Paid Police a year ago now RLP want money.

[lilo352359]

Hey Bobba!!!! I am in the same situation that yu!!!!!! Im really worried!!!!! I know that was a year ago!!! Please give me some advice!!! I paid the police fine, but I just got the RLP letter for first time and Im getting crazy!!! I dont have all that money!!! Please tell me what did you do??

[dx100uk]

if you had anything else to pay

why did not the police fine you further?

 

its a speculative invoive

with no lawful backing

 

ignore or send the letter as detailed in stickies of this forum

see the CAB advice ones

 

might be better to start YOUR OWN thread

 

see below for info

 

dx

[nikontomh]

everybody missed a very serious point here and i quote

 

"I was lead to the Security panel as it were, just a block infront of the door where another guard stood, asked for me to open my bag, I complied, and then the guard then reached his hand into the front compartment of my bag to reveal the stolen items *facepalm* How could I be so stupid?!"

 

what the guard did was illegal they do not have the right to ask to search you or to touch any of your property, only the police have the right to search you. you need to make a complaint to the store about the guards behaviour, as for the shoplifting, you did it, pay the fine and pay the damages and dont do it again.

[dx100uk]

there are no 'damages'

andonly a fine from the police should ever be paid.

 

anything any RLP lot claim is NOT a fine but a speculative invoice

which the retailer rarely see anything but a very very small part of

though in most cases the items are recovered - so no loss there.

 

as for the time taken by humans and the monetary outlay of equipment and alike etc etc

makes no odds, i bet every shopper pays for that already in prices anyhow.

 

dx

[nikontomh]

i bet every shopper pays for that already in prices anyhow.

 

but i dont want to pay extra for my shopping because other people want to steal.

 

yes only pay the fine to the police, but if you are caught stealing and admit you are stealing then pay the damages, spec invoice or what ever and learn your lesson, dont steal - its wrong

[dx100uk]

chicken and egg though!

 

dx

[nikontomh]

how is it a chicken or an egg, if someone goes out to steal then gets caught why are they objecting to having to pay for that. and why should someone else have pay extra because other people do want to pay. yes the RLP are charging way over the odds and the way they do it is wrong and they should be stopped from trading and we need to protect vunerable people from shady practices like that BUT if you intentionally go out to steal or even in a moment of madness think it might be fun, then you dont have a comeback.

 

We should be trying to help people wrongly accused or treated outwith the law or people who for whatever reason are vunerable not trying to help people who admit their guilt.

[dx100uk]

RLP are not judge and jury!

 

no arguement with your motives

 

but it should be through the courts - legally

 

not something 'speculative' with no real truthful breakdown of the costs

 

if you look at the figures they state in the invoice

 

most are exactly the same figure

 

something not right there!

 

dx

[nikontomh]

no RLP are not judge and jury, they are a company that retailers use for civil recovery, albiet they do it wrongly.

 

but if take an individual case then you can see how they arrive at the stupid amounts they want, i will try and base this on say an alround industry standard.

 

it takes on average 2 hours to stop, detain and process a shoplifter , thats a minimum of 3 people 1 security guard, 1 shop staff member and the store manager. wage cost £40 . Shop admin time of at least 2 hours to record and store information relating to incident and pass onto RLP say £40, then RLP add on a bit say another £40 for their costs and admin, thats £120.

 

now in any industry 6 hours of time overall comes in at a lot more than £120, i know i charge as a photographer nearly £500 for an afternoons work.

 

if RLP are asking for £120 which they get to keep 40% and pass on 60% to the retailer then its expensive but not unreasonable.

 

Its just the way they go about it thats wrong, they should breakdown the costs just as i did and then legally claim for them.

[Sidewinder]

it takes on average 2 hours to stop, detain and process a shoplifter , thats a minimum of 3 people 1 security guard, 1 shop staff member and the store manager. wage cost £40 . Shop admin time of at least 2 hours to record and store information relating to incident and pass onto RLP say £40, then RLP add on a bit say another £40 for their costs and admin, thats £120.

 

now in any industry 6 hours of time overall comes in at a lot more than £120, i know i charge as a photographer nearly £500 for an afternoons work.

 

if RLP are asking for £120 which they get to keep 40% and pass on 60% to the retailer then its expensive but not unreasonable.

 

 

Whilst the theory is sound, sadly the legality is questionable. Whilst one could quite reasonably say that the costs, when broken down, are 'reasonable', the claim would have to be based on liquidated damages - the actual loss to the business. If the staff were specially brought in to deal with the shoplifter, then that might be the case, for those resources would not have been on duty, Similarly if the security staff were only paid whilst actually processing a shoplifter, and worked for free in between cases, then the cost could be directly apportioned to the individual and their actions, but where all staff were being paid in any case, and their time spent dealing with apprehending and processing a shoplifter did not cause any additional cost to the business, or loss of trade whilst they were diverted, any claim would put them in the position of enrichment.

 

Don't misunderstand me - the principal of an individual paying for their wrongdoing is what is needed, but that should only be through the criminal process. Just because the system is wrong that shouldn't give RLP or other civil recovery companies a means to make a profit. Due legal process would also help to root out the genuine cases of theft from the many instances of honest mistakes.

[MARTIN3030]

Can you give us some info about what you were stopped for,how much was involved,what happened in store etc etc.