Kingseat

Or was it just me?

Leaving Big W this morning and was asked about a bag in the basket under the buggy. Gave the woman at the door the receipt and she proceeded to drag the stuff out from under the buggy. I proceeded to tell her I'd get it (the bag had gift wrap and cards in it so I didn't want it damaged). As I did so and stood up I saw her pulling at my son and putting her hand between him and the pad that he sits on and then between the pad and the back of the buggy.

I told her not to touch my son but she proceeded and said she had the right to check the buggy. So raised voice from me sternly telling her never to touch my son and that if the beepers went off as I left the store I'd take him out the buggy when she could then check all she liked.

A security officer appeared and by this point I was boiling mad and shouted at the top of my voice that I wanted to see the store manager immediately. Half the shop stopped in their tracks and were looking at me. My face was purple, my son was crying and I just wanted to leave. Store Manager appeared and apologised and said that woman on door does not have the right to touch anything and can only look and was I sure she was touching my son/buggy. At this point I just walked away, got in the car and came home.

I am still shaking now. It is one of the few things that really bugs me about Perth (don't know about other States). It just seems to be Big W, Target and K-Mart that check everything. I do find it ofensive but usually get on with it and have receipts in my pocket so they are easy to find.

Is it wine-o'clock yet?

herrchook

I'd have been furious at that too! I takes quite a bit of getting used to, having bags checked like that. I'd never seen it anywhere before moving here, but I'm OK with it now. However, that particular checker seems to have gone way over the top. Did you get a proper apology from the Manager?

jimbo_d

They have a right to look for stolen goods but no right to touch you or anyone else, that's technically assault, and you are well within you're rights to press charges

petensue

I am not surprised you were so angry.What makes me laugh about those shops and I have noticed it at Big W at Whitfords is that they go through some ones bags and the beeper goes off when someone else walks out unchecked at the shop and they never go after them!What is the point of that?

I must admit it did take me a bit of getting used to and sometimes my husband will wait outside a shop with the bags while I go in just to avoid going through someone peering through my bags!Sue.

bcworld

According to this:

Because shops and supermarkets are private property, they may put up a sign saying you must comply with certain conditions if you choose to enter the store. A sign showing the conditions of entry must be easy to see before entering the shop. One condition can be that the owner can search your bags before you leave the store. If you do not allow your bags to be checked, you may be refused service and asked to leave the store.

No shopkeeper or security officer can forcibly search your shopping bags against your will.

That would apply to your kids too!

The above advice is contrary to what some people will tell you but is also what my OH who is a store manager in Victoria has been told by management.

Lord_Farquar

I just say no anyway.

Dorothy

Me too. If they want to refuse to serve me then that's their loss, not mine. There are plenty of other shops who would be thrilled to bits for me to spend my hard earned money in them.

TiddlyPom

They have to prove that you have SEEN the sign in the first place if they want you to agree to being searched, so as a little tip, walk into all these stores with your head down and looking at a mobile phone or equally distracting thing.
If you didn't see and read the sign, you didn't agree to it. Therefore any action on their part is illegal.

I also say no. I have never shown my bag in 3 years of being here.

I would have found that deeply disturbing too.

Kingseat

Thanks everyone. I'll refuse from now on. When I got home I just thought may be I'd overreacted a bit. God knows what the other customers must have thought at some loud Scottish bird roaring her head off!

Anyway, good news always follows bad - our container has been released by quarantine this morning so just waiting on a delivery date!

TiddlyPom

Nice one.

Enjoy the unpacking!

Tooterelli

Outrageous and completely over the top. Personally I refuse to open my bag to anyone. I'm only asked when I leave Big W (so I don't go there unless I have to). Last time I was told "well the next time you come in you might not be served" (if I was a shoplifter I wouldn't want served would I!)

lapin_windstar

Close - it's battery (if it's not the kind of physical contact that is acceptable in everyday life). Assault is the fear you feel as the fist comes toward you, battery is the smack itself.

Battery is actionable per se (you don't need to show damage or loss). If the OP wanted to put the shits up the shop, she could tell them she's going to file suit over it.
Can you provide a source for this claim? It seems unlikely as it goes against what happens with terms/conditions on signs in contract law (where it doesn't matter whether YOU saw it, just whether an average person should have seen it where the shop/whatever made a reasonable effort to display the terms), for example - but there is no contract involved here, so maybe it's different. It also drifts in the opposite direction from the emphasis from the link above where it says "A sign showing the conditions of entry must be easy to see before entering the shop", which isn't necessarily the same as seen by you.

Presumably it's a term of the licence to enter the store that you will allow them to look at your bag, so all they can do if you don't let them is chuck you out (physically if you don't leave within a reasonable time) and bar you from coming back. But I suppose if you were a) just about to leave anyway and b) didn't want to come back anywhere that was going to have a shitty attitude about it, that's not much of a loss!

[/bush lawyering]

slipshot

Thanks for that too.

I went into Dan Murphy's and had a small backpack on my side which has my book and laptop in. Wanted to see what wine was there then as I walked out the chap asked if he could check my bag. Took me by surprise but I was quite offended immediately after and it p*ssed me off, since the very act of asking seems to indicate you are guilty of something.

I've half a mind to ask him if I can search him at the same time...

kporte

Interesting. When I go into Dan's, the store manager greets me at the door with a welcoming grin and a glass of wine.....

Bernieboy

Excuse me mam but can i come round and inspect yer container,thank now please move the kids out of the way,there's a good pom