‘Mortified’ Asda shopper was wrongly suspected of theft
A MAN claims he was wrongly “detained” by security staff at Asda in West Bridgford who suspected he was attempting to leave the store without paying for his shopping.
Local resident Anthony Mee was shopping for his parents at the supermarket in Loughborough Road last Friday.
He said he was walking behind another shopper with his trolley when alarms sounded.
“The security officer asked me to pass back through the doors and it confirmed that I was not the one who set the alarm off,” he said.
“There was a case of Fosters in the trolley and he said to me ‘have you paid for these?’.
“I said he can go into the bag and check the receipt to prove it. But they didn’t. I said I am leaving because I have proven I have paid for it and then I started walking out.
“A member of staff leapt from the podium and grabbed hold of my trolley and they said I’m detaining you for theft. I felt a complete idiot.”
Mr Mee said the manager came over and it was here he claims he revealed his account history on Monzo, a mobile banking app which records and manages purchases.
However, it was not until the manager confirmed his purchase at the checkout that he was free to leave “after 25 minutes”, he says.
He fears the footage of the incident was filmed by a number of bystanders may now have been posted it on social media.
He says the manager took his details but he is yet to receive an apology.
“They have got no lawful right to do that,” he added. “There were people filming on their phones and calling me a thief. I was mortified.
“How do I know it is not on social media now? That’s defamation of character. I’ve had nothing in response. I have written to Asda and the legal department.”
Asda says Mr Mee had a receipt on him at the time but did not produce it to the security staff.
Mr Mee says he had already proven his innocence by going back through the alarm system.
An Asda spokesman said: “When the store’s automatic alarm goes off one of our security colleagues will always discreetly ask for the customer to provide a receipt as proof of purchase.
“If a customer checks out with self-scan or Scan & Go and has opted not to print a receipt, a colleague will need to print out the receipt for that customer.
“After confirming that Mr. Mee had paid for all of his items we apologised and allowed him to leave with his shopping.’”
HE SAID HE ‘FELT A COMPLETE IDIOT’ WHEN HE WAS ‘DETAINED’ BY SECURITY AFTER ALARM WENT OFF