So you can eat all the peaches you want at a self - scan store. Just weigh the pits. No one will look in the bag.
Hey! Thanks a lot! You just told me the way to go. Nobody owns the fico points they have on their reports. I'll steal all of yours since you don't own them and put them on my report. Then I'll claim they didn't belong to you and I'll soon be the ruler of the credit world. Just think of that! My score would soon be in the millions! Then I'd be a millionaire.
Mr. Brown I don't have any money either. Neither do you. Neither does anyone else. No one has any money! There isn't any such thing as money in all of the entire United States of America! It used to exist a long, long time ago, but not anymore. So nobody has any money! Can anyone break into anyone's house and steal any money from anyone else? How can somebody steal something that does not exist?
You are EXACTLY right! I have been in retail for many years and EVERY job I have ever held, I was trained to NOT stop someone unless they have LEFT the store. I worked at our local grocery store and they said people eat throughout the store, but as long as they pay before they leave it's not shoplifting. See if you can base a case off that. Kellie
Hi, I have been observing this post for a the last couple of days, but I didn't want to respond. I was a cop(military) for four years. Now I am a student who has completed his minor in Criminal Justice, majoring in Poli. Sci., and applying to law school. Last but not least, I am doing an internship with a judge who handles only civil cases. I have to agree with Mp and her assessment of the situation. It is not "technically" stolen until the party exits and makes an attempt to exit the store. If the security guard observed that the 17yr old had eaten the peach, he should have approached him as he was leaving the premises and demanding the the peach or proof that the peach has been paid for. Another issue is intent. Did the teenager form and plan to carry out the intent of not paying for the peach? I would say no, based on the placing the other half of the peach in the bag and offering to pay for it. However, since the criminal elements of this situation have been dropped, there is no reason to approach those issues. As Erica pointed out earlier, the age of responsibility for California is 14yrs. By statue, the mother is not responsible on two fronts: the statute itself, and her failure to sign the responsibility statement. I believe that the collection agency placed the collection on the mothers report, since they knew that the could not place a collection on the 17yr-olds report. On the issues of the outrageous damages, not only would I validate, I would request a broken down statement of all charges, plus notifications by the store that they attempted to contact me prior to sending this to a collection agency! If they are unable to provide this proof, then sue them for violations of the FCRA!! Check with LizardKing and Bill on which violations. Basically you have a case that will end in her favor no matter the outcome. The damages are extensive, the criminal charges have been dropped, and no way in HELL is there a $183 peach. Good Luck, these are just my opinions I do not give advice.
I'm Tom and my brother's name is Bob. We resent the implication. Harrummph!!! Also, I'd still go for the shame angle first. It works faster and is actually more satisfying than a mere judgement. I would so much rather see the idiot store manager trying to shoo some Consumer Crusader TV reporter out of his store and end up totally embarrased in front of his whole community than get a piece of paper saying I'm right. But, then, I'm vindictive.
Not sure I would admit to knowing "butt co workers" that would probably have me ROFLMAOAPIMP(ROFLMAO...p**ing in my pants) Brian
While the charges can be considered extreme, I have been looking at several state laws since this thread began out of curiousity. Many states have laws that specifically state there are criminal as well as civil penalties for shoplifting and the merchant can pursue civil penalties without actually filing charges - some statutes indicate the cost of the item, the estimated cost of the security personnel performing the apprehension, and some state the merchant can request a penalty of 100-200.00 the amount at their discretion - they do have to file in court to collect it. I still believe "technically" it is stealing - most state laws address the deprivation of a the full cost of the merchandise and/or the prevention of the calculation of the true price. As the fruit was sold by weight, the true price could not be calculated. I can see the thinking - in my area most food stores have a self serve salad/hot food bar. The food is sold by weight alone. Were someone to go into the store shopping, make a nice salad or fill a container with hot food - the weight and the cost are going to vary greatly - a salad of just lettuce may weigh a pound or two less than a full container of hot food. If you walk through the store shopping and eating it and present a half empty container at the register to be weighed how could the merchant calculate a correct price. In this instance the average charge is about $3.99 a pound for salad/hot food bar items. A container of lasagna may weigh 4 pounds, a container of salad 1 pound - an $8.00 difference.
If you were the store owner, whose peach would you consider it. If it were I, my store paid for it, I sell it by weight, you have decreased the weight before I can calculate a price - it is mine until you have paid for it at its original price.
IF THE PEACH WAS ON DELAY BILL...to be paid 30 days after invoice...they didn't pay yet. I really doubt that the peach truck was at the back door with peaches and said "I NEED $532.87" or what ever a truck of peaches would cost...
Just b/c i might think it is mine dosen't make it mine! Just cause you paid for a peach don't mean the peach in question is the one you paid for!=======
All I can say is that all the peachy arguments are not likely to affect the actual end outcome. Here we have a peachy merchant hollering to a peachy collection agency who tries to impeach a mother for her son's peachy snack at the peach merchant's expense. While all this discussion may make a peachy addition to the peachy posters score, the peachy thread is getting a bit tiresome.
