I will not be mentioning the name of the grocery store as I know someone here will be a dick and e-mail them this thread. But do note that this grocery store is a CHAIN store, and thus a higher CEO was contacted in response to this.

Basically, I put some deodorant in my bag. The owner saw me take it off the shelf but did not see me conceal it. She and her (I'm assuming) her husband approached me and demanded to see in my bag. I showed them the deodorant and claimed I had not paid for it yet but was not done shopping and would do so when I was finished. They DEMANDED my bag, which I refused. The man grabbed my bag and he and I tugged on it back and forth, to the point where I became so scared and stressed that I nearly began to scream. The woman joined in and they got my bag and refused to give me the bag OR my car keys which were IN the bag, but I did wrestle my keys from them and began hurrying out of the store on the verge of a break-down. The man ahead of me dumps the contents of my bad onto a counter and then when he sees me leaving, dives in front of me and I quickly go around him but HE GRABS MY ARM and literally yanks me back, HARD. I scream at him "You can't detain me sir!" and he let go, and I fled.

Here is the e-mail I sent to the corporation:


Hello,
The *** that this incident occurred at is as follows:
***
***


I stopped by this store earlier this afternoon to pick up a drink before work. I had a reusable bag that I had purchased at a *** with me that I put the drinks, a stick of deodorant and some cat food in so that I wouldn't have to lug them around. I have used a bag to carry my groceries around this store before on two occasions and received absolutely NO trouble whatsoever from anyone as I simply would dump the contents of the bag onto the belt to be rung up.

However, I was in the pet food aisle this afternoon when two people approached me. One was a blonde woman and the other a older, balding man--I am assuming they actually owned the building as they were wearing plain clothes. The woman asked what happened to the deodorant I took off the shelf in the health and beauty aisle, and I showed her the deodorant in my bag and explained that I had not paid for it yet. The two demanded I hand over my bag of 5 items which I refused to do. I explained I would hand over the groceries I had not had the chance to purchase and never return to the store again, but the two refused to let me go and threatened to call the police. The man reached out and grabbed hold of my bag, and I resisted. A tug of war ensued between us as we fought over the bag and I began to panic as I was EXTREMELY frightened and extremely distressed by this point. The woman assisted the man and they snatched my bag away from me. I pleaded for my car keys that were in the bag and the woman refused, telling me "No, you're going to jail." I dove my hand into the bag and retrieved my keys and then made a hasty retreat towards the exit. The man was ahead of me and in the middle of the store amongst other customers and cashiers, he jumped in front of me in an attempt to block me from leaving, and then when I went around him he grabbed ahold of my arm and yanked me back. I looked this man in the eyes and exclaimed "You can't detain me, sir!" He released me and backed off, a CLEAR sign that he knew he had just crossed the line when he and his female companion touched me.

There is NO EXCUSE for this incident whatsoever. I was assaulted in one of YOUR stores by someone who YOU are paying, and I was absolutely humiliated when this man grabbed me and tugged on me in front of other shoppers. I also never got my reusable bag back. It only cost me .99$ but that is still money out of MY pocket that was stolen from me by this employee. I feel violated and weak, as if I have been denied my rights and made a fool of just because two people were overly-paranoid that I was going to do something as stupid as try to walk out of the store with a bag full of drinks and cat food, and some deodorant.

Do NOT dismiss the e-mail and do NOT try to buy me off with a gift card. I want something done about these two monsters who ruined my day, assaulted and robbed me. If within the next 3 days I do not receive a satisfying response from you, I will be attempting to contact you via phone. If you will do nothing, then I WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION. Let me repeat:

I WILL NOT HESITATE TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST YOU

Thank you for listening,
My Name
At the moment however, this is all bark and no bite. Would I actually be able to pursue legal action against this company for loss and damages? Some factors to know are that I am 17 and live in the US.

How far can I take this, is basically what I am asking. And in before "tl;dr"

Were you going to steal the deodorant?

Well, are you going to follow through with the suit?

Problem #1: They probably now know that you're all bark and no bite.

See, you demanded they take action, so no doubt they actually went to talk to the owners and get the other side of the story. Now they know you're under 18 rather than some half-schizo adult (honestly, it comes across in your letter) how is more likely to really do something.

How concerned do you think they really are about getting sued by "some kid"? Barring security cameras, you've got the word of two adults against your own and some suspicious actions on your part as well.

Problem #2: You didn't mention it, so I'm going to assume you didn't file a police report.

Oh yeah, police report.


So OP, what have you done?

I'm not OP, this was copied entirely from an identical thread in BI which Fate (or Tokolosh I suppose) won't move. I figured it might get more professional advice here, but so far not much.

I'm not OP, this was copied entirely from an identical thread in BI which Fate (or Tokolosh I suppose) won't move. I figured it might get more professional advice here, but so far not much.

Professional? That letter is poorly written, and incredibly so. It looks as if it was written solely for the purpose of being as melodramatic as possible, and doesn't sound like it has a chance of standing up to any actual scrutiny.

Now, if OP had actually sought advice BEFORE he sent the letter, maybe it wouldn't have been such a fuck up.

Professional? That letter is poorly written, and incredibly so. It looks as if it was written solely for the purpose of being as melodramatic as possible, and doesn't sound like it has a chance of standing up to any actual scrutiny.

Professional advice. I never commented on the quality of the letter itself, I just said that the advice people were giving in BI wasn't professional enough so I copied the thread and took it here.

I'm not OP, this was copied entirely from an identical thread in BI which Fate (or Tokolosh I suppose) won't move. I figured it might get more professional advice here, but so far not much.

Nobody here is a professional nor are we giving you advice to such a standard.

We are offering our opinions on whatever matter is brought before us and you're quite free to take it or leave it and are in fact encouraged to seek professional advice.

Nobody here is a professional nor are we giving you advice to such a standard.
Yeah, I've found out. Besides, I said more professional, meaning of a higher quality, or closer to that of professional.

We are offering our opinions on whatever matter is brought before us and you're quite free to take it or leave it and are in fact encouraged to seek professional advice.

...and I've read the forum description too! :)

Yeah, I've found out. Besides, I said more professional, meaning of a higher quality, or closer to that of professional.



...and I've read the forum description too! :)

It isn't proper legalese if the disclaimer is longer than the content.

I think maybe you should just stick to using a shop basket next time.

First off, you said it was a reuseable bag. Those kind of bags usually have some sort of label on the side, like Resueable shopping bag or Ecoshop bag. If it was that kind, you have a bit more leverage than a blank bag. But i'm assuming it was an open bag sack. Anyways, the LPs harmed and falsely accused an innocent person, causing them distress and disrupting the entire store, so if you weren't stealing the deoderant, you've got a good case.