Getting Caught Days, Weeks, or Months After Shoplifting

When you walk into a store and confess to shoplifting, nobody here is able to promise that the store won't proceed with charges. You can take the path of greatest caution, recognizing that it's possible, or you can take the path of least caution, relying upon personal experience with specific stores that forgive shoplifters who fess up and return the merchandise, but whatever actually happens is up to the store.

So would my best bet to go to the manager or do nothing and stay out of the store for a very long time ?

"Best bet" as in how to avoid responsibility? Or "best bet" as in doing the right thing?

Mr. Knowitall is correct; nobody knows for sure, with 100% certainty what will happen.

But you know - morally - that you should return the merchandise. And although I cannot promise that you won't be arrested should you return the merchandise, I would be surprised if you were.

Do the right thing. Good karma, and all that crap.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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"Best bet" as in how to avoid responsibility? Or "best bet" as in doing the right thing?

Mr. Knowitall is correct; nobody knows for sure, with 100% certainty what will happen.

But you know - morally - that you should return the merchandise. And although I cannot promise that you won't be arrested should you return the merchandise, I would be surprised if you were.

Do the right thing. Good karma, and all that crap.

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I agree . Morally speaking, i feel horrible. I think im going to donate the clothes or donate the amount i would have spent to charity . I will never shoplift again, especially since i do not want to destroy my future and i plan on going to a good college. Thanks for the reply.

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Quoting Gold28

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I agree . Morally speaking, i feel horrible. I think im going to donate the clothes or donate the amount i would have spent to charity . I will never shoplift again, especially since i do not want to destroy my future and i plan on going to a good college. Thanks for the reply.

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Do not donate the clothes or money to charity. That doesn't make amends to the store, who still loses their merchandise.

If you are really dead set on making sure that you can not possibly suffer the consequences that you deserve, at a MINIMUM, take the stolen clothes back to the store and leave them in a fitting room or just take them up to customer service, saying "I tried these on and don't want them, but didn't want to just leave them laying on the floor somewhere."

You are smart. Figure out a way to get the merchandise back to the entity that owns it so that it doesn't count towards their loss.

Of course, the honorable thing to do would be to go in, fess up, return the items, and accept whatever might happen.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Do not donate the clothes or money to charity. That doesn't make amends to the store, who still loses their merchandise.

If you are really dead set on making sure that you can not possibly suffer the consequences that you deserve, at a MINIMUM, take the stolen clothes back to the store and leave them in a fitting room or just take them up to customer service, saying "I tried these on and don't want them, but didn't want to just leave them laying on the floor somewhere."

You are smart. Figure out a way to get the merchandise back to the entity that owns it so that it doesn't count towards their loss.

Of course, the honorable thing to do would be to go in, fess up, return the items, and accept whatever might happen.

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If i was to do this , can the store resell the items if i didnt wear them, but i did take the tags off

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Is it worth going back into the store , if the items do get returned to the store can it benefit me greatly , not morally speaking

You can always send the store a money order, made out to the store, with a note that it's for merchandise you accidentally took without paying. You can decide for yourself whether or not you would sign the note.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You can always send the store a money order, made out to the store, with a note that it's for merchandise you accidentally took without paying. You can decide for yourself whether or not you would sign the note.

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Thanks for responding. I know i have asked a lot of questions. Obviously I'm still terrified of getting caught and screwing up my future , but i should have thought about that in the first place. That being said , do you think the best thing to do to decrease my chances of getting in trouble is to secretly sneak the items back into the store and leave them there, or write a note anonimisouly and say i feel horrible for stealing and pay them back every penny, or say i accidentally took these items. I'm not sure how i can say i accidentally took them considering i took 5 items , but please anyone tell me what you think the best thing to do would be . Thank-you so much.

What is your ultimate goal here? Please indicate the order of importance of these three items:

1.) To keep from having a criminal record
2.) To return the items even though they would now be useless to the store
3.) To stop feeling guilty

The "best" thing you can do is not the same depending on which of these is most important.

To keep from a having a criminal record most importantly

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Quoting cbg

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What is your ultimate goal here? Please indicate the order of importance of these three items:

1.) To keep from having a criminal record
2.) To return the items even though they would now be useless to the store
3.) To stop feeling guilty

The "best" thing you can do is not the same depending on which of these is most important.

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Most importantly to keep from having a criminal , i made a really stupid decision and i dont want it to affect my future. To keep from having a criminal record the best thing to do would be what?