Sports Direct

arcon5

Why would a shoplifter try exchange an item at a later date? :huh:
I know there's some stupid people out there, but i'd hazard a guess even they wouldn't be that stupid.

That aside though, the member of staff doesn't need to directly say she stole it to be implying she's a shop lifter. It's well out of order for them to make such accusations without any substance! And the fact they can't find it in the system could be because of a dozen reasons, buut yet the staff chose to instead 'suspect' here of stealing the item.

I don't though understand knowing its a gift and therefore may not be the correct size, you wouldn't make a point of keeping the receipt

esuhl

Dave101t wrote: »

sports direct have sophisticated sales tills and scanners, if they scan an item, they can see exactly when it is sold.
so, i dont see that they are making a mistake, there is a lie along the line somewhere.

and no receipt, no credit card payment receipt etc certainly means they are pointing the finger.

But clearly, if there is "a lie along the line somewhere" as you suggest, then it is completely unreasonable for the shop to accuse the customer of theft. If the system the staff are using can be relied upon because of "lies along the line", then the shop assistant should have taken the clothing off the customer and called the police; if it can't, then she should have been given the benefit of the doubt and the item exchanged (or told politely that they would need to see the receipt).

Clearly the shop assistant knew that her suspicions were unjustified and unprovable, but she maliciously and unprofessionally decided to insult the customer anyway. It's appalling customer service, and not something I would stand for.

proactive

arcon5 wrote: »

Why would a shoplifter try exchange an item at a later date? :huh:

to swap something that was easily-accessible to them to steal, or an opportunistic theft near the doors for example, for something that they actually want that isn't easily-accessible to them

Jeff_Bridges_hair

arcon5 wrote: »

Why would a shoplifter try exchange an item at a later date? :huh:
I know there's some stupid people out there, but i'd hazard a guess even they wouldn't be that stupid.

Marks And Spencers actually suffered massivly from this. People would go in and nick whatever and then flog it to people knowing they could go back and swap it for something they did want with no questions asked and no reciept needed. I do believe that you need the reciept now.

dshart

The simple fact is that the person has no receipt to prove they purchased it and the store have no record of selling the item, for all we know it may have been a dishonest cashier who pocketed the cash and never put the item through the till. Either way it is difficult to prove and the only advice I can give to the OP is to be more careful in future and make sure you receive and keep the receipt.

It was mentioned before about them checking the CCTV, was this done? As that is the only other evidence I can see that may prove the person purchased the item. The store may be wrong to accuse the person of theft but the person cannot prove they purchased it either.

DCodd

While keeping a receipt is best policy, there is another explanation why the jacket did not come up on their system and that is that the sales assistant didn't scan it and just took payment for it. After all, if the assistant did scan it and the till issued a receipt then the item would have been on the system, otherwise their till would not have balanced on that day. unless, of course the Sales Assistant pocketed the sales amount in cash.

Now that is all speculation and wholly unfounded speculation at that, it is also unfair to the sales assistant to call their honesty into question. But hey ho, whats good for the Goose and all that;)

concerned43

I went back down to the store today and asked to see the CCTV - they told me that was not possible and that I would need written permission from their head office for this to happen. I asked the man his name and the name of the assistant who served me when I bought the jacket and he said he could not give out names as it was company policy!
So I have written to the head office asking to see the CCTV footage -will wait their reply.
And as I have said I did know my friends size - what women doesn't? it wasn't the size that was the problem - it was tight under the arms because of the design of the jacket!!!

concerned43

Oh and I do keep all of my receipts, I thought the person who served me had put the receipt in the bag and I handed the bag over to my friend without looking inside but my friend swears there was no receipt in the bag - hence why I do not have that receipt.

arcon5

concerned43 wrote: »

I went back down to the store today and asked to see the CCTV - they told me that was not possible and that I would need written permission from their head office for this to happen. I asked the man his name and the name of the assistant who served me when I bought the jacket and he said he could not give out names as it was company policy!
So I have written to the head office asking to see the CCTV footage -will wait their reply.
And as I have said I did know my friends size - what women doesn't? it wasn't the size that was the problem - it was tight under the arms because of the design of the jacket!!!

With regards to the exchange, seeing the CCTV or not is irrelevant -- as if their exchange policy requires you to produce a valid receipt then you need to do just that, irrespective of how it was lost.
The under the arms bit is as you said part of the design and therefore not a fault, so that doesn't really change anything either.

If however your simply trying to make a point that their system is inaccurate and the member of staff was wrong to accuse you of shoplifting then as far as i'm aware you need to put in a Subject Access Request to request a copy of CCTV with you in it. I also believe they can charge a nominal fee to cover the administration of this.

arcon5

Regarding the Subject Access Request, the maximum they can charge is £10 in this situation.

This page will be of use to you:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_6/access_to_personal_data.aspx