Hello all,

I`m new to this so please bare with me..

I recently had a Hypo ,

which is severe low blood sugar that Diabetics sometimes get. It can result in drunk like or irrational behaviour.. back to the story,

I was in Tesco doing my shop when this happened,

I walked out without paying..

I`m not a shoplifter but I did never the less walk out without paying..

When I came too I was in a room at the rear of the store being guarded by a security guard..

I asked why I was there as I had no memory of the prior 45 minutes..

I was informed I was a thief and they was waiting for the Police to arrive..

At some point someone had given me a mars bar so that was why I had come back from the brink.

The police said there would be NO charges and let me leave the store..

Today however I get a letter from a solicitors saying I owe Tesco £125 .

.. Civil recovery..

should I pay ?

do I have to pay ?

No. You should not pay.

Who are the solicitors? Does this have anything to do with Retail Loss Prevention?

Had you been asked to sign any documents?

Also, what item was it which you apparently took?

Did Tesco's get it back and was it in good condition?

the solicitrs are DWF.

it was just regular food shopping an it was all returned to the shelves and I did not sign anything...

I am still mortified as it is not something I would do.

Presumably you can produce some kind of statement from a doctor that you have this condition.

I suggest that you write one letter to DWF and after that don't bother to write anything else.

Tell them that you will not be paying the money they asked for. There is no recovery issue as Tesco's did not lose anything. Furthermore you have an established medical condition and there was no element of dishonesty involved in the incident in which you were involved.

Tell them that you consider that they are bounty hunters and that if they want to take the issue further than they should issue proceedings in the County Court. Tell them that you are happy to waive the pre-action protocol that they should proceed immediately if they so wish and that you will defend vigourously.

Tell them not to trouble you again unless they are sending the court papers.

Send the letter off recorded delivery. Send it tomorrow. Use pretty well all the works I have suggested – including "bounty hunter".

Get on with your life – you probably won't hear from again.

If you do, then come back here and let us know.

Are these the people?

https://www.dwf.law/

Thats the people..

Thank you so much.. I pray to sleep tonight...

Hello there.

I've moved your thread to the shoplifting forum for further advice.

HB

safe to ignore if you wish

https://cse.google.co.uk/cse?cx=partner-pub-8889411648654839:6449422593&ie=UTF-8&q=tesco+dwf&sa=Search+CAG#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=tesco%20dwf&gsc.page=1

Hi and welcome to CAG,

DWF took over from RLP in these civil claims recently. Tesco didn't swap because DWF are any better than RLP. They are both bottom feeding money grabbers who target the people who have little knowledge about civil recovery and many will pay them to get rid of the problem. Seasoned shoplifters already know to ignore the threats as they will go nowhere near a court.

Somebody at the store must have realised that you were suffering a hypo hence the chocolate so the security staff should have realised what was going on. Instead they put there blinkers on and assume you were a thief. Due to that, I would also be complaining to Tesco over their lack of sympathy. If I am correct, Tesco subcontract the store security to a separate firm and as such, may not know too much about this incident. Make them aware that you hold them as responsible as their agents for the lack of common sense.

As for DWF, I agree with Bankfodder here. One letter only but also add that should they continue to hound you after you have told them the circumstances of the incident, you will report them for harassment. Just because DWF are solicitors means nothing. They are treading a very fine line by taking instruction from a client that they know (or should know) that has no legal standing.

I assume you have a regular prescription for diabetic medication. Do you have a copy of the prescription? If so, send a copy of that to DWF (after removing other data) to show that you are diabetic. DWF then have a duty of care and treat you accordingly.

About Tesco realising what was going on because they gave you chocolate.

I would differ from the above advice only in that I would not send any medical certificates or any other evidence to DWF. I would not want to do anything that might be construed as legitimising their position. I also wouldn't want to do anything that might invite some kind of condescending reply "… In the circumstances and as a gesture of goodwill, we will let the matter drop on this occasion…".

I would simply send the very aggressive letter which I've indicated above so that they have a shot across their bows.

DWF – just like RLP – are merely bounty hunters and you should not give them the time of day.

Hello,

Thank you to you all for your advice.. I actually slept lastnight..

I am going to take the weekend to type up the letter and use the phrases you reccomended and I have already sent an E mail to tesco about the incident.

I have to admit I was going to pay just to make this go away but now I am most certainly not.

Again, Thank You.

Good for you.

Don't forget that if they come back to you with some letter, don't get rattled – even if it sounds very threatening.

Make your point and then let it go. If they want to issue court papers then let them go ahead.

It will be Tesco's reputation which they will be trashing. Imagine Tesco getting involved in suing somebody who has had a diabetic incident even though no goods were damaged and no losses were sustained.

That would be nice for Tesco.

We'll make sure that the press finds out about it.

Send this Tweet if you want - and retweet ours.

@Tesco happy to trash reputation as DWF Law-want £££ for alleged shoplifting,I suffered Hypo pass out.Come on Tesco. http://cag.tw/22qe