RLP letter- under 18, help..

[candidissou]

Hello everyone

I have already read quite a lot of things here,
and I have seen that everyone is trying to help as best as they can,
and I was just amazed by that.

I'd like to apologize if there are some things that you don't understand,
I am french, just trying to do my best.

On august 16th, I stole 3items from Primark in Picadilly with my boyfriend.
I know how bad it is, and how I should have thought about that before doing that stupid thing.
Now I just got a rlp letter.
It was the first time I ever steal and same for my boyfriend.

We are both 16. Even though, we bought some stuffs (3items) the security obviously got us.

I have the Algerian/dutch nationality so he used to be like 'if you can't talk to me in Arabic,
than I will only let your boyfriend leave'.

we gave our ID,
gave the items that we have stolen,
they took a picture, and
then he asked us our email address
saying that if our parents aren't checking on it,
then we're lucky because they won't know about it.

No police were called, and as we were alone in England,
he let us leave without a 18 year old person.

Right, now I just got the rlp letter, a fine of 180pounds.
And I luckily got it before my parents did.
I read somewhere that I could send a letter saying to deny any liability to them and also refusing them any rights in contacting any third party("Any liability to you or any company you claim to represent is denied.This is a personal matter and as such I deny you the right to contact any third party.") but then the letters would still arrive at my home = my parents will see it.
My boyfriend has a flat, should I put his adress instead on the letter?

Thank you everyone.:wub:

[Johnboy007]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Put your boyfriends address.
You can have mail sent to any address.
Hope you have learned your lesson, that stealing isn't to be tolerated by these stores.
Shop lifting in the UK, costs retailers 12 million pounds a day.

[wales01man]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

JB We all agree its stealing and as such any Fine?or punishment MUST be handed out by the Courts after investigation by the Police not an invoice sent out by the likes of RLP.

The OP has we hope learnt a lesson but having been in Primark I wonder why anyone steals the crap they sell.

[des8]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

RLP sending their fatuous demands to a SIXTEEN year old?
Security taking photographs of children.
Threatening children and scaring them (lucky your parents won't know)

I wonder if you were manhandled, had bags searched, held imprisoned by security.

Unfortunately I doubt that RLP will take any notice of anything you write to them.
They are only interested in scaring you with legal sounding threats, which can be ignored.
They increase the threats, use debt collectors etc. but eventually give up.
I don't believe they have been to court since their spectacular loss in Oxford in 2012.

However I understand you may have serious concerns regarding your parents finding out.
Regarding that the only advice I can give is that you own up to your parents before they intercept your mail. This may be marginally better than them finding out from the mail.
You could try telling RLP that you have moved in with your boyfriend, but as they know you are young they may not believe you, and could continue writing to your parent's address.
Was the letter from RLP addressed to you or your parents?

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

RLP sending their fatuous demands to a SIXTEEN year old?
Security taking photographs of children.
Threatening children and scaring them (lucky your parents won't know)

I wonder if you were manhandled, had bags searched, held imprisoned by security.

Unfortunately I doubt that RLP will take any notice of anything you write to them.
They are only interested in scaring you with legal sounding threats, which can be ignored.
They increase the threats, use debt collectors etc. but eventually give up.
I don't believe they have been to court since their spectacular loss in Oxford in 2012.

However I understand you may have serious concerns regarding your parents finding out.
Regarding that the only advice I can give is that you own up to your parents before they intercept your mail. This may be marginally better than them finding out from the mail.
You could try telling RLP that you have moved in with your boyfriend, but as they know you are young they may not believe you, and could continue writing to your parent's address.
Was the letter from RLP addressed to you or your parents?

Hi des8, and thank you for your reply!
Yes indeed, to a sixteen year old..

a part from the fact that the security gard made fun of us using different languages, that's all. We had to show our bags but they didn't touch anything. We were in a security room for an hour or so.

Alright I see...

So you don't recommand that I sent any letter telling them that I refuse that they send any more letters at my parents'?
The RLP letter was addressed to me.
Thank you for helping!

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Put your boyfriends address.
You can have mail sent to any address.
Hope you have learned your lesson, that stealing isn't to be tolerated by these stores.
Shop lifting in the UK, costs retailers 12 million pounds a day.

Hi Johnboy007, do you think they'll respect it and not ever send an other one to my house?
I did, it was the first and LAST time.

[Kati]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Unfortunately I doubt that RLP will take any notice of anything you write to them.
They are only interested in scaring you with legal sounding threats, which can be ignored.
They increase the threats, use debt collectors etc. but eventually give up.
I don't believe they have been to court since their spectacular loss in Oxford in 2012.

I agree with des8 on this, they are just sending letters to scare the OP into paying up.

we gave our ID,
gave the items that we have stolen,
they took a picture, and
then he asked us our email address
saying that if our parents aren't checking on it,
then we're lucky because they won't know about it.

No police were called, and as we were alone in England,
he let us leave without a 18 year old person.

These two points say it all for me. The OP and her boyfriend handed the items back and no police attended. All RLP are attempting to do now is scare a SIXTEEN year old girl into paying £180 in 'expenses'.

Do you live in France @candidissou ?? Or are you living in the UK?? Did your boyfriend get a demand letter too?? Or was it just you who got one??

Personally, I would suggest you ignored the letter. If you live in France, I cannot see a UK debt collection agency coming out to visit you. If you live in the UK, then they are being pretty silly (IMO) in attempting to get almost £200 from a 16yr old 'child' (no offence intended).

Kati x

[Reluctant]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Taking from a shop at the time may feel like no one will get hurt but you are learning how it can hurt you.
I think it brave of you to be truthful and wise to look for help.

Not knowing how good your relationship is with your boyfriend or your parents. I would also advise you find a way to tell your parents.
It won't be easy but they will pick up on something being wrong and hiding it from them will make you feel bad for longer.

Do you know if your boyfriend also has a fine similar to yours or did you take the whole blame?
I think if you are the only one, it might be good of him to share paying the money owed too.

From what I have read on here, the fines grow if ignored and the fight to get them reduced needs to be well thought out.
Try to make up your mind soon and let your parents know what you decide to do about sorting it, see if they can agree with you.
They will be worried about you already if you've been trying to keep your worry to yourself. They might even be relieved that it is not something worse.
Good luck.

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

I agree with des8 on this, they are just sending letters to scare the OP into paying up.



These two points say it all for me. The OP and her boyfriend handed the items back and no police attended. All RLP are attempting to do now is scare a SIXTEEN year old girl into paying £180 in 'expenses'.

Do you live in France @candidissou ?? Or are you living in the UK?? Did your boyfriend get a demand letter too?? Or was it just you who got one??

Personally, I would suggest you ignored the letter. If you live in France, I cannot see a UK debt collection agency coming out to visit you. If you live in the UK, then they are being pretty silly (IMO) in attempting to get almost £200 from a 16yr old 'child' (no offence intended).

Kati x

Hello Kati and thank you for your reply,

I do live in France, and my boyfriend got the same letter as me, 180pounds fine.
no offence taken. I should just ignore then..?

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Taking from a shop at the time may feel like no one will get hurt but you are learning how it can hurt you.
I think it brave of you to be truthful and wise to look for help.

Not knowing how good your relationship is with your boyfriend or your parents. I would also advise you find a way to tell your parents.
It won't be easy but they will pick up on something being wrong and hiding it from them will make you feel bad for longer.

Do you know if your boyfriend also has a fine similar to yours or did you take the whole blame?
I think if you are the only one, it might be good of him to share paying the money owed too.

From what I have read on here, the fines grow if ignored and the fight to get them reduced needs to be well thought out.
Try to make up your mind soon and let your parents know what you decide to do about sorting it, see if they can agree with you.
They will be worried about you already if you've been trying to keep your worry to yourself. They might even be relieved that it is not something worse.
Good luck.

Hello reluctant,
it is exactly it! in the mean time i just didn't really realize even if i knew how bad it was..
I will try to.

Yeah, he got exactly the same one..

Okay well..what i'm confused about is that some people are telling me to ignore them, and some are not...apperently it isn't a 'real fine' so no need to pay?

Thank you x

[Kati]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

To be honest candidissou, I think you will find that you will get a few letters and that will be the end of it :tinysmile_grin_t:. RLP are very unlikely to go over to France to collect £360, as chasing you and your boyfriend for it would be too costly (my opinion).

If I was you, I would ignore the correspondence, although you will be more than welcome to come back for help if you need to (we would do our best to advise you, although we are not very clued-up on foreign policy )

J'espère que vous acquérir de l'expérience en raison de cette situation. Ne pas prendre les choses sans avoir à payer pour eux, vous ne pourriez pas obtenir une seconde chance la prochaine fois !

Kati x


Aucuns police n'étaient impliqués, aucun crime n'a été enregistré. Vous retourné la marchandise à l'agent de sécurité. Ils écriront à vous, peut-être même vous dire ils prendront vous et votre petit ami à la Cour, mais je ne pense pas qu'ils poursuivront en fait il s'ils n'obtiennent aucune réponse de votre part.

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Alright then.. HOPEFULLY!

I'll do that, they'll probably send me an other one in 21 days anyway.. (thank you so much, taking your time to help people, such a nice thing to do)

Oui, c'était bien la premiere et la derniere fois que j'ai volé..je sais pas ce qu'il m'a pris mais ca ne se repassera pas c'est sur et certain..!

Thank you again, see you in 21 days Kati! :tung:

[Guest]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

HI
Just to add my two penneth. I agree with Kati.

Firstly it is not a good idea to steal of course, but do not beat yourself up too much, your 16 and it will not be the last stupid thing you do, believe me.
I think it is a good ideal to let your parents know, perhaps you have grandparents or a friend of the family you can to talk to who will break the ice, my grandchildren are always using me as peacemaker, it is what we are for.

I also think it is a mistake to send them a letter asking them to redirect your mail, there is no legal reason why they should and if they think that this is a way to pressure you they will pursue it.

RLP will eventually give up the ghost, they have no legal power, all they can do is try and make life uncomfortable for you.

Good luck

[Kati]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Oui, c'était bien la premiere et la derniere fois que j'ai volé..je sais pas ce qu'il m'a pris mais ca ne se repassera pas c'est sur et certain..!

Je suis content que vous le ferez pas ! Vous devrez ne peut-être pas parler à vos parents, mais je suggère que vous leur parlez si vous obtenez des lettres supplémentaires de RLP. Bonne Chance [MENTION=52391]candidissou[/MENTION] :tinysmile_twink_t2:

I am glad we at LB have been able to advise you.

Kati x

[candidissou]

Re: RLP letter- under 18, help..

Hi [MENTION=41182]andy58[/MENTION]

I know it isn't..
Haha, I wish I was your granddaughter then so you could break the ice because my grandparents wouldn't do that! But I'll manage to tell them.

Alright, well if I tell them there is no point on asking them to redirect my mail..thank you though

They should just tell us that we're banned from the shop and that's it because I mean if it isn't even a 'real' fine, there is no point on trying to put pressure on people under 18 that can't pay anyway..