idle thoughts whilst shopping...

ok,
HYPOTHETICALLY:
say you buy a cd in a supermarket and the checkout zombie forgets to wave it over the magnetic anti theft doohickey. you walk out the front door - having paid and with the reciept to prove it and the alarm goes off. you are tackled by security and frogmarched to the office to be given a search and stern talking to. you are then released to go on your way.
could you sue the supermarket for libel or deformation of character?
cheers


julian

 

No - I don't think so. They're only doing their job - even if you have a receipt for one item, there might well be a lot more items stuffed down your trousers or whatever.

I actually had to "break in" to a DVD I'd bought from Tescos once - didn't notice when I left the shop that the device had been deactivated (so the alarms didn't go off) but the wraparound clamp thing around the DVD case hadn't been removed.

Nothing a good hard whack with a hammer and flathead screwdriver wouldn't fix though....

 

Well, you haven't been libelled - unless they stick up a mug shot in the supermarket saying, "Watch out for this thief!" And the same applies to defamation of character. In what way has yours been defamed? Again, it requires an element of public dissemination of the thoroughly disreputable Julian - although, as everyone knows this anyway, it merely reinforces people's natural inclinations to be careful when you're around.

 

say my employer was walking past whilst i was being frogmarched to the security office. if i was subsequently 'made redundant' or passed over for a promotion would that not constitute a deformation or damage?

tones, i tried to stress the hypotheticality of the situation
cheers


julian

 

Hypothetical my arse !

Julian is EVIL and steals bon bons from little babies !!!!!

BAN HIM, BAN HIM I SAY !!!!!

 

Julian,

this is the result you canexpect when entering a supermarket wearing unfeasibly baggy clothing. Might I suggest putting some weight on or a visit to the Gap?

 

LoL merlin.

 

So you (hypthetically ( ) risked your career for a CD?

 

merlin,
i just bought a load of new clothes - i used to buy 5XL stuff so i measured myself up and seemed to be a 2XL so i bought some - they're still too bloody big! thinner though i am i'm not yet kate moss enough to shop at the gap.

dev,
so you're saying i shouldn't buy cd's any more? should i just download them off the internet then?

cheers


julian

 

Julian
Heaven forbid you should take the place of Kate Moss!

 

somehow i think that is unlikely.
cheers


julian

 

I thought we were talking hypotheticals here I think you (along with eveyone else) should buy more CDs , just make sure the checkout assistant takes your money and swipes the CD over the anti theft devices .

 

A security officer has absolutely no right to return you to the store if you refuse to do so, whether the alarms go off or not, unless of course they know you've nicked something, and can later provide proof in court. (The alarms incidentally serve no purpose beyond thier deterrent value). If the officer physically coerces you against your will, he exposes himself to a potential £20000 fine for wrongful detainment.

To drag someone back into the store against their will, you need to be more certain that they have nicked something than you are of your own name, which is a lot easier said than done. It also goes without saying that only the necessary force shall be used, however you wish to interpret that.

A security officer has no rights whatsoever beyond the common citizen. They are often expected to do the job of a policemen, but without the salary nor the backing of the law.

It can of course be helpful to know if your purchases still contain tags etc, so one may benefit from re-entering the store to have these removed. But if you are asked to return against your will, tell them to piss off, unless of course you have nicked those cd's in which case you should have done a better job.....

 

happened to me a few years ago,i stood my ground,refused to return to the shop and asked them if they were so certain to call the police,eventually they turned up,i produced the recipt and they then gave the store manager a bollocking for wasting police time,unfortunatley they choses to ignore my claim for compensation

 

As I understand defamation in a legal sense, no. Of course, you could indeed be deformed and/or damaged by trying to hide from him and the security guard thinks you're trying to make good your escape with your ill-gotten gains. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

 

its deFAMED actually.
damage to reputation,
libel is in writing, slander is by word of mouth.

Troulbe is with being passed over for a job, you may not be able to prove its as a direct result, they could just say someone else was better qualified.

If you got dismissed and you were exonnerated by the reciept, I am sure there would be case for unfair dismissal.

Nice one hippy, obvioulsy if you are accused, and it turns out to be false, that in my mind is slander and damage to reputation, you should get a witness and all that, and get an apology at the very least, and a solicitor to write to the manager and all that.....

but yes, they are really only doing their job, I think they may have some citizen's arrest powers, as with normal people, not sure if they can search, probably not, so what can they really do? sweet fa? they can obviously call the police who can search and all that.

Interesting how fast the police respond for business, yet for domestics?
I was in whs not long ago, reading a hifi mag when the alarms went, the assistants went ape shit, cops came really quick and walkie talkies and all that, manic...

 

I had to pick up a package from the post office in the local shopping mall once that contained a DVD with a still-active theft tag stuck inside the case. Once I had located it and pulled it off, I dropped it in the sweatshirt hood of the next passing yoof I didn't like the look of. I didn't stop to watch the consequences, but I like to think there were a few moments of harmless panic and disruption.

 

Used to happen to me all the time, about 20 years ago, I'd just had me plates and pins put in after my accident, at the time all the stores we installling the first generation anti-thif gear, so along hobbless Wm, straight through, alarm bells going 10 to the dozen, suited gents leaping out from all directions like a ninja conference excerise, Off to the managers office we, treated like a piece of dog doo doo.
manager says have you got anything you want to tell me about? 'No I reply politely' (not usually the case at that point in my life, though I did have a cunning plan!)
So he calls the cops, they dually arrive, cops says, do you mind if we search you 'No problem' I reply, they find Zip, cops turns to the manager, ripps him off a strip about as Ju has pointed out wasting time, I then produce a hospital card that says Medical implant and explain how they haven't asked for any reasons etc.
Cop does his crust, mentions I should consider private legal action for distress caused to a diabled person (I was at the time), managers face sank lower than the Titainic loaded down with mana.
Cops leave, manager 'suggests' I not mention this to anyone, gave me a £50 voucher and instructions for me not to be stopped if the alarm goes off when I walked through the security gate.
I accepted his offer, and for many years after, my shopping bills strangely never cost me anywhere near what I used pay before being 'caught'.

 

:rds2: Hmm........ This is interesting. Wonder if I should try this ploy one day?