I have been taken to the police station after being arrested in Tkmaxx 3

weeks ago by the offence “fraud by false representation”. I have been realised after receiving a simple caution, saying that ‘…committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely swapping price labels, intending to make a gain, namely returning goods for cash, for yourself...’

On the day of the incident, after I returned my purchase and left the till, two security guards approached and asked me to go with them. I didn’t even asked why as I was one of their regular customer for a several years, knowing almost each staff and been offered few times an extra discount from the managers or the supervisors for my loyalty. I have been taken to the security room. Firstly they accused me by shoplifting and when I refused this offence, they started to talk about my previous refunds on which they accused me with false representation. I didn’t deny. I said that the returning items are all bought from Tkmaxx but as they were past the 28 day refund policy (unworn/unused items from the past season), I swapped the barcodes with the new items that I bought this season. I do not say that I am innocent as I admit that I foolishly swapped the barcodes, but I didn’t steal anything or returned any items that doesn’t belonged to Tkmaxx.

After this long conversation they said they don’t believe me, that I lie and I do the refunds to make a gain. Although I repeat saying they must have the CCTV record and they are able to check it, they interrupt me by saying that they never sold such items. They also add that they need to call the police as this is a case for them. I may say that I was happy to see the police as I thought it would be an opportunity to explain myself. The surprise came out to end my hope at the moment when the police officers asked me to turn back in order to handcuff me and held in custody. I just wanted to die at the moment. 42 years old, never been arrested, didn’t even get any single traffic fine, now taken to the police station for a crime. I was extremely embarrassed, ashamed, stressed, astonished and mostly, worried about my children.

At the police station, I was now hardly hearing and trying to understand what was going on when the police officer asked me if I wish to contact my embassy (as am not British) and my solicitor. I was so frightened and felt under pressure as I wasn’t sure where this story was going on and if I might ever see my children again. After I saw the duty solicitor and being interrogated by the police officers, I was free to go with a simple caution and have been warned do not go again to Tkmaxx

I paid visit to my job to talk to my manager three days after being arrested and to explain openly the incident. I said I could resign and leave the company willingly if they want to. She said "no need, we know you" She was upset for me and encourage me to get legal advice to clear my name.

A week later I received a letter from RLP in which they are asking me to pay £417.47 (£219.97 for the losses and £197.50 for the contribution)

I visited the duty solicitor to to get legal advice, he told me to pay this amount. I was googling and trying to get more info about this issue and payed an other visit to the CAB. At CAB they told me to pay this amount in order do not be taking to the court. I called RLP to ask the breakdown and why I will be charged for such amount as Tkmaxx still kept the 3 items they I returned? (the items I returned are not even taken by the police for evidence) I told them that I will contact them later as I will get legal advice.

Long story short, can you please tell me

* if I really have to pay this amount?

*what will happen if I do not pay? can the Debt collector bring me a bailiff?

*Can Tkmaxx take me to the court for this unpaid sum?

*Can I be found guilty and jailed as I already get a simple caution?

thanks for reading and help...

Do not pay rlp a penny. They have nothing to do with the legal system at all. You have been dealt with by the police so that's the end of it. Completely ignore rlp 100%

Rlp is a sham of a.company that cannot do ANYTHING to you and simply begs you to pay. They have no right or reason to demand anything from you at all.

you totally ignore RLP

they are not the law

they are not bailiffs

and they have absolutely NO LEGAL POWERS.

its all done and dusted nd over with

you got a caution

that's the end dead parrot gone

go get on with your life.

dx

you totally ignore RLP

they are not the law

they are not bailiffs

and they have absolutely NO LEGAL POWERS.

 

 

its all done and dusted nd over with

you got a caution

that's the end dead parrot gone

 

 

go get on with your life.

 

 

dx

Thanks for your replay. One last question: do you have any opinion what could be happen, if I have been taken to the court because of unpaid amount? I mean the worst scenario ?

Sent to court for not paying rlp? Won't happen. They'll send you desperation letters over 6 months, get a silly dca to send out t three and then you'll never hear from them again

Thank you renegadeimp..

Hi and welcome to CAG

If you haven't read this thread yet, please do so

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?448994-RLP-FAQ-s.-What-do-they-mean-Reviewed-September-2015&p=4762870&viewfull=1#post4762870

Bear in mind that this is my view with absolutely no legal training however I believe the comments I made are true.

The fact that the police issued you with a caution means they will not take any further action. RLP cannot take court action. Only TKMaxx can and so far, I haven't seen any evidence that they will do so.

You are likely to get between 4 and 6 letters from RLP and then a couple more from their pet debt collectors who have even less power than RLP have. It will be stressful for the next year but if you treat the letters with the same resolve as I do, they will stop.

You got lucky with the police as if TKMaxx had the evidence, this could have been a more serious case. No more price swapping, even if you didn't make anything on the act. It is fraud.

Lecture over. Be strong. RLP will go away eventually

Thanks for your replay silverfox1961, I already read your lecture. It's so helpful. So what I understand that you believe that Tkmaxx won't take any further action as they kept the evldences. I was worried when I saw in one of the other blogs that they took someone to the court because of one item (sunglasses worth of ~£45) and as already called RLP.

Tkmax would have already taken action. In fact they have. By involving the police.

It's done. Finished with. Over. Just ignore any letters you get from rlp. They can do about as much as you pet cat when it comes to pretty much anything

Thamnk you renegadeimp

Also, understand that when you get one particular letter which will state something along the lines of ignore what you read on the internet. These are bluffs by RLP.

I don't think you need to worry about any further criminal matter. As you have been advised here, the police decided not to bring any prosecution and they have given you caution.

If there are any further court actions then they will be civil actions to recover any alleged losses and any reasonable expenses. Such a claim would be brought in the County Court is a small claim.

I have seen the letter which RLP have sent you and I have seen here on this thread the figures which they apparently want from you.

I think the first thing that you need to do is to ascertain that they have actually suffered the losses which they claim.

I don't think that you need to start thinking about paying an open-ended demand for alleged losses which apparently you dispute.

Secondly, if you are to pay anybody's costs then in my view they should be reasonable losses.

You are dealing with RLP who really are acting as a go-between between TK Maxx and yourself.

I think that you should begin by responding to RLP and ask them for full details of the alleged losses including the description of any items, how they came to be lost, and their value.

I think that you should also ask RLP for a proper breakdown of any administrative losses suffered by their client TK Maxx.

Tell RLP that once you have received this information that you will consider the position. You can point out to them that if their clients decide to bring a County Court action against you, that they will have to produce this information anyway to a judge in the event that any judge finds in their favour.

I do think that it's wrong simply to ignore them. I think it's important to engage with them – but only to the extent that they engage with you and they answer your questions in full. If they become obstructive then I would stop dealing with them and wait for any court papers to arrive and then you can point out to a judge that you have attempted to be reasonable and that TK Maxx have failed to engage in the necessary pre-action protocol

I disagree with bf. I'd just ignore them because all they do is send 5-6 letters, pass it to a dca that sends 2-3, then.... Nothing. They give up.

The worst thing to do is start letter tennis with Jackie and co

Hi I'm replying to your message because I have been in this position before and to be honest the 'CAG', and the regulars, many who have already answered you saved my life during this difficult time.

I should also point out that their help stopped me throwing away my career (as a well respected GP) and gave me direction and full perspective at a time when I was literally all over the place.

So why is my situation like yours? Well I too was a regular customer at TKMaxx, I loved their clothes and their discounted prices. The the occasion my world came crashing down I purchased an expensive coat. I paid about £250 and even at that price I had a bargain.

After a month the zip broke and I took it back. They knew me, like yourself the staff recognised me as a regular shopper. However the refused to take responsibility for the broken zip, no refund, no replacement coat, nothing. This made me very angry and I left.

A few weeks later I decided on a plan which was really stupid and something I regret very much for reasons that will become evident. I visited TKMaxx again and purchased an identical coat. I replaced the tag for this new coat on my damaged one and took it back to the store to claim a full refund (keeping the new identical coat). This plan was put together on the idea of sticking two fingers up at tkmaxx for their poor customer care.

Despite the damaged jacket looking brand new they saw through this, and just as I was about to leave I was asked to go with a plain clothes store detective. I could of died. Seriously it was a busy day and people were watching me. I knew I was in trouble despite never doing anything like this before and I honestly mean this 100%. I was quizzed, then the police called.

The police woman was lovely and despite having to arrest me to enable them to quiz me more at the station said I could remain handcuff free to avoid further embarrassment as I was walked through the store. At the station I was fingerprinted, swabbed, shoes removed and put in a cell with a blanket for 3 hours. I just wept. As a 40 year old, male professional I lost all perspective during that long 3 hours and thought the worst, career in tatters, name in the local/national paper, wife leaving me, children embarrassed by me... I put myself on par with Jack the Ripper.

When I finally spoke to the duty officer I said I didn't want anybody to support me and told the truth about my stupid plan. They were great to me and kept saying 'people make mistakes' etc etc. They gave me a caution and sent me on my way.

The relief was beyond belief, I got a taxi back to the store to collect my car and wept again. Everything seemed fine, I didn't tell anybody about my mistake (even my wife) and it appeared to go off the radar until my first letter from RLP dropped on the mat. They were asking for £460 and suggested court action and further embarrassment should I not pay the fine.

I'm in a fortunate position financially and wrote out a cheque but paused for a minute and googled RLP. My search sent me to this site and a read about others who had made regrettable, one off mistakes and were being hounded by this company. The advice from the CAG team was so consistent, DO NOT PAY was the ultimate message. So I put my story on here,(then took it off as I got paranoid) but again the team fed back the same message about RLP and their motives.

I had 6 letters in total over 4 months. The first 4 escalating threats, the final 2 offered reduced amounts to pay but all threatened court action. The CAG were superb at my worst hour and I can never thank them enough, and although this was years ago I still visit this site and see the same diligent team offering their direct, consistent advice.

So my opinion mirrors theirs, DONT PAY! Stay strong, have belief in the people who invest their time on this forum and don't be bullied into handing over your money. But like me learn from your mistake. My one off moment of madness could of ruined everything for me but it didn't.

Thank you all at CAG, you guys are still life savers even if you don't know it!

Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. I know that you had posted (and removed) your original thread but you obviously read the RLP threads and got the advice you needed.

Not many people comeback to update us on what happened following the 'incident' and it is always great when someone who has gone through the process to let us know.

It is always nice to get support for the time we give.

Thank you once again.

So my opinion mirrors theirs, DONT PAY! Stay strong, have belief in the people who invest their time on this forum and don't be bullied into handing over your money. But like me learn from your mistake. My one off moment of madness could of ruined everything for me but it didn't.

Well said. Before you go, could you just have a look at my sore knee.... ?

 

.......... my career (as a well respected GP)

 

 

The police woman was lovely and despite having to arrest me to enable them to quiz me more at the station

 

. .......:They gave me a caution and sent me on my way.

 

Was this a formal caution where you have to sign accepting your guilt?

If so, what offence did you sign to admit to?

I agree with ignoring RLP. They'll make the most noise, but shouldn't be your major concern ......

Did you get advice from your medical defence provider? (If this was a formal caution, since you are obliged to inform the GMC of it)

http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/21184.asp

http://www.themdu.com/guidance-and-advice/faqs/must-i-disclose-a-police-caution-to-the-gmc

I'd advise anyone facing a similar obligation to inform their profession's regulatory body to seek legal advice (& seek advice from any professional defence body they are a member of) before accepting a police caution.

Apologies for being vague regarding my 'caution' comment.

I simply had an informal slap on the wrist caution.

I was lucky and I fully recognise this.

Too add I appreciate I was fortunate because I could of been made an example of.

As a result my professional staus and my DRBS remain unblemished.

Therefore the dreaded call to my professional body was not required.