How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Demand
My question involves court procedures for the state of: Utah.
I was at walmart, got caught "shoplifting." I had forgotten about a bottle of lotion under my jacket in the cart. I didn't realize that I had it under my jacket, but a loss prevention officer stopped me as I was walking out the door, and said they witnessed me trying to hide it before I checked out. I would have remembered the lotion as I put on my jacket as soon as I got outside. But they did not believe me, and said they had proof that I was trying to steal it.
I was detained in an office, they took down my address and name. They told me that since I was walking out of the store with the merchandise, I was considered shoplifting. I offered to pay for it, but they refused, and I did not leave with the item. No cops were called, and I never gave them my ss#. I did sign a paper that they claimed gave them right to take my picture, but I did not read the actual form ( I KNOW, I AM AN IDIOT, I was in a hurry and embarrassed and just wanted to go) so I don't know if I actually signed anything saying I admitted to the crime, but it is a possibility. They gave me a copy of a Utah Civil Recovery Statute.
After doing some research, I'm pretty sure they are going to mail me a civil demand letter, asking for an undetermined amount of money.
I have heard many say that ignoring this demand is not likely to end up in me getting served or having to go to court,. How likely is it that I will have to pay this?
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
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jcw11212
My question involves court procedures for the state of: Utah.
I was at walmart, got caught "shoplifting." I had forgotten about a bottle of lotion under my jacket in the cart. I didn't realize that I had it under my jacket, but a loss prevention officer stopped me as I was walking out the door, and said they witnessed me trying to hide it before I checked out. I would have remembered the lotion as I put on my jacket as soon as I got outside. But they did not believe me, and said they had proof that I was trying to steal it.
I was detained in an office, they took down my address and name. They told me that since I was walking out of the store with the merchandise, I was considered shoplifting. I offered to pay for it, but they refused, and I did not leave with the item. No cops were called, and I never gave them my ss#. I did sign a paper that they claimed gave them right to take my picture, but I did not read the actual form ( I KNOW, I AM AN IDIOT, I was in a hurry and embarrassed and just wanted to go) so I don't know if I actually signed anything saying I admitted to the crime, but it is a possibility. They gave me a copy of a Utah Civil Recovery Statute.
After doing some research, I'm pretty sure they are going to mail me a civil demand letter, asking for an undetermined amount of money.
I have heard many say that ignoring this demand is not likely to end up in me getting served or having to go to court,. How likely is it that I will have to pay this?
I have had attorneys tell me that no one should ever pay a civil demand, and I have heard attorneys say just the opposite. Most people on this forum would tell you that its too dangerous not to pay, but I also know of people who never paid and never got sued.
I think it depends a lot on your state, your state laws regarding shoplifting, the actual circumstances of your case, and maybe even individual judges.
If a judge were to believe you that you did not knowing walk out of the store without paying for something, the judge might rule against the retailer. I think that retailers know that as well. I think that when they know for sure that someone has shoplifted, they call the cops.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
All I can say is that Walmart is NOTORIOUS for prosecuting shoplifters.
Yes, even the folk who steal a Kit-Kat.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
The odds of a random individual being sued, on a national basis, are relatively low - but the answer depends on the retailer and the approach taken by the company they hire to pursue their civil demands (if they don't do so in-house). That type of statistic, however, is meaningless for an individual case.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
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Dogmatique
All I can say is that Walmart is NOTORIOUS for prosecuting shoplifters.
Yes, even the folk who steal a Kit-Kat.
Yep, except when they know that there is reasonable doubt, and then they don't call the cops and only issue the civil demand letter. The people I know of who refused to pay told the Walmart attorney that they were refusing to pay based on the advice of an attorney, and were never sued.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
And I didn't even keep the item... I was cooperative, and basically admitted that I was in the wrong and should have known better. I know I didn't mean to take the item, but they were so extremely sure that I was trying to shoplift. The staff I spoke with would not accept no for an answer, and I'm sure they have video footage of what happened. If it looked enough like I was trying to take it that they stopped me in the first place, I know a video would probably not be in my favor.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
Well, OP, I guess it comes down to this: How badly would a suit and potential criminal charges screw up life for you?
See, if you pay the civil demand, it's all done. Over. Nothing else happens.
If you don't, not only can you be sued, but you can ALSO face the criminal shoplifting charges that were not filed at the time of the incident. They've got a year to pursue them. Have you got the money for a criminal defense attorney?
Pay the CD.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
they were so extremely sure that I was trying to shoplift.
That's because they've heard the story you're telling so very, very many times before. Even if you're telling the exact truth, the seven or eight thousand other people they've heard it from mostly WERE trying to shoplift and the odds are not very much in your favor.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
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cbg
they were so extremely sure that I was trying to shoplift.
That's because they've heard the story you're telling so very, very many times before. Even if you're telling the exact truth, the seven or eight thousand other people they've heard it from mostly WERE trying to shoplift and the odds are not very much in your favor.
Actually no...that is not entirely accurate. Civil demands are a profit center for large retailers...or rather, an offset to the expense of their security costs. Therefore, unfortunately it gives an incentive to their loss prevention personnel to deem someone as a shoplifter even when they know quite well that someone did not intentionally shoplift. Walmart is honestly the classic example. When they have someone dead to rights on shoplifting they ALWAYS call the police. They don't call the police on the questionable cases because if police decline to arrest or cite, or the DA declines to prosecute or the person is found innocent, their ability to collect a civil demand is gone. Its more profitable for them to not call the police and issue the civil demand, hoping that the person will be too scared to do anything other than pay up.
Example...if you go to a local grocery store and forget that you put something on the bottom of the cart...odds are that the only thing that will happen is that someone will courteously tell you that you forgot something on the bottom of your cart and give you the opportunity to pay for it. If you go to Walmart and forget that you put something on the bottom of your cart, then you will get hauled into the loss prevention office, be threatened with all kinds of stuff, and end up with a civil demand letter.
Also...if you stick something a strange place because your hands are full...you aren't even given the opportunity to pull it out and pay for it at the checkout stand. You get dragged into the loss prevention office before you get anywhere near the checkout stand.
My point is that civil demands are frequently issued by large retailers in cases where there is no way that a person could actually be convicted for shoplifting.
I have no idea how much money this particular OP paid for the goods that were purchased that day...but odds are that a bottle of lotion wasn't enough to motivate a person to shoplift...Walmart doesn't sell THAT kind of lotion.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
I agree with LL for the most part. The civil demand is an attempt to recover money. They don't give a hoot whether you are charged or convicted or not. If the store wanted to prosecute, they would have made an immediate complaint to the police/prosecutor. You can count on the civil demand whether the police were involved or not.
The issue is whether they will proceed with a CIVIL SUIT to force the demand. The answer is that in most states they wouldn't recover enough to make it worth the time to do so. Writing letters from "lawyers" is cheap. Sending a warm body down to stand in a court room isn't worth the effort even if they were able to jack "legal fees" into the mix.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
And my point is that just about every person who gets caught shoplifting claims that they "forgot" to pay, whether there is a civil demand or not.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
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llworking
Walmart is honestly the classic example. When they have someone dead to rights on shoplifting they ALWAYS call the police. They don't call the police on the questionable cases because if police decline to arrest or cite, or the DA declines to prosecute or the person is found innocent, their ability to collect a civil demand is gone.
Your views about Walmart having been duly noted, that's not correct. A few years ago Walmart created a corporate policy not to prosecute shoplifters over small thefts. Do you want to guess what happened when shoplifters figured out that they could steal small amounts without any fear of prosecution? If you guess correctly, you will understand that Walmart rescinded that policy for legitimate, loss-prevention reasons, and not as part of some sort of conspiracy to try to collect civil demands.
Re: How Likely is It That I Will Be Sued if I Ignore a Shoplifting Civil Recovery Dem
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Mr. Knowitall
Your views about Walmart having been duly noted, that's not correct. A few years ago Walmart created a corporate policy not to prosecute shoplifters over small thefts. Do you want to guess what happened when shoplifters figured out that they could steal small amounts without any fear of prosecution? If you guess correctly, you will understand that Walmart rescinded that policy for legitimate, loss-prevention reasons, and not as part of some sort of conspiracy to try to collect civil demands.
If they rescinded the policy of not prosecuting small amounts then why didn't they call the police on the OP? We are not talking about the same thing.