, not think, an offence is about to be committed. Not massively different in wording, but there is a very slight nuance that changes the meaning.

My local Sainsbury also gives you the option not to have a receipt, but they have also just installed gates to exit the self checkouts which require you to scan a receipt to open them 😂

Yes they have powers of arrest and to detain you . Im Sorry but I think you are the unreasonable one. I always get a receipt for this obvious reason

I'm ex police and even its for a pound they have citizen powers of arrest and defo to detain.
Why make peoples jobs harder and get yourself embarrassed and stressed. Just get the bloody receipt!

Of course they do!

That's so annoying! I'm abroad and got stopped by a member of staff whilst using the self service checkout. The checkout I was using had flagged to do a spot basket check (they check 2 items you've bought to check you've scanned them) after I'd scanned all my items but before taking payment. I had my son with me in his pram, and the employee marched over and without asking, started taking things out of the bottom of the pram trying to scan it. I'd been to a different supermarket first so everything in the bottom of the pram was not from the supermarket I was in. The language barrier didn't help but she implied id stolen from them and she needed to see the receipt from the first store which I didn't have. By this point my toddler was screaming, people were staring and I lost my temper. So bloody rude. She then cancelled the basket and redid it all and checked to make the receipts match. Which obviously they did. No apology.

It is frustrating. I rarely get a receipt as Tesco self serve say press if you want a receipt and give you 5 seconds. Obviously at the same moment you’re holding a bag that you’re shoving stuff into whilst chatting to dc. So I miss it a lot. The upside is the self serve has alarms as you go out of it. So the staff member has seen you pay hopefully.

Teenage DD says she can no longer shop in Boots without me because she is stalked by staff and security guards. She always gets a receipt from self service checkouts because staff assume teenage = shoplifter.

Having said this, I recently asked a staff member why their makeup shelves were always empty. She explained that shoplifting was rife and even half used testers are taken, they know lots of tricks to remove the security tags and also know that the store and police do not have the time and the resources to prosecute every crime.

I was once followed around a supermarket by a security guard. I filled my basket up to the brim...then placed it as his feet and walked out.

“Arrestable Offences” have not existed in English law for 17 years.