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Shoplifting - or not....??

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  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    chequeout wrote: »
    Er, Polly, I was joking...... being sarcastic..... Sorry if that's not allowed!:rolleyes:

    Thanks all!

    Maybe if you'd used a few smilies in your post, people would have realised that! :rolleyes:
    In speech, it's usually easy to recognise sarcasm, irony or levity by the tone of voice - text doesn't have that same effect. ;)
    Pollycat wrote: »
    Anything's allowed unless the mods delete it.
    gordikin wrote: »
    Mods?, what mods?

    Maybe I should have said "anything's allowed unless someone reports it and the post is removed'. ;)
  • Zazen999
    Zazen999 Posts: 6,183 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    chequeout wrote: »
    Hi all

    Apologies if this isn't as important as some of the other threads on here, but i'd like some advice all the same if that's ok...?

    I recently bought some clothes from a well-known high street store, paid and left. HOWEVER, dippy assistant hadn't removed a security tag leaving the alarms to go off, security to come after me etc. People in the crowded street (near where my work is based and potential clients could have seen) were all doing that "gawping" thing as we all do... Basically, I was mortified.

    Security and manager looked through my bag, accepted it was a mistake and gave a half-hearted apology and basically said this happens all the time! I was seriously embarrassed and angry. In my opinion the assistant wasn't doing her job properly by leaving the security tag on, leading to potential damage to my reputation if anyone passing thought I was a shoplifter!

    Again, apologies as I know this isn't as serious as other threads - but if anyone has any thoughts or advice on if I should take this further I would much appreciate it.

    Thanks in advance.

    It has happened to me before. I took the goods back, got my money back and got on with my life. I didn't need the goods any more as I had bought them for a meeting and when I went to put them on at 6am [at a hotel], I noticed the tag. So, I wore what I had worn the day before.

    The manager had to be called and tried to blame me for not setting their alarms off??????? So, I took my refund after a brief altercation and never shopped there again.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Zazen999 wrote: »
    It has happened to me before. I took the goods back, got my money back and got on with my life. I didn't need the goods any more as I had bought them for a meeting and when I went to put them on at 6am [at a hotel], I noticed the tag. So, I wore what I had worn the day before.

    The manager had to be called and tried to blame me for not setting their alarms off??????? So, I took my refund after a brief altercation and never shopped there again.

    Now that really would make me angry. :mad:
  • Zazen999
    Zazen999 Posts: 6,183 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Pollycat wrote: »
    Now that really would make me angry. :mad:

    I was a bit....sarcastic back - don't worry!
  • chequeout wrote: »
    Ok - fair enough - I'm obviously stupid and will go away, hang head in shame and never post on here again.

    Once again, a decent person completely turned against this site by the morons who just come on to give abuse. What a shame.
    Companies I have had problems with -
    Time; Evesham; Gordon Lamb; N.Power; Safestyle; Lycos; Daum; Consumer Voice/CCB Fastmap; BT; Chard, Homeserve (plumbing insurance that solves your emergency but leaves you with the initial problem); Sony.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    chequeout wrote: »
    Ok - fair enough - I'm obviously stupid and will go away, hang head in shame and never post on here again.
    chequeout wrote: »
    Er, Polly, I was joking...... being sarcastic..... Sorry if that's not allowed!:rolleyes:
    Once again, a decent person completely turned against this site by the morons who just come on to give abuse. What a shame.

    Door_knockers_will_die
    I think you've misunderstood this thread a little.

    As shown by the quotes above, the OP was joking in the post that you've just quoted.
    A few smilies by chequout to show that his/her post was meant in a light-hearted vein (rather than being a strop) would have stopped a few of the comments.
    You, as well as other people (including me) misunderstood the context of that post.

    So, I think you'll find that the OP hasn't been "completely turned against this site".
    Also, I think you'll find that not all the replies are from 'morons who just come on to give abuse'.
  • butler_helen
    butler_helen Posts: 1,866 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    This has happened to me twice... once in boots- the tags were on, then I was stopped when WHSmiths alarms went off- the security in there were practically calling the police whilstI searched for my receipt. Then once I got all the way home and shopping quite happily in the posh shops in London (Hamleys etc) with no alarms going off! I just cut off the tag as it was on the inside of a bag which was £4 (why there was a tag in the first place I don't know).

    Boots did give me a free gift and £15 on the boots card which I thought was nice :) although to be honest, if it happened again, as I know I haven't stolen anything, I wouldn't be too annoyed, as long as I didnt have to go all the way back to the shop to get it removed...as that would cost me money, but if I'm still shopping then it's fine.
    If you aim for the moon if you miss at least you will land among the stars!
  • Elvisia
    Elvisia Posts: 914 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I think you have every right to feel embarrassed, if people are looking at you it's not what you signed up for when you went into the shop. I live in France and the same thing happened to me in Nice, I came out of Gallerie Lafayette and didn't realise the alarm had gone off as I was talking to my friend and I was grabbed by two sexy French security guards who went through my bag, and found the (large) knickers I had bought with the tag still dangling from it, and stood there showing each other the pants and laughing. It didn't help that my git friend thought it was hilarious and I felt horribly embarrassed and angry with all of them. So you have my sympathies. If these alarms go off a lot surely the security people should not treat shoppers as if they are thieves?
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Elvisia wrote: »
    I think you have every right to feel embarrassed, if people are looking at you it's not what you signed up for when you went into the shop. I live in France and the same thing happened to me in Nice, I came out of Gallerie Lafayette and didn't realise the alarm had gone off as I was talking to my friend and I was grabbed by two sexy French security guards who went through my bag, and found the (large) knickers I had bought with the tag still dangling from it, and stood there showing each other the pants and laughing. It didn't help that my git friend thought it was hilarious and I felt horribly embarrassed and angry with all of them. So you have my sympathies. If these alarms go off a lot surely the security people should not treat shoppers as if they are thieves?

    I think in the experience you describe it sounds more like the attitude of the security guards and your friend (hmmm, I'd maybe rethink that description :rolleyes:) that created most of your embarrassment.
    Very unprofessional behaviour (IMHO) but as you say, that was in France.
  • DX-SFX
    DX-SFX Posts: 61 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    If you've got a receipt, what harm does it do to pause at the door if the alarm goes off and look for a member of staff? I've lost count of the number of times something I've bought has set the alarm off even after the assistant has scrubbed the item against the demagnetiser to cancel the security feature. Most times they just give you a nod to say carry on. It also shows you're not trying to leave quickly after pinching something.
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