Shoplifting


I'm in a payless shoe store in the mall looking for shoes for my daughter. I happen to see that they have dance shoes (jazz ). They are $22.00. I notice that there is a pair that has obviously been worn. They are dirty inside and have been stretched the way leather stretches when worn. One thing I should mention, the store itself is ghetto and located in the ghetto as well. Therfore, the shoe area was completely in disarray and the shoes were mismatched with many not having matches at all.
I am a bargain hunter and a firm believer of "let's make a deal". So...I take the used pair of shoes to the counter and ask the associate if they (her or payless) will be marking down or discounting the shoes. I made full mention and brought her aware to the fact that the shoes had been worn. They were $22.00 and I was going to offer her $10.00. She examined the shoes for about 10 seconds and set them aside. She then headed back to the dance shoe area and brought back a new pair of shoes. I looked at the box and pointed out to the clerk that the shoes were two different sizes. I said nevermind and left. [I then proceeded to go next door and buy a pair from JCPenny's]
As we (my children and I) are leaving Penny's we walk back toward Payless. I am still a little bitter that the woman would not make me a deal and contimplated going back 1 more time to explain myself. This is where it get's good.
The cashier and I make eye contact as she hollars to me to "bring back the shoes". I say "what?" and she repeats it. I walk over to her and she tells me that she has a witness who saw me take the shoes and that I was caught on tape. I of course whirl in to a pissed frenzy and demand that she show me the tape. With a smile on her face she shook her head no, and refused. I told her I demanded to have her name and that of her superviser, she again smiled and denied my request. She told me that I was to wait there for the security officer to come get me until the cops could come to arrest me. After about 10 min. of waiting the security officer told me to leave the store, that I was unwelcome and to never return. I got pissed and demanded that they call the cops. They did. The cops took the cashiers version of the story and never so much as asked me my name. The officer forced me to give the cashier my PERSONAL info such as address and date of birth. The United States...Guilty until proven otherwise.
I am now banned from all Payless shoe stores and have been embarassed and falsely accused of stealing in front of my kids. I was trying to stand up for myself and prove a point and in the end I only looked like a jackass-loser. I feel like a victim and judging from what happened I am supposed to brush it off like "no harm no foul". But I can't accept that. How should I feel? What should I do? Any thoughts?...
Cavutto on
cavutto
That is completely wrong.  Wrong in unimaginable ways.  My advice would be to call a lawyer and get some advice from him.  He/she may be willing to take your case (for a fee deducted from your estimated settlement) because of the logistics alone.  I don't know anything about law or litigation, but if they do in fact have a tape and they somehow don't have it in court, it could probably be considered destruction of evidence.  It can't hurt to try it.  Maybe defamation of character or something. 
javaluvsme on
javaluvsme
I am thinking the same thing. It pisses me off however, that they never even searched me or my kids or anything. That is what I was waiting for , to have the officer see the tape or search my belongings or something. I mean if I had actually stolen the shoes would I have turned around and walked back in to the store to wait for police!.? I had the option to leave and never return with my pride between my legs but I refused.  I keep thinking in my head how can they prove i'm guilty <after the fact> and better yet, how can I prove i'm not. Especially if there is no tape.
LiTtLeBrO on
littlebro
were there any other employees in the store? or perhaps your children could testify that you did not steal the shoes? I don't know.
javaluvsme on
javaluvsme
one employee in the back room. She would lie if she had to i'm sure.
Cavutto on
cavutto
I think that the sooner you look into pressing charges, the better.  They claim to have evidence and they should have said evidence if and when you take them to court.  You may not win a ton of money, but a lawyer would be able to tell you whether or not it is worth it. 
javaluvsme on
javaluvsme
Your right. I was looking online under defamation and it seems like the charge would be dafamation persay. However in a lot of cases you rack up more fee's fighting  than you  might win in a judgement.
Still blows my mind that it even happened. WTF?
Cavutto on
cavutto
try and find a lawyer that will only take a percentage if you win.  Sometimes, they will see something as an obvious winning case.  They will probably take a case only if they think they can win...check around.
javaluvsme on
javaluvsme
That's my plan tomorrow.
eyecandy4042 on
No Photo
yea girl u should definately be able to see the tape and see if there were any other employees there or customers... they didn't ask u for the shoes? i mean if u "took" them then u think they would have asked u for them or asked u where u put them... that is crazy girl.... im sorry to hear that
inferno on
inferno
that is such bullshit.....any updates?
Vincent on
vincent

Here's what to do : Get over it.

I'm sorry to be harsh but the world is a cruel place, and you don't get your way 95% of the time. Your kids understand that you didn't steal them, i'm sure. The people at that store obviously aren't worth your time, you have no criminal charges aginst you. This is all you need to concern yourself with.

You can't change what happened, to mull over it would cause you more grief that you don't deserve. If you got screwed in a moment in life, then welcome to the real world. It's happened to all of us, and if it hasn't happened to one of yet it's on the way. Pick yourself up and move on. There are other stores, Payless Shoes isn't exactially the greatest store anyway.

As for getting a lawyer, you surely can sue for defimation of character. However you're probably going to need the names of the policemen who were at the scene as well as proof that you truely didn't steal the shoes. It'd be a obviously nice thing, but the problem is the outcome you'd probably get is getting the girl fired, or have her written up at best. Now while this isn't a bad thing, it also isn't worth your time, in my opinion.

If you want to do this, I'll be among those behind you going "Yeah, good for you!" ... but I'm also going to stand here now telling you that you're more than likely not going to get everything you want out of the situation, and it probably isn't going to be worth your time.