From RLP now to BPO letters.

[jjholland]

I stole about £230 worth of stock from boots and was caught ,

taken to room in store ,

ID -pic taken etc and cctv burnt to disk, and

then police called,

 

ultimately leading to me being cautioned after saying I accept that it was me

( never been in trouble with the police before )

 

After about a week i received a letter from the dreaded RLP and were asking for £196.00 .

 

What Im trying to deliberate is whether to just ignore it and see what happens or to pay .

 

If it were a smaller amount of items stolen by me I would probably leave it

but as it was a larger amount it may make for an easier case should I end up in court .

 

Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[renegadeimp]

Ignore RLP. Send the one line letter of deniability and be done with it. They are NOT part of the legal system and never will be. The police are dealing with the issue and thats what should happen. RLP are nothing more than fleecers trying to make a quick bit of cash out of the situation.

 

Have a read of the forums. Jackie who owns RLP will send half a dozen letters over a few months, each letter getting more and more desperate to part you with your cash. They then pretty much give up and send it to a DCA, who can quickly be told to bugger off. Then you'll hear nothing.

 

The main thing is for you to send that letter when you get something from jackie and co, and most of all, STOP SHOPLIFTING. The more you do it, the heavier the penalties will be from the police.

 

Should you pay RLP, you are funding their dubious activities and there is no guarantee they wont mark you as extremely gullible and demand more.

[ericsbrother]

RLP have no rights to anything in this matter. If you damaged the goods that were stolen and recovered then Boots are entitled to take the matter up themselves, no-one else can do so. You have received the punishment you are going to get by way of a caution, which will stay on your records so if you are caught again it might well be more serious but for this incident, that is the end of it.

you can either ignore RLP or you can write to them denying any liability to them at all as they are a third party.

[jjholland]

Thanks for the quick replies , I admitted in store to taking the items and to police , surely legally I am obliged to pay regardless of the low court ruling as from reading other threads dept collectors begin to get involved and Im thinking its not worth the hassle from them all.

[renegadeimp]

No obligation to pay at all. And if there was, it would be to boots or to the police. NOT a private company like RLP. They have NO RIGHT and no real basis to get you to pay. It's like if i sent you a letter now saying you need to pay me £196. What would you say to me?

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

Let's get this straight. RLP's one and only aim is to profit from wherever possible. You are just one of many people they will send a letter to. The majority pay up without question but the odd ones do and that is where we come in.

 

RLP can take no action independently from Boots and if court action were to be instigated, Boots would have to do it and chances are RLP would also attend.

 

They try and state that the sum they are demanding is a 'contribution' towards the costs involved with your detention so let's put that into perspective.

 

1 Security costs. Not claimable.

2 CCTV. Not claimable

3 Admin. Not claimable unless outside the scope of security.

 

 

Since the Oxford case, retailers are loathe to put their claim to the test again after getting slapped by the judge. In fact RLP have only 'take' 2 cases (None really) to court (as the retailer did, not them) and the last case listed is 2012. If they were so sure of themselves you have to ask, "Why haven't they encouraged more companies to use the courts?"

 

Answer: They cannot prove their loss.

 

The one liner is the way to go as it tells them that you are not going to fall for their s**t

[ScarletPimpernel]

If you think that paying some money will make you feel better, make a donation to charity.

 

Acknowledging that RLP's claim has any legitimacy only encourages their 'misleading and aggressive' behaviour, as the Law Commission put it.

[jjholland]

Hi thanks for all the replies ,

 

following further reading iv read that failure to pay may result in me being put on the "dishonest persons database "

 

it seems like a legitimate format and has quite a few subsequent effects for me being only 21

and graduating ironically with a law degree in the summer , final thoughts ?

 

from someone with formal qualifications if possible just have to be sure as am not doubting

the advice as it has been so useful so far .

[silverfox1961]

When you start getting the letters, one of them will say some stuff about this 'database'. This database can not be accessed by anyone without your express permission.

 

I would love to see what the Information Commissioner would make of this 'blacklist'.

[andydd]

Ignore Rlp. Any possible claim they may have is purely civil, this is completely seperate to any criminal action, the basis used by Rlp and the individual stores has been tested in court and Rlp lost, please do not pay them, you do not owe anything legally, as suggested if you want to give money away hand it to a charity, please do not line the pockets of Rlp, you owe them nothing. Ignore any tosh about databases, Rlp are on thin ice with their mention of 'databases'.

[Ganymede]

Hi thanks for all the replies , following further reading iv read that failure to pay may result in me being put on the "dishonest persons database " it seems like a legitimate format and has quite a few subsequent effects for me being only 21 and graduating ironically with a law degree in the summer , final thoughts ? from someone with formal qualifications if possible just have to be sure as am not doubting the advice as it has been so useful so far .

 

 

 

 

Sorry to go off topic but are you planning on doing the LPC/BVC and looking for a training contract/pupilage?

[jjholland]

Hi thanks for your interest , Iv already got a placement lined up with solicitors but would possibly look to going an lpc course in the future.

[2Grumpy]

Hi thanks for all the replies , following further reading iv read that failure to pay may result in me being put on the "dishonest persons database " it seems like a legitimate format and has quite a few subsequent effects for me being only 21 and graduating ironically with a law degree in the summer , final thoughts ? from someone with formal qualifications if possible just have to be sure as am not doubting the advice as it has been so useful so far .

 

I suspect that they will definitely add you to their naughty spreadsheet if you do pay. Let's face it - they don't say that they won't. I'm sure that they take payment as an admission of guilt!

 

Send the one liner denying any liability to them or their clients. nothing else.

[JoeyJoeC]

You have nothing to worry about by not paying.

[Alfie29]

I was caught shoplifting in Tesco's on Monday and handed the RLP sheet.

 

The lady said if I don't pay RLP they will have balifts at my door!

 

I only took a few items and they took them out of my trolley

and added them up and I didn't see them again!

 

They took my name and my address and said I was banned from their Tesco's.

 

I've learnt my lesson but I'm sorry but I want to take ur word for it that nothing will come of RLP

but I rather pay up cos im scared lol.

 

I HAVE LEARNT MY LESSON END OF :/

[renegadeimp]

The lady is 100% wrong in every way. Theres no need to be scared. The security staff in tesco are laughable at best. Just make sure you dont pay them and make sure you dont shoplift again.

[Alfie29]

What I don't understand is y didn't they GET the police involved when I done wot I did?

 

They just said that I can't shop there anymore

and that my details will be stored for (if) this happens again at ANY Tesco's.

 

Can I just get ANYWAY with wot I did?

 

I didn't get a pentaly fine on the spot of nothing

and they didn't take a photo of me,

nether did I sign anything.

[renegadeimp]

Who know.s That's their problem.

 

Focus on whats happening now. Not what MIGHT have happened.

 

Should jackie and co contact you, send the one line letter to her, then ignore her silly attempts to get money from you. The police are the correct way to deal with the issue. The shop decided not to involve them, so it is now over and done with. RLP are a private company and have absolutely NOTHING to do with the UK legal system. It is ran by a rather dubious woman in my opinion, who does resort to lies and threats to scare money out of you. She did cross the line though a week or two ago regarding an underage person she was chasing, and thats currently being investigated.

[jjholland]

Premise- Caught shoplifting in store about £150 items, detained by store , taken by police and cautioned.

Received one letter from RLP asking for between £180-£200 (exact figure hidden to protect my identity)

 

 

Have now received my second letter but am just confirming with you all what the best course of action is ( Have never been in trouble with the police before, and have just graduated uni with business degree )

 

Your advice would be very kind.

[renegadeimp]

Ignore them

Rlp cannot do anything. Youve already been dealt with by the law. Jackie and co are just trying to get money from you.

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

I've merged your two threads to keep the information together.

 

HB

[Deadyankee]

Personally, in your position I would pay.

 

If you go on this database, and a law firm you've applied for wants to check out this database.

 

When they ask permission, if you say yes, you are screwed.

If you say no, then you are also screwed.

 

If it means being kept of it, then I would pay for the sake of your career,

but only if paying means you are not entered.

 

Can they guarantee this?

[renegadeimp]

Deady. Please do NOT give out false and damaging advice.

[Deadyankee]

How it is false or damaging? I'm just saying what I would do in their situation. They don't have to take it.

 

Anyone can check this database right with the person permission, what does one say if someone asks to see it and the op refuses to give permission? Do you see a way around it?

[citizenB]

Has anyone checked with the Information Commissioner in respect of this "private" database, RLP threaten people with ?