Tesco had me arrested !!!

WILE2002

2 weeks ago i had an awful spate of approx 6 &1/2 HOURS 4 & 1/2 hours in police custody due to TESCO REDDITCH insisting that i be arrested for attempted theft from their store, due to a genuine mistake made by myself , my partner & 18 month old child whilst shopping at there lunchtime.
After my partner & i visiting the upstairs section first , my partner put a small quantity of clothing items on the side of the trolley & we then proceeded downstairs to do main shopping groceries filling the insides with various normal household items & other groceries, ( reason why the clothes were on side of trolley.. well you dont want to crush them with normal shopping or keep moving them everytime you put in an item ) we then proceeded to a checkout.
Now after loading said groceries onto conveyor belt , my partner noticed we needed some chips & ran to get them . as there was no-one waiting behind us in the queue.
I then informed the checkout operator that " these clothing items on the trolley also needed to be scanned" & " i cant pick them up as i had various food & chocolate residue on my hands from feeding my little one to keep him happy "( & no it wasnt items from Tesco i had been feeding him, i had my own stash for such emergencies )
I then proceeded to pack the ever increasing number of items been passed through to the end conveyor.
My partner had returned towards the end of the scanning with i will admit more than the chips she went for, but no-worries more £'s for Tesco eh..
We paid , i then went to the tobacco/lottery separate till & purchase another single item there, paid and went to leave the shop.
We were stopped & asked to see our till receipt to query payment of the clothing, sure enough mistakenly the clothing had not been scanned A total of £24.odd.
My partner & myself were both shocked & latter on realised we both thought that the other had passed on the items to be scanned, & I'd even informed the till operator of the items, so after apologising & offering full payment for a genuine mistake , we assumed that would be the end of it....
OHHHHH NO !!!
We were frog marched the full length of the large store with our 18 month old still sat in the trolley , now been pulled along by a member of security, been told we had to go into the office.
We then were given the option of either been arrested by the police or signing some kind of community order ADMITTING WE HAD STOLEN !!! & ALLOWING TESCO TO EMPLOY A NOTICE OF INTENDED CIVIL RECOVERY...
FOR COSTS INCURRED INCLUDING LOSSES , INVESTIGATION COSTS , SECURITY COSTS & ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS...
ALSO THAT IT WILL BE RECORDED ON FILE AVAILABLE IN NORMAL CREDIT RATTING / FINANCIAL SEARCHES, ALSO EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS.
I & MY PARTNER BOTH REFUSED TO ACCEPT AN ADMISSION OF THEFT FOR A GENUINE MISTAKE
I WAS THEN ARRESTED BY THE THEN PRESENT POLICE OFFICER & TAKEN TO REDDITCH POLICE STATION .
WHERE AFTER APPROX 4 & 1/2 HOURS IN POLICE CUSTODY, THEY RELEASED ME WITH NO CHARGES TO FACE

Today both my partner & i got seperate letters stating that they were a recovery agent for tesco & are telling us both that we owe a total of £178.75 EACH !!!!
A TOTAL OF WAIT FOR IT ...... £357.50 !!!!
( FOR £24.00 WORTH OF GOODS GENUINELY MISTAKENLY NOT PAID FOR... BUT WHICH I INFORMED THE CASHIER OF )
THIS TOTAL OF £357.50 IS ALLEGALLY to cover all costs etc etc
Now i need some help PLEASE with where we stand with the law and what we can do regarding payment to these sharks...
as i have no intention of paying this..

TESCO THIS IS DISGUSTING !!!
AFTER A GENUINE MISTAKE BY 2 EX-LOYAL TESCO CUSTOMERS.
I RECENTLY HEARD THAT £1 IN EVERY £3 SPENT IN SUPERMARKETS IS SPENT IN TESCO
NEVER AGAIN WILL A PENNY OF MINE ENTER A TESCO TILL !!!!!
SHAME ON YOU TESCO !!!!

picnic

did you leave the store?? or were you stopped in store?? if it was still in store no crime has been committed....

vikingaero

Well it's a Civil Recovery Charge so don't pay it. They will probably set a debt recovery company onto you which you can safely ignore or wind up. It only becomes serious if Tesco take you to Court to recover the money which seems unlikely if the Police have taken no action nor issued a caution.

WILE2002

I had acording to them left the store, ???? as i had gone through the exit door, i was 2 steps outside the doors, stood inside/under a huge roofed & fronted entrance area stood reading the message board

marywooyeah

did they not ask the checkout operator to confirm that you had told him/her that they needed scanning? It seems you clearly made a genuine mistake from your post, but did you not notice they were still hanging on the trolley when you left either? I agree its excessive action.

WILE2002

HI
Yes the security guard did go & ask the till operator if i had said that, & she confirmed i did say it. ( witnessed, by present police officer )
as for not noticing they were still hanging there when we left , i went to lottery till & partner went to get new tesco direct catalogue, so was kinda mind elsewhere, BUT, i had STUPIDLY assumed that she had reached over & scanned items ( like they do in B&Q & OTHER STORES )

geordie_joe

No store or individual can insist you are arrested, only the police can decide to arrest you. They will have to justify that later.

I suspect what happened is tesco presented the police with enough evidence for them to decide to arrest you.

And, as you say, they later let you go without charge. So they listened to what tesco had to say, then listened to what you had to say, and decided you had no charge to answer.

As others have said, ignore the Civil Recovery Charge, they can't recover what they haven't lost. And the police can't side with tesco without admitting they let a criminal go.

ceebeeby

I do sympathise having once had a rather naughty 18 month old reach over and take sweeties from the counter (this was 16 years ago when they still had sweets at the counter) and I didn't notice until I went to strap her in her car seat - and then had to return across the carpark with an unhappy toddler because she'd had the sweets taken away, all the way back to customer services to explain and they looked at me as though I were a toad too.

I can understand how that could happen

heidiarruda

Ignore it.

3v3

You committed no crime, hence no charge from the Police

What "losses" are they claiming for? I'm assuming they didn't let you keep the clothing; therefore, Tesco incurred no loss? What investigation costs? They handed the matter over to the Police, they "investigated", found no case to answer: end of! Security costs: they employ security at their own expense for the services "security" provides - not your problem!

Have you thought of it another way: have you considered looking into taking out your *own* civil claims against Tesco for the humilation,; the time *you* were denied liberty (despite continuing to offer to pay for the garments); the anxiety the whole debacle has caused you, your partner (which, in turn, impacts on your 18mth old)?

A visit to your Citizens Advice Bureau is in order, I think

While I do understand that all shops incur losses through shop lifting, and they try to get the message across that it will not be tolerated, it looks to me like common sense has flown out the window - particularly as there has been no charges brought - and most especially as you were more than willing to pay at the checkout and again when you were "apprehended".

Go talk to your CAB - if only for peace of mind! Good luck.

Delboy11

picnic wrote: »

did you leave the store?? or were you stopped in store?? if it was still in store no crime has been committed....

As soon as you pass the last checkout without making an attempt to pay for the item(s) it can be considered theft.

in this case it was an accident but it happened.