Help I have been caught shoplifting at Primark

[senoux123]

Hello, I did something bad today and Im very sorry and freaked out about it.

 

I shoplifted from Primark for 24 pounds. They caught me and I filled a paper with name address NIN and job. They said I need to pay a fee or something and I will get a letter. I asked if I am in big trouble like I will get kicked out of uni (i dont want them to find out) or fired from my job because some dude has access to this kind of data and has all mcdonalds (where I work) and when he sees my name he will fire me.

 

The police was not involved but im still afraid because they said that If the police ask them for a list of shoplifters they will give it to them and well i will be in trouble. It was my first attempt and I SWEAR i will never ever try to do something like this again. Can I get out of it without anyone important like my uni or guys at work to find out? I will pay the fee no problem but I just want to dig this incident and get over it so i can be happy again.

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

As you have now posted in the open, I won't respond to your private message but keep all responses here.

 

As no police were involved, your uni place is fine. Maccy D's won't find out either because of the Data Protection Act. Primark nor RLP can divulge this information without your express permission. As for the police asking for a lit of shoplifters. That is something I have never heard of before. I suspect it was a ploy to scare you into paying this so called 'fee'

 

As no police were involved at the time, it is very unlikely that they will get involved in the future. Of more concern is the reasons why you did it. I am not a doctor and I don't know you personally but I have seen a few cases here where depression was a motivating aspect to the crime. Can you identify whether this may be true or not.

 

Do you live at home or in student digs? Are you over 18?

 

Now, this 'fee' you will be sent from RLP (Retail Loss Prevention) is nothing of the sort. It is an invoice which you can decide not to pay. we can explain more on that if we need to.

[senoux123]

Thank you for your fast reply. I rent a house with 2 friends. And yes I am over 18 (20). I can say that now is the best time of my life, and happiest because i recenly quit smoking drinking and weed. I got all my life together I started to work, to sleep and learn graphic design. I am extremely good right now. Yes, I was depressed, I had a weird period before I decided to change a month ago. I dont know if that is the reason, but i wouldnt be so stressed if I was depressed because when im depressed I really dont care what happens to me. But now, when I finally realised and changed my life, I am being stupid and **** up everything by trying something like that...and about RLP, if I just ignore every single warning they send me, everything will be fine?

[silverfox1961]

So long as RLP write to the address of the shared house then you should be fine.

 

Once you start getting the letters (should be within a couple of weeks) they will state things that are at best, fictitious. Primarni wash their hands of you as soon as you have left the store and let RLP do the chasing. RLP will threaten court action but they cannot do so. Only the retailer can begin action-except they don't. They can't be bothered.

 

Once RLP have given up, they will pass this on to their pet debt collector of the day; they can do even less!. Eventually, they give up but it does take some time. So long as you treat the letters with disdain and not believe all the crap they spout, you will be OK.

[senoux123]

Okay, I understand now. If I get any other questions before I go to sleep, because im sure my brain wont let me sleep tonight, I will post them here. Thank you for your time!

[brassnecked]

RLP rely on fear and intimidation, there is no legal ground for the sums of money they are demanding, Myself or Silver Fox could write and demand as much as RLP, and the demand would be just as invalid. Move on ignore them and don't do it again. They would probably bill someone who couldn't produce a receipt straight away when challenged as checkout hadn't disabled a security tag.

[ericsbrother]

Primark dont have a list of shoplifters so you wont be on it and it wont get handed over to the police. I'm glad that the experience has scared you into seeing sense and now you should consider this the opportunity to focus on what is impoertant for your future. As said, you will probably get begging letters from RLP but they have no place in the legal system and you can ignore them.

[senoux123]

Guys thank you so much for the replies. It was a real help for me. Yesterday I couldt think straight and made up so many possible scenarios of how my life is ****ed up because of this, I overreacted Im sure. I feel much more better now and I learned an amazing lesson. I will not touch anything that is not mine ever again and I'll tell all my friends to learn from my stupid mistake. Thank you again for your support and I wish you all the best!

[silverfox1961]

That is what we are here for. We try not to judge you but to offer support and to raise awareness of how wrong the civil recovery process is.

 

This might seem a little pedantic to you but I don't like the word 'mistake' I prefer to use the word 'choice'. We all have choices in life. Some good, some poor. Mistakes imply (to me) that it was accidental.

Not criticising you of course.

[ericsbrother]

mistake as in mistake or error in judgement. Still reflects choice or decision making.

The word accident is no longer used by the police when dealing with road traffic collisions as ultimately the overwhelmimg causes of RTC's are human error and taking away the comfort blanket of the word accident will eventually make peopel aware that very few such collisions are true accidents

[senoux123]

Yes I agree, it really was a poor choice. I knew what I was doing and I should've stoped. I do regret now, and I will not do it again because I feel very bad about that. I will keep you updated with my situation, when the letter comes and all that. Maybe others will find themselves in the same situation as me and I want to help.

[silverfox1961]

Having responded to a PM, I feel this should be placed here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?356933-Oxford-Retail-Loss-Prevention-A-Retailer-**-reveiwed-September-2015-**&p=3898857&viewfull=1#post3898857

 

Since this case (apart from one already set for court) no other cases have been taken by any other retailer.

 

Also, I made a post to explain what they mean with their claims.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?448994-RLP-FAQ-s.-What-do-they-mean-Reviewed-September-2015&p=4762870&viewfull=1#post4762870

 

I will try and find the full judgement that is stored on my PC.

 

I see RLP have updated their website. Looks professional. Means nothing of course.

[silverfox1961]

This is a copy of the full judgement.

[brassnecked]

RLP have updated their site but the pay up pages are the same.