Has this happened to anyone else?

maplecottage

Member
Sep 20, 2008
4,826
2
I set off the store alarms when taking Mabel for her first outing today, great :cursing:

Now the only reason why I know it was my mabel set off the store alarm - was due to the fact my outlet Antony set off a store alarm when I took it for its first outing.

It seems that when buying mail order through the outlets, neither of the SA's had the bags scanned to have their security systems removed.

Thankfully I was able to explain it, and they scanned Mabel for me and that was that!

Really would be great if the Outlets could stop doing this though, it was so embarassing.
 
I was fortunate enough to have an SA that listened to my story so she took my bag, ran it over their security scanner and this deactivated it immediately - had to get another store to do this with the Antony too - but you feel like an absolute idiot trying to explain why your handbag is setting off the alarms.

The worst experience was the Antony, as I walked into a store, and set off the alarm I was pounced on by an SA who asked me to empty my bag - and I told her I just walked in the store!! She said well you set off the alarm so empty your bag - I was quite upset about that I can tell you!
 
I was fortunate enough to have an SA that listened to my story so she took my bag, ran it over their security scanner and this deactivated it immediately - had to get another store to do this with the Antony too - but you feel like an absolute idiot trying to explain why your handbag is setting off the alarms.

The worst experience was the Antony, as I walked into a store, and set off the alarm I was pounced on by an SA who asked me to empty my bag - and I told her I just walked in the store!! She said well you set off the alarm so empty your bag - I was quite upset about that I can tell you!
You can file a complaint in cases like that. Shops have no legal right to ask you to empty your bag unless they have a witness to you putting something inside. They can examine your shopping bag, but only if it is from their shop.

I would have been incensed! :cursing:
 
I did not know that, thanks LCF.

My next mail order bag purchase I will request that they scan it before the mail it out to save me the embarassment.

You can file a complaint in cases like that. Shops have no legal right to ask you to empty your bag unless they have a witness to you putting something inside. They can examine your shopping bag, but only if it is from their shop.

I would have been incensed! :cursing:
 
Quite right, it set off the very first store I walked into and this happened again today so makes sense.

Jenova, have emailed the lady and also will call tomorrow, will let you know how I get on, thanks so much :tup:

You might find that you set off other shop's alarms too. I used to find that different chains had the same alarm systems.
 
When i received my choco ivy bays through the post from Bicester the other year they forgot to remove the bloody great security tag thingy. I had to make a 3hr round trip to get it removed!!! I asked if maybe john Lewis or some other shop might be able to remove it but they said it depended on what tag system they used!!! i could have sent the bag back to them but i didn't need much of an excuse to take a trip to Bicester!!!
 
They can only stop you from leaving the shop if they have witness/cctv that you have stolen something from their shop and are trying to leave the shop without paying.

Lets say if you go to Boots and pick up a lipstick, you can open your handbag, put the lipstick in and walk around the shop all day with it but it's only a crime if you try to leave the shop without paying for it.

I don't think an alarm going off counts as proof of shoplifting though so even if you set the alarm off they have no right to stop and search you.

Its all good being a lawyer, a very rude SA tried to search my bags once when they left tags on a top I'd just bought, I had a field day with him.:nuts:
 
It's funny, it's those of us who don't shoplift that set the alarms off. The real shoplifters know how to get out of the store alarm free. I worked at the Gap for years, shoplifters are incredibly clever. We had small groups who would come in and purposely distract us, some who brought cutters in that would remove the security tags, it was mindboggling. We once put out cashmere baby sweaters, and minutes later quite a few of them vanished, literally before our eyes. Don't know how they do it!!!
 
^^^ Friend of mine works in local Comet, remember a story once, she said that they had lost a 36 " television one day :wtf: how do you go unnoticed with that !!

(totally off topic sorry :shame:smile:
 
^^ I think you just need a very brass neck!!! A friend of mine used to work for ASDA and said people would just walk in, take something big, like a box of nappies, or a tv or whatever off the shelf, then walk back out again with it bold as brass, its all the scuttling about that attracts attention.