Vanish Gold Fabric Stain Remover Powder Pink 2.4kg

Evie said:

It was on a pleasant Hertforshire high Street. The Boots staff dealt with it. The girls were a group of Romanians who had been causing trouble in Boots for a few days. How it had been allowed to carry on for a few days I don’t know.

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alter ego said:

Why the hell aren't security doing something about this. I'm dreading the school holidays. The teens around here consider trying to knock people (including me) off their crutches or walking sticks as a sport.

Weekends have always been a nightmare at our local Boots (all the local Boots, not just the High Street one). Gangs of girls roaming around, ruining testers, making a mess and good old fashioned thieving. And I've seen the kind of malicious behaviour that you were a victim of, too, Evie. I started to keep an eye on my surroundings due to these stupid girls. I notice the ringleaders never seem to do the deed themselves, they always get the other sheep to do it.

If I can see something about to happen why can't security? Plus the makeup counters are close to the perfume counter which is usually quiet and has a bored-looking assistant trying to look busy. I've stood there and called out warnings to some older ladies in front of them, but they just scuttle off and leave me to it. It's like the "assistants" no longer want to assist.

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Lilo Lil said:

I, too, use ACE stain remover - decanted it into an empty spray bottle and it goes much further ...

Never tried the bleach version though.

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maymorganlondon said:

I think there is a fear factor when you have young girls or young lads "hunting in packs".

If they suspect shoplifting, they actually have to let them commit the crime and leave the shop before their in-store security can do a citizen's arrest and call the police.

The kind of malicious, antisocial, intimidating behaviour should be something they can deal with if they have enough staff... that's IF. Most stores seem to have fewer and fewer staff carrying out a multitude of activities.

About the only thing you could do would be to film them doing it, send the film to the company's head office, with a request for their response to the question "what are you going to do about this?", and the follow up would be to share said footage with one or several news channels with the (lack of) response from the company... or just share it directly on social media.

This seems to be the world we live in now - where companies do nothing unless there is a social media furore which will give them negative PR. Forget about expecting that they are busy apprehending any wrong-doers, or barring them from the shop (they don't have the resources) - the only way now is just shame the company into action.

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Evie said:

A few years ago a group of girls tried to mug me in Boots. They tried to distract me by dropping some coins on the floor thinking I would bend over to pick them up. As if! That didn’t work but the I felt something cold and wet on my back. They picked on the wrong person because my reaction was not to be distracted but to become super defensive, put my back to the counter, held onto my bag and told them to pick up their coins. Once they disappeared I realised that my top was covered in foundation. They had obviously taken one of the he samples and emptied it on me. After washing my top a couple of times the foundation just wouldn’t wash off. I googled the problem and like many of you discovered the magic of fairy washing up liquid. I apply some undiluted to stains, rub it in, put into the washing machine on a regular wash. Sorted.

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shopperholic said:

Some children are feral, left to roam free intimidating and causing trouble because they know if caught shoplifting, they’ll only get a slap on the wrist, at best. I agree they egg each other on and get away with murder, literally. Me and the husband are lucky, our two beautiful sons, they’re amazing sons now amazing fathers and I do worry about the world our gorgeous grandsons are growing up in.

As for filming these feral kids in action, it’s actually a public offence and against the law to film someone, especially children, without their knowledge or consent, so you have to be careful with that one. Thing with shoplifting is we all end up having to pay and these feral kids will grow up to be the next set of inmates.

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maymorganlondon said:

Good point Shopps - I'd not taken that into account.

It's dispiriting if the people that can do something are too apathetic to do anything, and the people that would do something would have to break the law to do so, so can't! Sounds like a bit of a catch 22.

I suppose you could film yourself making a loud running commentary - for example: "I'm in XXX store in XXX town on XXX day and time, and I've just been targeted by a gang of X number of young girls/lads, first they did X, and now they have done Y, all the while the shop staff and security are doing nothing to help...".
Of course the store could then hide behind a "no filming in store" policy, but probably not before you could get it out there to embarrass their PR department!

Society seems to have evolved in 2 opposite directions at the same time - behaviour is getting worse, and the ability and will to do anything about it has diminished.

Once upon a time when you were growing up, you would get pulled up for your behaviour by your neighbours and your friends' parents, and the teachers from your school. Some cultures still have this idea that not only the parents but the wider community are involved in the raising of a child (eg: an African proverb - it takes a village to raise a child), but it's clearly dying out in the UK.

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maymorganlondon said:

Good point Shopps - I'd not taken that into account.

It's dispiriting if the people that can do something are too apathetic to do anything, and the people that would do something would have to break the law to do so, so can't! Sounds like a bit of a catch 22.

I suppose you could film yourself making a loud running commentary - for example: "I'm in XXX store in XXX town on XXX day and time, and I've just been targeted by a gang of X number of young girls/lads, first they did X, and now they have done Y, all the while the shop staff and security are doing nothing to help...".
Of course the store could then hide behind a "no filming in store" policy, but probably not before you could get it out there to embarrass their PR department!

Society seems to have evolved in 2 opposite directions at the same time - behaviour is getting worse, and the ability and will to do anything about it has diminished.

Once upon a time when you were growing up, you would get pulled up for your behaviour by your neighbours and your friends' parents, and the teachers from your school. Some cultures still have this idea that not only the parents but the wider community are involved in the raising of a child (eg: an African proverb - it takes a village to raise a child), but it's clearly dying out in the UK.

Click to expand...