Many retail employees are suspicious of teen shoppers.
When two Danish teens find themselves falsely accused of shoplifting, a protective father’s unwavering resolve teaches the employees a valuable lesson in accountability.
Read on for all the details!
When I was a kid, I was accused of shoplifting at a store. My dad got the employees fired and charged with assault.
I live in Denmark.
When I was around 13 years old, my friend and I were visiting the local chapter of one of the biggest store chains in Denmark.
What started as a routine trip quickly evolved into something more sinister.
My friend and I were just there to buy some chips, but when we were about to leave the store, one of the employees (E1) said, “Please come with me to the back.”
The teens obeyed, still confused about what was happening.
I guess I was caught off guard because it took me a little too long to react, so he grabbed my arm and led me to the back.
We followed their order and emptied our bags, and to his surprise, there was nothing.
But they employees didn’t stop their probe.
Then the other employee (E2) said, “What about the pockets?”
They searched our pockets again, coming up with nothing.
They sat there for a while before they opened the door and left.
They waited for a while, still puzzled.
We sat there for a good while, waiting to be told, “You are free to leave.”
But after about 10 minutes, E1 just came in and said, “What are you still doing here? Get out!”
One teen’s parents were surprisingly unbothered by the interaction.
The rest of our day went by without anything happening. When we told his parents, they laughed it off.
But the other teen’s father was livid and sprang into action.
I had to spend the night there, but when I came home and told my dad… oh boy!
He just got this evil smile and went to the car without saying anything.
I remember I just thought to myself, “I can’t miss this.” So we drove to the store, and my dad just stood in line, waiting for his turn (the store was pretty busy).
He demanded to speak with the manager.
When he finally stood in front of that poor 16-year-old girl, he just said, “Hey miss, I would like it very much if you could bring your manager out here.”
The manager, who had nothing to do with the incident, came out, and my dad just went off on him, yelling about what had happened.
The manager was one of those slick types who thought his silver tongue could get him out of anything.
He just went on and on about incidents like these happening and how unfortunate it was, promising that he would talk to E1 and E2.
When that didn’t work, he decided to escalate his concerns higher up the totem pole.
My dad spent that whole night trying to find the number of someone who mattered. He called about a dozen people and told them what happened.
The next day, he was called by the head of the Nordic division.
My dad explained the situation and went into detail about what happened, also regarding the manager, because apparently, the way he acted was a breach of protocol.
His efforts paid off big time.
E1, E2, and the manager were all fired.
Because of our laws, E1 was charged with physical assault of a minor, and E2 was charged with assault of a minor.
Both were found guilty and made to pay very hefty fines.
The price of the employee’s indiscretions was far more than just a bag of chips.
What did redditors have to say about all this?
The other teen’s parents were definitely underreacting.
The father may be protective, but at least it helped them out of a jam in this story.
This commenter muses about how all the employees could behave so poorly.
These employees clearly messed with the wrong kid.
What goes around, comes around.
If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.