like this help: Yesterday I went shopping at my local grocery store and was told that I would have to start leaving my backpack at the customer service desk. - Help.com

Did you still have your receipt? That would have changed their accusations real quick I would think.

Go back and ask to talk with the manager. Not the assistant. Not some flunky. THE manager. Explain to him/her what happened and that you have been a loyal customer for a number of years. Then ask him if he/she would prefer if you took your business else where. Yes or no you have remained calm and level headed not placing blame on any single person.

I’m sure they have security cameras in the store. If they have no evidence or proof they only have suspicion. Being falsely accused of doing something can have legal implications if you so choose.

Having not met you, Pink, do you think it was a case of racial profiling? Or just because you carry a backpack? Some women carry purses. Big ones too. I wonder how many of them are asked to check their bag at the door???

Aha! When a person is falsely accused of shoplifting, that’s known in the parlance as a “bad stop.” Stores who have someone make a “bad stop” are usually sued.

I would ask to see the manager, and tell him/her what happened. I would demand an apology and demand that the offending employee be disciplined and retrained. If the manager was the culprit, go to his/her corporate headquarters.

Here’s the six things that need to happen before a merchant can charge a person with shoplifting without getting his/her a$$ sued off:

1.You must see the shoplifter approach your merchandise
2.You must see the shoplifter select your merchandise
3.You must see the shoplifter conceal or carry away or convert your merchandise
4.You must maintain continuous observation the shoplifter
5.You must see the shoplifter fail to pay for the merchandise
6.You must approach the shoplifter outside of the store
from: http://www.crimedoctor.com/shopliftin…

I’d also inform the manager that just as he/she may be concerned about things disappearing from the store, YOU are concerned about things disappearing from your backpack. Tell him/her that if you are going to continue to shop there, you are NOT going to leave your personal possesions with someone you don’t know.

Let the store manager know that if you don’t receive a satisfactory response, you will retain legal counsel AND you will go to the media and report the “bad stop.” Tell him/her that accusing someone of shoplifting without proof is defamation of character and slander.

Don’t back down. Let the manager or corporate headquarters know that you demand an apology and action. Take a witness with you, so you won’t be accused of threatening them.

Oh . . . loss prevention people who falsely accuse customers of shoplifting are always fired. Always. I know this, because some of my cadets used to work in this area! One made a bad stop one day, and was immediately terminated!

Go get ‘em . . . and let ‘em know that kind of behavior is unacceptable!

I disagree with pointing fingers at any one employee. I think it is a clear evidence of the all the employees. The first employee knew the stores return policy. They didn’t need to go and “check” with somebody else first.

Speaking of security tape; next time take your own video camera and record everything from the time you enter the door. If they have a right to record you, you have the same right to record them. Wonder how many are willing to go “on record” then?

I agree that you should not have to check your backpack at the door unless this is STORE POLICY and it is in writing and posted for all to see. They can’t make one rule just for you and not apply it to everyone.

I don’t recommend this but you could go into the store completely naked. They wouldn’t DARE accuse you of shoplifting then!!! LOL

Definitely get a friend or relative to go with you anc confront the store manager and let him/her KNOW that you know you were unjustly accused. Ask the manager if this is the kind of image he/she wants to project for the store.

I once threatened to picket a Home Depot because they mixed a can of paint and didn’t put the lid on tight, and it spilled all over the inside of my car. They paid the initial estimate for cleaning up the car, but the actual cost was $100 more. They said, “Tough luck.” So I called their corporate headquarters and said, “I’m a former Army public affairs officer and retired Army officer. I’m really good at getting the media to come to events. I’m about to stage an event at your store, where I’ll be picketing and handing out flyers about how you were going to cheat a disabled veteran out of $100. Now, shall I go ahead with my plan, or do you want to reimburse me the extra $100?” You can guess what Home Depot did. And . . . the employee who first hung up on me got her a$$ reamed out and was sent to “retraining” for nearly causing Home Depot a public relations disaster over $100!

Stores HATE bad publicity. And I sure as hell WOULD have picketed that store if they hadn’t come across. They gave me a $100 gift card and I gave it to my church. I wasn’t after money–it was the principle of the thing: “Why should I lose $100 by patronizing your store?” The public relations direction with whom I spoke agreed . . . and she knew that since the store was near corporate headquarters in Atlanta, that she’d have gotten her a$$ reamed if she hadn’t taken care of the matter properly.

I play hardball with outfits like that. If they think they are going to step on me and get away with it, they have another think coming! They have a battery of lawyers who could fight you tooth and nail in the courts for 150 years, but you can resort to “consumer guerilla warfare” and get the media involved–and that is a prospect that scares the hell out of them!

If the manager balks or tries to whitewash you, tell him/her you’ll be contacting the media and picketing the store while handing out flyers about your experience. If he/she asks what you want, say, “I want to be treated like a human being, I don’t want to have to leave my backpack with a stranger, I want the person who called me a shoplifter to be counseled in writing, and I want that person to receive additional training so that it doesn’t happen again. In fact, I want you to give me your WORD OF HONOR that you will give refresher training to ALL of your employees so they don’t make a similar mistake. Otherwise–it’s the picketing and handing out of flyers!”

Hmmmm . . . maybe some doctors up there ought to be picketed, too!

Excellent! You might remind the store elements of what is required for a legitimate accusation (listed in the link I sent you), and tell him/her that NONE were present when you were unjustly accused. Tell him or her that serious liability issues arise when people are unjustly accused of crimes–especially when there is not one shred of evidence. Ask the manager how he/she would like for ALL of the store’s custmers to know how rudely a fellow customer was treated!

I’m reminded of a young black kid in Maryland. He loved Eddie Bauer’s. He bought a shirt from a store in Maryland and he really loved it. He wore the shirt to the store the next day and was looking at some other Eddie Bauer clothing. Two store detectives, both of whom were off-duty city cops, asked him what he was doing wearing an Eddie Bauer shirt. He said he had bought it the previous day. “Oh, yeah?” snarled one of the cops. “Let’s see your receipt!” Well, of course, NO ONE carries receipts around with them for the clothes they are wearing! They made the kid take off the shirt he had paid for and he left the store in his T-shirt! When he got his father to come with him back to the store with the receipt, he got his shirt back but no apology. The father went to the media and Eddie Bauer said it was a mistake and that they’d donate so much money in the boy’s name to some charity . . . but they never once apologized to the boy or to his family. So the family sued Eddie Bauer’s pants off. Eddie Bauer could have done the right thing by immediately apologizing, by maybe giving the boy some free clothing, and by firing the racist cops . . . but it tried to stonewall the family and got its butt sued off as a result! Moral: when you’re wrong, apologize–and take action to make sure an incident like that never happens again!

People are always trying to take your dignity away from you, in order to make us compliant little automatons. Don’t let it happen! Defend your honor and dignity with your last breath!

You’re in the right–they’re in the wrong. They could not defend their actions in the court of public opinion–or in a court of law. Press for a full apology–and insist that the offending employee also apologize, and demand that the store’s employees get training to prevent recurrences. And, if possible, see if that manager and staff can get an extra dose of common sense–they surely need it!

Link to the article chev.jame referred to
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000…

(I think…)

And this article refers to that case specifically:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997…

The suit cost Eddie Bauer $1 million and they got a real public relations black eye–all because their management didn’t respond appropriately.

Imagine going into a clothing store, and being disrobed by an off-duty cop who accuses you of shoplifting–with zero evidence!

I think it WAS a case of racial profiling–the cop figured a black kid couldn’t afford Eddie Bauer clothing!

When people of ANY color are falsely accused by store personnel of stealing, they need to take action to confront the store manager.

Wal-Mart likes to check the bags of departing shoppers–but shoppers can decline. I most certainly do! I had a guy who wanted to look in my bag when he was only six feet from the checkout stand–I told him to forget about it!

Bottom line, will you still be doing business there?