Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
Sat Aug 18, 2018, 11:15 AM Aug 2018

They're Falsely Accused of Shoplifting, but Retailers Demand Penalties

Walmart and other companies are using aggressive legal tactics to get the money back, demanding payments even when people haven’t been convicted of wrongdoing.


Source: New York Times, by Michael Corkery


Could you be next?



“I didn’t feel like I had a prayer,” said Crystal Thompson of Eight Mile, Ala., whom Walmart accused — mistakenly, an employee later acknowledged — of shoplifting about $70 in groceries. A lawyer for Walmart threatened a lawsuit if she didn’t pay $200.



Ms. Thompson, 43, was baffled and scared. An agoraphobic, she had not shopped at a Walmart in more than a year. She was taken to a Mobile jail, searched, held in a small room and required to remove her false teeth, something she didn’t even do in front of her husband.

Four days after she returned home, the letters from Walmart’s lawyer started to arrive. The lawyer demanded that Ms. Thompson pay the company $200 or face a possible lawsuit. She received three letters over two months in early 2016.

Walmart and other companies have created well-oiled operations, hiring law firms to send tens of thousands of letters a year. Walmart set a collection goal of about $6 million in 2016 for one of its go-to firms, Palmer Reifler & Associates, according to a court paper filed as part of a lawsuit Ms. Thompson brought against the retailer. The firm also pointed out to Walmart that minors tended to pay off more frequently, the filing said.

“It is my word against this company,” said Ms. Thompson, whose criminal case was dismissed after no one from Walmart appeared at a hearing to testify against her. “I’m nobody special. I didn’t feel like I had a prayer.”

Read it all at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/business/falsely-accused-of-shoplifting-but-retailers-demand-they-pay.html
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
They're Falsely Accused of Shoplifting, but Retailers Demand Penalties (Original Post) yallerdawg Aug 2018 OP
Corporate power is growing. Johnny2X2X Aug 2018 #1
Fucking WalMart, man. Codeine Aug 2018 #2
It's the only place to shop in many small towns dalton99a Aug 2018 #4
I guess that's easy to overlook. Codeine Aug 2018 #5
In my lifetime, THIS corporation destroyed American manufacturing... yallerdawg Aug 2018 #6
This is an extortion racket. dalton99a Aug 2018 #3
K&R Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Aug 2018 #7
I never leave a store without a receipt in one of the bags. Blue_true Aug 2018 #8

Johnny2X2X

(18,634 posts)
1. Corporate power is growing.
Sat Aug 18, 2018, 11:28 AM
Aug 2018

An absolute corporate fascist state is where we’re heading.

People need to know what they consume that is made with prison slave labor.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/things-you-own-prison-inmates-made.html/

 

Codeine

(25,586 posts)
2. Fucking WalMart, man.
Sat Aug 18, 2018, 11:35 AM
Aug 2018

I’m in at least one several days out of the week (for business, not shopping, never spent a dime there) and they’re always packed. Why are people putting up with this shit? I’ve seen the prices, and they aren’t THAT much cheaper than the competition on most items. On groceries they actually aren’t competitive at all in Southern California.

What is the appeal?

 

Codeine

(25,586 posts)
5. I guess that's easy to overlook.
Sat Aug 18, 2018, 11:41 AM
Aug 2018

It’s a very crowded and competitive marketplace where I live, which I don’t suppose is true everywhere. Thanks.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
6. In my lifetime, THIS corporation destroyed American manufacturing...
Sat Aug 18, 2018, 11:42 AM
Aug 2018

THIS corporation cemented low wages, no benefits, and NO UNIONS into our employer lexicon, and THIS corporation destroyed competition and hometown business from one end of this country to the other.

I have no idea why the appeal.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
8. I never leave a store without a receipt in one of the bags.
Sun Aug 19, 2018, 04:35 PM
Aug 2018

I never do, I don't need a receipt stuff. If anyone stops me, I will take out my phone, demand that they check the receipt against each item in each bag. And I will film the whole thing, every single act they do.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»They're Falsely Accused o...