Traumatized by Clicks: False Accusations, Public Humiliation and Pending Court Case

Public Humiliation, False Accusation, Assault by Security Guard and Arrest – Extremely Traumatic Experience at Clicks

I have been a loyal Clicks customer for many years, and I never imagined that a routine shopping trip would end with me being publicly humiliated, falsely accused, manhandled by a security guard, arrested, and now having to appear in court.

On the day of the incident, I had taken my five-year-old grandchild to have her hair done at a salon in town. While waiting, I attended to other errands, including having important documents certified at SAPS. I then visited Clicks because I urgently needed to buy a hair dryer.

While shopping, one of the beauty consultants encouraged me to purchase a mascara that was on promotion for R59. It was not something I had intended to buy, but after her recommendation I placed it in my basket along with the other items I had selected.

As I continued shopping, I became increasingly uncomfortable because I noticed that a security guard was following me throughout the store. I even remarked that I felt uncomfortable because of how closely I was being watched.

I proceeded to the tills, where I paid approximately R800 for my purchases. I collected my shopping bag, my cellphone, my grandchild’s chocolates and a brown envelope containing documents that had just been certified by SAPS, and walked towards the exit.

At the door, I was informed that the mascara had not been paid for. Before anyone attempted to establish what had happened or whether this had simply been an honest mistake, the security guard immediately began shouting at me in front of customers and staff.

She repeatedly called me a *****, accused me of being one of the ********s who come into the store to *****, insulted me loudly and created a public spectacle that attracted the attention of everyone nearby. I repeatedly asked her to stop insulting me and to first establish the facts before making such serious accusations.

Instead of handling the matter professionally, she continued escalating the situation. During the confrontation, she also manhandled me, which I found degrading and completely unacceptable.

She further claimed that earlier in the day I had taken photographs of her without her permission. This allegation was completely false. When SAPS became involved, she later denied making that accusation after it became clear that there were no photographs of her on my phone. She also denied several of the insults and actions that had occurred only moments earlier.

What should have been a calm discussion about an unpaid R59 mascara escalated into the police being called, my arrest, and a pending court appearance.

What makes this even more painful is that I had legitimately purchased approximately R800 worth of merchandise. It simply makes no logical sense that I would intentionally ***** a R59 mascara—an item that I had not even intended to buy until it was recommended by one of Clicks’ own employees.

Regardless of what happened with the unpaid item, no customer deserves to be publicly labelled a ***** before any investigation has taken place. No customer deserves to be verbally abused, humiliated, physically handled or have their dignity stripped away in front of an entire store.

As a long-standing Clicks customer, I am deeply disappointed by the conduct of the security guard and the manner in which this incident was handled. This experience has caused me significant emotional distress, embarrassment and reputational harm.

I have submitted a formal complaint to Clicks and have requested that they investigate the conduct of the security guard, preserve all CCTV footage, review the incident thoroughly and provide me with a written outcome. I also requested a refund for the items I purchased because I no longer wish to keep products associated with such a traumatic experience.

My hope is that Clicks takes this matter seriously, ensures accountability where appropriate, and improves the training and supervision of its security personnel so that no other customer has to endure what I experienced.

I am sharing my experience so that consumers are aware of how quickly a shopping trip can turn into a deeply traumatic event when staff fail to treat customers with fairness, professionalism and respect.