Wrongly accused of shoplifting

Takeaway_Addict

spiritus wrote: »

A friend of mine has just contacted me in tears after having been wrongly accused of shoplifting.


She went on a shopping trip with her best friend to their local Boots store at a retail park and saw a promotion that was advertised on one of the shelves that if you bought items of more than £ 15 then you would get a free gift worth £ 30.


They didn't have enough in their basket to qualify for the free gift and so selected a few other items to take them over the £ 15 threshold and then went to the counter to pay.


The assistant ran their items through the till and it became apparent to my friend that the gift was not going to be offered and so they asked about the gift only to be told that the store didn't have any more free gifts left. They explained to the checkout girl that they had bought extra items in order to qualify for the promotion but were told that the promotion was "subject to availability".


My friend (who isn't English) wasn't happy about this and in her own language said sarcastically to her best friend that maybe the staff just say that to customers and then take the free gifts home to sell on Ebay.


They then paid for the items in their basket were leaving the store when the checkout girl said "goodbye" in their own language (she was obviously the same nationality and must have understood the comment that my friend had made). My friend then left the store and walked into a different store next door to Boots to continue their shopping trip.


After a few moments they heard someone call them and looked behind to see a security guard approach them. He was the security guard from Boots and accused them of not having paid for all their items and that an item was missing from the store and he needed them to go back with him to the store so he could check their bags. He wasn't discrete and they were embarrassed and shaken by this accusation especially in front of all the other customers in the store but agreed to walk back with him to the store at which point my friend demanded a manager be present.


Whilst my friend was explaining to the shift manager what they had bought and showing the shift manager the receipts the checkout girl then said to the shift manager that it was ok as she must have been mistaken (or words to that effect).


The shift manager then apologised and explained the security guard should not have followed them into another store anyway.


My friend said she wanted to make a complaint and she was told the store manager would be available on Monday to speak to her but she also mentioned that the security guard wasn't actually employed by the store but by a security company....


Sorry for being so long winded about this !


So....does the store have a responsibility to remove advertising a promotion that is effectively no longer available and by not removing the advertising (even though the store are clearly aware the promotion is no longer valid) are they misleading the customer ?


Secondly, can a security guard stop a person based on the testimony of a shop worker or does the security guard have to witness an item being stolen to be able to apprehend someone ?


Can my friend demand to know what evidence the security guard had in order to feel that she had stolen something and what steps should/could my friend take now ?


Thanks

I have little sympathy for your friend and it was great to read the shop assistant busting her!

foxtrotoscar_2

spiritus wrote: »

A friend of mine has just contacted me in tears after having been wrongly accused of shoplifting.


She went on a shopping trip with her best friend to their local Boots store at a retail park and saw a promotion that was advertised on one of the shelves that if you bought items of more than £ 15 then you would get a free gift worth £ 30.


They didn't have enough in their basket to qualify for the free gift and so selected a few other items to take them over the £ 15 threshold and then went to the counter to pay.



The assistant ran their items through the till and it became apparent to my friend that the gift was not going to be offered and so they asked about the gift only to be told that the store didn't have any more free gifts left. They explained to the checkout girl that they had bought extra items in order to qualify for the promotion but were told that the promotion was "subject to availability".


My friend (who isn't English) wasn't happy about this and in her own language said sarcastically to her best friend that maybe the staff just say that to customers and then take the free gifts home to sell on Ebay.


They then paid for the items in their basket were leaving the store when the checkout girl said "goodbye" in their own language (she was obviously the same nationality and must have understood the comment that my friend had made). My friend then left the store and walked into a different store next door to Boots to continue their shopping trip.


After a few moments they heard someone call them and looked behind to see a security guard approach them. He was the security guard from Boots and accused them of not having paid for all their items and that an item was missing from the store and he needed them to go back with him to the store so he could check their bags. He wasn't discrete and they were embarrassed and shaken by this accusation especially in front of all the other customers in the store but agreed to walk back with him to the store at which point my friend demanded a manager be present.


Whilst my friend was explaining to the shift manager what they had bought and showing the shift manager the receipts the checkout girl then said to the shift manager that it was ok as she must have been mistaken (or words to that effect).


The shift manager then apologised and explained the security guard should not have followed them into another store anyway.


My friend said she wanted to make a complaint and she was told the store manager would be available on Monday to speak to her but she also mentioned that the security guard wasn't actually employed by the store but by a security company....


Sorry for being so long winded about this !


So....does the store have a responsibility to remove advertising a promotion that is effectively no longer available and by not removing the advertising (even though the store are clearly aware the promotion is no longer valid) are they misleading the customer ?


Secondly, can a security guard stop a person based on the testimony of a shop worker or does the security guard have to witness an item being stolen to be able to apprehend someone ?


Can my friend demand to know what evidence the security guard had in order to feel that she had stolen something and what steps should/could my friend take now ?


Thanks

Quoted in case it disappears.


Can Boots demand the evidence your friend has that proves staff are stealing goods to sell on ebay?

naedanger

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

Quoted in case it disappears.


Can Boots demand the evidence your friend has that proves staff are stealing goods to sell on ebay?

The op said:

"My friend (who isn't English) wasn't happy about this and in her own language said sarcastically to her best friend that maybe the staff just say that to customers and then take the free gifts home to sell on Ebay."

I hope my emphasis makes clear that, while the op's friend's comment was not nice, she did not make a serious accusation of theft. Therefore she obviously has no need to prove anything.

To the op: The security guard probably just asked (rather than demanded) your friend to return to the shop. Anyone can make such a request. Your friend could have refused and gone on her way unless the security guard said he was arresting her.

In England and Wales if the security guard had arrested her he would have needed to know an offence had been committed and have reasonable grounds for believing your friend was responsible. As no offence had been committed he would have acted unlawfully. (In practice if he acted in good faith I very much doubt he would be prosecuted.) Also I suspect he did not actually arrest your friend.

foxtrotoscar_2

naedanger wrote: »

The op said:

"My friend (who isn't English) wasn't happy about this and in her own language said sarcastically to her best friend that maybe the staff just say that to customers and then take the free gifts home to sell on Ebay."

I hope my emphasis makes clear that, while the op's friend's comment was not nice, she did not make a serious accusation of theft. Therefore she obviously has no need to prove anything.

To the op: The security guard probably just asked (rather than demanded) your friend to return to the shop. Anyone can make such a request. Your friend could have refused and gone on her way unless the security guard said he was arresting her.

In England and Wales if the security guard had arrested her he would have needed to know an offence had been committed and have reasonable grounds for believing your friend was responsible. As no offence had been committed he would have acted unlawfully. (In practice if he acted in good faith I very much doubt he would be prosecuted.) Also I suspect he did not actually arrest your friend.

The OP, you and I were not present and can therefore only speculate as to what was actually spoken and how it was said, but the inference was certainly there.

naedanger

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

The OP, you and I were not present and can therefore only speculate as to what was actually spoken and how it was said, but the inference was certainly there.

What inference was certainly there?

The only sensible conclusion that can be reached from what the op actually said was that her friend did not make a serious accusation of theft. I cannot see how you can infer otherwise based on what has been said.

spiritus

naedanger wrote: »

What inference was certainly there?

The only sensible conclusion that can be reached from what the op actually said was that her friend did not make a serious accusation of theft. I cannot see how you can infer otherwise based on what has been said.

You are correct but as happens so many times on this forum other people choose not to believe what is written by an OP but instead speculate on things the OP may have left out of their post leaving the OP wasting time defending their account of the event rather than simply getting an opinion based on the facts presented to them.


No doubt this will provoke more unhelpful responses.

foxtrotoscar_2

The OP was not present at the incident therefore everything they say is hearsay.

foxtrotoscar_2

naedanger wrote: »

The op said:

"My friend (who isn't English) wasn't happy about this and in her own language said sarcastically to her best friend that maybe the staff just say that to customers and then take the free gifts home to sell on Ebay."

I hope my emphasis makes clear that, while the op's friend's comment was not nice, she did not make a serious accusation of theft. Therefore she obviously has no need to prove anything.

To the op: The security guard probably just asked (rather than demanded) your friend to return to the shop. Anyone can make such a request. Your friend could have refused and gone on her way unless the security guard said he was arresting her.

In England and Wales if the security guard had arrested her he would have needed to know an offence had been committed and have reasonable grounds for believing your friend was responsible. As no offence had been committed he would have acted unlawfully. (In practice if he acted in good faith I very much doubt he would be prosecuted.) Also I suspect he did not actually arrest your friend.

That is YOUR interpretation.

marleyboy

I remember when my Brother got accused of shoplifting when buying me a Birthday present (this is going back 10 Years), a security guard stopped him and called him into the back office, where they searched his bags and found nothing but his purchased goods with receipt.

They then showed him cctv footage of him looking at a cassette tape case which he considered getting but decided against, he put the case back on the rack and purchased something else. A police officer was called in and the security guard said he must have discretely put it back somewhere else once confronted, albeit no footage of such an event could be shown.

Although he was totally innocent and proven to be, even the police officer said he could not see any crime had taken place. Rather than admit fault and apologise, they still barred him from ever entering again. To this day he refuses to shop at any Asda store as a result.

spiritus

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

The OP was not present at the incident therefore everything they say is hearsay.

Quite correct but why stop there ?


Maybe I made the whole story up as some kind of commercial strategy to damage Boots' reputation ?


Maybe the part about my friends not being English could have been made up as I might be a racist and just like spreading negative stories about anyone who isn't English ?


Maybe I have a personal vendetta against all store detectives ?


Or maybe the truth is exactly how I presented it.


Now I am not going to waste any more time defending my post so the mods are more than welcome to close this topic down.