WE operate a system of civil debt recovery.

[10ClarionSt]

You see this notice at lots of places now. A person I know had some dealings with this. She is disabled and on lots of medication. She normally only goes shopping with a relative, as part of her disability is Epilepsy. On this occasion, she was on her own and bought some items. On her way out of the shop, she remembered she wanted something else and went back in. The next thing she knows, she's in the office surrounded by a policeman, a shop security man, a shopping centre security man and the shop manager who said she had taken an item worth £2.75 without paying for it. The police said she should not have been reported because of her disability but escorted out and banned from the shop. He said she would have to pay an on the spot fine of £80 and no further action would be taken, and there would be no criminal record. She did this, but 3 months later, received a letter from a legal company in Florida who said they were acting for the shop and she would have to pay £150 to recover costs incurred. They gave an address in London where she could pay by cheque or credit card. She took legal advice and was told not to pay it but she did, by cheque because she didn't want any further trouble. Four weeks later, the cheque hadn't been cashed so she phoned the legal company in Florida to ask why. They said it was being processed. Four weeks after that, it still hadn't been cashed, so she phoned again. They said the same thing. Two weeks later, her cheque was returned with her original letter but nothing else. That was two years ago and she has still heard nothing else. Was this a scam? If so, why return her cheque? All through this, her solicitor advised her not to pay. Looks like he was correct. Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them?

[EDDIE51]

The £150 is the cost of the police attending the shop to sort out the problem.
The £80 is a 'Fixed Penalty Notice' it does not have to be payed immediately you get 28 days to do it.
I would think that the cost of cashing a UK cheque in Florida ( you do mean Florida USA ?) means it is not worth the effort so they have just sent it back.
Just to clarify the £80 and the £150 are 2 diffrent things, the £80 is a penalty and the £150 is the costs .
A lot of the things you mention are 'strange' to say the least.
1 You have to actually leave the shop before a charge of theft can be made
2 The police would not bother turning up for a theft worth £2.74 unless it was a serial offender who had been reported previously. (They normally say £70 is the lowest value they will bother to turn up for)
3 As I said the £80 FPN does NOT have to be paid on the spot but only within 28 days.
Her solicitor should have picked up on these points , if he/she didn't they can't be much use.
Are you certain you have the entire story because it does not seem like it.?

[joko]

had she taken something?

or was it a mistake?

[themas]

I have not heard of any overseas company involved in this, but there is a lot of activity by a UK company which attempts to recover what they say are civil costs incurred as a result of shoplifting. I think this was the same sort of thing - not, as Eddie says, the police costs.

What is argued is that the shop's own security staff costs, & other staff & admin costs which arise from the shoplifting event, should be paid. However there was a recent Court case which threw out the claim - mainly because all the costs claimed were incurred by the shop anyway, whether the actual shoplifting event had occurred or not.

This probably doesn't set a precedent but anyone who gets this sort of worrying demand (often for around £130+) should not pay up but consult a solicitor or advisory service such as CAB. The CAB national body has done research & other work on this.