I am the worst shoplifter ever! O_O

[Hyena Dandy]

A little background for what's happening here. Yesterday I had a bit of a panic attack. During it, I fell over, and struck my head on a kofi table. This gave me a concussion, and I have double vision today, and am a little disoriented. This makes me a saaaaad yena. Also a confused one.

So, today I go to the grocery store to get dinnerfoods. I get there, and get the usual food. In the batch is six Mother Selest pizas. I go to the self-checkout, since its the first free place. I scan my food, get the receipt, pay my money to the machine. I check my receipt, and it doesn't look quite right. I thought I hadn't paid enough, so I aked the attendant if my receipt matched the number of pizzas. I calmly explained that I had a concussion, and asked if the number was wrong if I could pay her the differene or if I would have to check out again. She calls her manager, and I thought that was a bit werd, but I figured maybe she didn't know the answer to the question. The manager takes me to the back room, and I got lectured for an hour or two about economy, laws, the state of the cain in general and this store in praticular, and am told that I'm going to be prosecuted, and might be baned from the store. Of course, I'm confused as hell, already I've got the mess-up from my concussion, and my anxiety disorder isn't making things any easier, to the point that my hand is twitching like I'm having a seizure and I can't get a goddan sentence out, which makes things harder to explain. I finally manage to say "What did I do?!"

And what DID I do? I tried to shoplift two pizzas.

Yes, there are six pizzas in my bag. Yes, there are only for on the receipt. But how do you know this? BECAUSE I ASKED THE ATTENDANT TO DOUBLECHECK! I ecsplained I'd I went to the attendant to ask her whether I had made a mistake, and asked if I could pay her the money. Does that SOUND like the action of a shoplifter to you? Even a RELLY TERRIBILE shoplifter? I no we get a lot of idiots reported, btu.. COME ON. Even the guy who gave smiley jkjkjkjk as his nam din't ASK fi he had it rite!

Soon as I can get control of my faculties I'm writing a very sternly worded letter about this. I mean, its two hours later and only now am I even able to form enough sentenes coherently to describe the incidint.

Edit: Changed the name of the store so it wasn't the real one anymore.

[lupo pazzesco]

Waiting would be good. Seriously, they thought you were a shoplifter despite asking for confirmation of your receipt AND an offer to make up the difference in case of a mistake? Sweet merciful crap, you said you had a concussion? I think they might have, too. (There goes that pesky little iota of optimism of mine again, valiantly trying to argue against terminal stupidity...)

And sweetheart, if you have a concussion, I don't know as that surfing on teh interwebz is going to help it any.

<snuggles and gives baked goods and lotsa aspirin> Feel better soon!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it becomes shoplifting until the thief leaves the store with unpaid merchandise.

I mean, that's why LP people don't begin pursuing a suspect until they're out the door, right?

I'd be going after the store for wrongful arrest myself. They had no right to detain you when you committed no crime, and you went out of your way to prove you weren't a thief.

[casey13]

Well, you would have to leave the last point of sale. Generally showing your receipt and asking if you made a mistake shouldn't count as a concealment. Did you refuse to let the cashier count your pizzas?

[ChaoKuang]

You should call their corporate office,then possibly consult a lawyer. And let the corporate office know you'll be consulting a lawyer. Because that's not right AT ALL.

[Hyena Dandy]

Well, you would have to leave the last point of sale. Generally showing your receipt and asking if you made a mistake shouldn't count as a concealment. Did you refuse to let the cashier count your pizzas?

It was a self-checkout, and I approached the attendant and asked her to count the pizzas because I thought I'd made a mistake.

[Refkeila]

The attendent was an idiot who then called an even bigger idiot.

When your head is clearer, contact legal help and their corporate office.. If it were me, I'd contact the media as well. Shame these assholes who decided 'Does this look right, I had a concussion recently' = 'Stealin' pizzas, kthnxbai!'

[bainsidhe]

You said you have a concussion and weren't thinking straight. Your explanation seems pretty cut and dry, but are you certain events happened as you think? I'm honestly not trying to accuse you of anything, I'm just concerned that certain things might have happened differently, considering your mental state.

The whole situation sounds awful and I wouldn't give that store my business. A strongly-worded letter to both store manager and corporate indeed. Hope you feel better soon!

[LillFilly]

You hadn't left the store, which technically means you had not gone past last point of purchase; they have to give you the benefit of the doubt that you mean to pay for the things. Also, depending on what state you're in, concealment is not against the law. I say get a lawyer, because what they did was wrong.

On a side note, since you're still under the effects of your injury, you might want to go out with friends or someone to help you. If you were having such a hard time, you probably should not be alone, driving, etc.

[PepperElf]

plus if they're harassing someone who's had a head injury that could also make them look very bad

:-(

[Hyena Dandy]

I know I could sue, but... I mean, I don't want to get in a mess. I got my pizzas in the end. They were tasty, by the way.

[lordlundar]

I know I could sue, but... I mean, I don't want to get in a mess. I got my pizzas in the end. They were tasty, by the way.

I can understand that, especially with your disorder. You have to understand is that they think you are a thief, and if they intend to prosecute as they claimed, that is a criminal trial, not a civil one. The mere act of the accusation goes onto your record, which causes problems down the line. THAT is the reason we're saying you should get a lawyer and contact the corporate office. The second they brought up prosecution, the pizzas became the least of your worries.

Now odds are, LP will review it and probably ream the manager a new one for being such an idiot,but why take the chance?

[jjllbb]

they THREATENED you with prosecution.

I want to know what store this is! This is frankly OUTRAGEOUS!!

You need to write to corporate/consult a lawyer because if they do take action against you there will be a record of your version of events preceeding their claims. That way it doesn't seem like you're making up stories as an excuse.

Once your medical condition is brought to light and the truth comes out all they'll probably do is toss you a $30 gift card and possibly a lame apology.

I vote for justice!

If they can detain you in their store and lecture you about something that you are legally innocent of, they need to pay.

wow....this post really struck a cord with me.

[Hyena Dandy]

Well, I got in contact with corporate. They gave me a gift card and said they wouldn't prosecute.

It seems they'd been having a lot of problems with the self-checkouts and teenagers, so they told their checkout people to be extra-wary. Since I was too confused and stressed out by the incident, they took the nervousness as being nervous about having been caught.

So I'm not in trouble, and I get a hundred dollars of food, which means I can spend that money on people's Christmas presents.

[jjllbb]

I'm glad you got $100 worth of food.

But it doesn't even sound like they apologized. It sounds like they were justifying their actions.

And with it just ending there with a gift card they think they can accuse anyone of shoplifting and lecture them without just cause and simply buy them off if they were wrong.