Falsely accused for shoplifting

<p>On Monday afternoon, 25 July 2016, my wife went to Woolworths at the Glen to return a few items previously purchased. The items were exchanged at Customer Services for a gift voucher to the value of approximately R1 500. My wife thereafter shopped around the store with the intention to purchase items to the approximate value of the gift voucher. After she had shopped for the items she wanted, she searched for her mobile phone to call me regarding the items she intended to purchase. She could not find the phone at the time and in a panic she rushed straight out of the store intending to search for the phone in her car, not realising that she didn't pay for the items in the trolley. She walked out of Woolworths with the trolley of goods when she was called back by the security guard on duty. She then realised that she still had the trolley of goods with her that she had not paid for yet and explained the above-mentioned situation to the security guard. She further tried to explain to the security guard that she had no intention to ***** the goods in the trolley and requested that the security guard either keep the trolley till she gets back from searching for the phone in her car, or accompany her to the car to look for her phone that she had misplaced. All her explanations fell on deaf ears and she was accused of *****ing. The manager of the store and the security guard then escorted her to the control room and detained her there from 16:00 in the afternoon till 21:00 that night denying her any phone calls and took pictures of her without her permission. They then took the trolley away and on return indicated that the value of the goods in the trolley was R5 100, which my wife does not believe was correct. The value of the items in the trolley were not calculated in my wife's presence. My wife then asked if she could phone me as she was in posession of our house keys and therefore my kids and I would have not been able to get into our home. Furthermore, I did not know where my wife was at the time and was therefore worried and looking for her. The manager then asked for my phone number, which my wife gave to him. He then left and later returned saying that he couldn’t get hold of me and that there was nothing more he could do. I can confirm that my phone was switched on as I was frantically making calls looking for my wife, and received no missed calls or messages from the store manager. I reported my wife missing to the security guards at the Glen security office who contacted me when the SAP arrested my wife around 21:00 that night.</p> <p> </p> <p>I managed to pay bail for my wife even later that night to the value of R6000. Afterwards we had to endure a year-long battle in court, which ended a couple of weeks ago, where my wife was found not guilty. The whole ordeal costed me approximately R35 000 in legal fees, which came out of my personal savings. This excludes of course travel expenses and therapy for my wife and kids, which was required to help them deal with situation.</p> <p> </p> <p>It is so sad to see that retail giants such as Woolworths would treat innocent people, moreover their ardent customers, like ********* without seeking the facts and establishing the truth first. This incident has put my family through untold stress, which I believe was totally uncalled for. The confession of the store manager in court bares testimaony to this fact, where he indicated that he did not think that my wife intended to *****. Because of certain individuals in the employ of Woolworths The Glen, Woolworths has lost a once loyal customer. I doubt that I will ever shop at Wooloworths again.</p>