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Hi, first time posting on here so no clue if this is going to the right place- lol.
today while shopping at M&S I picked up a piece of clothing for my daughter and put it on my pram handle while I picked up some other items from around the shop. I went into the food hall and bought some items from there and totally, genuinely forgot about the T-shirt I had clipped onto the pram. I was in the store for about half an hour and with a newborn baby this feels like an eternity so the tshirt I had put there completely slipped my mind. I walked out of the store and stood outside the store for about 2 minutes while on a phone call, when I was approached by a security guard asking if I had paid for the clothing item. I ended the phone call straight away and sincerely, whole heartedly apologised, admitting I hadn’t paid for it and it was an honest mistake. He said he would have to take action as it was classed as shoplifting. I agreed that he needed to follow procedure, what ever that may be, and was totally understanding of what ever actions he needed to take, and I fully cooperated. This situation is so far from anything I’ve ever been involved with before, and is most definitely not in me as a person to ever “shoplift” or engage in any unlawful activity whatsoever. I appreciate most people would say the same that it was a mistake and I appreciate the staff at the store are none the wiser to me as a person and can’t take my word for it being a mistake, but I hoped some leniency would come into play with how apologetic I was, and fully willing to cooperate with any issues. To be honest, I expected to be taken in the store, given an opportunity to purchase the item and given maybe a warning of the issue, but I was taken through the store by the security guard to a back room with the manager and another member of staff as requested by the security guard and was totally embarrassed in the process of doing so. I pleaded of the genuine mistake and the managers response was instructing the security guard to “just put it through as shoplifting” despite my distressed pleading of it being a huge mistake. I was given a letter, asked for identification, my name, address and use of my social media (?) to verify I was who I said I was, and was told I am now banned from M&S as a retailer without any consideration for my point of view. I was given no other information on if there were any further actions being taken and asked to leave immediately.
I totally understand it is my word against theirs, and it’s procedures they must follow, and I wouldn’t have stepped in the way of them following those procedures, but I felt so unfairly approached in the whole situation and I am genuinely so upset and embarrassed by it all. This is not in my character at all and I am very worried about it, hence I am seeking help online. If anyone knows of what will come of the situation or anything I can do to lessen the repercussions please let me know!
I am totally embarrassed by the mistake and am so humiliated by the whole situation.
for the record, the security guard was polite and supportive and when I was pleading that I was so sorry and it was a mistake he was replying “I know love, I can tell that”. In hindsight I should have stayed and asked more questions on if anything more will come of the situation, but I was so upset and in shock I didn’t, I just left.
thank you in advance for any advice
today while shopping at M&S I picked up a piece of clothing for my daughter and put it on my pram handle while I picked up some other items from around the shop. I went into the food hall and bought some items from there and totally, genuinely forgot about the T-shirt I had clipped onto the pram. I was in the store for about half an hour and with a newborn baby this feels like an eternity so the tshirt I had put there completely slipped my mind. I walked out of the store and stood outside the store for about 2 minutes while on a phone call, when I was approached by a security guard asking if I had paid for the clothing item. I ended the phone call straight away and sincerely, whole heartedly apologised, admitting I hadn’t paid for it and it was an honest mistake. He said he would have to take action as it was classed as shoplifting. I agreed that he needed to follow procedure, what ever that may be, and was totally understanding of what ever actions he needed to take, and I fully cooperated. This situation is so far from anything I’ve ever been involved with before, and is most definitely not in me as a person to ever “shoplift” or engage in any unlawful activity whatsoever. I appreciate most people would say the same that it was a mistake and I appreciate the staff at the store are none the wiser to me as a person and can’t take my word for it being a mistake, but I hoped some leniency would come into play with how apologetic I was, and fully willing to cooperate with any issues. To be honest, I expected to be taken in the store, given an opportunity to purchase the item and given maybe a warning of the issue, but I was taken through the store by the security guard to a back room with the manager and another member of staff as requested by the security guard and was totally embarrassed in the process of doing so. I pleaded of the genuine mistake and the managers response was instructing the security guard to “just put it through as shoplifting” despite my distressed pleading of it being a huge mistake. I was given a letter, asked for identification, my name, address and use of my social media (?) to verify I was who I said I was, and was told I am now banned from M&S as a retailer without any consideration for my point of view. I was given no other information on if there were any further actions being taken and asked to leave immediately.
I totally understand it is my word against theirs, and it’s procedures they must follow, and I wouldn’t have stepped in the way of them following those procedures, but I felt so unfairly approached in the whole situation and I am genuinely so upset and embarrassed by it all. This is not in my character at all and I am very worried about it, hence I am seeking help online. If anyone knows of what will come of the situation or anything I can do to lessen the repercussions please let me know!
I am totally embarrassed by the mistake and am so humiliated by the whole situation.
for the record, the security guard was polite and supportive and when I was pleading that I was so sorry and it was a mistake he was replying “I know love, I can tell that”. In hindsight I should have stayed and asked more questions on if anything more will come of the situation, but I was so upset and in shock I didn’t, I just left.
thank you in advance for any advice
