Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

[Concernedparent]

In December my (at the time) 16yr old daughter was shopping with friends, she selected 2items of make up with every intention to pay, she realised the other 2girls had no intention of paying for the stuff they had, she placed the 2items on the floor and left them. They were then stopped by security staff and police called. the 2items were then in one of the other girls bag. No items were found in my daughters possession after a lengthy evening night she was released with no further action after her version of events was backed up by the other 2girls.

Had the first letter which demanded £400 to be paid between the 3 of them. I called and said that I do not see the reason for her to pay, one of the girls has stated she paid a reduced ammount of £138 but still they demand £400.

second letter has arrived saying they still wish to proceed stating further version of account of incident.

What at should I do as this is causing unnecessary stress to my daughter and my wife and I. Thanks in advance for your responses

[des8]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

Hi and welcome toLB.
Well done your daughter resisting the peer pressure to shoplift.
As she was under 18 did she have a responsible adult with her when interviewed by police?
Did police make any attempt to contact you before interviewing her?

Regarding RLP, ignore them! They operate on a basis of scare tactics, and have no legal or moral standing for their demands.
It is a pity the other girl has already paid.
They will send a series of letters, dressed up in legalese language in an attempt to get people to pay. The series of letters used to last about 8 months before ceasing.
They may even threaten court, but they have not ventured there since having their knuckles caned by a judge in Oxford a couple of years ago . Here's a link to the case:
http://www.farrarsbuilding.co.uk/lat...9-May-2012-99v

Really, try not to worry.
Your daughter has behaved impeccably. (I wonder if store security and police did).
Ignore everything, unless by some chance you receive genuine court papers, when return here.

[Kati]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

Hi, and welcome to LB

Personally, I would advise you to simply file the letters from RLP in the bin. You have said your daughter had no stolen goods on her when they were stopped, she owes nothing to either the store OR rlp (IMO).

If the other girls (or their parents) decide to pay, then that is their decision ... but from other threads on this (and also other) forum the consensus is "do not pay". RLP are prone to sending increasingly threatening letters, but have not (from what I can gather) taken anyone to court. Their 'charges' are unrealistic in the extreme - again my own opinion.

You could always try a formal complaint letter to the Head Office of the store in question (not rlp themselves unless you want to ) explaining the circumstances and the fact that your daughter was not even found to have any goods on her and was not charged or cautioned.

Personally, I would like to see the likes of this type of firm brought more under control. With regulations and a fee schedule etc...

[Concernedparent]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

Hi des,
thank you for your quick response. The police did eventually contact us and this was before she was interviewed. She left college at 3 on that day by 5 we could not get hold of her and lack of social media activity we panicked. I spent the next 3hours trying to find her and called the local hospital. At about 8.45 we got a call to say she was at the police station

[des8]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

Personally, I would like to see the likes of this type of firm exterminated.

I've corrected your post for you Kati:tinysmile_kiss_t4::tinysmile_kiss_t4:

[Kati]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

I've corrected your post for you Kati:tinysmile_kiss_t4::tinysmile_kiss_t4:

msl: ... and there I was trying to keep up my "sweet and innocent" image des I do agree tho ... Maybe a rent-a-trap would be a better idea

[Amethyst]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

I agree completely with Des and Kati.

I must say if my daughters (15 & 14) are more than half hour later than expected I almost go into melt down, so can well imagine how awful it must have been not having any info until 8.45pm after she'd left college at 3pm.

[Concernedparent]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

Hi thanks kati for your reply will just ignore letters from now on and will contact the stores head office with complaint.

amethyst we were worried sick the store/police could see that we had messaged her phone and called like 60 or 70 times but would not let her get in touch with us.

[Kati]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

You could also try a complaint to the police over their "lack of contact" I'd be pushing for an apology from them too :sad:

[des8]

Re: Rlp trying to recover losses from under 18

When a young person is taken into custody they must allow them to phone a lawyer, and a friend/ family member efc.
If your daughter was denied this a formal complaint should be made.
It might be worth while consulting a solicitor.