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.

I always take a receipt, and I always keep it in my hand, especially if I’ve only got one or two items and they’re not in a bag.

I make a particular point of this when I’ve been to the food hall in M&S for a couple of items and I haven’t got a bag and then I’m leaving the store upstairs to go to the car park

I’ve never been asked to look at any shopping I’ve carried like this.

You aren’t unreasonable to file a complaint, but you are unreasonable for having no way to prove that you’ve paid in the shop. This isn’t an honour system.

You need to either take the receipt or get your banking app sorted on your phone.

Now you’ve got to go through the hassle of getting a fiver returned to your bank account.

That's a really difficult one. I never take a receipt but I always pay with GooglePay. I get an immediate notification on my phone that a payment has been made and to whom. I also have the banking app.

He should have taken you back to the till you used to check for payment. It sounds like he lied to try and scare you. What a bellend. Definitely complain, I'd email the head office, not just the local store.

I’ve asked my partner who used to work in security at a supermarket.
He says firstly, the guard shouldn’t have challenged you without proof you’d stolen the items.
Secondly, he says there are multiple ways to check if you’d paid for the items if it isn’t obvious from the cctv, so no need for you to pay again.
Thirdly, obviously the guard shouldn’t have lied or threatened you.
I had something similar happen to me a few years ago, even though i knew the guard was just trying to do his job (all be it incorrectly according to my partner) & that I hadn’t done anything wrong it really put me off from shopping at the store.

That sounds awful and I doubt the guard was just having a laugh, they obviously had a genuine case of identifying the wrong person. Not your problem though. I think you definitely should email management and show the two proofs of purchase and ask for an apology.

It's easy say you should have not paid twice but I understand..I would get very embarrassed and flustered in this type of scenario and likely do something similar.

I’ve started taking a receipt but i used to decline the receipt because it’s a waste of paper which can’t be recycled.

A veritable deluge of unpleasant, judgmental, unsympathetic people seems to have swamped this thread. OP asked for an opinion on whether she overreacted, not whether she was stupid or not. Being someone who gets floored by these kinds of situations doesn’t make someone stupid, but calling someone stupid if that’s how they react is just plain mean girl nasty. If this was you, go and get some lessons in not being an utter deleted expletive.

You have absolutely not over reacted. In the heat of the moment when you are being accused of something you haven't done it can be frightening and intimidating. The easiest thing for you to do at that time was probably to pay and get out of there. This sounds like a security guard who is on a bit of a power trip and has over stepped the mark.
I would be looking for more than just a refund on the extra payment. He has falsely accused you of theft, you now have the evidence on your bank statement to back up your complaint. Dig you heels in and get the compensation you deserve, if you don't name and shame the store.

Can't the staff interrogate the till as to the last payment? I've been stopped and the operator was able to look at my transaction and see what was paid for and if it matched what I had. I would have asked for the supervisor. Some self scan requires a receipt to leave.

I completely understand you paying again to get quickly out of this situation. Not everyone is good in confrontational situations. You're not in the wrong to complain and in your complaint I would state you were very upset, that you find it hard to deal with stressful angry situations - and that the guard should have seen this and offered to deal with this sensitively. I assume they have video footage of you being upset so that should be easy to prove! Write and complain and state what you want them to do. Eg do you want a written apology and a full refund and to know how they are going to deal with the guard in question (eg retraining).

This boils my piss! What an arsehole!
Why do they even have the decline reciept option.

They have instant cctv to check these things.

This is why I never decline the receipt.

False accusations are terrible and I'm sorry this happened to you. I don't know the law where you are, but where I am security cannot accuse somebody of stealing unless somebody who works at the store has clearly, unequivocally seen the accused do it. If they do make such an accusation falsely the store can be sued.
I used to be a retail security manager. No way would this employee's behaviour have been acceptable and I would have fired his ass for it.

Well said.

Why did you pay again when you had already paid.
You obviously felt bullied by this person so yes definitely put a complaint in.
He made a false allegation to you playing guessing games.
Would he of stopped a big strapping man I don't think so.
Take your proof that you paid twice tell the shop in person you are lodging a complaint .

I'd have insisted on him going through the till roll etc, and if he had "evidence" of you doing this hundreds of times before, surely he would've detained you and called the police. Definitely contact Head Office about this OP. Some of these security guards are complete tossers.

Happened to me when I was shopping with my son who was about 5/6 weeks at the time. I got about £80 worth of stuff and as I was too busy packing i was too late to get a receipt. I think it only gives you a few seconds to select the 'print a recipt option'. It was so embarrassing as the security guard made me empty everything while he checked it. I showed him my Halifax app and he checked the amount was right. My son started crying and I did and people actually stopped to look and some teenage boys took a photo while laughing. (My hormones were all over the place). Then he just said 'get your recipe next time' and walked away leaving me to repack. I always go to a staffed till now.

He wasn't doing his job properly and he put the store in for a possible lawsuit by lying about her being seen stealing on camera "hundreds of times." He's a bully. If you give people like that a little taste of power they use it to humiliate others. It's not okay.

I fully understand why you paid again, it can be very stressful being harangued by anyone.

I think that the security guard was very unprofessional. I suspect that if you had genuinely not paid hundreds of times, that you would have been asked to go to the managers office some time ago to discuss the matter!

PS The self service kiosk at our local Tesco’s often does not give a receipt. I’ve always presumed I can check with bank if challenged by a shop worker or security guard. I’ll be getting a receipt every time after reading your post.

I would have not paid, I would have asked for the shop manager, and the goons licence number too.

Take your proof of purchase back to the shop.

You didn’t have your phone with you? Virtually everyone has their banking app on their phone. Plus security guards don’t randomly accuse people of shoplifting. Definitely more to the story here.

I agree @MoralHighgroundersNeedToGetALife well said.. such bravado on this thread, we all know half them are afraid to open the front door.

This l always get a receipt and check for any errors which can happen.

Agreed. And if someone was as mean to their kids as they’re being to OP, they’d be starting an AIBU thread calling for kindness quicker than you can say ‘hypocrite’.

Weird, security guards don't approach people after going through self checkouts, they are a deterrent before that point or if alarm sounds as walking through doors (sometimes). And especially for such a small amount.