Accused of Theft In A Shop

hollydays

The member of staff may have totally overstepped the mark.
They will not have the authority to speak to you about this matter ( non-issue)in the way you've explained it.
As you rightly asked- if you are going to ask someone" how did they get in there" , they clearly don't know.

Fosterdog

People forget about items to pay for all the time, some genuine and some trying to pull a fast one. I was in Tesco last week and as the woman in front of me was putting her bags back in her trolley and about to pay she realised there was something left in there (looked like a greetings card to me) and told the cashier just in time to get it added to the sale but she looked so embarrassed that she almost walked out with it. The cashier said it happens all the time.

I once went in a shop, picked something up while browsing and couldn't decide whether to buy it or not, I then bumped in to a friend and spent a few minutes having a chat and catch up before walking out, I was almost through the first set of doors in the double entrance before I realised I still had the item and hadn't paid so I rushed back in to pay and the cashier there also said it happens all the time.

I understand it must have been very embarrassing and frustrating for you but I don't think it was meant in the way you took it, if you didn't know the second store sold the noodles how can you expect the cashier to know the other shop sells them?

hollydays

ARandomMiser wrote: »

Something similar happened my partner. She got a bit 'sharp' with the sales assistant but by the time she left the shop she was absolutely fuming. I was with her and asked why she was so annoyed and it was because she felt she was being accused of something. The reality was that she picked up the conversation incorrectly and focused on the wrong thing.

The actual conversation was more like
Assistant: (politely,pointing to items in basket) Do I need to ring those items through?
Partner: (quite sharpish) No, I bought those elsewhere
Assistant: (politely) Ah we sell them too?
Partner (even sharper) What are you saying (hauls out receipt) there - you see?
Assistant: (looks at me as if to say 'what the hell just happened' and I roll my eyes)

For some reason my partner had got very defensive over nothing - simply because she assumed she was being accused of something when she wasn't.

I agree that this is a similar scenario, apart from the assistant allegedly saying " how did they get in there?"

hollydays

I do agree the question " how did they get in there?", if this is exactly what they said is questioning you, which a member of staff isn't allowed to do ( it's legally very unwise)
You could say to someone" do you want to pay for those items in your bag " once you've presented all your other items for payment, technically , if you'd seen them put the items in there , but Even doing that isn't something most shops would be encouraging a sales assistant to do.
If you've not seen the customer put the items in there, you are almost certainly putting yourself at risk of being disciplined if the situation was as you've described

[Deleted User]

Fosterdog, I think I have confused you a bit.., the items were in my shopping trolley, the bag on wheels I use to take things home as I can't carry things in bags so easily (we are a family of three with no car).., not a wire 'in shop' trolley. They weren't asking if I'd forgotten to pay for something.

I'm afraid there was no doubt that i was being accused of taking the items without paying. There was no question in her voice, like the example given. Her tone was most definitely accusing. She asked me how those items got in my trolley, I said I bought them elsewhere, she moved even closer to my trolley, indicated the offending items, went a bit red and said in a higher tone of voice (her whole face changed expression) and said exactly 'but we stock them here', she was clearly disagreeing with me. I'd have reacted quite differently if it had been done in a friendlier way. I must admit that at that point, I did get sharp and said 'I don't care, I bought them in B&M'. Then I found the receipt. Then I said I don't think you can accuse me of stealing items, because that's what you were doing, unless you've actually seen me taken the items off a shelf in here and put them in my trolley. Then I walked out.

It just frightens me what would have happened if I hadn't have found the receipt easily. I do try to keep them but I often lose them (and not been able to return items for example). Just the way I am, because of the ASD. The aisle where food items are is the length of the store, I just didn't notice they had the same items in stock that I had already purchased. That will be changing lol.

I will be more careful and put things in bags in each shop I use so items can't be identified. Just makes shopping more stressful than it was. Nothing I can do, I guess.

kingfisherblue

Deanna, as your trolley is a bag on wheels type, could you keep carrier bags inside? You could then put everything from one shop into one bag in the trolley, put the receipt in, fold the top of the bag over, and fasten the top of your trolley so that no one can see what is inside. It shouldn't take any longer than you already spend at the till, and once it becomes a habit, your receipts will always be in the bag of shopping from the relevant shop. It would also help to keep you calm and less likely to panic if you know where everything is, including the receipt.

JReacher1

The staff member did nothing wrong. It's a perfectly valid question to ask why you're not paying for some items. You had a perfectly valid response that you bought them someone else and could prove it.

They also don't need to have witness you putting them in the trolley to ask where you got it from.

[Deleted User]

I totally agree Kingfisher, I get so annoyed with myself when I lose things. Unfortunately I do get overwhelmed in shops and a bit fumbly at tills. I try to reduce this by being organised but when overwhelmed things go wrong. I now have my travel card on a line around my neck cause I lost it twice in two weeks (have two kids with ASD as well and lost the travel cards because both kids were with me at the bus stop on the way home and I was dealing with them getting stressed out). Sorry I know it sounds like the mad being responsible for the inmates lol. Same with bank cards. Its very annoying. I do try to be organised to stop being overwhelmed but it doesn't always work. Its quite funny in an ironic way, I'm overwhelmed, trying to deal with two overwhelmed kids. And no I don't shout at them.., I just try to calm them down.

Now I've got more to worry about and I'd have felt a bit better (less viewing shopping as potentially dificult) if I knew shops can't do this. But such is life, can't be helped.

Sorry, didn't mean to post endlessly over what was essential two boxes of noodles (one has to have a soh about these situations). Thank you for your suggestions.

Pollycat

deannatrois
I do understand why you're so upset.

I too have a 2-wheel trolley that I take shopping.
And sometimes I go in £1 shops and Home Bargains, B&M etc - all of which tend to sell the same things.
I'm paranoid about keeping receipts just in case the same thing happens to me, although my trolley has a flap so it would be quite difficult for an assistant to see what I'd bought from another shop.

I think Kingfisher has provided a very good suggestion.

MCGONIS

I think it is the minority that spoil it for the rest of us and things like this happen.

Years ago, I worked for B&Q and one day on the check out, I served someone with a Flymo lawnmower at £100 and a pack of brass door handles at £20. I put the door handles in a carrier bag and then he said to me he did not have enough money and didn't want the door handles. I found this very strange.

Anyhow, he left with the lawmower in the trolley and I carried on serving.

Except, I saw him enter the store a few minutes later with no trolley. Then he was back in the queue of people with a trolley and a Flymo lawnmower. He said he wanted a refund as he had an argument with his girlfriend outside in the car park and she drove off.

He had clearly gone and got another mower off the shelf and thought I was dolly dimple. Anyhow, he was taken away by the Police.

But because of people like him, I became more suspicious of people in general and yet 99% of them are honest.

I think what happened to the OP is terrible and should not have happended, but I do think it is the minority that spoil it for the rest of us.