Falsely Accused of Theft

bunnie1234

"See its things like this that make people doubt your story. Its not that they think you stole anything. Quite the opposite, they believe you didn't and that the scenario is made up. By things like this, I mean implying you knew what was in everyones trolley, when it was there and how it was handled.

You say you shop there often and know people there. Do you often get things reduced in price deliberately? I wouldn't even know that you could do that so I'm wondering if you have a habit of doing this. It would certainly be a logical explanation for the scenario you describe."

The scenario isn't made up. I know that the other two people who were banned took one item each of fruit after it was marked down because I was there talking to them when a staff member came along and marked the fruit down. I know they were accused of having it in their trolleys before it was marked down and I know this because they told me after we left the store. I know my friend and I both got one pie and a few other things that were not marked down. Does knowing this mean it is made up?

When we got the pies marked down we saw a staff member being handed lots of things from lots of people (10 - 15) who had the items in their trolleys. I do not know what they had in their trolleys, I simply saw them handing items to the staff member who was marking them down. I don't know if this gives the impression its a made up scenario because I happen to know or see these things, but I was there, it happened and is not made up. The people handing up their items for final markdowns did so in the bakery department as the woman was marking down bread.

My friend and I go to the store a few evenings each week on our way home from work to pick up various things we need and we walk home together afterwards. In the evenings they do indeed do final markdowns. And because we go there around the same time we see regulars who also go at that time, so we know about half a dozen people as acquaintances we might chat to sometimes and we see other regulars that we don't really chat to. People do go to areas where markdowns are going on.

My friend and I get a few mark down items sometimes if there is something of interest. Some people do put things in their trolleys in advance and get a final markdown on them. The store may not like this but they could easily stop it it by telling staff not to markdown items handed to them by customers. My friend and I tend not to do this, but on this occasion, we got one pie each which had been reduced already and we would have bought them at that price had we not seen the woman doing final markdowns for others handing her things. I dont know if this explains things for you.

I expected some doubters but am surprised people think the whole scenario is made up. There have been comments by some that I did not provide enough details and then when I added information some said I had changed my story. Others seem to think because I gave a lot of detail that it must be made up. I can't seem to win. I initially attempted to summarise so as not to bore everyone. The entire incident still seems almost unbelievable to me and my friend so I suppose its not suprising that people on here don't really believe it. We were stunned at the time.

My friend and I are polite shoppers and have never had problems before anywhere. Like many others, we assumed people were only treated this way if they actually did steal or if a mistake was made and staff thought they stole something. But we had paid for our items and were not accused of not paying. They didn't ask to see the receipts or the items. But they accused us of "theft", threatened us with police (to intimidate us) and banned us. I understand why no one believes it. Unfortunately, we lived it.

steve900

That sounds a terrible experience. To be honest if I had been dealt like that by the store staff, I would not want to spend another penny there.

Pollycat

bunnie1234 wrote: »

I am no longer expecting advice but simply replying to some comments.

I'm not sure why you are replying to the comments.

You've had the appropriate advice:

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

You have to remember you don't have an automatic right to shop there and they can ban who they like (as long as it's not for a protected reason).

and you seem to have accepted that:

bunnie1234 wrote: »

I know people don't have an automatic right, but would have thought that for a person to be banned their behavior must be bad in some way.

It's not us you have to convince.
And the shop isn't listening.
Move on and shop elsewhere.

DCFC79

How old ae you OP ?

When did this happen OP ?

You say you have written ti Head Office, well if it only happened 2 days agomof course you wont have a reply yet.

Aylesbury_Duck

What steak does the OP have in all of this, to make the beef worthwhile rather than just chickening out?

[Deleted User]

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

What steak does the OP have in all of this, to make the beef worthwhile rather than just chickening out?

Now you're just being a silly sausage.

Aylesbury_Duck

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Now you're just being a silly sausage.

You're the one with half-baked ideas filling the thread.

Forwandert

The stores probably sick and tired of the same group of people doing this daily/every few days and slowly dwindling the numbers down when someone over steps the mark on what's allowed. By the sounds of how the OP knows this person and that person and so worried about their reputation I'm assuming OP is part of this type of group.

bunnie1234

DCFC79 wrote: »

How old ae you OP ?

When did this happen OP ?

You say you have written ti Head Office, well if it only happened 2 days agomof course you wont have a reply yet.

I didn't say it happened two days ago! It happened two and a half weeks ago and I wrote to Head Office two days later and asked them to reply within 14 days, as advised by a consumer organisation.

I am in my fifties although I am not sure what this has to do with anything.

powerful_Rogue

bunnie1234 wrote: »

I didn't say it happened two days ago! It happened two and a half weeks ago and I wrote to Head Office two days later and asked them to reply within 14 days, as advised by a consumer organisation.

I am in my fifties although I am not sure what this has to do with anything.

Which consumer organisation was that? I ask because you can't make a company reply to a complaint.