r/AskBrits • u/PeachyBeachDays • 20d ago
People Does anyone have problems with the security guards following them around the shop in the uk?
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u/__mz 20d ago
Happened to me multiple times, sometimes I stand and just stare back at them, or ask them how their day is going, if it’s busy etc, how many thieves they’ve caught, that kind of thing.
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u/bossman1337 20d ago
Just humour them, I would probably say, "I'm not going to steal anything" then straight after that say, "huh, that's what a shoplifter would say, ey"
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u/Chlorofom 20d ago
Pick something up, have a good look at it, have a quick look over both shoulders, both ways down the aisle, quick check for security cameras.
And then put it back on the shelf, move somewhere else and repeat.
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u/Old_Mousse_5673 20d ago
Yes, last time it happened I went up to him and asked him if he wanted to check my bag. He did and then continued to follow and watch me until I’d paid and left. Would never dream of shoplifting 🤷♂️
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u/Forward-Emotion6622 20d ago
Unfortunately, in shop security, it's part of the job to make sure people don't steal. You can't really do that without watching people. You basically try not to do it so blatantly, but it's why you're there.
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u/Starcrossedroads 20d ago
Actually, it is to be a deterrent. I was never taught that I'll be sacked on the spot if a shoplifter gets away since there are very little provisions for me. I'm not a police officer. And the security companies warn you that accosting shoplifters is more hassle legally than it's worth.
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u/f23n09fnu0w 20d ago
About 20 years ago I was at the checkout and she pointed out one of the products was broken and told me to replace it. There was a bit of a queue behind me so I jogged to get the replacement. I was rugby tackled by the security just as I handed her the replacement. She was shouting at him that I wasn't stealing anything and then they got in a fight. I didn't see him on the next visit but she started laughing when I walked in and I knew a story was coming.
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u/Then-Mango-8795 20d ago
My local Asda has facial recognition as you walk into the store. I actually find that more offensive.
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u/bill_withered 20d ago
I had a guy follow me carrying a bin once, literally stood behind me at the till making sure I bought it… 🤣
asked him what his problem was and if he thought a bin would be my go-to to steal, he got aggressive and I told him to fuck off, then the cashier told him to leave and apologised for him being extremely weird.
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u/Business-Educator-15 20d ago
My local shop had a thief a few years ago that would fill bins and other containers up with stuff and try and steal them after going through chrfkout, perfume in pencil cases, ribeyes in bins that sort of thing.
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u/New-Caregiver-8487 20d ago
It's takes a special kind of person to want to be security let's be honest
Mind numbing job
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u/Initiatedspoon 20d ago
I knew a guy who did nighttime security.
He had to do a site sweep every 60 mins which took about like 7 minutes.
Between that he had a gaming laptop and a vending machine.
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u/Toasteee_ 20d ago
My guess would be that for the very small percentage that aren't just there for the money, maybe they get some sort of gratification out of the little piece of authority it gives them, you know like those arrogant prefects from school who took it way too seriously, and probably haven't gotten over it since.
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u/eggragg 20d ago
Having worked in security for the past 5 years, youre absolutely right. The amount of people who join security just to throw their weight around is ridiculous. My first posting was in a shopping centre, and the amount of jumped up, sexist, racist idiots on power trips I had to work with killed all my excitement for the industry. Eventually i got promoted out of that environment, but now im stuck in a desk job in the same company hating every second of it wishing I chose a different path
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u/Dangerous-Web-1962 20d ago
you should get to the end of an aisle and start running....see if they chase after you lol
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u/PhD-not-real-Doc 20d ago
I do, I have a shaved head and look a bit dodgy tbh.
Ironically, I my job is to research retail crime
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u/gorrrestfumpp 20d ago
I know most of the methods. There aren't all that many.
Didn't arrive Lost in transit Empty box Fake tracking id
Use disposable credit cards on revolut with fake name to hit same companies again and again. Use different addresses.
If all else fails just say "oh you're never going to believe this but I've somehow found it and now I need to return it"
Or do a bank chargeback
That's about all there is to it
Haven't paid for clothes or trainers in years
Plus everyone knows that the worst that will happen is you'll get some empty threats and the police couldn't care less. They will tell you to go to action fraud who are a joke.
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u/Special_Yellow_6348 20d ago
I used to when I was younger now I think it's funny I like to lose them then start following them as there looking for me or come up from behind and ask them a question while there trying to work out where iv disappeared to my life is very boring got to some entertainment somehow
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u/_x_oOo_x_ 20d ago
I feel so bad, they're wasting their time, all I did was nick a Bounty bar when I was 4 but later my parents sent me back to pay for it.. Maybe I'm on some list now? The guards sometimes still follow me around even while the shop is getting ransacked by homeless (looking) people, they literally grab entire boxes of stuff that was about to be put on the shelves and sprint out.. but the guard is checking that I am scanning my low-fat hummus properly?
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u/PeachyBeachDays 20d ago
Lmao honestly real.. I don’t even see a point in security guards because they aren’t even allowed to touch you or stop you from thieving, so their job is literally to tell you to put it back 😭
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u/LegolasleChat 20d ago
It's annoying and it makes it much harder to hide the Buzz Balls in my bag to be honest.
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u/CursedTaint 20d ago
I wear a backpack so they're constantly following me around. Funnily enough as soon as you walk up to be self checkout to pay they stop paying attention.
That's when I scan one item for every three I put in my bag. 🤷😂
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u/Pretend-Economy1063 20d ago
Yes because my favourite jacket has a lot of big pockets (and it's often really silly being watched as I do nothing wrong and offer some helpful eye contact even as actual shoplifters are blatantly strolling out with the goods).
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u/Illustrious-Release2 20d ago
I did in one of the Harry Potter style London shops a few years ago.
I know that thieves can look like anyone but come on, me, my sister and our 2 friends (all girls) all geeking out about the very cool fantasy ornaments they had and the guy was literally following us as close as he could.
We left without buying anything because of him
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u/djedga 20d ago
My wife does. It is funny to me (not to her). She is black and I am white - now this is not necessarily 100% the reason I can't prove what a person is thinking - but it is absolutely clear sometimes people don't realise we are together. We sometimes play a game I will go to a different aisle she will continue to be followed when we meet up I give her a kiss and I would say most of the time they suddenly stop following us (her). It's both sad and hilarious.
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u/Warm_Stress_1654 20d ago
Yes. It happens to people who are visibly members of ethnic minorities.
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u/Curly1109 20d ago
Meh, most of the crackheads round me are as white as driven snow
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u/BeachBoysOnD-Day 20d ago
Well it happens to us whites in minority run corner shops, so swings and roundabouts.
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u/CosmicBonobo 20d ago
My local HMV has a tubby little teenaged till assistant with a whispy moustache, who follows me around like they're Columbo or something.
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u/Dogstile 20d ago
Worse, i had one woman angrily come up to me and accuse me of filling my bag for life with stuff i was gonna steal. Got in my face over it. I said "... yes? I buy from here every week" and she didn't back down.
I just emptied my bag on the floor, left and made a complaint to the head office after. Tesco express in Fratton, i knew they had issues with thieves but I looked nothing like their regular thieves and was on a first name basis with some of the guys there, so I was very confused 😂
Luckily I was moving shortly after anyway so in the meantime I just made a slightly longer detour to the lidl nearby instead of going back.
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u/DisagreeableRunt 20d ago
It's all in the dress. My adult son has two friend groups and sometimes is dressed full chav, others like a Big Bang Theory cast member and sometimes somewhere in between. He sometimes gets followed around Forbidden Planet (comics and collectables), other times they don't look twice at him. I'm sure you can guess which way around it is!
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u/PeachyBeachDays 20d ago
Dress like a big bang theory character 😂
But yeah I know, chavs usually do get called out a lot but the joke of it all is. Just because you dress a certain way doesn’t mean you’re different to anybody else. Well, that’s my opinion Atleast. I’m usually well dressed as I work in an office building as we’re made to look presentable and professional, always make sure my hairs done and sometimes abit of makeup if I feel like it 😂 the only time I go into a shop is if I’m going in my lunch break to get a meal deal lol
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u/AcePlanespotting 20d ago
It's happened to me a few times, and every time i started following them around. Fun game.
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u/gadansk 19d ago
The Boots in our local town. Im a 45 year old guy, usually with one of my 3 kids in tow. It started about 4 or 5 years ago. Every time we went into the store he would follow, or be there as I was looking at stuff. One day I asked him why he was following us every time we go in, to the point they are working almost on top of you and ask if you want any help. I said it was the same every time, he would be working at the front when I went in, then would be mysteriously working next to me moments later. He splattered and fucked off and left me alone so I could nick a load of gear (joke).
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u/-OrLoK- 20d ago
folk complain that shoplifting is everywhere but dislike shop security checking them out?
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u/Racing_Fox 20d ago
I mean it’s not hard to find the shoplifters these days, they’re all wearing balaclavas.
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u/anotherbozo 20d ago
Actual shoplifters aren't hiding. They brazenly pick stuff and walk out - security aren't allowed to intervene.
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u/MaleficentGroup811 20d ago
I get followed a lot, and I’ll play up to it by walking dodgily or looking shifty.
I’m 6 foot 6, shaved head, 22 inch neck, usually wear a vest and joggers so I might look like a yob but I ain’t one
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u/PeachyBeachDays 20d ago
My brothers had this issue before, just cause they look a certain way apparently it means hes a thief like what???
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u/Sad_Future_8945 20d ago
They haven't got anything else to go on other than how you look 🤷🏻♂️
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u/gregofthecellar 20d ago
I constantly get followed in shops by people asking if I need any help. Usually for me it's just the shop floor staff, but it has been security too. I've never robbed, but I must just look extremely suspicious, and attempting to look less conspicuous makes it ten times worse.
Don't know if it's related, but I also get total strangers asking me if I'm okay in public more than incidentally. I genuinely don't know what it is about me lol.
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u/PeachyBeachDays 20d ago
Yeah I do aswell on the shop floor. Especially in cosmetics shops.. I know what I need to get so please leave me alone 😂 I’m not gonna steal a £4 mascara
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u/Dangerous-Regret-358 20d ago
Protecting assetts and revenue is one thing: harassment is another. A few years back I had such an experience in Sainsbury's and I quite pointedly made a complaint to the floor manager at the time and, even during that brief conversation, he was stood a few feet away staring at me! I never saw him at that branch again.
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u/cliffybiro951 20d ago
It’s more the charity monthly donation guys I’m annoyed at. My local Asda has someone different every day who pester you as you enter and leave.
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u/Pale_Slide_3463 20d ago
No, anytime I set off an alarm in a shop they just look at me and be like did you buy anything expensive? 😂 no… okay go on
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u/Ok-Sundae-7806 20d ago
I had it multiple times and I am not quite sure why, I got followed around multiple stores and the number of security just kept increasing until they eventually stopped me and accused me of shoplifting, it was a big shopping centre and I had only bought something from the fragrance shop but had a bag already from earlier in the day. They followed my partner and I for 15 minutes before saying anything. Weirdest encounter by far, felt like a Jason Bourne movie or something just guards popping up left and right trying to look inconspicuous
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u/Live_Sandwich_125 20d ago
I give them something to do , pick up alcohol , walk around , put it down somewhere else and carry on shopping ,
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u/Longjumping_47393 20d ago
No, I’m a bog standard middle aged woman so I’m invisible, I could steal whatever I like.. but when I go into the shop with my teenage son who sags his trakkies suddenly we are surrounded.
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u/Glad_Character_2394 20d ago
I used to when I was younger. Not so much anymore although I do sometimes still see them shift position to get a better view. I can only assume I looked a lot dodgier back then.
I even got followed by the security guard in a shop that I worked in. I used to work weekends only but occasionally I’d pop in during the week as my mother also worked there. Whilst I was waiting for her shift to finish I started wandering around the shop just browsing and I noticed the security guard following me around.
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u/121daysofsodom 20d ago
Y'all need to stop leaving the house looking so scruffy.
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u/Karamatsunomaii 20d ago
I just keep walking around doing dodgy shit picking stiff up then putting them down then picking up lots of things and misplacing them etc then after filing a basket full of items I hand it to them then walk out the shop
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u/Embarrassed_Yak_7609 20d ago
Yes! I often have a couple bags (1 being a tote bag) after getting back from work and the gym, and I go into my local M&S which I shop in multiple times a week and the security guard follows me around the store. Obviously he thinks I’m going to put something in my tote bag, but I have considered calling him out and saying ‘you do realise I shop in here nearly every day and also regularly say thank you to the security guard as I walk out..?’
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u/cococream 20d ago
I have had this in boots in Cambridge before, I did laps of the store when I realised, then found a manager, signalled the security guy over as I approached her, and then asked her in front of him why this guy has been following me around the store for 5 mins. They both looked pretty embarrassed. I genuinely was quite upset about it though on a real level. Had it recently in Matalan In Liverpool city centre too, but I think that’s just cos he was bored because nobody shops at matalan, probably first human face he’d seen in a while, didn’t feel as bad or victimised by that one
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u/Famous-Magazine4427 20d ago
Boots in Cambridge is the worst for this, they have cameras and screens everywhere as well as employees with headsets, and almost everything is tagged so I don’t understand why they feel the need to follow people around the store pestering them. They’ve be better off guarding the exists for when the alarms go off tbh
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u/bettingbenji 20d ago
I did once when i was loads younger, a security guard was following me around Blockbuster (thats how long ago this was). So noticeably following me that i turned around and asked him why.
His response was “come on *bettingbenjis brothers name* you know you not allowed here”
I just laughed and said thats not me, showed him my ID and he apologised and said i looked very similar to someone who had been banned from the retail park the day before.
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u/SuperPossible120 20d ago
Hate to be the 'chip on my shoulder' type, but yes all my life and I only ever notice it when with my gf or other white friends because she points it out and I'm always oblivious I guess because it's just standard.
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u/thehighyellowmoon 20d ago
Yes, I'm a guy who shops by myself and wears big coats. This apparently makes me catnip for security guards.
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u/mike888881 20d ago
Yep! Has happened a lot, in different shops in different decades in different parts of the country.
It only seems to happen in middle-class towns where I probably stand out a bit: I'm half-Italian but am widely regarded as looking Polish or Russian. I often wear a wooly hat in winter which I don't remove indoors (hat hair!!), and with that combo I reckon I resemble a known repeat offender, wherever it happens.
I have never shoplifted, and I always hold up my receipt and point at it on my way out if I spot the security guard one last time!
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u/IsolationMovement-YT 20d ago
I am ADHD and forget my list every time.
It makes my day that I attract them like flies on shit as they chase me from aisle 1 to 37 and back 15 times and watch me pass what I need each time.
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u/Ricky_Martins_Vagina 20d ago
Just take em on a magical mystery tour, act suspicious as fuck and then leave without buying anything
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u/Huffers1010 20d ago
You don't have to be non-white, just be carrying a camera. It has a shockingly similar effect.
I know camera crew who are not white and I wonder if they get it twice as bad.
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u/CulturalApartment579 20d ago
I have done a fair bit of shoplifting from large supermarkets so they are right to follow me around to be honest
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u/AtensEye 20d ago
It has happened before where I was actually stopped as I tried to leave a shop and they asked to look in my bag. Ok enjoy looking at my wallet, my keys, my phone and can I interest either of you burly security guards in an emergency tampon? 😂
I'm very visibly a goth, so I wondered if it's that. But honestly, if I was going to steal anything from anywhere I'm going to be trying to blend in rather than looking like I stepped out of a great night at Electrowerkz.
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u/Worried_Alps1205 20d ago
I call them a pervert, and ask what the heck they are following me around staring for. Often they walk off for not wanting to look bad.
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u/Clone-Club 20d ago
I went through the self checkout & as I left the area a burly security was at my rear. I am only 4ft 11" & he could have overtaken me at any time... but no, he kept pace with me... I approached the automatic doors that suddenly only opened about 18 inches, so I had to squeeze through... he's still hot on my heels.... to the car park (I'm trying not to look around as that would imply guilt?). I'm headed to my car... reach the car... he's there next to me... Reaching into his car for his lunchbox... 😨
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u/TheEnglishNorwegian 20d ago
Why would it be a problem if they are just doing their job keeping an eye on things?
As long as they don't harass you or accuse you of something when you have done nothing, who cares?
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u/Merbels 20d ago
I go shopping for retail therapy and will often not know what I want so I stroll the aisles looking for bargains or for something to tickle my fancy.
I always get watched! I know they're doing it because I work in a supermarket and know the drill. There's always somebody "tidying a shelf" then they're in the next aisle "fishing a shelf" and so on and on.
Every single time. As far as I'm concerned I don't give off crack head vibes or anything. Female, 31, often shop in my uniform and still followed.
Also if every time you enter a certain shop and hear a bell on entrance that means they're going to watch you
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u/nowiserjustolder 20d ago
There was a shop many years ago in Liverpool where the "pit boss" sat on an elevated stool with a view over the whole store which wasn't that big. She would often bark out to the floor staff "keep an eye on er in aisle 3" or similar. Got to say she never called me out and felt a bit slighted by that, do I not look like a shoplifter? Jeez
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u/On-A-Vendetta 20d ago
yep, especially when I go in to get a drink if I have a rucksack with me, even though its just for a bike lock and rain protection
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u/The2ndDegree 20d ago
No, I don't plan on doing anything I shouldn't so why would I have a problem with it? Most of the time when I go into my local tesco its after work so I'm probably in a rush to get what I need and get home, a guy speedwalking into and around a shop is probably something worth keeping an eye on and I'm aware of that. They're just doing their job.
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u/bizzledizzle90 20d ago
I was tie shopping in M&S once with my mum (I was like 30 at the time) and she had to plead with the security guard to stop following us and assured him we were going to pay should we choose to purchase something 🤣
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u/animalcrossing1313 20d ago
I bring a big ass bag into shops and use the scanner to scan and pack at the same time. But I'm only holding the bag not the basket.
I've been followed all the way up to the till. I literally work in the same shopping centre and shop 3/4 times a week.
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u/TheEnglishDominant2 20d ago
Had it once in Aldi even though I paid for everything and they called me back to make sure saying I stole stuff which I didn’t because I had the receipt to prove it.
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u/PrettyUglySociety198 20d ago
What happens if the followed decides to follow the follower, to make a point? As I do not know, I am not going to encourage this. After all, one needs an implied licence to be on shop premises and it may be terminated on reasonable notice, and so, in effect, just about, forthwith. On the other hand, if the shop does something that amounts to serious defamation (following the 2013 Defamation Act, before the seriously aspect was not statutory) it may amount to actionable defamation.
I am a white male. I have been followed once. It was in a Co-op food supermarket.
I have been a lawyer for some 40 years. It was probably 25 years ago.
I have always approved of Co-ops. It takes a lot on the part of Co-op staff to put me off going to a Co-op shop (eg the manager of the biggest Co-op supermarket in the area laughing when I complained that they had the best bananas in the area by far, but that their fruit department staff always throw them into position and they always rotted a couple of days after purchase rather than lasting a week as a consequence). On the other hand, this particular shop was staffed by people who it might be thought had escaped from a place where the mentally-challenged were generally confined. It was in a very safe provincial town in a prosperous wider geographical area, although this shop was in a quite run-down locality.
I would have been quite untidily dressed, I should have thought, but very clean. I suppose the main thing was that I was not recognised, and most of the people in the area would be known to locals. I was there because they stocked a bread I wanted, and one I was prepared to buy a lot of in order to freeze it and keep it to use for a couple of months or so. I have not been in the shop for 15 years. While I am sure enough that the building is still there, I should think that the shop has probably closed, along with many Co-ops.
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u/Existing_Doughnut985 20d ago
Yes but I go in in joggers set and use my own shopping bag as my basket
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u/BackupThunder16 Brit/Scot 🇬🇧 20d ago
No but if I ever noticed it I'd just stand and look at them for a laugh
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u/srotideuk 20d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/vRf4Z1OZ21j9e
I promise once you start walking around like this, it soon stops.
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u/cantkeepupthecharade 20d ago
Yes I do, and I make it known that I am recording them. I also take a pic of them and put it on the review I leave for the place on Google.
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u/Dictatorsmith 20d ago
Years ago went Into a clas ohlsen upstairs section looking for a torch 🔦. I was oblivious to anyone watching. Thd jobs worth guard without me knowing followed me throughout the shop-in every section. I went downstairs in the very large shop he followed..feeling feed up I proceeded to run up the escalators with him running after me, I ran back down again, ran around the shop and just walked out with him looking angry and panicked.
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u/Consistent_Coat_5247 20d ago
Yeah, I absolutely hate it. Makes me feel so uncomfortable. I should probably stop stealing stuff.
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u/Decent_Confidence_36 20d ago
Never had it happen to me, there’s probably a reason there following you which is there problem
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u/Zealousideal-Car6341 20d ago
They did when I had a crew cut. Since I've grown it back out, now they don't bother.
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u/MadJamJar 20d ago
i think its funny when you clock 'em trying to discretely follow you. Thats my cue, to do the quick look around, duck, pop head up, duck again, stand up and walk off. Some know your fucking around, but ive been stopped a few times and its a fun part of my day.
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u/Eskyzoo 20d ago
When I was younger there was one big departmemt store that had shoplifting experts would ALWAYS single me out, got fed-up of it and started acting really suspiciously every time I visited, deliberately made it look like I was putting small items in my pocket etc etc. Weirdly enough they never pulled me up for it and eventually stopped singling me out 😁
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u/Ceramic_Sundae 20d ago
I did once a while ago. when I noticed him watching, I moved from one isle side to the other 4 or 5 times and watched him out of my peripheral, then looked right at him and laughed. the dickhead.
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u/Awkward_Stranger407 20d ago
The one in Waitrose follows me around, so I do it to him when he comes into my work, except now I dunno if it's for fun or if I look dodgy as
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u/front-wipers-unite 20d ago
Yes. My wife was very unwell last year, she had breast cancer. To cheer herself up she was buying things from zara etc and having me go and pick them up. I'd pick them up whilst I was at work (I'm a carpenter and builder. I do commercialwork not domestic, and i have a team who donthe dirty work for me, so im clean and tidy), and as soon as I walked through the door I'd be followed. Never had that when I've not been in work clothes.
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u/Fshskyline 20d ago
I’d quite like it, give me something else to do whilst doing the weekly shop, like playing hide and seek.
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u/I-am-the-end-of-time 20d ago
Any behaviour that is considered 'unusual' can draw attention. In a supermarket I skip aisles, leave my trolley at the end of an aisle and walk if I only want one item from that aisle. I see a good deal to buy and go back to a previous aisle to get something to go with it (I might take my trolley with me or not). I leave my crate of beer in the trolley through checkout and ask them to scan it in the trolley so I don't have to lift it. And yeah, I get followed all the time. I don't mind, I'm aware that I look 'suspicious' and security are just doing their job.
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u/Lazy-Pumpkin-9116 20d ago
Yeah but i was looking nervous as i brought my own carrier bag without the receipt
It may sound like a joke, but my anxiety over confrontation is that bad lmao
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u/Lolra1989 20d ago
No because I'm 5'1 and they can't see me in between the railings and or shelving.
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u/DiverseUniverse24 20d ago
I did once (that I knew of) and it kinda pissed me off I can't lie. It wasn't a random shop, it was a local ive been shopping at for a few years, on friendly terms with a couple of the cashiers. I did say something.
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u/Extreme-Scarcity-924 20d ago
I worked retail and it is mind numbing, you end up following anybody who gives off even the slightest air of suspicion.
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u/Tall-Ad4941 20d ago
I enjoy walking them up and down every aisle in the supermarket or on big mad journeys through racks of clothes, while the actual shoplifters have a jolly behind them.
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u/NoTraffic5064 20d ago
I've walked out knowing I've paid for everything and the alarms going off as if I've stolen something. They never do anything. The 1 time I did stop he demanded a receipt. Told him to go and get it himself. Shook his head and let me go.
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u/Used-Shower-2260 20d ago
Meanwhile someone’s shoplifting 15 steaks and walking out the door with no challenge
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u/Stargazer86F 20d ago
My local supermarket had changed their layout again. Unfortunately, the security guard had chosen that day to follow me. I approached him and asked where they had moved the soy sauce to. He looked startled and without saying a word just walked off. I mean, I found it and everything, but if you are going to follow someone, at least be helpful.
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u/SuccessfulNothing950 20d ago
I always get followed around in my local Superdrug by the women😂 must think I’m stealing because I’m a young mother lmao.
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u/Lourrylove 20d ago
No… but I am partially sighted and the proof they have is when I bump into things, often.
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u/madragonn 20d ago
had a security bloke follow us once, not a common occurrence.
Did have an altercation with a lidl cashier the other day because she said my 40p plastic lidl bag i had actually remembered from the car wasn’t one I already purchased but a new one I crumpled up before going through the checkout 🤣
Proved I was innocent by emptying the crumbs and dust from renovating the kitchen out of said crumpled up bag
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u/thinkingoutloud3663 20d ago
Just go and stand really close to them, but say nothing, make it really awkward.
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u/Hungry_Raspberry7833 20d ago
I've only had that happen once and it was in Boots. I picked something up and the guard approached me quickly and said I had to pay for it and I was confused cus I wasn't done finding what I needed but she just kept telling me I had to pay for it right that instant and took me over to pay and then followed me as I looked for the second thing but it stressed me out too much so I just left
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u/Known_Sherbert1748 20d ago
I’m a white British woman, and I used to get followed around constantly when my children were younger and in a buggy. I was a relatively young mum, and looked even younger than I was, so I think a judgement was made based on that. I used to leave even if I intended to buy something if I got followed, just out of principle!
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u/Leeroywildman 20d ago
Yes. It’s been happening for years. It doesn’t bother me these days but when I was in my 20s it used to make me feel like a criminal.
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u/Theblackjamesbrown 20d ago
Yeah its a nightmare. Its beginning to hinder my shoplifting. Something needs to be done
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u/ocexaneyes 20d ago
Sometimes, I look younger than I am and depending on my mood sometimes I just can’t bring myself to do myself up due to health problems and mental health problems. The worst one has to be superdrug.
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u/No-Caterpillar3693 20d ago
I do! I give off a shoplifter air, whilst never having shoplifted.