M.A.T.Runners, I already called RLP I found the number on their Internet site where tkmaxx is a member along with other stores like boots, debenhams, etc. They said they do not have my name on their records and the policy-procedure is that when incidents happen the store has to pass all details to RLP within 24 hrs, that´s why people get a letter in the next few days. As for my case it´s been nearly a month; they told me the store might decided not to take action against me as the time to recover a loss according to their policy had expired. Hhhhmmm shopping at tkm, I am leaving tomorrow so I don´t have time. I bet M.t.a.runners that if you made a survey only on women-any kind of incident&shopping I´m pretty sure it would be difficult for them to give up their fav. shop. Of course would never want to come back to where such thing happened but would think about other branches. I Just want to clarify with you that I have admitted that what I did was a mistake, that such mistake is indeed a crime and learned my lesson and I am not blaming tkm anymore. They do have an issue on the way they deal with pricing so my advice for anyone shopping there is to ask staff then if you are not happy with it which according to my experience as they would come with a higher price then leave it or buy it if really like the item.

Hi there, As I said it´s been nearly a month and I haven´t received anything from RLP and I am leaving the Uk permanently. Other people with issues with tkm&RLP, who have posted in this site, seem to have got a letter within a week.I´m ok now and if I ever get a letter here or in my country then I will deal with it, meantime I´ve found peace of mind and I honestly know what I did was a mistake and now I can move on. Hellohello, I think TKM does have an issue with pricing and could persuade decent people to do a wrong thing. I am sad that I can´t shop there anymore as I was banned, I wanted to buy some gifts for my family back at home at a different TKM shop but was advised not to, as someone from tkm security staff could recognise me and ask me to leave then I would be really embarrased; Manchester is such a small city. so I would say if you want to continue shopping there perhaps may need to clarify the situation and the banning paper they gave you. I called the shop to ask and they give a lifetime banning and also from all the other tkm shops. For the rest of the repliers, just wanted to say thanks for the comments and also that, things happened as I related here, I didn´t mean to commit crime but the fact is that I did it and truly regret it , I should have asked the staff and If they didn´t match the other shoe-price then just not having arranged it myself. Another fact is that TKM needs to sort their pricing issues to avoid theft and as previously mentioned, it could persuade decent people to do a wrong thing.

You are right, I have no argument other than to say I never did anything like that before and that I regret doing it. It seems that regrets, shame and repentance don´t count in here and I respect that. I was lucky that the police did not arrest me, no pictures taken, fingerprints or anything. I understand the stress you might be experiencing but if your girlfriend hasn´t done anything wrong then I am sure it will all be resolved positively. Wish you the best.

Scarlet, I´ve been reading about RLP, I wonder if the RLP security people´s goal is to prevent or to let people do something wrong so they can charge them later. I still haven´t received anything from RLP. I am returning for good to my country and worried I won´t be able to deal with RLP. Someone who posted a thread relating tkm and RLP, I think, got a letter from RLP very soon. Someone in the site mentioned that if they were to take action they would have done it by now and that I could return to my country safely. I just wanted to thank you for the information you provided Scarlet.x

make them aktiv runners, Very funny you two eh.

Thanks for your reply Blueskies. This incident did happened, I am an international posgraduate student from Colombia. I have concluded my studies and returning to my permanent job back home.

Gertie, I did not plan to change the price on the shoes prior walking into Tk maxx and I do not brake the law every day of my life. I´ve NEVER done anything before or after the incident and perhaps that´s why this hit me bad and scared me. You asked here if you were the only one with a problem with this threads. Why would I stop reading a thread I started? I want to know what is the best way to deal with it legally because I am going back very soon to my country permanently. Easily I could choose to forget about it, I do not think I need to come back to the UK . The two police officers clearly told me in my house that police has now nothing to do with it and again they were very nice.Anyways sorry Gertie.

GERTIE I appreciate your remarkable comment to me. I said SLIGHTY similar in the sense it happened at tk maxx. Sorry

Ok but, What do you think I should do? I am soon going back to my country. What if I get a RLP letter? I´ve read the case about debenhams and RLP with the niece wrongly accussed;my case is different but I do not have the time to wait and reply to letters. Then again, I ask anyone here, What should I do as I do not want a record on my name as a consequence of what this may bring? Gertie, I have a moral and ethical problem as a result of this whole issue. I understand if this seems to cause you a problem or seems to make you sick. I have been sick because of this. So, I guess if this might upset you, remember is you, who decides what to read or not. Best of luck and sincerely hope you never do anything stupid in your life.

Well, it is slightly similar to what happened to me. I am very greateful for The replies and comments I gathered from here. I can say I was lucky compared to nitecard´s story. In my case, Tk maxx called the police, they told them they had to deal with me, soon after two police officers arrived and the security guard told them, the shop was already dealing with this.It all took around an hour. I was banned from the shop and told I would receive a letter from RLP, the two police officers offered to the shop come to my place later to verify my address the security guard told them it wasn´t necessary as my landlord confirmed over the phone my address.Anyways,The police officers did come to check my address, I can say they were very nice when they came round. I think it´s been about 3 or 4 weeks now and I guess I´ll have to reply when I get RLP letters and deal with them. Soon I am returning permanently to my country and I am stressing over leaving that issue unsolved. When did this happened? How long did it take her to receive the letter?Because my issue was three or four weeks ago and I still haven´t received anything from RLP.

Yes I am thankful and I will never do anything as such. The tag of a thief or criminal/fraudulent sound awful,and could have made me become a resented and just commit something worse since everyone already thinks I am a criminal and I felt back then as part of the underworld. Friends were very supportive and also reading about it on the net scared me but helped me a lot; I learned my lesson and the whole thing was traumatising. I must say the police were really nice when they came over to verify my address. However the store did told me I should receive by post a fine given by Retail Loss Prevention which hasn´t happened yet and I am very worried because I am going back permanently to my country and do not know the consequences of ignoring RLP letters as I am guessing they will keep sending a letter over and over with a higher fine each time and then take court action? Anyways as you said I ´ve been very lucky and I do not want a criminal or anything on my record.I was asking earlier what should I do then: write or call tk maxx and inform them I am going to live abroad, RLP or go to the police?

I am returning to my country and I still haven´t got RLP letter with the fine, I am stressing ´cause my close friends are moving out of the country as well and I won´t have anyone to send me whatever post I get. What should I do? Should I write tkmaxx telling them or RLP? Go to the police?Thank you in advanced.

If someone could advice me please. I am returning to my country and I still haven´t got RLP letter with the fine, I am stressing ´cause my close friends are moving out of the country as well and I won´t have anyone to send me whatever post I get. What should I do? Should I write tkmaxx telling them or RLP? Go to the police?Thank you in advanced.

Thank you Martin, If I was not arrested by the police, then, what is my situation here? Would you consider paying to RLP whatever fine they place me with? Should I write a letter to the General Store Manager apologizing and telling the whole situation, promise not to ever do it again? I´ve spent about 500gbp in less than a month in Tk maxx and I do have all my receipts. I know I have no right to change prices myself but in my experience with the shop, usually when asked for price clarifications they´ve always given me the most expensive option within the brand. e.g. There were lost of watches from Mango (brand), there was only a different one with black straps no price on it, as on other occassions when getting to the till assuming an itmen may be similar price as others there with the same-identical features, they always have given me a higher price and ended paying it. so I asked a sales assisstant to check the price for me, which she did and while the rest of the watches were 19.99 this one was according to her call to the manager 29.99. I told her I wouldn´t buy it and I didn´t, this was the same shop of the incident. The day of the Incident which about two days after asking for the watch, I saw loads of the same black strap watches identical to the one I wanted, so I went to see the price on the tags, they all were 19.99! so when I went to the shoe department to look if they had the shoes, they were priced yes, but a lot more expensive than in the other tk maxx shop, so there I thought, if i ask they will just tell me "that" is the price and very wrongly decided to swap tags myself.Again should I write the General Store Manager explaining the whole situation or do you think it is pointless because what I did makes me a horrible person in the eyes of the fair and just and puts me in the same scale as the shoplifters or thieves when I´ve always been an honourable person to the people who have known me or met me, but what I did there errases everything I´ve always been and makes me a dirty **** thief?

Blueskies, I have been searching about "The Fraud Act 2006 repealed the deception offences contained within the Theft Act 68 & 78" but I do not understand it quite well. Could you explain it please? Regards.

Hi Suzie, First I wanted to know others opinions, as I said I am not British and now I know that I WRONLY thought that if I were, they would have dealt with me differently: Other staff making comments and mocking me, accussing me out of the blue of CREDIT CARD FRAUD, saying that I´ve done that before, etc. Having cleared that out, I was not familiar with these issues. I wanted to know also the legal implications of what happened but also I found very useful that some people expressed what it could have happened if:Arrested, Caution, etc. Which luckily didn´t. Secondly, I was concerned about the fine-payment to RLP; the store kept my money and the shoes. Trying to have some peace of mind, on Friday I asked my boyfriend to buy for me those shoes, they were still there with no tags at all, he went, asked the manager so now I have the receipt and the shoes, they can´t say they couldn´t sell them as a result of my actions and it is my way of making it up to them.Thirdly, Someone here suggested to post a thread to get advice on RLP which is a good idea because I will need to deal with them when I get the fine-letter. And last, I decided to post regarding the banning because I regret I can´t shop at Tk maxx anymore and wondered what if.

I think you are right, my race is not an excuse. The incident happened in the Arndale shopping centre; lesson learned. Your messages are very useful, Thank you all. Regards, Lara

Thanks for the replies. The incident was in the town´s centre shop, I must say it was a lesson learned.

I have an issue with tk maxx . I was wondering if you could give me some advice. My situation is this: I changed the price tag on a pair of shoes, paid and got caught. They called the police but they didnt arrest me or gave me a caution. the shop didnt take my fingerprints or a picture of me.I did it because I saw those same shoes only a different size and priced cheaper at another tk maxx store, in my experience when I have asked a sales assisstant there, they always pick up the most expensive similar item and that´s what I ´ve had to pay at the till, so i thought nooo I ´ll change the tag for a similar price to the other store. Anyways, they banned me from the shop and the paper says i am not allowed to enter to any tk maxx shop. I always shopped there and spent lots of money and usually found really nice things so I want to keep buying perhaps in a different tk maxx store. Please advice me on: - Do they keep a list of the names of the banned people? - If I go to another tk maxx shop will they know? please reply

Thank you Scarlet. No, I haven´t heard from them yet. The shop told me I should expect a letter soon. I will scan it and post it here. Thank you very much! Regards, Lara

I bought three pairs of shoes, which I paid for at Tk maxx Manchester UK, still inside the store I was stopped by a security guard asking me to go with him to his office, they told me I was recorded on camera changing the price tags on two pairs of shoes. I wasn’t given the option to see the video. The shoes in matter were originally in this store 39.99GBP and 29.99GBP a total of 60GBP, at the till I paid a total of 78GBP for the three pairs of shoes. Also I recall that the cashier said, “I’m not sure of the price of these shoes” to which I replied, “Can you check the price with the codes?” the cashier ignored this, did not call anyone to check the price and priced out the shoes making random conversation. I am not british and I have never done anything like this. I guess I expected that if someone saw me changing the price as I did not hide to do it, would come and tell me off or at the till, I would be asked to pay full price. The reason why I did it is as stupid as the incident itself, I saw those shoes at a different price in another tk-maxx but didn’t have my size so I thought it would be easy to change the tags in this tk-maxx for a similar price I saw in the previous tk-maxx store. In that room with the shop security guard and other people, I wasn’t given any options of what could happen to me under the circumstances for example if I admitted or denied it. I recall being mocked by other staff that kept coming in the room. The security guard, who never said his name to me, said he wouldn’t let me go unless I provided all my personal information at the same time the guard suggested I might have committed credit card fraud? He wanted to keep even the pair of shoes for which I paid properly. One of the people in the other room came and told him that wasn’t possible because they couldn’t prove it, anyways he rang the police to come and deal with it but I guess they told him as the value of the goods were under 100GBP and I paid in the till to their cashier the store needed to deal with it. Anyways two policemen came and the security guard told them that the shop would deal with this. The two pairs of shoes were confiscated by the store, the amount I paid for the two pairs was not refunded, I offered to pay the correct price for the shoes but they didn’t allowed me to do so. I was told that Civil Recovery (Retail Loss Prevention: [email protected]) would send me a letter with a fine for the incident to recover administrative and time costs of the issue. I was asked to sign a paper to be able to go, when I came home I realized the space to be filled regarding the incident was left in blank the document merely stated I was banned from the retailer. I feel that I was treated unprofessionally and unfairly because I am not British. Another point is that this store didn’t have visible signs regarding Civil Recovering schemes. I am very stressed about the whole situation. The two policemen came to my house to verify my address I asked them about my situation they told me they were sure what happened was a mistake not a crime and that I would never do it again. I know my action was morally wrong and it is not worth all the stress I am going through, I acknowledge what I did is wrong and I ´ve already instructed myself over the internet regarding this issues in the UK, I´m truly sorry and there will not be a next time. I will tell other foreigners about the outcomes if they were to do the same I did, certainly not worth it. Luckily I was not arrested by the police and wasn’t given a caution. I have been researching on the net regarding Retail Loss Prevention and all I have found is that I will have to pay for loss recovery administrative cost. What is my legal situation and what would you do if you were in my situation? Are first offenders treated like persistent ones by RLP? Will I have to pay whatever amount of money RLP say I must pay? Points to be taken into consideration: - I have never committed any crime or had a legal issue. I am not British. - The cashier said she wasn’t sure of the price on the shoes and I asked her if she could check the price code with the shoes, she ignored this. - I paid for the goods. - I was still inside the store when the security guard detained me. - Not being British I wasn’t informed of my rights if I could have had any. - Police did not arrest me. - I was not given a caution. Thank you very much in advanced, I am ready for harsh, partial and impartial comments.Regards, Lara

Thank you very much for all the replies, I really appreciate you took the time to read and express what you think. At my age I should have known better, true. Yes, I am in your country and I have to stick to the rules as everyone else, the problem is when someone most likely a foreigner doesn´t know the possible outcomes. I´ve read the most scarry stories of people who ended paying for eating a jelly baby to Civil Recovery or Retail Loss Prevention 200gbp at least, they were not British. So I guess British people are educated regarding this matters and perhaps most of the foreigners tend to conceive it as harmless. So I figured when I changed the tags, in public not hidden, yes knowing it was wrong, the most it could happen to me would have been a don´t do it or at the till pay the correct price. The cashier certainly knew as she said "I´m not sure of the price of these shoes" I thought how embarrasing, I replied "Can you check the price of the shoes with the codes?" I thought I would pay full price but she ignored it. They knew it in the shop and allowed me to do it to be sent to the police. The shop guard made comments implicating that I could have commited fraud with credit cards too, blame me I guess, for all the issues they had in the shop, ceirtainly made me feel like the most despicable person. If I knew all that could happen to me I wouldn´t have done it. Now I know and I will never ever dare to eat a jellybaby or a pistachio.There will not be a next time. That day I came home and told my friends, they just said they couldn´t believe it and laughed at me, then just told me not to worry. As I never heard or had an experience as such it was and still is traumatic and in my head I am thinking all the time about the whole issue,I am paying moraly at the moment, it feels like someone physically hit me . Normally slender, I´ve lost 3 kilos in 4 days and don´t want to leave the house just waiting for that letter and the punishment I owe to pay. I have to write my dissertation but can´t focus on anything appart from searching on the net topics related to this issue and the more I read the more I get terrified. As someone mentioned here,the stores lose a lot of money for conducts such mine. I´ve read about People re-selling the merchandise and making a lot of money from stealing, etc. Now being informed with whatever I´ve found has made me think of myself as a horrible person and not worth it, I even wanted to end with my boyfriend. What I did, Yes, it is very wrong. All the postings here: the harsh, partial and impartial have helped in great deal, Thank you all very much.

I bought three pairs of shoes, which I paid for at Tk maxx Manchester UK, still inside the store I was stopped by a security guard asking me to go with him to his office, they told me I was recorded on camera changing the price tags on two pairs of shoes but I wasn’t given the option to see the video. The shoes in matter were originally in this store 39.99GBP and 29.99GBP a total of 60GBP, at the till I paid a total of 78GBP for the three pairs of shoes. Also I recall that the cashier said, “I’m not sure of the price of these shoes” to which I replied, “Can you check the price with the codes?” the cashier ignored this, did not call anyone to check the price and priced out the shoes making random conversation. I am not british and I have never done anything like this. The reason why I did it is as stupid as the incident itself, I thought it wasn’t wrong so I did not hide to change the price tags, I saw those shoes at a different price in another tk-maxx but didn’t have my size so I thought it would be easy to change the tags in this tk-maxx for a similar price I saw in the previous tk-maxx store. I wasn’t given any options of what could happen to me under the circumstances for example if I admitted or denied it. I recall being mocked by other staff that kept coming in the room. The security guard, who never said his name to me, said he wouldn’t let me go unless I provided all my personal information at the same time the guard suggested I might have committed credit card fraud? He wanted to keep even the pair of shoes for which I paid properly. One of the people in the other room came and told him that wasn’t possible because they couldn’t prove it, anyways he rang the police to come and deal with it but I guess they told him as the value of the goods were under 100GBP and I paid in the till to their cashier the store needed to deal with it. Anyways two policemen came and the security guard told them that the shop would deal with this. The two pairs of shoes were confiscated by the store, the amount I paid for the two pairs was not refunded, I offered to pay the correct price for the shoes but they didn’t allowed me to do so. I was told that Civil Recovery (Retail Loss Prevention: http://[email protected]) would send me a letter with a fine for the incident to recover administrative and time costs of the issue. I was asked to sign a paper to be able to go, when I came home I realized the space to be filled regarding the incident was left in blank the document merely stated I was banned from the retailer. I feel that I was treated unprofessionally and unfairly (racism) because I am not British. Another point is that this store didn’t have visible signs regarding Civil Recovering schemes. I am very stressed about the whole situation and I believe that if I were British I would have been treated differently under the same circumstances. The two policemen came to my house to verify my address I asked them about my situation they told me they were sure what happened was a mistake not a crime and that I would never do it again. I know my action was morally wrong and it is not worth all the stress I am going through, I was not arrested and wasn’t given a caution. I have been researching on the net and all I have found is that I will have to pay for loss recovery administrative cost. What is my legal situation and would you do if you were in my situation? Points to be taken into consideration: - I have never committed any crime or had a legal issue; I am a female, 35 years old. - I am not British. - The cashier said she wasn’t sure of the price on the shoes and I asked her if she could check the price code with the shoes, she ignored this. - I paid for the goods. - I was still inside the store when the security guard detained me. - Not being British I wasn’t informed of my rights. P.S. Keep your slapping comments please in other words, throw a stone if you have never made a mistake in your life.