Has my mother grounds to sue primark?

[Wanttobehappy123]

My elderly mother went upstairs in penny’s (primark ireland) to purchase a hot water bottle. She paid for it upstairs refusing a bag and paying cash. She didn’t take the receipt from the assistant.
She went down the escalators(still in the shop) and was approached by a member of staff asking to see the receipt for her purchase. She told the lady the sales person had put it in the bin and was then sent back upstairs to the sales person to retrieve the receipt from the bin. This was all in ear shot of other customers and she was mortified and upset after the incident. I am very angry she was treated this way. Would anyone know has she grounds for legal action?

And she's entitled to refuse.

They shouldn't have asked her for proof of purchase until she was OUT of the shop but other than that, what exactly are you going to sue them for???

Oh, for goodness sake... I hope you your mother has learned a valuable lesson. Of course security will challenge someone walking out with a product they show no sign of having paid for. Sue?! You'd be laughed out of chambers if you suggested that to a legal professional...

In order to stop someone and accuse them of shoplifting they have to of seen them 'select, conceal, and leave the shop' with the item. So whilst this was embarrassing they haven't accused her of shoplifting, just asked for a receipt, which if I was in Primark I'd always get. There is no way this would be taken on by anyone in the legal field.

So you'd have preferred her to be apprehended in the street, manhandled back in, all to reclaim her receipt? Can you not see that they were trying to avoid extra embarrassment for her by doing it this way, where there would be fewer people watching and she would not appear be stopped on suspicion of shoplifting in the street? How should they have done things?

I have actually, not that it's relevant. Did you have a point?

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I would write a letter / email to primark head office to let them know about the incident as your elderly mother is vulnerable

In what way is she vulnerable?? Being elderly doesn't automatically make you vulnerable

Of course she doesn’t OP 🙄

Even if you could sue, could you really be bothered? Tell her to take receipts in future to ensure she’s not ‘mortified’ if approached by security.

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God grief, this post sums up the sue culture that is ruining things for everyone.

Simple lesson learned take your receipt. God help security and retail staff if they are going to be the cause of their employers being sued for doing their job. I know it is your Mom op but take a serious look at yourself and the compensation culture that is impacting us all with increased Insurance Prices.

Oh god, move along. Nothing happened. Tell her to keep her receipt next time

Spot the Irish people on the thread 😁

Typical Ireland .Worse than the US for litigation these days !

<<×here is your grip. HTH.

If you wanted to sue, you'd have to list the financial losses you have occurred as a result of the action. So, if you were injured and couldn't work for a month, then you could use that as your reason.

You can't sue for being embarrassed, or put out... How would you even quantify that?

I can’t comment on the law in Ireland (or Scotland for that matter) but this is completely incorrect in England and Wales. The offence of theft is dishonest appropriation with intent to permanently deprive. The offence is committed when the item is picked up from the shelf - for practicality, security wait until an action to prove theft occurs. This can be leaving without paying but walking towards the exit when there is no payment point between the thief and the door would do.

Therefore, it is reasonable for security to check that isn’t what someone is doing by asking for a receipt. Also, a shop is private property. They can have a policy that you must wave your receipt in the air while hopping on one foot and shouting ‘I’ve paid’ if they want. Of course, they wouldn’t keep many customers if they were that extreme but a request to see the receipt seems reasonable.

Not to put too fine a point on it, cop yourself on.🙄🙄🙄

See, I would say, after reading this, “well, now I’ve seen it all, ridiculous”, but time and again someone else pops up on here, or SM, with something even more idiotic. No wonder the human race is fucked.

Your mother was an idiot for not taking the receipt. Even if she wasn’t stopped, how would she return it if it turned out to be faulty when she got it home? No doubt if that were the case you’d be on here bemoaning the fact that primark wouldn’t accept her word for it that she bought it from them.

Maybe the store can sue your mum for wasting the security person and till assistants time🤷‍♀️

For defamation? No, in a word. And do you know how eye-wateringly expensive it is to sue someone? It not really much of a remedy for ordinary people.

What are her specific monetary damages from this incident?

You'd be laughed out of court, and rightly so.

Not anything to do with the op but I much prefer the name penny’s to primark.

Although you can’t then call it primarni obviously. Hmm.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on here. OP, you have WAY too much time on your hands if you've mulled this over and come to this conclusion.