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I am interpreting this as an accusation of theft. I can't understand the actions of the store employee any other way. And, in a department store, the cosmetics people are usually employed by the cosmetics manufacturers, not the store. So, the call to the store manager, might have been pointless.
The OP says she was accused of not putting the sample back, which I interpret to mean, she was suspected of stealing the sample. The OP does not directly state that she did not take the sample.
I do think she should be concerned about the pic of her license. I think the store employee was trying to intimidate her. I also think it possible that the employee was going to be held responsible for the missing sample.
(snip).
Good point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tassity22
I think at drugstores, you aren't supposed to open up cosmetics and test them out. But it's not stealing, if you don't leave the store with it.
A store employee has no business following a customer out to their car and taking pictures of them. That's just wrong, period.
Of course, it is stealing! If you open up a package making it unusable to sell you are stealing profits from the store, even if you don't remove the opened, ruined items from the building.
It would be similar to opening up packages of food in a grocery store and eating half of the food and just leaving the open, half eaten food in the store. That is stealing, too.
Or you pick up Waterford crystal wineglasses at a fancy store and throw them on the floor breaking them. That is stealing, too, or maybe destruction of property, but either way it is wrong.
I agree that the security guard should have followed the woman outside the store not the employee. Especially since a suspected shoplifter might do something dangerous.
I would just call the cops. I had a similar incident happened to me at a popular restaurant where I live. The service was very subpar and I decided not to tip. It wasn't like I wanted to be waited on hand and foot and snubbed them. I explained several times why I was unhappy. The staff and management thought it was funny. I said "Ok, laugh at me never never coming back. There won't be a tip". After our meal, my friend and I went to my car. As I'm starting the car, the waiter runs out to attack us. Yelling and screaming. I thought he was high. I told my friend to take his picture. He's banging on my car. I stopped my car and called the cops. Next time call the cops on a person like that. They have no right to follow you out.
I do, because of this, which is also my experience. The OP didn't just put things back in on the wrong rack.
Indeed. There's more to this story, we just aren't hearing it.
Even so, and I'm not for stealing, who is the employee to run after someone and take their picture/pictures of their vehicles? That is harassment. What is the employee going to do with this info? They can try identity theft. Honestly, only a mentally ill person (unless they were a cop) would do such a thing. This isn't some weirdo thinking they're batman or Paul Blart. This is a sick person who has a deviant reason for their actions.
That's a fine line. If the OP opened a sealed package, she rendered it unsaleable, and the store would incur a loss.
And, if the employee thought the OP had shoplifted, then there is little recourse beyond identifying them and barring them from the store. Was the employee over zealous? Perhaps, maybe the OP didn't do anything more than show careless disregard for her surroundings.
But, again, something made the employee react that way, and I'm quite certain it wasn't just putting an item on the wrong shelf.
That something could have been a mental illness. You're victim blaming.
I agree that the security guard should have followed the woman outside the store not the employee. Especially since a suspected shoplifter might do something dangerous.
The majority of small businesses do not employ security guards, it's far too expensive for the slim profit margin most of them operate under. The OP was rather evasive about the circumstances, but I'm guessing it was a small business if the employee could easily follow her out to her car.
I agree that an employee's safety should not be put at risk over theft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tassity22
A store would have a difficult case to prove shoplifting if the person left items in the store. It's almost impossible to prosecute in that situation.
Food is a different story. Of course if you eat it, it's gone and it's stealing.
The store isn't looking to prosecute based on what was written. They are looking to bar the OP from "shopping" there again.
I would just call the cops. I had a similar incident happened to me at a popular restaurant where I live. The service was very subpar and I decided not to tip. It wasn't like I wanted to be waited on hand and foot and snubbed them. I explained several times why I was unhappy. The staff and management thought it was funny. I said "Ok, laugh at me never never coming back. There won't be a tip". After our meal, my friend and I went to my car. As I'm starting the car, the waiter runs out to attack us. Yelling and screaming. I thought he was high. I told my friend to take his picture. He's banging on my car. I stopped my car and called the cops. Next time call the cops on a person like that. They have no right to follow you out.
Oh no! YOU'RE the one!
All the while I've been reading this I've been thinking about the time I was eating in a local chain restaurant and a waiter who didn't get tipped chased out to the parking lot and confronted the people leaving.
Saw the whole thing out the window. Never seen anything like that before!
I would just call the cops. I had a similar incident happened to me at a popular restaurant where I live. The service was very subpar and I decided not to tip. It wasn't like I wanted to be waited on hand and foot and snubbed them. I explained several times why I was unhappy. The staff and management thought it was funny. I said "Ok, laugh at me never never coming back. There won't be a tip". After our meal, my friend and I went to my car. As I'm starting the car, the waiter runs out to attack us. Yelling and screaming. I thought he was high. I told my friend to take his picture. He's banging on my car. I stopped my car and called the cops. Next time call the cops on a person like that. They have no right to follow you out.
I knew someone who tipped 25% and the waiter got upset, so the manager confronted him about why he "only" tipped 25%. And the manager told the customer "we like to make sure our waitstaff is taken care of." Unreal. And it was only a table of 4 people. It was an average restaurant in a hoity-toity "upscale" area of town.
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