Stopped and searched when leaving supermarket

[bigbird29]

I went to my local supermarket this morning with dd and after purchasing 5 items at the basket checkout I proceeded to leave the store. I passed the first set of doors no alarm went off and was in the middle of foyer area when i heard a male bellow after me 'Could I see proof that you have paid for those items please' Not thinking he was talking to me I carried on pushing my pushchair only to hear it louder as he then stopped me in my tracks......please bare in mind it was extremely busy and everyone is now staring at me (currently pregnant with dd no2). I was in such a state shaking to get my receipt to prove I had purchased the items..he checked the receipt against the items and said he was searching me as my flowers didn't have a sold sticker on them.
I have never been so embarrassed in my life, he didn't even apologise and just walked away after saying it was fine!!!
I rang customer services and cried!!! (hormones in pregnancy) awaiting a response...any suggestions? is this allowed/standard practice?

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry that happened to you I have no idea about the legal implications but wow how awful

They should be making a apology that the guard did not say sorry AND that the flowers did not a sold sticker on.

What a horrible thing to happen.

Re Riven..no he had a security radio but wasn't wearing a uniform.

will let you know if they ring me back

What a nasty man and what an awful experience for you.
He should have approached you discretely and identified himself and asked you to produce your receipt. Very unprofessional. A lot of the larger supermarkets employ plain clothes store detectives but they all have ID cards and should show them when challenging customers and should quietly ask them to return to the store if they have any suspicions. I would make a formal written complaint with regards to this and name and shame.

Hope you are feeling better now

This guy was an unprofessional idiot!

In my old life (before children) I was a plain clothes store detective. Discretion is the key to this job as well and good manners. We always had to politely introduce ourselves as security when approaching customers and show ID. I always made sure I didn't create a scene and to be honest didn't like drawing attention to the fact I was security unless I had to.

Ideally a uniformed guard should have approached you and checked your receipt and purchases so you knew who you were dealing with or another uniformed member of staff. It really isn't the job of a SD to be checking door alarm activations! He sounds like a wanker show off trying to be a big I am!!

I hope that you get a satisfactory reply for the store involved and maybe consider shopping elsewhere!

This has happened to me, but in Spain. It was utterly humiliating, and in my case it was because I looked 'nervous' (It was raining, late, I had 5 year old whingeing because she was hungry, a 1-year old screaming, and the queue was taking ages); and I didn't used plastic bags but put shopping in the bottom of my pram.

I was escorted out of the shop to the security area at the back. It was awful.

I went in the next day when I had calmed down. All I got was an apology, but the security guard did get fired for being so aggressive.

Oh how mortifying

You can refuse to be searched and insist they call the police and in the circumstances I would do so. If someone attempts to search you without your consent it is technically assault.

If it ever happens again insist the store manager is fetched, ask them to call the police and ask to discuss the matter in private.

This puts you in a much better position to control how you are treated and means you are not being goggled at by all and sundry!

That happened to me at a Tesco in Cornwall - bit embarrassing as it was where I taught! The daft thing was that I was being walked out by a member of staff who I know there as they'd had a problem with the security alarms on the door all day; and the security guy still stopped me and went through my trolley and receipt.

Now, I may have misunderstood but my nephew works in Sainsburys and they have a policy on apprehending shoplifters. Essentially you have to see them deliberately conceal an item and follow them all the way round the shop until they leave before you can apprehend them.

They are not allowed to just stop someone without good reason (flowers not having a sticker is not enough). They lose thousands in stolen goods apparently.

I would certainly complain very very heartily.

This happened to me years ago in John Lewis.And actually in John Lewis - I hadn't even left the shop. I still burn with humiliation when I think of it. I was actually marched off to a room to be searched. Searched!! At least you were vindicated in public.

I thought you couldn't be accused of shoplifting until you had actually left the shop, TFM? It sounds like the security guards were out of order both in your case and the OP's.

OP - I hope you get a grovelling apology and a bunch of flowers!