JC Penney Shoplifting

First of all, I've worked in retail. I know all about the people who shop lift and I know what is stereotyped. I also know that as a salesperson, you should NEVER just accuse someone of shop lifting without thoroughly investigating it first because if you're wrong, they can sue, and they will win. Victoria's Secret was very sure to make that point because there was a big problem with that there a few years ago.

So, here's my "colorful" shop lifting experiance:

I went to JC Penney today looking for a cute cotton summer dress. I found one that I kind of liked in the whole store, and just like always, there was only one and it was in the wrong size. I decided to try it anyway, just in case, and if I really liked it on me, I would have it altered. It was a decent price, so no big deal.

Now, I don't know how many of you out there work in retail, but I know that working in a store gave me the bad habit of not taking clothes out of the dressing room because if there is no rack to hang them on, I certainly don't want to go figure out where I found it to begin with and put it back. If I'm not working there, it isn't my job, and if I'm in a hurry, the five minutes it would take seem like a waste of my life. So, when the dress didnt fit me and I didn't like it, I decided to leave it in the dressing room and leave, not fully satisfied with the experiene. I did look for help btw to find a different size before I went in to the fitting room, but like always, there was no one around.

I left the dressing room and noticed an older woman with a name tag in the hallway to the dressing rooms. As I passed, I also noticed a random woman sitting in an empty fitting room doing nothing. She just sat there. The older woman followed me out of the fitting room area without a word and down the aisle. I noticed as I passed the register and was almost out the door that I was also being followed by some guy that didn't look much older than me. He was dressed normally and talking to his "mom" on his cellphone a little louder than normal.

I knew right there that I had been flagged for shoplifting. I was tempted to turn and confront the guy and the woman before I left the store, but figured that once I passed through the security things and the alarm didn't go off, they would just let me go on my way. Nope. That was not the case.

The guy showed me his badge, which I thought was almost hilarious and identified himself as "Loss Prevention Protection." But thats just a fancy title for Rent-a-Cop. Again, I was guessing he was maybe twenty one, if that. So he tells me to follow him. I asked him what it was about and he won't tell me. Then I tell him if I'm being accused of shoplifting, he had better call a manager. He tells me that she is the one who sent him after me. So I'm taken to a backroom and told to sit while the assistant manager on duty comes. I immediately deny shoplifting and tell her to take me to the fitting room so I can show her where I left the dress. Just like luck always happens, it wasn't there. There had been a family in the dressing room trying on summer dresses and my guess is that they picked it up when I left it. So then I go back to the room screaming at her for her false accusation and I proceed to dump my purse out and show her the contents, telling her she can put everything back in. If you know me well, and you know my purse, there's a lot of stuff in it. So of course, there's nothing there. And I get up, PISSED, and leave without an apology. I told my mom about it then decided I wanted to go back and get this bitch's name. I plan to call the store manager and have action taken. I was dressed pretty crappy today, so I probably looked like some white trash customer. I hate to tell you people but JC Penney is NOT top dollar retail. So, I feel that she stereotyped me for that. I also think she discriminated me for my color because there was a black woman sitting in the dressing room suspiciously doing nothing, and this woman was not approached. Also, the asst. manager did not check the fitting room at all when I walked out of it to see if I'd left the dress there or not.

So I got her name. She appologized when I confronted her again with my mom there, and the best part was, where we found her in the store, someone had been kind enough to get that dress (the only one remember) and hang it on the wrong rack in plain site of where we were standing. When I pointed it out to her I could tell she was embarassed and she made some comment about someone not knowing how to put things away.

So I encourage all of you to stop going to JC Penney. They are racist and not very good at making sure you didn't do anything before they accuse you. Another thing that was not done, my ID wasn't checked. If I had been a minor, there would have been SERIOUS action taken when they took me to the back without an adult present to search me. I will be calling the store manager, and if he doesn't do anything, I'll contact the district manager. I'm hormonal and she picked the wrong girl. Oh, I also have her name if anyone has ever had a problem with someone who works there, and if you want to call in and complain about her too, go for it. Just message me. I'm not letting her harass whoever she feels the need to bust.

I wonder if she thought she would be a hero if she caught a girl shoplifting. They're obviously having a shoplifting problem for them to just reach out and accuse people without reason. Maybe if their store was cleaner and their associates were around when you needed them, there would be less of a problem. Her mistake was that she did not even aproach me. She could have asked if I needed help with something or a different size when I came out of the fitting room empty handed. It was embarassing and my one regret is not causing a big public scene.

PGee