Accused of Retail Fraud at TKMaxx and can't defend the allegations.

[ericsbrother]

They will use the computerised stock reports that tie into the till to know what was bought at a particular time. The receipt given to the customer is good enough to identify the person inasmuch as what was bought and at what time, hence the decision to go along with this action as they know your purchasing habits.

Another problem TKMaxx have is people buying things in their sale who run small shops and markets and then selling on at the normal price. If these items arent sold the shopkeeper takes them back to get a refund from TKMaxx. So, tkmaxx are stocking other peoples shops and market stalls on a sale or return basis without any choice in the matter. Of course, the pututive buyer has to remove the tags otherwise the end customer will twig what is going on and report them. Then they keep an eye on people who buy 100 assorted size items in their sale and collate the evidence for a fraud enquiry.

Do you run a business selling clothes perhaps?

[unclebulgaria67]

2Grumpy - you have hit the nail on the head. All comparable retailers have clear itemisation.TKM choose not to do that , and to spend hours scouring CCTV looking for wrong items etc. Doesn't make commercial sense to me and doesn't endear them to their customers

 

Sounds like you had been taking advantage of the shops systems and they did not like it. I once heard of a similar issue with another retail outlet, where people were buying new (unwanted items) in charity shops and then taking them into this retail outlet for a refund. Some people do donate clothes they have not worn to their local charity shops, rather than return to the retails outlets. Personally I could not be bothered scouring charity shops for such items and then going to the hassle of taking these back to the retail outlet to get the refund. I think most retailers now require the original till receipt anyway and won't issue a cash refund in most cases.

 

Remember to advise your Car and Home Insurers of this conviction, as if you fail to do so, it could make the Insurance invalid.

[maxxer]

2Grumpy - you have hit the nail on the head. All comparable retailers have clear itemisation.TKM choose not to do that , and to spend hours scouring CCTV looking for wrong items etc. Doesn't make commercial sense to me and doesn't endear them to their customers

 

They don't though. The item has a price ticket attached to it. With an individual 'sku' number.

 

Its not rocket science for the customer to decide to bring an item back, and look for that number on their receipts.

 

With regard to the likelyhood of you being done again - its possible.

 

If you visited more than one store, then only this stores case has been dealt with. Many stores end up with cases which a statement is made, evidence gathered, but the person never comes back in for ages. When they get arrested in one store, their picture and details is put on the system, and other stores may then recognise you as 'outstanding' for other jobs.

 

It happens a lot in the london stores.

 

Only you know if you did it in other stores.

[maxxer]

Got to say that the reason given for buying so many items is plausabe but it dosent seem to stack up when looking at the suggestion of labels being taken off and reattached to wrong garments. Whatever you buy it is common knowledge that you dont take any labels off untill you have decided to keep the item. Also i have a MIL who also returns an awful lot of items ( rekon she has shares in a certain shop) but although she can shop for England 200 items!! she couldnt even carry that many out of the store

 

And that's the issue that some posters don't seem to grasp - exactly HOW does a ticket manage to detatch itself from a garment, and re attach itself to another garment, which wasn't the original one ........

 

One falling off, plausable. 2, maybe.

 

8 ?.

 

And every one a different price to the original ?

 

Fair enough if they were buying cheap stuff, and bringing back armarni suits. But I don't think it would be that way.....

 

I remember being told that refund fraud was usually carried out by what they called 'bored housewives'.

Late 50's females, retired usually, professional backgrounds, who would never dream of walking out of a shop with anything. However, thought a little 'swap the garments' was acceptable.

[GDW1922]

All good comments and I'm grateful to you all. It is really useful to be able to see things through others' eyes. Yep, I know it looks bad, thats' why, when I found CAG, I asked for CAG help.

Some assumptions are starting to get accepted as truths. I did not buy 200 items in a single transaction. We don't know the price of the 'original', it was probably the same or to within a couple of quid. I did not spot the SKU number. I'm no retail expert . If you have 2 pairs of £7 shoes and don't know about the SKU number you might easily present the wrong receipt.

I didn't know that returning shoes for £7 that cost me £7 is a crime. (post 6). In the eyes of the law that is a gain of £7 but in the eyes of my bank account it isn't.

[unclebulgaria67]

All good comments and I'm grateful to you all. It is really useful to be able to see things through others' eyes. Yep, I know it looks bad, thats' why, when I found CAG, I asked for CAG help.

Some assumptions are starting to get accepted as truths. I did not buy 200 items in a single transaction. We don't know the price of the 'original', it was probably the same or to within a couple of quid. I did not spot the SKU number. I'm no retail expert . If you have 2 pairs of £7 shoes and don't know about the SKU number you might easily present the wrong receipt.

I didn't know that returning shoes for £7 that cost me £7 is a crime. (post 6). In the eyes of the law that is a gain of £7 but in the eyes of my bank account it isn't.

 

If you made no financial gain, which criminal offence did you plead guilty for ? Buying a pair of shoes for £7, taking them back and getting a refund for £7 is not a criminal offence. I know people who spend hundreds on clothes in the Next sale and take half of them back. They get a refund for the amount spent on the items they return.

[maxxer]

All good comments and I'm grateful to you all. It is really useful to be able to see things through others' eyes. Yep, I know it looks bad, thats' why, when I found CAG, I asked for CAG help.

Some assumptions are starting to get accepted as truths. I did not buy 200 items in a single transaction. We don't know the price of the 'original', it was probably the same or to within a couple of quid. I did not spot the SKU number. I'm no retail expert . If you have 2 pairs of £7 shoes and don't know about the SKU number you might easily present the wrong receipt.

I didn't know that returning shoes for £7 that cost me £7 is a crime. (post 6). In the eyes of the law that is a gain of £7 but in the eyes of my bank account it isn't.

 

What you keep skimming over, is how the labels managed to get attached to the 'wrong' garments.

 

You purchased items with tickets attached to them.

 

Inbetween the time they left the store, and re entered the store for a refund, they managed to detatch themselves from the correct garment, and re attach themselves to an incorrect one.

 

The point being, they don't do this by themselves.

 

Tk maxx can't re sell the items you bring back - for a start, how do they know they are real branded items, not some fakes from a market stall, dangerous, not fit for sale, etc etc.

 

Its not the retailers fault you decided to do what you did. Compared to others, tk's does make it easier to do, but that doesn't make it right, or legal.

 

Count yourself lucky if no more door knocks happen.

[GDW1922]

I'm sure everyone realises that for legal reasons and privacy reasons I'm limited to what I can say now and I don't want to argue with people who have helped me, and of course many others. I'm sure we're all on the same side really. I spend a lot in Next, Primark, H&M but they identify items clearly and if you take the wrong thing back (extremely unlikely) they will say "Sorry, this isn't the right item/receipt" and the customer says "Isn't it?. Sorry, I'll take it back and try to find the right one". TKM have a different process whereby they accept anything back that looks vaguely right and then take you to court if it isn't. Whether or not you make a financial gain doesn't matter see above.

I don't think I said that labels were attached. I have not worked in retail or security and was unaware of refund fraud until the police told me what it is.

My case is closed but it is only polite for me to come back to this thread and answer questions, however to re-iterate my first sentence in a more explicit way: I cannot say anything on this thread that contradicts anything presented in court and there are factors which I was unable to share with the forum but are known by family, friends and accqaintences, my employer etc... the people that matter most. Apologies to anyone who feels dissatisfied or affronted. You've helped me, possibly more than you know. Please don't waste more time on me when you can be helping and supporting other people. I will, of course, make a donation.

[ims21]

Thanks to the OP for coming back to let us all know that this matter has been resolved.

 

As this is now concluded and the OP cannot say any more it would seem appropriate to close the thread and I have done that now.

 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed.