unpleasant incident with security guard

[rasputinsghost]

I would just like your opinions with respect to whether or not I was reasonable to e-mail a complaint regarding the incident below.

I was shopping with my adult son at our local large supermarket, in the late afternoon in the middle of the week. We chose items worth just under five pounds, and I paid for these at the self-service checkout, using the contactless app. on my debit card. I declined a receipt and I do not have a banking app. on my phone.

After purchasing the goods, I handed them to my son and went to the loo. When I came out of the loo, I found my son in conversation with the security guard. The guard asked me if the shopping was mine. I said it was. He asked me if I had the receipt. I said I had declined the receipt. He asked my if I had any proof of purchase. I said that I did not have a banking app, but I waited until I heard 'payment confirmed' before I left the checkout. The guard replied that he has reason to believe we were attempting to leave the store without purchasing the goods.

I assured him that I had purchased the goods, and perhaps we could check the till roll at the checkout.

The guard then told us to come to his desk. We followed him. He looked at the CCTV footage and told us that not only did it confirm that we had not paid, but there was footage of me 'doing this hundreds of times'. He said he would call the police unless we paid for the goods, left the store and never returned because we were 'banned'.

I was getting a little upset, so my son suggested we paid for the goods again (even though we knew we had already paid). We did this, then showed the guard the receipt and I asked why he had said he had footage of me stealing 'hundreds of times'. He denied saying this. I asked if we were banned. He said no. I asked for his name and said I would lodge a complaint because he had handled this situation very unprofessionally.

When I got home, I checked my bank account. I had paid twice, so there is no way there would be any footage of me not paying. I have lodged a complaint online with the store.

I am just wondering if perhaps I have overreacted.

It's not the OP's fault. This situation would never have happened if supermarkets always gave receipts, had signs reminding people to keep them, and acknowledged the possibility of being stopped by security for a check.

At my local supermarket someone on the staff told me that security staff can ask for your receipt after the customer has left when in the carpark so I always get a receipt. You need to go back with the proof you have paid twice and get a refund. From now on Op get a receipt as it is much easier. I always have mine in my hand as I go to the exit.

I voted YABU because why on earth would you pay twice?!

I would have insisted he check the till role and called the police myself if he were obstructive.

Why didn't you show them your banking app? I have iPhone, I usually pay with Apple Pay and it shows all transactions on there with date and time. Idm cash, but in situations like this technology comes in handy. As with cash, you can't prove you paid without receipt. I dislike carrying around receipts, so Apple Pay works for me. I don't like carrying odd amounts of change either.

I'm sure it should be similar if you have Google Pay?

Always get a receipt.
I would have asked for the manager, and to see the footage of me not paying. No way would I have paid again. But as you have, surely you’re going to go back and speak to the manager and request a refund?

Surely the camera above the self checkout that you used would capture the payment? I'd have just insisted he looks at the CCTV/transactions for that till and I would not have paid twice. I guess at this point you should show the evidence of the double payment and definitely demand an apology and refund.

That is bang out of order that the guard either mistook you for someone else or just lied about what he saw.

She said she doesn't have a banking app. She paid contactless with her card not her phone.

Tbh I would recommend ditching your debit card and using your phone for payments because on phone it shows up on wallet instantly, with date and time - everything. Carrying cards is such faff. You also need to download mobile banking apps. This is for your protection. Its not hard to learn, I taught my parents how to use Apple Pay.

Yeah, just seen that!

I'd be logging a complaint and requesting a refund.

Sorry but this^

I would never decline a receipt if I didn't have the banking app on my phone, and it isn't unusual for me to take one anyway if I am at a check out that doesn't have a person on it.

My son did not steal anything. There is no additional context to this incident.
But neither he nor you had any evidence of that fact.

However, I feel the security guard lied and acted unprofessionally.
And you also don't have any evidence of that either.

If anything there is "fault on both sides" here. But you cannot be unaware that shoplifting is seriously out of hand nowadays and that security is there to catch people shoplifting. So you always make sure that you can prove you haven't. Unfortunately the state of the world now is that you do need to prove you haven't done something because most people stopped with no evidence of purchase are shoplifting.

Yes, I got asked once about goods and I hadn’t got a receipt but they can check the last purchases. I now have banking on my phone so I can stand there and check if bought as sometimes the tills have run out of receipt paper.

You don’t need the app if you pay with your phone, it’s better to have the app. But, on your wallet it shows all transaction history with shop name, date and time then amount

I would have shown him what till I'd used and demanded they check the transactions, which they can easily do. No way would I have paid again before I'd seen proof I'd not paid. The fact he's denying he said certain things makes him sound a bit dodgy. Definitely complain and include evidence of the double payment and a note of the comments he made to intimidate you.

You knew the truth.

You should have stood your ground.

Asked to see CCTVA. Told him to call the police. Done everything to refute his accusations there and then.

He is deeply unprofessional and a liar.

Definitely pursue this.

Not everyone knows or uses all the possible apps etc on their phone. It doesn’t sound suspicious to me. I usually decline a receipt, to reduce waste.

You’d be infuriating 🤣

Nobody says “I don’t want a receipt” unless you’ve just asked them if they’d like a receipt. To then try and get them to change their answer. Annoying

Print out your bank statement (or take a photo) and go back to the store. Ask for a Manager and make a complaint.

"If anything there is "fault on both sides" here. But you cannot be unaware that shoplifting is seriously out of hand nowadays and that security is there to catch people shoplifting. So you always make sure that you can prove you haven't. Unfortunately the state of the world now is that you do need to prove you haven't done something because most people stopped with no evidence of purchase are shoplifting."

This is bollocks. Op, there is no fault on your side at all. You paid. The security guard was bandying about accusations that you'd shoplifted hundreds of times before. As well as this incident. He had no grounds to accuse you of

Complain to the store manager, leave a very poor review on Google reviews and anywhere else you can find and write to the CEO. You can find their names and e-mail addresses under 'UK companies' here: https://www.ceoemail.com/.

Yes, you must always collect a receipt. But a lot of us are getting fed up of the bullying and malicious behaviour of supermarkets towards paying customers. Unfortunately the behaviour of the bullying minority place regular staff at risk.

The fault is with the security guard. I usually sympathise because shoplifters are an antisocial nuisance. But claiming to have seen OP shoplifting in the past was dishonest. Also very stupid: surely they would have prosecuted her if they had evidence of frequent thefts?

This. I'd have hit the manager involved.but sorry, that wasn't your question! If anything you under reacted certainly haven't over reacted.

I work in a supermarket and its not uncommon for contact less payments not to go through 1st time. Often because every so many transactions you have to input your pin for security and sometimes it just takes so long it times out. We often have to call people back because their contact less has failed. Therefore a receipt should always be taken.

you don’t need multiple apps, just the wallet app on your phone. It comes pre installed

Not all staff do this. I had to press the button for assistance as the mschine was out of paper. The staff member did not want to be bothered, tried to tell me it had printed (there was only part of it) and then made a snide comment about "if you must have a receipt" when I repeated that I would like one.

I've also had a staff member on a manned checkout who just toom the receipt from the machine and threw it straight in the bin!