i am not a shop lifter!!

[mullein3]

yesterday i went to holland and barratt i go every month and spend about �40 i walk round and get what i want and mr m stands by the door and comes and pays when i have finished ..so the lady came from behind the till and asked me did i need help so i said no..well i have an advanced herbalist diploma and know more than her..so i carried on shopping i went round the corner of an aisle and she appeared again so she asked again so i said no i told mr m to come and pay and we escaped..mr m is black and was carrying a large bag..he is also a police officer..well he said" she thinks you were shop lifting because of me..!!! their were 3 others in the shop none of them had a shopping basket like me and one person had a coat on with big pockets!!so why wasnt they hounded..i have made a complaint about it as i like to look round the shop..and i didnt buy as much as usual as i was being hounded..i have never stolen anything and i was well dressed and i didnt have pockets or bags to put whatever this silly cow thought i may pinch!! she looked at mr m and put us in a catagory she must have thought mr m large bag was to put all the stuff we pinched in..i am most cross and expect an apology at least!! do any others on here hate being followed round a store?? does it put you off? i am not going back i shall look on the internet for other vitamin supplyiers..

[snook]

Yes I hate being watched/followed round too, but there's not much you can do about it. Don't know why it happens to me, but may be because I'm tall (hence noticeable) and fairly well built (so a dope might automatically think I'm a thug). There's really no hope for people who make instant (and usually wrong) estimations of a person purely based on what they see.

As for H&B, take your custom elsewhere, that's the customer's prerogative. Also, I'd write to their Head Office and let them know how you feel. They won't actually give a damn, though they'll say they do, but you'll feel a whole lot better for having said it.

[spudqueen]

My 75 year old Auntie won't go in Waterstones any more as twice she was in there browsing when an assistant started just moving books on and off the shelf without really doing anything right next to where she was looking. She is convinced that they thought she was a shop lifter.
All I can say in the shop assistants defence is that they may have recently had a shop lifting incident which was similar to your shopping experience (ie one person 'shopping' another stood by the door), and they were just being extra vigilant. Maybe Waterstones have had a spate of elderly lady shoplifters!

[Hermia]

I seem to get followed around shops all the time. I've had occasions when a security guard has trailed behind me the whole time. I'm not sure why. I'm an ordinary looking 29 year old woman wearing ordinary clothes and carrying an ordinary handbag. I've obviously got "thief" written across my forehead!

[gary baldy]

If you feel you are being singled out as a shop lifter start acting really really suspiciously to really wind them up and hang around for ages. Make it really obvious that you have potential to shop lift and then when they can take it no more go to the counter and spend lots of money and be very smug and over polite to the assistant.

[mullein3]

I have complained this morning..and i have given them 7 days to investigate..i am not going to be treated like that..especially as the other shoppers didnt have baskets and were not approached at all..even though they were in the shop longer than me!! mr m deals with lots of shop lifters in his job and they normally have somewhere to put the things they stole..i had a fur gilet on with no pockets and a gypsy skirt with no pockets..mr m allways carrys the bag as i have a bad back if i carry shopping..i am most miffed..

[Kay]

mullien, Im so glad that you've taken action! If you and mr m shop at H+B once a month the staff should surely know you by now? I find H+B far too expensive anyway. Google..Healthspan Uk or www.worldwideshoppingmalluk.

[mullein3]

fina..thanks i will look at those sites i am not going back to h&b out of principle...i doubt whether the staff would know us as we travel into birmingham and go the one by the railway station..and its busy and we go different days etc,,i will let you all know what they say when they contact me..

[Lore]

It's an awful thing to go through mullein, I to have had this experience but I have to admit, I did exactly what garybaldy suggested, When I realised I was being followed, I stayed for soooo long! then with a smile to the security guard, went and paid for my items.

[msemma]

On a less suspicious note... she may have though you were a mystery shopper if holland and barratt have them - easy to spot mystery shoppers carry loaded baskets of specific products and are there to see if the assistant asks them if they need help!

[sammd]

I don't like being followed around either. I've never stolen anything in my life and have absolutely no intention of doing it. When i'm in my work clothes i haven't noticed it happen but when i'm wearing casual clothes (usually a hoody - not because i'm a chav, but because i was a student recently and that's what we wear a lot - not with the hood up mind!) i've noticed it and find it very offputting. I shouldn't have to go out shopping wearing a suit at the weekend just to avoid it! I think i will do the above and wind the security guard up...

[Solarjunkie]

You'll save a fair bit if you go to

http://www.zipvit.com/

The best prices I have found for almost everything.

[tigga]

Yes its very annoying - im in a similar situation to snook - tall but with a completely bald head (not out of choice !) and security follow me everywhere, watching like hawks. I would never steal a thing, the best response i gave was in the asda on my dinner break from work, after being hounded the whole way round the shop, i just turned to the guard and said "you are wasting your time mate - i earn more in a day than you in a week, im not gonna steal anything" this didnt deter him one bit but his face was an absolute picture when he followed me outside and i drove of in my bosses' shiny new merc !. He didnt bat an eyelid after that.

[tobeloy]

I know what you feel like mullein, I shop in my local h&B and have experienced this myself yet i am no thief and i do purchase goods from the store on a regular basis....it`s not just h&b but a lot of shops i go into this happens and i dont know why maybe i fall into the stereotype of a shoplifter or a thief an it really gets my goat so after complaining really didnt get me anywhere i now humour the people who follow me....ask them do they want to hold my hand or do they want a photo and a lot of them soon get the message....this is my way of dealing with it now...but i hope you receive a positive response to your complain....good luck :-)

[andy-hughes]

I seem to be out of step with previous responses, but I think both you and your husband are being over sensitive about this. Your husband should surely have a more mature attitude about dilligent shop staff, rather than assume he is being racially stereotyped. It seems from what you say, that the lady was just trying to be helpful - maybe she thought you looked more vague than other shoppers. To make an official complaint on these grounds is, I think excessive, but obviously we must agree to differ.

[mullein3]

andy hughes...i was not being over sensitive i was asked twice within the space of 2 minutes if i needed help!! when i turned the aisle to look at the herbal tea she litterally ran up the aisle from the other end ..thats when it dawned on me she thought i was ashop lifter..so i came away with out some things i wanted..And as for mr m he has no problems with his colour in fact he is the only black police officer that hasnt joined the black police officer federation as he thinks its racist to have such an organisation..he deals with shop lifters every week and he knew exactly what was going on..he told me not to complain as even when he is racially abused by criminals and the police ask him does he want to complain he says no..well i am afraid i am not going to be put in a slot its me that complained not mr m and if i get treated like that again i will complain again..also mr m is a very nice person he was nominated for police man of the year by the local community and he brings old people home and feeds them..WHITE ones..he has no issue at all..i will not be treated like i was by a sour face shop assistant and i didnt look vague as i know all about herbal products i just like to look around..and i will look around or not shop in that shop again..

[mullein3]

andy..and as an after thought mr m was not very pleased that i complained as he said its just one of those things with some one stereo typing..but as i am a good customer i dont think i should be treated the way i was..and if they get away with it then they will do it again..maybe they might be a bit more discreet next time..i havnt been followed anywhere else by security guards..i dont think i would be very pleased if that happend and would ask them if they had a problem!! this woman was running round the corner and straight up the next aisle to pursue me again..she had allready asked me once if i needed help she didnt need to ask twice!!

[the birdster]

i just think that its rather funny.... i love it if i get followed round a shop... i have never stolen anything in my life and i am not planning on doing it anyway.... i used to be a sales assistant and now i am a police ofiicer.if the sales assistant cant tell the difference between a shoplifter and a real customer thats her/ his look out!...just laugh it off, life is far too short!!!!

[mullein3]

the birdster..hi i appreciate what you say it is funny in some ways ..but i am not going to be treated like that without an apology..if the other 3 customers had been asked if they needed help then i wouldnt mind so much..but to be singled out well i dont take kindly to it..i have rights and i am not as laid back as mr m who just ignored it..in fact i am the total opposite if i am right about something i wont back down..not ever...if i was wrong i would be the first to say so and apologise i am very truthfull and honest..in this case well we shall see what h&b has to say for them selves..

[kazza12345]

you only assume the person thought you were shoplifting - how ridiculous to take such offence when the woman was trying to help you - giving them 7 days to investigate makes me laugh - i dont suppose the shop assisstant even remebers you/the occasion

she asked you twice if you wanted help - and you call that being hounded?? and if mr m wasnt even in the shop with you, how did she make an assumption about the both of you?

i know ^^^^ that sounded ott but really, take a chill pill and a deep breath and try to realise how ridiculous you sound ....

[kazza12345]

also

1)she didnt even accuse you of anything at all, when she could have asked you to step through to the back if she thought you were shoplifting and

2) even if she was suspecting you, so what?. It's vigilant shop staff preventing thefts that stop my prices going up even more due to instore theft - so i say thanks