Refund fraud mistaken return tk maxx, what happens after police interview?

[axelcruze]

Refund fraud mistaken return tk maxx,

 

bought lots of items in august, returned new jacket/jeans from my wardrobe which tk maxx claim is not theirs. Seen cctv and i have returned an item with a tag from another. I have been under a period of stress with baby/uncertain job/family member advanced cancer. It was an innocent mistake as i thought the tags belonged to those items. in actual fact, there is no distinction on the label between a jacket and another jacket. and this is the case i put forward at 'police chat' with solicitor, it was strange debating wether TK M sold 'Superdry' stuff. I left without caution.

 

What happens after police interview? Office mentioned he will call tk maxx and have a chat. Any ideas??

[rebel11]

Hi axel

 

Welcome to CAG

 

If this happened in August, what's happened since. Can you give us the whole story? What happen in the store? What happened with the police?

What's happened since? all with dates please.

[axelcruze]

Timeline is quite short

 

End of August bought items/returned sept

Phone call Police 2 weeks ago (end October), voluntary interview 2 wks later (Sunday just gone).

 

 

I got a phone call 2 weeks ago from Police asking me to visit station, i turned up voluntarily on Sunday and had a 'chat'. Thanks to the forums, i ensured that i got advice and used a duty solicitor. The allegation is 'fraud'. I was versed by the solicitor before the interview and i left without caution. Officer advised he would contact TK Maxx, i think Audrey or Jackie (he was talking at this point to the duty solicitor).

 

 

I did not know of the exact allegation until just before the interview. Incident of returning items in August, shown on CCTV footage buying an item and returning another item 10 days later. Thing is, i bought lots of clothes around that time and many did not have tags. I thought i was returning the correct items because the receipt and tags say 'mens jacket' and 'mens jeans'. Why can they not advise me of this at the till point that it is the wrong item...

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG. If your details were taken by the security staff then it is fairly likely you will receive a letter from RLP in the near future.

 

As for what the police may do is anyone's guess. My gut reaction is that this will be treated by the police as a genuine mistake.

 

It is a case of wait and see what happens

[rebel11]

Hi axelcruze

 

You haven't been arrested or charged with anything as it stands. So it sounds like you have nothing to worry about. If as you say it's a genuine error and you think that the store should have brought it to your attention at the time, then write a Letter of Complaint to the CEO of TK Maxx. You might get letters from RLP, just file. In a couple of weeks ring the police to find out what's going on, just to confirm that no action will take place in this matter.

[axelcruze]

Thanks, i will take this advice. No doubt i will get the RLP letter as it is their job.

[2Grumpy]

For the police / CPS to do anything, they would have to prove intent.

 

I think that more would need to be involved to prove fraud

 

You didn't remove another store's labels from the items that you were returning and replace them with TKMaxx labels.

 

I understand that TKMaxx receipts do not have a description of the goods.

 

 

 

Beware of the police offering a caution - it might be an opportunity for them to increase their solved crime statistics, however if you don't accept one they will either let the matter drop or prosecute.

 

Take advice before making your mind up if they do go down that road

[maxxer]

Was it just one allegation ?

 

 

Always used to be the case when I worked doing this for them, that there was to be no less than TWO allegations of fraud, different purchases and different returns of items, to prove a pattern, and that is wasn't a one off mistake.

 

 

Also, the price ticket had to be attached to the 'wrong' garment, again, so there was no chance of a mistake, as the customer would of had to remove it from the purchased item, and attach it to the 'wrong' item. Again, proving dishonest intent.

[silverfox1961]

Was it just one allegation ?

 

 

Always used to be the case when I worked doing this for them, that there was to be no less than TWO allegations of fraud, different purchases and different returns of items, to prove a pattern, and that is wasn't a one off mistake.

 

 

Also, the price ticket had to be attached to the 'wrong' garment, again, so there was no chance of a mistake, as the customer would of had to remove it from the purchased item, and attach it to the 'wrong' item. Again, proving dishonest intent.

 

It is difficult to disagree with such a reasoned post but I will try

 

If I bought various items, took them home then removed all the tags then reattached a wrong tag to the wrong item without intent then surely that would be classed as a genuine mistake, wouldn't it?

 

I can see the scenario where two different jackets were bought and the receipt didn't make it clear which was which.

 

I know that is a bit vague but I just wanted to throw it out there.

[maxxer]

It is difficult to disagree with such a reasoned post but I will try

 

If I bought various items, took them home then removed all the tags then reattached a wrong tag to the wrong item without intent then surely that would be classed as a genuine mistake, wouldn't it?

 

I can see the scenario where two different jackets were bought and the receipt didn't make it clear which was which.

 

I know that is a bit vague but I just wanted to throw it out there.

 

 

If the 'genuine mistake' was done once, then no action would be taken. Its only when someone does it more than once, that eyebrows are raised and case files are started.

 

 

If someone was to swap over a number of price tickets at home, carelessly putting the wrong one on, then the whole thing of 'more than one occasion' would then come into play.

 

 

There are things which give away the game, like are the garments returned actually sold by the store ? were they clearance or lower priced stock (lots of people we used to catch purchased a high price item, and a lower priced one, then returned the lower priced one with the higher priced ticket on it).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the things to consider, is that if the police go back to the store, the Loss prevention team will usually be able to produce more examples of fraudulently returned items from the same customer. Even if they don't have the garment any more, the cctv will show one colour item being purchased, and an other returned. Food for thought when presented with this in court.