So I got falsely accused of stealing at Sears...

Talk to a lawyer, or the law professors/students at your school- this is nuts, you could probably get the Sears and the PD for harassment and maybe slander (I don't know my law that well, but it sounds like slander to me. If you can get his name, you might be able to go after LP kid specifically (Now that'll show him how handle this stuff right!)
 
call a lawyers and file a lawsuit for defamation of charcter. trust me i used to work loss prevention in a boscovs store. thats why we were so careful with shop lifters. in our store a false claim the person was usually good for about 10-15k.
 
Whoa OP, I'm really sorry to hear that. You just made me think twice about my price-searching ideas. I have a portable barcode scanner (bluetooth ROV) that can scan items and then price check when you are within 50 feet or so of my Apple Mac Mini... So I was thinking of going to the stores and scanning a bunch of games for price-shopping checks. Made me think twice about that now. It's a shame when big companies start treating customers like criminals. Don't let them get you down, you didn't do anything wrong. They should apologize to you!
 
My local Sears keeps all the games locked away. But yeah that is really stupid how they accused you of stealing with no evidence. That is just f'ed up.
 
Wow, based on this I see a bunch of faults in the Sears LP department. I worked as an LP manager for three years and this whole thing borders a 'bad stop.' First, depending on your state laws concealment is not always a crime. Second, unless they have clear video footage (most stores use DVRs) of you concealing something on your person and then have constant surveillance of you walking from the point of concealment past the final point of sale (which should be past EAS [electronic article surveillance] pedestals by the door) then they have no factual evidence with which to accuse you of stealing. Without that it is the LP's word against yours.

As for the police i hope you got their badge numbers and plan on filing a complaint with the local PD. If they were LP's and used the word 'stole' without 100% positive video footage in most retail environments it would be immediate termination. As maddog1419 pointed out "What ever happened to 'Innocent until proven guilty?'" In my opinion they were trying to intimidate you into confessing without any evidence other than the LP's word. The second they mentioned 'color video footage' I would have asked them to show it to me right now or stop wasting my time. With the DVR security systems now it should take them less than 15min to bring up whatever footage they have. As for them saying they need to 'enhance the footage to show what you stole' it sounds to me like he has been watching a little to much CSI.

Pardon my rant but hearing about people being falsely accused of shoplifting really irks me.
 
Yeah, I think I am going to stop price checking pretty much everything at sears because of these stories, and I price check a lot of stuff there at scanners. I have heard way too many of these stories from Sears by now and I simply cannot risk any police contact because a black mark on your record or even being in the police database can affect your ability to get a job. This also means that I will be buying less merchandise at their mismanaged stores. Dare the customer try to give the retail store money in this economy! I would think scanning barcodes at scanners would get you in more trouble than scanning an actual product but I have scanned hundreds of barcodes at Kmart and have not gotten in trouble once, and from what I hear Kmart has a pretty good Loss Prevention department.
 
Go back....Start with a game you know is marked wrong... and have them check the price on EVERYTHING locked in the glass case for you...
 
Working at a law firm, I don't think any attorney would take your case unless you threw a lot of money their way to retain them. There's no real reason to file a lawsuit or something like some members are recommending (oh and a legal aid office will probably tell you that they won't take your case as they prefer to spend their time on other ventures that look to have better results).

Plus, there's a difference between being detained and being arrested. Even if they had you in handcuffs and were just asking you questions, that still counts as being detained. Arrested means that your rights were read and you were booked. (Just fyi, since someone said something earlier about you being arrested.)

If the cops were called, there was more than likely an incident report filed. You can request a copy of this (should be free but depends on your local precinct). Get a copy of that. That will have the officers names and badge numbers so that you can then file a complaint against them for their offensive behavior. Hell, it might even tell you the name of the Sears employee (I know we've subpoenaed police records before re: incidents at Sears and I do believe it had the employee's name listed).

I'd then go to Sears and ask to speak a manager (or call and complain that way--I'm not sure what kind of levels of Sears higher ups there are) and explain what happened with the police incident, the employee's behavior of following you to your car and getting your tags (if it was a male, why not the play the scared b/c some guy's stalking you card--plus, is this really store/company policy), and make sure they know how upset you are over all this but in a polite manner. You're a regular Sears customer but after that incident, you might not be back. (Perhaps your college can run a story about it?)

Sears is already in the shitter economically and if you get your college to run a story or something, I'm sure they'd give you some sort of small something as an apology (perhaps a giftcard).

Anywho, I'm work and need to get back to that. Sorry if this is somewhat disjointed.
 
what sears was this? I worked at the warehouse in the taunton one a while back for like a month before I decided I would kill everyone if I didn't quit.

the main LP guy there was like this fat wanna be tough guy who would have never been able to run after anyone. he would always try to intimdate us since we were taking the stuff off the trucks it would have been easiest for us to pocket shit.
 
[quote name='crazylikeafox11']If the cops were called, there was more than likely an incident report filed. You can request a copy of this (should be free but depends on your local precinct). Get a copy of that. That will have the officers names and badge numbers so that you can then file a complaint against them for their offensive behavior. Hell, it might even tell you the name of the Sears employee (I know we've subpoenaed police records before re: incidents at Sears and I do believe it had the employee's name listed).

I'd then go to Sears and ask to speak a manager (or call and complain that way--I'm not sure what kind of levels of Sears higher ups there are) and explain what happened with the police incident, the employee's behavior of following you to your car and getting your tags (if it was a male, why not the play the scared b/c some guy's stalking you card--plus, is this really store/company policy), and make sure they know how upset you are over all this but in a polite manner. You're a regular Sears customer but after that incident, you might not be back.[/quote]
This. Really, all the internet tough guy talk about suing Sears for $10,000 is pretty silly. You should definitely complain to a Sears manager and to the police department though.
 
You might get a few more responses to this if you posted it over at the Consumerist, OP. They are all about "consumer's rights" and all that.
 
Moral of the story is sears sucks. It was my first job in HS when I just turned 16 and I quit shortly there after. All the people working "security" are retards. Most of them are either college drop outs, HS drop outs, and useless retired soldiers who lack the drive to better themselves (I'm not ripping on the armed forces). I remember they'd roam around the store acting like they were better than everyone that worked there...yeah right they worked at sears for a living and acted like wana-be bad ass cops. I caught more shoplifter then them (I only reported people for the money/reward). It was a rather dumb run company. It doesn't shock me how deep into the shitter they are. Seriously my local sears was at one point the busiest store in my mall. Now it's no where near as busy as it once was. Seriously they don't even staff the upstairs level...

Also sadly sears was in the right....sad to say. They handled this situation quite well by calling the cops and having them deal with it. There is nothing wrong with calling in a potential crime (hell they might have only thought you potentially stole something but weren't sure and they just called it in just to make sure). If you are found innocent no one is at fault. The only reason this is done is from the fact that the legal system tries to protect those that call in crimes from law suits. Otherwise no one would call the cops in fear of getting sued if no crime was committed. People would then be suing for defamation left and right. This is one of the first thing you learn in any law class. However I will say they should have reviewed the security tape better obviously they looked at the tape a couple of times because they followed you out the door and to your car to get your plates. If they did look at the tape clearly and not over react (seriously these guys get boners when they catch a theft) then they'd clearly see all you put in your pocket was a cell phone. That was just lazy workmanship. I also would have demanded to see the tape. Dumb townie cops over react and that sears employee just jumped the gun way too fast by calling them without reviewing the tape. Also calling their corporate office will do you little good by filing a complaint. You can try but I'd bet they'd back the employees actions because he acted with the intention of protecting the company's assets on his mind. Unfortunately they'll just treat you like a causality on their on war retail theft.
 
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Tell them to show you the video or fuck off. Target accused me of stealing when I was taking pictures of the DCIP's with my phone and I told them to show me the video or im leaving.

The AP guy was like "lol we cant show you that, its private information". I just walked out.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']Yeah, I think I am going to stop price checking pretty much everything at sears because of these stories, and I price check a lot of stuff there at scanners. I have heard way too many of these stories from Sears by now and I simply cannot risk any police contact because a black mark on your record or even being in the police database can affect your ability to get a job. This also means that I will be buying less merchandise at their mismanaged stores. Dare the customer try to give the retail store money in this economy! I would think scanning barcodes at scanners would get you in more trouble than scanning an actual product but I have scanned hundreds of barcodes at Kmart and have not gotten in trouble once, and from what I hear Kmart has a pretty good Loss Prevention department.[/QUOTE]

That's always been a concern for me as well. I like using printed UPC's so I don't have to ask for a price check and deal with "the price is whatever it is stickered for." But I am always afraid they are going to think I am using my printed UPC's to change the prices somehow. I know that is not possible and sounds crazy but I'm sure anyone who buys clearance games on a regular basis knows how surprised the employees are at the low prices and sometimes have them question why they are so cheap and I wouldn't put it past someone to think I was changing the prices myself just because they think it doesn't seem right for a PS3 game to be scanning for $0.97.
 
I totally understand where you're coming from. My sister was accused of stealing gel pens (not the same thing I know) from Sears but since she was already carrying a lot in her pocket (She always does for some weird reason) the Sears mall cop thought he was right, so he slapped her with a theft charge. As my friend would say in these situations: That's some whack s@#!.
 
[quote name='hopeunknown']No, he did the wrong thing. If you are in a mall you are supposed to call mall security and have them handle it. The LP guy left the store and followed me out to my car and wrote my plates down (which is shady to me, for all I know he could be trying to find my address to break into my house or worse!). Falsely accusing a customer of stealing with no evidence is not right, be it him or the police. If he thought I was stealing, he should've alerted the mall about it. Mall security has cars, too.

Plus the fact I wasn't called until an hour later probably doesn't look too good, either.

Plus he walked right out of the store holding the Picross in his hand that was slashed with the boxcutter that I showed him. How do they know HE isn't stealing games? He could've threw it in his car, and this is to cover his own ass.

I'm still giving corporate a piece of my mind.[/quote]
#1. What the LP person did is not out of order. If he was under the impression that you stole something, he sure as hell can report you to the police. And your license plates is an identifying mark for the police. The Loss Prevention person at Sears is not going to be able to find your address with your fucking license plate number, that's information the police have and information they do not give out.

#2. It's not "false accusation" or a violation of your civil rights if the LP person believes he saw you take something and stuff it in your pocket and walk out.

#3. Filing some kind of ridiculous lawsuit about "character defamation" or "emotional distress" is not productive. You were not defamed, and it doesn't sound like you were caused any lasting distress (beyond your frustration with the situation). If you are concerned about how the cops were treating you then file a complaint with the police department. If the cops were belittling you or intimidating you or getting in your face and screaming at you then you have a reason for complaint on that front. I see no evidence of that beyond typical asshole cop behavior.

Maybe before you start throwing accusations around and complaining about this grave injustice you should take a step back and see how the situation looked through the LP person's eyes. You can feel free to use price checkers or whatever you want but don't be surprised when the person whose job it is to deal with stolen merchandise acts when he thinks he sees someone shoplifting.
 
I hate to be another bearer of bad news, but filing a complaint about the cops will do virtually nothing. Cops are pretty much able to act as douchebags without consequence, and unless you got it on tape, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt - not you. You're just another whiny (possible) criminal as far as anyone at the PD knows or cares; they get so many complaints that they pretty much dismiss them automatically without proof.
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']Maybe before you start throwing accusations around and complaining about this grave injustice you should take a step back and see how the situation looked through the LP person's eyes. You can feel free to use price checkers or whatever you want but don't be surprised when the person whose job it is to deal with stolen merchandise acts when he thinks he sees someone shoplifting.[/quote]

Therein lies the problem. It's his job to deal with stolen merchandise. He obviously doesn't know how to do his job. You might think that no one cares about this 'injustice' or 'defamation' but Sears cares.

File a complaint with Sears and get that guy demoted into a position where he won't cause as much trouble.
 
[quote name='elmyra']I hate to be another bearer of bad news, but filing a complaint about the cops will do virtually nothing. Cops are pretty much able to act as douchebags without consequence, and unless you got it on tape, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt - not you. You're just another whiny (possible) criminal as far as anyone at the PD knows or cares; they get so many complaints that they pretty much dismiss them automatically without proof.[/quote]

Yup. It's funny how on cop shows a criminal chips a fingernail and it's a grand inquisition, when in real life you can complain of being beaten within an inch of your life and it hits the circular file before you're out the door.

OP, you could talk to a lawyer but you're just going to feel foolish when he asks you "OK what do you want me to do? You're not in jail, you're not charged with anything, and there's no grounds to sue as the cops didn't break procedure." (after all you did agree to let them search your car, walk you into the store, etc)

OP if it makes you feel any better I bet the cops and the Sears manager were pissed at the Sears security guy for bothering them with a BS case. I wouldn't be surprised if he was chewed out after they let you go.

I know it sucks but at least your eyes are opened to the fact that we live in a police state. Remember this anytime someone tries to get you to believe in some BS like "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear"
 
[quote name='GuardianE']Therein lies the problem. It's his job to deal with stolen merchandise. He obviously doesn't know how to do his job. You might think that no one cares about this 'injustice' or 'defamation' but Sears cares.

File a complaint with Sears and get that guy demoted into a position where he won't cause as much trouble.[/quote]
What I'm saying is that it's not an injustice and the LP person was doing his job in so far as he assessed the situation. He thought he saw the OP steal something and he acted. It turns out he was wrong. I'm not sure how that falls into "he doesn't know how to do his job" - he incorrectly assessed the situation.

The reality is that the cops didn't pull the OP over, slam him/her against the hood and perform a body cavity search while they searched the car. They called the OP's house and asked to speak with him/her. And when the OP met up with the cops, they didn't even search the car or anything! They had the OP explain the situation and accompany them to the store. Then afterwards they said they would check the tapes and let the OP be on his/her way.

Also, you clearly don't know what defamation means as it looks like from the OP that this was handled in an entirely private manner. You can't sue the police/Sears because they made you feel privately embarrassed when they accused you of something. They didn't do anything to affect the OP publicly.

EDIT: And in a town like Dartmouth filing a complaint with the police might actually lead to something if the officer was out of line. Judging by the OP it just sounds like typical cop asshole behavior and not that the OP was intimidated/screamed at.
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']What I'm saying is that it's not an injustice and he was doing his job in so far as he assessed the situation. He thought he saw the OP steal something and he acted. It turns out he was wrong. I'm not sure how that falls into "he doesn't know how to do his job" - he incorrectly assessed the situation.

Also, you clearly don't know what defamation means as it looks like from the OP that this was handled in an entirely private manner. You can't sue the police/Sears because they made you feel privately embarrassed when they accused you of something. They didn't do anything to affect the OP publicly.[/quote]

You clearly don't know what quotation marks mean.

The Loss Prevention worker incorrectly assessed the situation and assessing the situation is part of his job, ergo he doesn't know how to do his job. He made a mistake that escalated and could have been handled very differently. From a customer service standpoint, it was done very poorly.

Not only did he make an accusation about something he thought he saw, but he was willing to go out on a limb and make a very specific accusation of three DS games stolen. Then, instead of confronting the person, like an employee should do with a young shoplifter, he followed the individual to copy down their license plate number. At the very least, he should be reprimanded.
 
It sounds like you came across a real pain-in-the-ass situation, but at the same time I do feel sort of compelled to defend sears to an extent. It's completely innocent, but many of the techniques us CAGs use (checking prices in bulk, snapping pics of dlcps, hiding games in other places to visit later, etc) are very suspicious and out of the ordinary for the average shopper. Hell, even still when I hear some of these flipping tactics some of you guys use I can only think "how do you do this without raising an eyebrow?".

Don't get me wrong I still understand where you're coming from... I've had more than one bad experience myself. When I was 15 I went to walmart to buy a copy of GTA VC for my bro. When the guy pulled it from the glass he said he could ring me up, but I wanted some of that awesome flavored water they sell so I told him I was going to continue shopping around to which he replied "you know, we've got cameras ALL over this place, so don't even think about stealing this!". When I worked a summer camp in virginia we would take weekly trips to another walmart. I was informed ahead of time that the staff follows you and pretends to clean the aisles even though they're really keeping an eye on you. The whole thing seemed stupid on walmart's behalf, that is, until one of my coworkers took a stack of DVDs to the garden section, gutted the cases and stole the discs...

I guess I'm just trying to suggest considering the flipside of this situation. If anything, I think the blame rests more on the thugs who go around stealing crap and as a result make these stores overly suspicious. The cops, well of course they can be overly-authorative and jerky, but considering the crap they have to deal with outside of petty crimes can be pretty rough I tend to let it slide
 
[quote name='maddog1419']
OP, random question. Was this the Sears right next to the Swansea Mall? I'm new to the site, but I've been a cheapassgamer for a long time. Did they have any deals on 360/PS3 games? I heard you mention Lair, if it was really cheap I'd take a ride over.[/quote]

This was the North Dartmouth store. Swansea mall store has everything correctly labelled, like a store should.

[quote name='HowStern']what sears was this? I worked at the warehouse in the taunton one a while back for like a month before I decided I would kill everyone if I didn't quit.

the main LP guy there was like this fat wanna be tough guy who would have never been able to run after anyone. he would always try to intimdate us since we were taking the stuff off the trucks it would have been easiest for us to pocket shit.[/quote]

The Taunton store always watches me and my friend like hawks. Their price checker is towards the store entrance, we always make sure not to stray further than the price checker. I know theft is big there, since I used to work at the EB (now Gamestop) right next to it. I guess some dude was just taking all the new DVDs from Sears, not even taking off the stickers, and trading them to EB for cash. The manager at EB even called Sears and mall security, but they didn't care. Some other dude also ran out of Sears with a TV, seriously. Great job! (Not to mention when I worked at Suncoast before that, some guys came in dressed as construction workers with a truck, told mall security they were fixing a broken ATM, ended up throwing it in their truck and beat it and broke it in a field in Middleboro, lol. I don't think they were ever caught, actually.) Then again, Silver City Galleria is a joke and there's a stabbing there every 1-2 years. And drunk people from Ruby Tuesday falling down escalators. Oh man, ridiculous. (Sorry to digress)

No, this kid was a skinny teens-20s kid in a red sweater and khakis. Blonde hair. Probably like 5'7". My friend used to work LP at JcPenney in Taunton so I know what they have to do. They're supposed to radio store and mall security and have them handle it before anything else.

I think the whole thing was is I put my phone on top of the pile of games I was checking since I was checking goozex or something or my email, whatever, and then when I put the games back in the shipper I took my phone off the top of the pile and put it in my pocket. IMO, the LP kid should be fired, since this thread for example, makes them look like fools and might potentially make them lose business. Even compared to the Taunton and Swansea stores, this one NEVER marks games correctly, I don't see more than 5 customers in the store, plus there were cardboard boxes everywhere...yeah, their store is probably not doing too well in the district. Gold star for boyscout LP boy.

[quote name='eastshore4']
Don't get me wrong I still understand where you're coming from... I've had more than one bad experience myself. When I was 15 I went to walmart to buy a copy of GTA VC for my bro. When the guy pulled it from the glass he said he could ring me up, but I wanted some of that awesome flavored water they sell so I told him I was going to continue shopping around to which he replied "you know, we've got cameras ALL over this place, so don't even think about stealing this!". When I worked a summer camp in virginia we would take weekly trips to another walmart. I was informed ahead of time that the staff follows you and pretends to clean the aisles even though they're really keeping an eye on you. The whole thing seemed stupid on walmart's behalf, that is, until one of my coworkers took a stack of DVDs to the garden section, gutted the cases and stole the discs...
[/quote]

I don't get Wal*Mart either. How they have so many people on the floor and never any registers open. Plus they took the self-checkout away so there's no way of getting out of there anywhere fast. Plus didn't Wal*Mart basically say fuck it to anything that was valued under $25 that was stolen, since it cost too much to deal with?

[quote name='m3talst0rm']I kind of know how you feel...



http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4553235#post4553235[/quote]

I think I remember reading this in one of the older Sears threads. Yeah, the supposed games I "stole" were probably the 2x Picross (4.97) and 1x Assassin's Cred (4.97)...so $15 in merch. I even showed them exactly where I put them back (I put them in the bottom of the shipper so if I were to come back later or have my friend pick up the Picross for himself he would know where I put it - because that shipper is MESSY and that Sears doesn't put anything in those metal bins in the middle of the aisle like other Sears I've been to), showed them some PSP games I scanned, and yeah. I almost want to call them up and ask them if their price scanner keeps a log so I can show them every single game I scanned and where I put them. The place would probably be more organized before this whole fiasco started!
 
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[quote name='hopeunknown']This was the North Dartmouth store. Swansea mall store has everything correctly labelled, like a store should.



The Taunton store always watches me and my friend like hawks. Their price checker is towards the store entrance, we always make sure not to stray further than the price checker. I know theft is big there, since I used to work at the EB (now Gamestop) right next to it. I guess some dude was just taking all the new DVDs from Sears, not even taking off the stickers, and trading them to EB for cash. The manager at EB even called Sears and mall security, but they didn't care. Some other dude also ran out of Sears with a TV, seriously. Great job! (Not to mention when I worked at Suncoast before that, some guys came in dressed as construction workers with a truck, told mall security they were fixing a broken ATM, ended up throwing it in their truck and beat it and broke it in a field in Middleboro, lol. I don't think they were ever caught, actually.) Then again, Silver City Galleria is a joke and there's a stabbing there every 1-2 years. And drunk people from Ruby Tuesday falling down escalators. Oh man, ridiculous. (Sorry to digress)

[/quote]

haha yeah man I was there when that guy got stabbed and killed and i didn't see it happen but i saw the janitor mopping up a bunch of red stuff. ha dude was wiping up a crime scene. what a fuckin dumb dumb.

That's definitely creepy he took down your plate number. Especially over clearance games, ya know.
 
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This is some weird shit. I've seen a few people get arrested for shoplifting over the years, and they always try to stop them before they get to the parking lot. The attitude definitely doesn't appear to be "Eh, we'll call the cops later." I was talking to the store manager at a TRU once when an employee came up and told him there was someone shoplifting in the store and he took off sprinting. The guy knows the P part of LP stands for Prevention, right?
 
What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)
 
I'd be pretty pissed if this happened to me.

It's a bit telling though that a lot of CAGs have had this same problem with Sears.
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']#1. What the LP person did is not out of order. If he was under the impression that you stole something, he sure as hell can report you to the police. And your license plates is an identifying mark for the police. The Loss Prevention person at Sears is not going to be able to find your address with your fucking license plate number, that's information the police have and information they do not give out.[/quote]

Actually, he was out of order. A friend on mine worked at a department store with LP. A guy stole something but he lost sight of him when he went in the bathroom (the guy had stolen many times and they recognized him when he walked in). Long story short, the guy left the premises. My friend detained him and he indeed stole some merchandise and was caught. However, because my friend did not follow proper procedure (lost sight of the guy in the bathroom) he was terminated. So, if the OP did put the games back, he obviously "didn't see" that part. So, he did lose sight of the OP at some point.

Also, it sounds like the OP didn't make a mad dash for her car and take off. She left the premises like nothing happened and they called her back. I'm not completely sure what the law is in the OP's city, but that just sounds like a botched apprehension/detainment attempt. The LP involved should be reprimanded, up to and possibly including termination, at the least.
 
They watched me like a hawk at SEARS today when I was checking out the clearance games.
 
What you need to do in a situation like that is look the cop right in the eye and say, "Charge me with something or I'm out of here" and then walk out like a badass
 
[quote name='GameBoyee']What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)[/quote]lol So you're 11 years old?
 
i never knew the police will call a house.

1.... how would they even know who the hell you are to get your home phone number let alone hours after you left a store. If someone thinks you took something they would stop you at the door or chase you out of the store.
 
[quote name='GameBoyee']What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)[/QUOTE]

Would your mother approve of that language? Didn't she have to sign a waiver when you signed up for this board since you are under 18?
 
OP, I would let it go. Use this as a practical joke next time you walk into the store. Start acting suspicious on purpose. See what they do. It'll be funny. :bouncy:

Also, this reminds me of my dad. :roll:

We live right across the street from a Jewel Osco. And for the past few years, my dad always had this one guy following him in the store. Not every time we went in (which is once a day), but most of the time. Finally, my dad asks the clerk who the guy is. The clerk says he's part of store security, looking for shoplifters. (Yeah, lots of 45 year old men love to steal cheese. :lol:) Anyway, about 3 months ago, my dad told him to get the fuck away from him and that he wasn't stealing anything. Haven't see him since. :D
 
Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.
 
[quote name='slidecage']i never knew the police will call a house.

1.... how would they even know who the hell you are to get your home phone number let alone hours after you left a store. If someone thinks you took something they would stop you at the door or chase you out of the store.[/quote]

They ran the plates on my car and looked up my address (my house) and called the house phone. My mom wouldn't give them my phone number and asked for their number so I could call them (for my protection, since there's always phony people trying to be cops and play pranks, to be safe, etc). So I called them and they met up with me and treated me like I was a criminal. Rofl. they're lucky I even came back and gave them my time and explanation to begin with.
 
[quote name='dab0yech0']Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.[/quote]

This is very insightful to my case. Thank you for replying, dab0yech0.

Yeah, basically I was looking through the shipper, which was literally next to 3 employees at a cash register (two girls, one in a skirt [is that even work attire?] and black ugg boots, and the other had dark hair. they were listening to backstreet boys (lol) and the stereo and chatting with each other while their manager, some older guy with grey hair and glasses, was mad at the girl in the skirt because she interpreted something as 'destroy' and he said she was supposed to be doing something else....anyways!) and some african-american dude looking at some surround sound system with a bluetooth on in a black shirt was right next to me while i looked in the shipper. I'm pretty sure the whole mix up was that I put my phone on top of the pile to check my emails or text messages and lifted it up off the pile and put in back in my pocket once I threw the games back in the shipper.

I thought mall parking lots were mall security's job to patrol, not Sears LP, since that technically isn't their property? I find it rather fucker up he followed me to my car, especially since I'm a 21 year old girl. All I know is he could've used to whole situation to find out my home address or to get my name stalk me on Facebook or whatever :roll: Plus he WALKED OUT OF HIS OWN STORE HOLDING STORE MERCH!! (The damaged copy of Picross) Um, wouldn't THAT be grounds enough to be fired?

Sears Corp is going to get a call tomorrow since I haven't heard back from cowtown's CSI hi-res survellience camera exploration lab about how I apparently stole my own phone. Because last time I checked Nintendo DS cases weren't 4" long and rectangular with buttons and a screen on them. :lol: I'll even let them know about this thread that has 2500+ views and over 75 replies (not to mention on Facebook and Livejournal I posted the same exact thing and there's probably an additional 30+ comments on those as well).
 
damn sorry for the trouble... but you gotta think... maybe the LP likes you.

Stalking in the 21st Century.
 
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[quote name='xycury']damn sorry for the trouble... but you gotta think... maybe the LP likes you.

Stalking in the 21st Cenury.[/quote]

Haha, well I'm taken, so I'm good. Being accused of a crime = you suck at flirting hahaha. :lol:
 
Wow, I can't believe you put up with the cop's bullshit. If that was me I would've just laughed at him and be on my way. What the LP guy did was wrong. If he thought you stole something, he should've stopped you BEFORE you went out the door. Otherwise they aren't allowed to do anything. You should call Sears corporate and even go back to that store and complain to higher up about how that guy was stalking you and made you felt unsafety. Maybe you will get something free, after all, it IS their fault.

That cop was totally out of line. He had no warrant so he's not even allowed to search your car. I can't believe you offered to go back into the store with him and then not get an apology. You should've told him to buzz off since he had no evidence and be on your way. If he laid a finger on you then you could've filed for a massive lawsuit.
 
sears + cops = suck

i do a lot of price checking at target as well. And I keep in mind there are cameras rolling everywhere. Sometimes I am worried something like this might happen, but luckily for me it hasn't.

Best of luck to you OP. And if you choose to take legal action I hope you get something out of it.
 
[quote name='gokou36']Wow, I can't believe you put up with the cop's bullshit. If that was me I would've just laughed at him and be on my way. What the LP guy did was wrong. If he thought you stole something, he should've stopped you BEFORE you went out the door. Otherwise they aren't allowed to do anything. You should call Sears corporate and even go back to that store and complain to higher up about how that guy was stalking you and made you felt unsafety. Maybe you will get something free, after all, it IS their fault.

That cop was totally out of line. He had no warrant so he's not even allowed to search your car. I can't believe you offered to go back into the store with him and then not get an apology. You should've told him to buzz off since he had no evidence and be on your way. If he laid a finger on you then you could've filed for a massive lawsuit.[/QUOTE]

Consent trumps warrant.
 
Not reading all the posts, but...

1) It's hard not to sympathize with Sears. People steal stuff, and it sucks to be having to make the call on who is "acting funny" and who is stealing and always get it right. Buuuuuutttt...

2) The cops should have either had better evidence before being so accusatory, and/or should have treated you with more respect. Likely it is a nuance of the law that if you WERE guilty, then acting that way probably is the best way to get what they want out of you and because you weren't guilty they probably saw it as "they'll get over it". Sadly, they probably don't WANT to have to be such jerks, but I'm guessing they didn't have enough proof to arrest you, so the best they could do is put up the maximum bluff and IF you were guilty, try to get you to come clean. Cops are frustrating because on the one hand they have these power complexes, and on the other hand they have COMPLETELY thankless jobs with the people they put their lives on the line for every day always treating them like trash.

3) Sears does "watch" quite a bit. When I go in to price check, they always "offer" to help in any way they can. Last Sears I went to said "Can I ring those up for you over here?" I said "No, I'm just going to do a price check". I completely agree that the clerks are almost always completely distracted by something that is entirely arbitrary (on the phone, talking with another clerk, or giving someone who needs 60 seconds of help the 45-minute grand tour of the store). The other half the time they won't leave you alone.

4) They should just put a scanner in the game section and be done with it.
 
Send this to consumerist.com and your local media outlets and get some press on your situation. Probably much easier to get a resolution.
 
Well you've learned one thing for certain... Life isn't fair and you have no rights.. You aren't going to get anywhere legally and probally not get that LP guy in any trouble. I'd do something to make myself feel better like make them price check everything in the store for you. It could have been worse let me tell you. There are plenty of people wrong fully CONVICTED of crimes like murder in this country's criminal Just-Us system.
 
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