I sent their email customer service AND their CEO copies of this email. Since it's been 6 days since the incident, I felt it necessary to detail things. Lengthy, but I think it needed to be. I will post their response. I x'ed out some things for my own privacy.
Hello, my name is (my name), and on Monday, January 12th, 2009, I was falsely accused of shoplifting by your loss prevention associate in the Sears location in the Dartmouth Mall in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Please let me explain my story in detail for you:
On the Friday prior (January 16th), I stopped in your store to see if there were any copies of Animal Crossing: Wild World for Wii in stock that could be price matched to a sale that was on your company’s affiliate K-Mart site, which was out of stock. Unfortunately, there were no copies I could see in the glass case where games are kept. I did, however, go check out some games that were in a cardboard shipper display and price checked several of them at the self-price check scanner a few aisles over. I went back and forth several times, as there were no available associates to price check games for me, and ended up purchasing $25 in clearance games that were ringing up at $0.97 and were not stickered as such prices (hence, why I scanned them).
So, on the Monday following, I decided to stop in the store again as my friend was interested in a copy of Picross for the Nintendo DS I had picked up on Friday for $4.97 (also unstickered but ringing up at that price) from the same store, and there were two copies left. One of the copies looked as though a box cutter had gotten to the spine edge, and after having worked myself at both Suncoast and Gamestop in the past, I know that can easily happen when an associate opens a shipment box that has no padding on top of the product with a box cutter. So, since it was damaged (the cover art had a cut in it, and some of the shrink wrap was falling off) I decided not to purchase it. I scanned several more games that I did not decide on getting. Since my only purpose of going to the store (and the mall, since I was there on Friday) was to check and see if they still had the game in stock, I decided to leave and check out your Swansea Mall Sears location to see if they had any other games. So I put the games back in the cardboard shipper, where there were two female employees talking to a manager right next to me, and went on my way out.
After I went to your Swansea store (which is a half hour away), which all the clearance games were labeled correctly and in a metal bin in the center aisle, and another store near the Swansea Mall, I decided to head back home to my apartment in xxxxxxxx (which, you will see the address listed when I send this to you). As I was about to go to Target in Dartmouth and pick up some food, I received a call from my mother saying the Dartmouth Police had called my home. Apparently, someone had followed me out of Sears, wrote down my car’s license plate numbers, called the police department, who then called my house (where my car is registered), and in turn, my mom called me to call the police station. So I did, wondering why they would be calling me. Apparently I was accused of shoplifting, which confused me quite a bit. I ended up parking in the Sears parking lot at the Dartmouth Mall (as it was on my way to Target anyways), and then two police cruisers pulled up next to me.
Upon their arrival, I was immediately met with an officer who, rather aggressively, asked me “do you want to tell me about the three video games you stole?” where I immediately responded “I don’t know what you are talking about, officer.” He proceeded to tell me that upon me scanning several games at the self-price check scanner (which was in a messy area with cardboard boxes all over the floor, I might add) that I supposedly put three games in my pocket (which is physically impossible) and walked out the door right after. All I could think is that I had my cell phone on top of the pile (which is a T-Mobile G1 phone, I have the black model that has a purple case on it, but several parts of the black, such as the screen, back of the screen, slide out keypad and call/end call/home/etc buttons are black) and I had checked either my email or text messages while looking at the games and then put it back in my pocket (where I normally keep it) once I put the games back. So I explained to the officer and showed him my phone, and also pulled out everything I had in my pockets (being my keys, some papers, some change and a $5 bill), and the even offered the officers to look through my purse, my car, anything they wanted I would certainly oblige to as I was innocent. They did not, however, they still held on to that I “put something black and square shaped in my pocket” but would not specify what title, what details, etc. because I obviously “stole” my own cell phone I walked in with! So I offered to show the police officer where I put the games back in the store.
As we walk through the store, mind you, I am completely mortified and humiliated by being spoken to like I was a delinquent teenager, I see several of the female associates who were standing right next to me the whole time I went to the price scanner. We were then met with the loss prevention associate who accused me of stealing these three games. I showed them exactly where I put the games back in the cardboard shipper. The three games I supposedly “stole” were two copies of Picross for Nintendo DS(one being the one with the box cutter slash in it, which I handed to the loss prevention associate) and one copy of Assassin’s Creed for Nintendo DS. The officer then claimed I was “lying” and had to “enhance the video” of the security footage but refused to let me see the footage, which would clearly show me holding my cell phone and putting that in my pocket. We then went out the door back out to my car (where the loss prevention associate actually left the store holding the slashed Picross game) and then the officer took down my information (the exact information I’m giving you – xxxxx – xxxxx my cell) and said he would contact me in a couple days. He then let me go and I never heard back.
So, this being Sunday, January 18th, six days later, I have neither heard back from the police station nor received an apology from your store. Clearly the footage showed me with my cell phone. I suggest you view the tape and also view the tape of when I was there on Friday the 12th doing the same exact thing, with my same exact phone in my pocket and me using it several times. I have the receipt from that transaction with the salescheck #xxx tran#xxx pg/store xxx reg# xxx assoc#xxx. The associate that was at that register was a girl with dark hair in a ponytail who had hoop earrings I believe and answered the phone while I was ringing out. I can show you every game I price checked and where I put it back. I’m not sure if your price checkers take a log of all the games that are scanned in it, but I suggest getting that and checking it against your inventory. Nothing is missing.
In all of this, I believe your loss prevention associate should be fired and your training for these employees should be reconsidered. I know the “hand in pocket” move can sometimes be suspicious, but as someone who worked in retail before (as previously mentioned) you need to have hard evidence that the person you suspect of committing a shoplifting crime is actually taking something. Your loss prevention team clearly did not review the tape nor properly see that I had my cell phone on top of the games I was looking at. Clearly they just made an assumption and unfortunately on their (and your) behalf it was a bad call. Now after posting this incident in detail on several forums (one of which has over 6,000 views and near 200 replies), several former Sears or other loss prevention employees have posted that “false stops” like these often result in termination and, ultimately, cost the store and the company money and loss of customers. At my previous job, we usually had mall security do a walk through if we felt a customer were suspicious. Your loss prevention associate made no effort to stop me, and actually followed me to my car. To me, as a 21 year old female, that is scary and uncalled for. For all I know, your loss prevention associate may have used this as a scheme to get my personal information. I am afraid to even enter your store or even the mall now!
This loss prevention associate was about in his 20s, he was wearing a red sweater and khaki pants, blonde hair, I would say about 5’8” or so. I know loss prevention associates are supposed to look like every day customers (my friend worked as one in JC Penney in the Galleria Mall in Taunton, MA, where I worked at said Gamestop and said Suncoast previously), and since he didn’t have a name tag, I didn’t catch his name.
Frankly, I think your company should view the thread and the experiences other members of the forum Cheap Ass Gamer (a forum for bargain-hunting video gamers, which many look for clearance deals at Sears in the same fashion I did – scan at the self-check scanners because sales associates often are not around or are not willing do it). A lot of users do not even want to utilize your stores’ price check scanners any more. Who can blame them, when you are just looked at as a thief for checking a price on a product that is probably not marked correctly or up-to-date. The link to my post (my username is hopeunknown) is here: (this thread) I wrote that entire thing right as I got home from the whole incident. Needless to say, I was quite angry. It angered many other members of the community as well, as you will read.
Overall, I was deeply embarrassed and humiliated by the whole ordeal. Imagine yourself in my shoes. Would you ever want anyone to shop at Sears again, after being falsely accused of stealing things you were merely checking prices of, surrounded in your car in a mall parking lot as if you are some sort of drug dealer-calibur criminal? I don’t think you would.
I would like to know what you can do for me and what your company plans on doing about the situation. I am seriously considering getting some legal advice about this.
Thank you for your time. I hope to hear back from Sears soon.
- (my name)
off, ok not really but she did have the right to tell him to show her proof or get lost. Had she refused to cooperate, the cop couldn't do a damn thing to her.
