Callands Spar shop against reporting crime
A good friend of mine (a widow) recently left her purse in the Spar shop on Callands Road, the purse contained £200 but more importantly the only picture she had of her late husband with her son as a toddler.
When she discovered it missing she returned to the shop but someone had taken it.
She asked the shop to look on the cctv but they couldnt tell who took it.
In desperation she contacted the Guardian in the hope they would publish the importance of the picture (which they did) and it may be returned.
Today she went into the shop as she does every day and was promptly told she was BANNED from the shop!
She didnt blame the shop in anyway whatsoever but they decided to ban her anyway.
The only conclusion i can come to is that Spar dont support the local community in reducing crime, why else would they ban a widow for reporting a crime.
The worst part is she collects her widows pension there in the Post Office so now she'll have do do without her money until she can make arrangements at another Post Office.
Something about this sorry story just doesn’t make any sense. What does the shop say she’s banned for?
If a company does something like that they have to give a bloody good reason otherwise they could be done for character deformation. In any case, I doubt they can prevent her from drawing her pension because while Spar may refuse to serve her, the Post Office, even if it’s located inside a Spar shop, is still the Post Office and that’s a completely separate organization.
it's true
It's all true, every word. she left her purse in the shop (her fault) went back later when she realised, it was gone, spar looked on cctv but couldnt see anything. She reported it to the police. Appealed to the guardian for help, they published a short notice asking for the photo to be returned. She went to the shop yesterday for shopping and was told not to come back she was banned.
The manageress wont speak to her to explain why.
I've contacted the Spar HQ,Post Office and the guardian again, only the Guardian are interested and are going to investigate for her.
Re: it's true
I think this might be sort of thing that needs to be put up on the main website newspage with an offer to the Spar management to make comment on. A picture of their store and a warning to it's customers on a public website might get some answers.
I can't do it for you right now but I'll try to post it up tomorrow morning.
Right that's all done for you. Just click on the top banner then click the news page and it's the top story. Alternatively just type www.speak-freely.co.uk and that will do the same.
reply
Thanks bill, the post office are looking into why proceedure wasn't followed (they must do certain things by law but they didnt).
Her neighbour went in yesterday to try to draw her pension (now 3 weeks without money) and she to was refused once they noticed the name on the Giro. Now she has to wait for the DWP to re-issue the Giro's in the name of another Post Office.
I could understand all this happening if she was abusive or threatening or something but all she did was leave her purse behind and then ask for it back. Never once has she critisised the spar, it wasn't their fault!
Anyway the Guardian are reporting on it next week so some questions should be answered.
I've just dug out last weeks Guardian to find the article that I quite obviously missed. I'm not certain but the Guardian used the words stolen rather than lost and this might well be what the Spar got the hump about.
I know only too well that newspaper articles often read very differently to what the person concerned intended. If it's the case that this was just an unfortunate choice of words then it should be a simple matter to resolve.
I still think that preventing access to the Post Office is totaly wrong but then again I'm no legal expert!
Re: reply
The retraction of the words "stolen" in this weeks Guardian makes it look pretty certain that that's what upset the Spar shop.
If the purse was simply lost within the store and not returned then many would say that it has effectivly been stolen by whoever ended up with it. Banning someone from the store though is still quite a harsh reaction especially given the lady was only appealing for the return of the none money items.
Bill
oldbenny New Poster
Posts: 6
(20/3/06 9:55 pm) Reply
reply
Yea, and they got the wrong Spar Shop. It wasnt Old Hall it was Callands Spar Shop.
Whoops looks like I got it wrong as well. I've edited the web page to correct it for you anyway.
Don't give up hope on this though because I found a handbag once that had apparently been stolen six months earlier. It had been chucked from a car and was just in the grass at the side of the road. I managed to trace the owner in Bradford from a phone number inside. It was a bit the worse for the weather but I was able to to send it back to her.
Let us know if anything else happens. I really hope that it all gets sorted and especially hope the lady concerned gets her things back.
Bill
John Regular Poster
Posts: 142
(21/3/06 1:45 pm) Reply
Re: reply
I've only been following this story on the Forum and haven't seen the Guardian but as I understand it the Lady in question hasn't actually accused a particular employee of the shop of stealing her purse but maybe they've just inferred that. However even if she had, then the shop should not have a problem with her still shopping there, unless they had actually stolen it and couldn't face her.
oldbenny New Poster
Posts: 7
(22/3/06 7:41 pm) Reply
reply
Thats correct John, She fully admits it was her own fault for leaving it on the counter, she merely asked for the pic that was inside to be returned, not the £200 also in it!
She mentioned the Shop only to give the location, nobody was accused of anything.
Re: reply
Well Benny reading the Guardian this week it seems that Spar don't have an issue with reporting crime or indeed making appeals in the Guardian. The Owner of the Spar shops in the Northwest was apparently beaten up in the town and is offering a reward for information on who dunit
Come on Benny come clean.
Let's do the same and offer a reward for who ended up with the purse. What do you think!
Bill
oldbenny New Poster
Posts: 8
(26/3/06 7:22 pm) Reply
Callands Spar shop against reporting crime
What does the shop say she’s banned for?
I've edited the web page to correct it for you anyway. 
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