RLP fear and CRB fears too

[vitamins]

Hi guys.

 

today I was an idiot and shoplifted £61 worth of cosmetics from Debenhams.

 

First time offender and I am so genuinely remorseful.

 

To keep it short and sweet I've got depression/ an eating disorder and I keep doing idiotic things such as the above.

I could not be more sorry for this one though, I'll explain below.

 

Police showed up and gave me an £80 fine (I don't think this counts as a caution though, does it?)

and were actually quite lovely and understanding.

 

Debenhams security had a justifiable go at me.

I was let go immediately but not before I was told to expect a letter from RLP.

 

After some Googling I'm not entirely sure what to expect from them, but apparently the fines are extortionate and terrifying.

I could pay if I saved for a while and I couldn't bare black marks on my credit rating for this idiotic mistake - should I pay up?

 

To add injury to idiotic mistake, on the way home I received a phone call from a domestic violence charity which I've been breaking my neck to volunteer for with good news

- I got the job which starts at the end of this year. I'm so so upset because the position requires an enhanced CRB check.

 

I suppose my two questions are

A) should I give RLP money and

B) have I fluffed my chances of working for charities as a career?

 

Thank you in advance to anyone that helps me out. It's greatly appreciated.

[renegadeimp]

ignore RLP. The police have already dealt with you. RLP are just trying their hardest to trick money from you.

 

One thing to note, they are NOT fines. They have as much validity for you to pay as me telling you that you need to give me £100 for writing this post to you.

[renegadeimp]

Regarding your volunteering, i couldnt say what will be on the Enhanced check, but one thing you must be is upfront and honest with them. The best thing to do is head to your main police station and ask for a copy yourself.

[vitamins]

I didn't know you could request them outside of a job application, thanks renegadeimp. I'll definitely look into doing this.

[renegadeimp]

You can request a regular one. Im not sure about an enhanced one, but im pretty sure that it would be up to the chief inspector or sergeant what info gets included on it.

[vitamins]

Just giving this a quick bump because I keep refreshing it. Sorry!

[ScarletPimpernel]

RLP have no legal authority, no matter what drivel they put in their letters, and you should not pay them.

 

You may find that the incident shows on an ECRB - but the charity may take a lenient view if you are honest with them. Are you getting help for your mental health issues?

[vitamins]

No I'm not. To be honest I don't think I'm going to for a long time. I've just been putting all my energy into trying to secure this job recently, I think I'll feel better when I finally get there. Thank you for your concern though, I don't mean to throw it back at you. This is just one of those complicated things that I'm unfortunately unlikely to ever get to the bottom of!

[ScarletPimpernel]

My point was that an employer is more likely to look at you if you show that you have insight into your problems, and are doing something about them. Otherwise, you may not be an attractive proposition. Try to look at it from their point of view; you have some issues, which you think are contributory or causal factors in your offending and other behaviours, but you won't seek help to deal with them.

[vitamins]

I understand. There are other ways I've found to release tension and keep myself on the ball, today was just a stupid "why not" moment that I wont do again. Neither one of my issues are immediately apparent to other people - far from it - so if I'll be fine in terms of law breaking from now.

 

I just read a few other RLP threads - is it really a case of ignoring them? Has anyone been taken to court by them before?

[ScarletPimpernel]

RLP can't take anyone to court - they have no cause of action. Retailers have, very occasionally, taken people to court - but the numbers are very, very low.

 

The usual form is that RLP send out letters demanding money which is all they can do. Their letters are bullying in nature and full of faux legal arguments designed to scare people into giving them money. Once you know that they are utterly impotent, you will see that all they are doing is willy-waving, and you will be able to laugh at how desperate they clearly are

 

You can ignore them, but you might want to consider sending a short letter in response to their first letter:

 

Dear Sirs

 

Any liability to you or any company you claim to represent is denied. No further correspondence will be entered into.

 

Yours etc.

What you must not do, in any circumstances, is try to respond to them other than as above. Remember, their letters are designed to be scary and make it sound as if RLP has a legitimate claim, but they do stop.

[vitamins]

OK, thank you for that. Yesterday it didn't seem as if the matter would be taken further by the retailer, even according to the Debenhams security guard that came down on me pretty hard. Can I expect the letters to come to an eventual stop? This is really helpful by the way, thank you!

[ScarletPimpernel]

It's possible that Debenhams security won't refer it to RLP - we don't know what their trigger criteria are - but if you do hear from RLP you are now forewarned and forearmed.

 

 

RLP are, incidentally, keen readers of this forum, and have been known to try to target people who come here for help, as well as trying to discredit CAG (and anyone else who criticises them). Have a read around some of the threads here and you will see RLP's hilarious tactics - claiming that CAG is under criminal investigation, for example, or that Magna Carta gives them a right to penalise people - utterly ridiculous and highly unprofessional, but that's the sort of people we are dealing with.

[vitamins]

God this sounds rather scary. I'll ignore their letters and also post what I receive on here. Just to be clear, and sorry for labouring the point, my credit rating wont be affected by RLP? Can't believe their business is even legal to be honest with you

[renegadeimp]

It is scary, but thats all it is. They cant do anything and they know it. Your credit rating can NEVER, EVER, under any circumstances be affected by RLP in any way,.

[vitamins]

Thanks a lot, you've really soothed my panicking!