Hi, today I did a very silly thing a took 4 tops from primark which totaled to £15.00

I had the money to pay however the line was long so I put them in my bag and walked out.

The security guard caught me and took me to the detention room.

Here they took my details such as my name, address and date of birth.

As i am 17, they explained that I will be receiving a letter soon which will have a fine on it

maybe triple the amount of the items or even more and that i am banned from the shopping centre.

I am not sure if any police were involved as only the main security guards were there.

They also took a picture of me for the CCTV camera and said that if i enter the shopping centre they will be able to detect my face.

I will be allowed back in the shopping centre in 3 months time.

I am confused and scared as I havent told my parents and dont want the fine to be large

and then failure to pay the fine will result in a criminal record.

The security guards stated that if i do not pay, they can contact me (come to my house) and arrest me

or take away all my items and result in a criminal record and could possibly lead to courts being involved.

I am aware that theft is wrong and will never do this again, but i am also confused and dont know whether to pay or not.

Please reply, thank you.

See, starting a new thread wasn't hard.

OK Now I can say welcome to CAG.

You did what you did so let's put that to rest. No blame here.

Primark security guards will tell you anything to get you scared. They, in fact cannot do a thing to you, let alone coming to arrest you. Idiots!

The 'fine' they talk about is nothing of the sort. It will be a fixed price invoice which Retail Loss Prevention will send you. RLP cannot demand a penny from you. They certainly cannot fine you nor give you a criminal record. Only the police can do that (via the criminal courts).

You will need to understand the difference between civil and criminal matters. RLP rely on civil law, not criminal law so they can't do a thing except send the begging letters.

I do have to say that there is likely to be one fly in the ointment. I have seen one envelope from RLP who have used their name in the postage franking machine so it may be that is what 'may' happen with you.

Do you have a supportive family? If so, I do recommend talking to them because you can then direct them here and I will direct them to the FAQ's about what RLP really mean in the letters.

No it wasnt haha

The security guards were quite intimating and made me feel as if i had committed a far more worse crime!

However now i feel more at ease knowing I don't need to pay a ridiculously high fine.

I am sure to be expecting a letter soon, and yes my parents are supportive but a topic like this is embarrassing to discuss and honestly,

im not sure if i want to say it. Unfortunately i think i may have to as I dont think i'll be able to hide the letters if multiple ones keep arriving as it will rise suspicion.

Thanks for your help, it means a lot!

I have definitely learned my lesson!!

RLP send between 4 and 6 letters before passing this 'liability' on to a debt collector. Whichever one they use have even less power that RLP (and they have none)

All they can do is plague you with letters. The ONLY people that can take court action are Primark and to my knowledge, they don't.

Stay strong and you will see this through.

Some reading for you.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?448994-RLP-FAQ-s.-What-do-they-mean&p=4762870&viewfull=1#post4762870

How often would they send each letter? (Just so i can be prepared)

Also, do i reply with anything or just trash them?

Thanks for the info! it was really reliable.

You could use the letters for their intended purpose. I hear they are quite absorbent

RLP have (on one occasion-to my knowledge) sent a letter to the 'alleged' shoplifters parents, I feel it would be wise to send ONE (and only one) letter stating:

" Any liability to you or any company you represent is denied."

and

" I refuse you permission to contact any other party without my express permission."

That should stop them writing to your parents even though I hope they will know by then.

They should send the first letter within a couple of weeks. After that, it is as often as the feel like so it could be a month or more or less. We haven't managed to work out their thought processes as yet.

can I just point out that I don't think the security guard

would have used the word fine, nor, said they could come to your door

nor said they could arrest you.

you heard it wrong.

prob implying that's what 'could' happen 'if' it went to court

and you lose the case.

and ofcourse it would never be anyone from their security service but the courts and bailiff s from the court.

if he did say those things

then you need to complain to the retailer very strongly

but as the retailer nor the security guard would everget any financial 'reward' for going thru court

I severely doubt it.

in the confusion..you prob heard it wrongly.

dx

Okay great, however if I do pay the invoice, does that mean they will stop contacting me?

I don't think I will, but I am just curious as the security guards stated failure to pay the invoice will lead to the bailiffs being involved; is that true?

Do NOT PAY IT. there is no reason to at all. Simply ignore them and after a few months and a few letters they'll leave you alone

Okay great, however if I do pay the invoice, does that mean they will stop contacting me?

I don't think I will, but I am just curious as the security guards stated failure to pay the invoice will lead to the bailiffs being involved; is that true?

Lets put this straight. The security guards were lying for the simple reason:

Primark don't do court!

The only time a bailiff could ever get involved is if Primark sued you through the county court system (notice I say county not criminal court) Primark don't do court!

I you lost the case, you would then end up with a county court judgement. Primark don't do court.

IF you did not pay the judgement then and ONLY a bailiff 'may' become involved however as I have stated quite a few times now, Primark don't do court

We will always answer your worries wherever possible.

I'd also like to add. Primark don't do court.

and you pay it

they'll comeback for more as they'd have found a mug

dx

Yep. Dx is correct. We've had a few reports on cag about them doing that