Dear manager of Icings,
Shopping to me is more than just recreation from school, paddling practice and reality. Sometimes i shop when I am frustrated to get my feelings out or most of the time, when I am happy i go and purchase something new to commemorate what i have done or accomplished. The main reason i do shop is simply because it's enjoyable and extremely fun. After i had an embarrassing encounter with one of your employees, shopping suddenly became some what of an annoyance and nerve racking endeavor to update my accessory collection.When i walk into the mall i always go equip with a full wallet usually with $20 at the least and a $100 at the greatest. Making sure that i have money to spend prevents the action of shoplifting from crossing my mind and even if i was out of cash i would not take what is not mine or what does not belong to me.
I understand that being an employee at such a popular shop can be stressful and cause you to be stereotypical towards certain people who browse through your store. All though you have to be watchful in case someone tries to shoplift , you should be considerate of your customer's feelings, along with their sense of dignity by giving them breathing space when they leaf through your clearance racks. instead of hovering over them like a hawk. Often, you grow suspicious towards the younger generation of participating in the unlawful event of stealing but you could also be veering away from true criminals. Perhaps you mistaken a teens bright eyes and delight for the urge to take what they want. But when you look at an adult you would think they know what's right and you disregard them. The right way to think of it is that anyone is capable of any crime, because of this i can understand why you may have thought i was shoplifting.
About a year ago while i was shopping for some new accessories i decided to come to your store since i knew you usually had very good deals and sales. I thumbed through your clearance boxes in the back but i unluckily found nothing that caught my attention so i headed towards your purse section and glanced up and down, a tan bohemian styled bag that hung at the 5Th shelf drew my attention so i took it off it's hook and examined the inside to see what it had to offer but because it lacked pockets i lost want in the purse and set it back where i had found it. Not too long after searching through the earring stands in the front of the store i thought to myself "maybe today i wouldn't be able to find what i needed at Icings" so i briskly walked towards H.I.C, i knew i was walking somewhat fast to be exiting a store which also could have caused you to think i was trying to get away with your merchandise without purchasing.
One of your employees had followed me and accused me of shoplifting she has asked me to "follow me back to Icings so i can claim what you had stolen" after she told me that i was infuriated but because i did not steal a thing i cooperated and headed back with her. When we reached the sales counter of Icings she told me "give me back what you took that's all i want, just give our merchandise back" with a strident tone. I simply replied "I am sorry but i really have no idea what you are talking about, i didn't take anything" then she started me straight into my eyes as if i was a criminal. "like i said all i want is our stuff back then ill let you go where is it" she said with a louder volume and again i replied "i don't have anything from your store chill". She opened the tan bohemian bag in front of my face that had contained empty earring cards and broken tags, clearly this was not the bag i was looking at earlier. "The bag i examined was empty" i explained to her but i knew it wasn't enough so i took out my purse and emptied the contents on to the floor and said "here do you believe me now?" she looked at the floor and saw nothing but my personal items and i asked her to pick it up since she accused me of something i did not do.
I felt embarrassed at the fact an employee would take it so far as to follow me out of their store and now I am paranoid when i go to store not only did your employee treat me like a criminal but now i feel like one each time i step into a mall, my eyes are always wandering around the stores to see if the workers are watching me that way I am cautious of doing anything they might mistaken as acting suspicious.i would like to know if that is allowed and what are the steps of accusing someone of shoplifting if there are any. I understand that you want to protect your store's profit but you should not become over zealous to the point where you ruin your customer's trust. Honestly since that incident i don't come to your store anymore it use to be my favorite accessory outlet, now it's my last resort. I hope you brief your workers about my story that way you don't loose anymore customers.
Ashly Gutierrez