Stopped wrongly by security

My parents were leaving a well known supermarket over Xmas, after spending a few hundred euro, when the alarm went off after they passed through the security thing at the door.

Turns out that the checkout girl forgot to remove a tag and next thing they knew they were surrounded by security.

Being that it was just before Xmas it was extremely embarassing for them and a crowd formed while the shop staff checked their receipt etc.

Naturally I'm very angry about this as they are old and were quite shook by the whole thing...does anyone have any knowledge of whether there is any legal action we can take?

We sought out the manager but all he did was offer his apologies...I believe that since it was their fault they should have made some gesture of good will...


Thanks

Nala

As it was Christmas, the supermarket was probably jammed, right? The girl at the till was probably really busy, and she didn't take the security tag off one of the items. She's only human. I sympathise with your parents but unfortunately these things happen. I've had it happen to me more times than I care to remember. It's no big deal and nothing that you should be too bothered about.

Sangre

Legal action? You have got to be kidding me. Trying to make some money out of a rididuclous claim? I guess insurance isn't high enough already...good idea.

Or, whoops we made a human error and apologised, better give you a new plasma tv or we could be sued. Get real and grow up. Is your ego so fragile that a little false humiliation will break it?

Pathetic.

Actually she wasn't really busy...it was the drinks counter and my parents remember was that it was unusually quiet there.

Mr E

No harm done, Brian Rhythmic Ash. Some red faces, and a story to tell....
Forget about it and move on. Mistakes happen.

D!ve^Bomb!

shees!! just forget about it..

blobert

Sue them. Sue everybody!

Farls

Same thing happened a friend of mines sister in boots a few years back, woman on till left on security thing, alarm went off when she was leaving the store and got really embarressed about the whole thing.

Anway she took legal action due to emotional trauma or something similar and got 2grand (sterling) for her efforts.

Farlz

ps. i don't condone this because this country is mad enough with people lifting money left right and center, but when the manager was ignorant enough to not even offer a gesture then fúck them.

Mr E

Thats bollox.... Its that kind of crap that turned America into a legal minefield - people afraid to sneeze in case they are sued.

My advice is let it go.

Emotional trauma my ass.

DublinWriter

...which is all well and good *but* in the past I've heard a few stories of security staff actually planting evidence in people's bags when they turn out to have nothing.

Basically this used to happen in the late 80's/early 90's when tagging wasn't as widespread, jobs were a bit harder to find and security staff were direct employee of the shop and not employees of a contract security firm.

Why would they do this do you ask? Well, the process of bringing someone back for a bag search is legally tantamount to acusing them of theft. Most security staff who falsely accused someone who turned out to have nothing would have faced a summary dismissal.

Remember, you have two basic legal rights when this happens:

1) Always insist to be searched by a member of An Garda Siochana when brought back to the office. Never let a employee of the shop do this directly. When this happens ensure that you get the AGS member's name, the manager's name and the name of the security employee.

2) After the event you can sue on a variety of things, from wronglful accusation, emotional trauma to defamation. I'm not a legal bod, but most cases of this kind are settled out of court for a couple of K.

For those of you who decry me as being someone who is encouraging people to make claims etc etc, personally, I think this kind of thing is another manifestation of the appaling service levels consumers are expected to put up with in this country. Bad service should be rewarded accordingly.

Gordon

What do your parents want? Is it just you that wants to force this claim or are they fuming with rage enough to demand social justice and money for their embarrasment?

How is this a Personal Issue to you, are you in a dilemma about whether or not to pursue this?

tk123

This is stupid - the girl made a mistake which she probably got in trouble for and the security guys were only doing their job. This has happened to me a few times buying games or cds where there's a bunch of tags and they forgot one and while i was "surrounded by security" they just asked to see the receipt and said sorry.. You said your folks were embarrassed and they got apology - what more do they want?!

Stark

blobert wrote:

Sue them. Sue everybody!

I tripped on a footpath once that someone carelessly left by the side of a road. I think I should definitely sue.

simu

Stark wrote:

I tripped on a footpath once that someone carelessly left by the side of a road. I think I should definitely sue.

People have sued for less, sickeningly.


To the thread starter - your parents are making a big deal out of nothing. Mistakes are sometimes made, tell them to get over it.

therecklessone

Deleted User wrote:

My parents were leaving a well known supermarket over Xmas, after spending a few hundred euro, when the alarm went off after they passed through the security thing at the door.

Turns out that the checkout girl forgot to remove a tag and next thing they knew they were surrounded by security.

Sounds like they were stopped correctly by security. Alarm goes off, security respond. Open and shut.

How were security to know it was a false alarm?

I can see how it would be slightly embaressing, but seriously, was it bad enough that they can't venture out the door? I suggest a letter to the customer service section of the supermarket chain explaining how embarassing it was for them, mentioning of course the fact that they'd just spent a small fortune in the shop. If they get nothing more than a standard apology then take their business elsewhere.

I would laugh them out of court if I was serving on a jury and this was the case. Seriously, I'd keep pointing and laughing.

JackKelly

Even the consideration of any sort of legal action is crazy.

checked their receipt etc

Whats etc? The alarm went off, they checked the reciept, everything was sorted.So what? Maybe if they had grappeled you to the wall and handcuffed you there would be reason to complain but being checked is hardly an offence.Only doing their job. Taking into consideration that they are old, and maybe felt vunerable, a quick apology would sort things out.

Its better than the situation in HMV on henry st when i was in on xmas eve. The alarm was basically going off constantly, but the music was too loud and the place too packed for security to be able to do anything. You could have literally walked out with CD's in your hand.No Joke.

steviec

therecklessone wrote:

I can see how it would be slightly embaressing, but seriously, was it bad enough that they can't venture out the door? I suggest a letter to the customer service section of the supermarket chain explaining how embarassing it was for them, mentioning of course the fact that they'd just spent a small fortune in the shop. If they get nothing more than a standard apology then take their business elsewhere.

I wouldn't even go that far. That's only likely to get the staff in trouble for the sake of trying to get something for nothing.

I worked in a supermarket for a long time, lost count of how many times I've been accused of overcarging/insulted etc. wrongly(people see 'Spring Cola 49c' and seem to think that it applies to Coca-cola because they happen to be on the same shelf, stuff like that), of course you just have to be polite and never even get an apology for screaming at you in front of a queue of people.

When your behind the counter you've no rights, but the guy on the other side is 'sue sue sue' if there's a slight mistake, just because the shop always gives in for the sake of avoiding bad publicity, regardless of who's right or wrong.

frodi

DublinWriter wrote:

I think this kind of thing is another manifestation of the appaling service levels consumers are expected to put up with in this country. Bad service should be rewarded accordingly.

I'm with Dublinwriter on this one. It's happened to me twice in B&Q in one week. Not busy, check out girl too lazy or not properly trained to do her job. If the stores want the benefit of these tags then they should use them properly. Been asked to open your bags at door by "security" is tantamount to accusing you of theft. Last time I got them to get a manager down to complain there and then. next time I refuse to open my bag and get them to get the guards and look stupid.

DEmeant0r

frodi wrote:

I'm with Dublinwriter on this one. It's happened to me twice in B&Q in one week. Not busy, check out girl too lazy or not properly trained to do her job. If the stores want the benefit of these tags then they should use them properly. Been asked to open your bags at door by "security" is tantamount to accusing you of theft. Last time I got them to get a manager down to complain there and then. next time I refuse to open my bag and get them to get the guards and look stupid.

TBH, they're just doing their job. Who knows, maybe staff forgot to tag a few products and people spotted it, or someone might have figured out how to take off the tags themselves.

Uthur

skip the lawsuit. Call Gerry Ryan and make a holy show of the shop on
the air. They'll be only begging to make some kind or reparation to save face.


Uthur

BuffyBot

Lordy. A mistake was made. Faced were red. Everyone who saw it forgot about it 5 minutes later. Move on

Slutmonkey57b

OH

MY

GOD

A human being made a genuine mistake! SUE! SUE! BURN THE SHOP DOWN!!! KILL THE SECURITY MAN!!

shut t.f. up. What a total non-issue.

Bottle_of_Smoke

frodi wrote:

I'm with Dublinwriter on this one. It's happened to me twice in B&Q in one week. Not busy, check out girl too lazy or not properly trained to do her job. If the stores want the benefit of these tags then they should use them properly. Been asked to open your bags at door by "security" is tantamount to accusing you of theft. Last time I got them to get a manager down to complain there and then. next time I refuse to open my bag and get them to get the guards and look stupid.

so what would you have expected security to have done? use telepathic powers to know you're parents were ok!? you know your prents might not have been abke to use whatever product it was properly if security didnt stop them? Cop On

Sangre

Heh...I actually kind of wish they got by security and you made a go at trying to get the ink security tags off.
That thought has eased the mental anguish of this thread somewhat.

The Sweeper

Deleted User wrote:

Naturally I'm very angry about this as they are old and were quite shook by the whole thing...does anyone have any knowledge of whether there is any legal action we can take?

Brian Rhythmic Ash I know how you're feeling on this one. My parents are also quite old, and I know for a fact that my mother would just curl up and die if this happened to her. Older people tend to be less easygoing about such things and can take the supposition of their honesty and integrity very seriously. It can be really upsetting for them to be "in trouble with authority" - especially in public - and when they're upset it then becomes really upsetting for you.

Security guards can be overzealous in the way they stop people. There's a big difference between an old couple who stand about gawping like fish out of water and turning scarlet when the alarm goes off, and two tracksuited knackers who start to leg it. Security guards (and before anyone has a pop at me, I know quite a few store security guards, past and present) say they start to recognise a thief by their body language after they've been in the job a while - I think if they're good security guards they'll apply that skill and treat people accordingly.

It's so much nicer to say, loudly, "Excuse me folks, there appears to still be a tag on an item in your bags that's set the alarm off, could you please come with me to the checkout and we'll get the girl to remove it" rather than physically taking the bags from them and pawing through them.

However legal action isn't the way to go on this one. If anything, you'd do better to make light of the situation and try and make your parents feel less like they've been wronged so they get over it. That and encourage them to badmouth the store's security to anyone who'll listen, talking through things being a good way to get over them and all that...

Keyzer

Get over it, these things happen...

Although security guards do get up my nose.
The place where I work, one of the secuirty guards was so picky and fussy about security badges and checking peoples laptop bags to make sure they hadnt nicked anything, turns out the swine was offloading laptops by the dozen from the company warehouse... I hope he drops his soap numerous times in the joy.

P.S If anyone is a security guard don't jump down my throat.

koneko

People like you are what's wrong with the world today. You think this is bad? They were embarrassed for a few seconds while the store made sure they weren't stealing anything, that's what store security is for.

I can't believe the attitude some people have, sue whenever you can, out to make a quick buck. Being embarrassed for 10 seconds is agony? Cop on to yourself.

seamus

If your parents are older, I'm sure they've suffered far worse indiscretions in their time, this is nothing. Are they still actually shook up about it, or are you asking here to see how many people recommend legal action?
While you'll probably win, frivilous lawsuits turn you into Scum of The Earth(tm).

It's a story to tell over beers/at Xmas. Your parents have already gotten some entertainment gold out of it.

koneko

I don't even see this as something embarrassing. Next thing you know lads will be sueing girls in school because they rejected them and they felt embarrassed. "Oh, the mental anguish she put me through!"

Disgusting.

][cEMAN**

Stark wrote:

I tripped on a footpath once that someone carelessly left by the side of a road. I think I should definitely sue.

Was there a mind the step sign? If not you clearly need to sue the pants off your council!

JackieChan

While you'll probably win, frivilous lawsuits turn you into Scum of The Earth(tm).

There is an element of truth to this. A friend of mine chipped a tooth on some food she was eating in a restaurant one night. She sued the restaurant and a got a couple of K for it. To this day people think less of her because of this. I personally dont think she should have got a penny(1.27cent).Its not as if the waiter broke her tooth. If I was out and ate some spare ribs and chipped my tooth on them (other than hitting your tooth with the rib, I'm not sure how you can do this)I wouldn't have even considered suing.
JC

seamus

JackieChan wrote:

There is an element of truth to this. A friend of mine chipped a tooth on some food she was eating in a restaurant one night. She sued the restaurant and a got a couple of K for it. To this day people think less of her because of this. I personally dont think she should have got a penny(1.27cent).Its not as if the waiter broke her tooth. If I was out and ate some spare ribs and chipped my tooth on them (other than hitting your tooth with the rib, I'm not sure how you can do this)I wouldn't have even considered suing.
JC

:rolleyes:
Chances are, her tooth was weak anyway. I've heard of people cracking molars on slighty undercooked carrots, steak, and even a bag of crisps. It's always an indicator that there was something wrong with the person's tooth, not the food they were eating.

WhiteWashMan

my mother was stopped by a bouncer at the door of a well known dublin pub about 6 years ago.

should i sue?

Lafortezza

WhiteWashMan wrote:

my mother was stopped by a bouncer at the door of a well known dublin pub about 6 years ago.
should i sue?

Yes, how dare your mother embarrass you by trying to get into a pub where young people are.
Take her for everything she's worth.

Boberto

I hate this compo culture crap! I say get over it, be happy that they offered an apology. Surely that still stands for something these days? People go looking for free stuff or money every time they're inconvenienced....

The security team don't know you and don't know you're not a thief. It's their job to check these things when that buzzer goes off.

On the other hand, if the security guards came in on ropes from the roof, tackled you to the ground, sprayed mace in your face and strip searched you then maybe that would be something to bicker about. And though it was the checkout girl's fault, she's allowed teeny mistakes. The shops are flooded with cheapskates this week and shop staff are being worked off their feet. They're only human.

Boberto

my mother was stopped by a bouncer at the door of a well known dublin pub about 6 years ago.

should i sue?

You should totally do that.. It must have been awful for her... *pats on shoulder*

koneko

Boberto wrote:

On the other hand, if the security guards came in on ropes from the roof, tackled you to the ground, sprayed mace in your face and strip searched you then maybe that would be something to bicker about.

Now THAT is a TV movie and a half.

But seriously, what do you think security people are for? Old people rob stuff all the time, they think they're entitled to it.

frodi

How about if these stores put a big sign over the entrance

"We use security tags and sometimes our staff are too lazy/stupid/ignorant/not trained properly to remove them correctly. We reserve the right in these cases to embarass you publically if the buzzer sounds when you leave. We know that you are innocent as the scum bags thieves will successfully disable these devices themselves. To save yourself embarassment please ask one of our resident shoplifters to disable the device for you and save us staff time."

Before any retail staff jump down my throat I work in retail (have done since 1976) and have used these devices. On occasion we have disabled them for customers COMING IN to our shop after they set off the buzzer coming in after buying something in another shop that did not disable it or bother challenging when they left thast shop. (Yes we asked to see receipts first.) This was a real pain in the arse in the shopping centre as they were setting off alarms in every shop, some as they just walked past.

Bottom line if retailers want to use security tags they should make sure that staff are trained properly and motivated. Otherwise they might as well save their money and not bother.
And yes older folk who are as honest as the day is long get deeply offended by "security" asking to see their bags. To them this is as offensive as if the "security" person shouted "stop thief!"

D!ve^Bomb!

frodi wrote:

How about if these stores put a big sign over the entrance

"We use security tags and sometimes our staff are too lazy/stupid/ignorant/not trained properly to remove them correctly. We reserve the right in these cases to embarass you publically if the buzzer sounds when you leave. We know that you are innocent as the scum bags thieves will successfully disable these devices themselves. To save yourself embarassment please ask one of our resident shoplifters to disable the device for you and save us staff time."

Before any retail staff jump down my throat I work in retail (have done since 1976) and have used these devices. On occasion we have disabled them for customers COMING IN to our shop after they set off the buzzer coming in after buying something in another shop that did not disable it or bother challenging when they left thast shop. (Yes we asked to see receipts first.) This was a real pain in the arse in the shopping centre as they were setting off alarms in every shop, some as they just walked past.

Bottom line if retailers want to use security tags they should make sure that staff are trained properly and motivated. Otherwise they might as well save their money and not bother.
And yes older folk who are as honest as the day is long get deeply offended by "security" asking to see their bags. To them this is as offensive as if the "security" person shouted "stop thief!"

erm, have you ever heard the words 'human error' by any chance :rolleyes: just becasue you've been stackin shelves for 29 years, doesn't mean you're right

no matter how good someone is trained they're still gonna make mistakes ffs.. get over it.

][cEMAN**

JackieChan wrote:

There is an element of truth to this. A friend of mine chipped a tooth on some food she was eating in a restaurant one night. She sued the restaurant and a got a couple of K for it. To this day people think less of her because of this. I personally dont think she should have got a penny(1.27cent).Its not as if the waiter broke her tooth. If I was out and ate some spare ribs and chipped my tooth on them (other than hitting your tooth with the rib, I'm not sure how you can do this)I wouldn't have even considered suing.
JC

Yeah the waiter didn't do it, but if the food had been undercooked and the person suffered severe food poisoning, would you still be thinking it was the waiter that should be held accountable?

If there was something in the food - something hard - that caused the tooth to be chipped then yeah I wouldn't consider an appology good enough. It's not gotta be pleasant having your tooth chipped.

I would have to say in this case though that your friend would have had to take the food instantly out of their mouth and find whatever it was that was in it. If it was just weak teeth then yeah - they deserve nothing.

Otherwise that's like having someone throwing a handfull of pebbles at you and it putting your eye out, then them saying "Well it's your own fault for turning around to see me throwing them at you. If you had just kept looking the other way I would have just hit you and nothing more would have happened".

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Kingsize

having worked in retail & loss prevention i do know a bit about this.
If things are exactly as you said it then i believe the security staff
were heavy handed or inept but I dont believe it was a false arrest,all they have to do is discretely ask you to return to the till to have your item de- tagged.
there usually is a sign which instructs people to return to the till if the buzzer sounds.
most professional shoplifters would not take the risk of having the alarm go off & they have figured ways of avoiding this.
most companies emphasis is on deterring shoplifters nowadays as false arrest claims are expensive & embarrasing.Any of the companies that i have worked for would not "arrest" anyone unless they had proof (video &/or eyewitness evidence)even if it was an obvious theft & a known crim.
with regards to hmv the problem with the tags they use is that then can be re activated by magnets & it may not be the stores fault.I also know someone who's work I.D. fob constantly sets off security alarms!!

Canis Lupus

I hate hate hate hate HATE ppl who feel the need to sue at the drop of a hat. It really is one thing I cannot abide. It's disgusting that the minute someone feels insulted or slighted they don't just let it slide instead they are thinking wooohooo how much money will I get.

To the original poster yur parents were stopped by security doing their job as a result of a SIMPLE MISTAKE (stupid it may have been). Regardless whether this sueing business is your idea or your parents stop your money grabbing! The world would be a better place if this sort of behaviour went away.

koneko

koneko wrote:

People like you are what's wrong with the world today.

Oh and pls don't sue me because I said that, kthnxbye

Kingsize

Unless you're Samantha Mumba of course who famously sued one of the big security firms in town because she was refused entry into a shop and the security guard told her it's because she was a 'shoplifter'.


to be fair to the security gaurd he obviously recognised her face but wasnt quite sure exactly how he knew her!!thats what she gets for being famous for doing exactly what!!???
mikey graham from boyzone must get it all the time...
(if indeed he's still alive )

yes & I hate the blame & claim culture too shame on you all.

frodi

newband wrote:

erm, have you ever heard the words 'human error' by any chance :rolleyes: just becasue you've been stackin shelves for 29 years, doesn't mean you're right

no matter how good someone is trained they're still gonna make mistakes ffs.. get over it.

To err is human, to forgive is against company policy.

I'm now in the position of owning my own business. I personally see it as bad business to embarrass my customers. Training is about reducing the numbers of errors. As I posted earlier twice in the one week in the same store, to me this shows a bad attitude to training & customers. I take responsiblity for training my own staff and if a mistake happens I apologise to customer, we look at it, learn from it and work towards making sure it doesn't happen again.

On a side issue I was in Tesco recently and they had security tags thro condoms and pregnancy tests. Apart from defacing the product would you buy/use condoms that have had a security tag piercing the box? :eek:

D!ve^Bomb!

frodi wrote:

I take responsiblity for training my own staff and if a mistake happens I apologise to customer, we look at it, learn from it and work towards making sure it doesn't happen again

So you agree that people make mistakes?? So when they do (your employees), do you tell them they are stupid, lazy, ignorant, insufficiently trained? I agree 100% that you should work towards preventing further mistakes happening, but thinking that your employees, or anyone else's employees, will never make a mistake is rather naive tbh.

What if this happened in your place of business (I don't know what kind of shop you have), but what if someone left, the security alarm goes off, they get hugely embarrassed, and.OMG! :eek: they start to blush. They are soo upset that they feel the need to sue you and take you to court for thousands. Are you going to agree with that customer and think she deserves that money?

frodi

newband wrote:

So you agree that people make mistakes?? So when they do (your employees), do you tell them they are stupid, lazy, ignorant, insufficiently trained? I agree 100% that you should work towards preventing further mistakes happening, but thinking that your employees, or anyone else's employees, will never make a mistake is rather naive tbh.

What if this happened in your place of business (I don't know what kind of shop you have), but what if someone left, the security alarm goes off, they get hugely embarrassed, and.OMG! :eek: they start to blush. They are soo upset that they feel the need to sue you and take you to court for thousands. Are you going to agree with that customer and think she deserves that money?

Yes we make mistakes but that is not because of ignorance, laziness or stupidity. I took care when choosing staff. Lack of training, yes, that's why we look at each situation and work towards prevention.
No buzzer will go off as i don't use security tags.

If you check you will see that I never advocated sueing as a response. However I do think that the retailer should apologise (if they even care) and try prevent recurrance.
I think that this situation is indicative of very poor levels of customer service across the retail industry. There is so many customers out there that they don't notice or care when they lose one. There are some businesses out there that take notice of good customer care and they are well worth frequenting. Most people appreciate a nice "hello" "please" and "thank you" with a smile. And they respond. When I have made mistakes in the past and I apologise (genuinely) all but one have responded by thanking me. All most want is an acknowledgement that an error was made and that somebody is genuinely sorry for what has happened to them. even some of those who end up sueing only do so to get a public acknowledgement of the mistake and not for monetary reward.

Sangre

frodi wrote:

If you check you will see that I never advocated sueing as a response. However I do think that the retailer should apologise (if they even care) and try prevent recurrance.

The manager did apologise.

"We use security tags and sometimes our staff are too lazy/stupid/ignorant/not trained properly to remove them correctly. We reserve the right in these cases to embarass you publically if the buzzer sounds when you leave. We know that you are innocent as the scum bags thieves will successfully disable these devices themselves. To save yourself embarassment please ask one of our resident shoplifters to disable the device for you and save us staff time."

You seem to think a mistake is because someone is lazy/stupid/ignorant/not trained properly, when in fact at Xmas its 90% because the shop is under-employed and the employees are over-worked.

frodi

Sangre wrote:

The manager did apologise.

There are some good folk out there.

Sangre wrote:

You seem to think a mistake is because someone is lazy/stupid/ignorant/not trained properly, when in fact at Xmas its 90% because the shop is under-employed and the employees are over-worked.

A bit unfair on my part, but I have come across the stupid/lazy/ignorant, staff and customers. If there are not enough staff then you have to question committment to customer service. You know that it will be busy at xmas so you make sure you have enough staff on. I increased front of shop staffing by 50% even though the expected increase was only 25%.

Sangre

Hey Im just repeating what your sign said.