Mustafa's Shopping Security Harrassment

[fahim27]

Dear Friends
This is a true story. I would like to highlight that Shopping in Mustafa which everybody thinks is enjoyable and affordable is not true.

There is Yonex sale going outside mustafa. My Friend took one of the Yonex track pants and wanted to pay, but there was no cashier at that time as it was almost 12.30am (midnight), so he enquired the security whether he can pay inside and the security agreed. He handed over this track pants to his wife and took care of two infant kids and went down to see some LCDs. His wife shopped some groceries and when she paid all items and she gave the track pant to scan as usual, but the counter staff said there is no price tag and said she needs to go down to yonex sale outside and pay.

She handed over the trolley to my friend while exiting and when he stepped out, one of the security staff noticed the pant was lying in front of the trolley which is not visible with all purchased items and asked why he didn't pay. Only then he realized that the pant was inside the trolley.

My Friend said its too late, I don't want to pay, can you keep this, but the security made a big issue and called the supervisor without enquiring and they took him to the cctv room and they showed the footage which clearly shows the wife wanted to make payment, but it was given back as it didn't have any price tag. His wife took and wanted to pay outside the yonex sale, it is clear enough to show that he was unaware of the the transaction. Whatever he said is not taken by the two security guys and they harrassed my friend and said its theft.

Infact my Friend had returned SGD 3500 once when he purchased jewellery in mustafa and the counter staff made wrong bill. My friend was called by Mustafa staff thru UOB by checking his credit card number. Mustafa said that the transaction was void because of staff's mistake and he was requested to come and pay to mustafa. Within minutes he came and paid the full amount. This is shows when he can come back and pay after 2 days the full amount why he should take the mere $16 worth of pant? when he explained this, the security says they don't consider this.

They made him sit for 3 hours and police came and took him to custody. They sent him only after 8am in the morning. This is utter harrassment and mental torture for a Singapore PR who loves singapore and the people here. Being a Masters degree in computer science and working as IT Consultant in top MNC and his self-esteem is shattered in minutes due to this blokes who don't have basic etiquette and manners of how to consider such issues. They call themselves Security officers. Its a shame to the organization like mustafa.

Failure of Mustafa:

1. Why they are selling any goods outside the mustafa complex when they talk about security issues.
2. When they say 24 hours, there was no Counter Staff in the outside yonex sale.
3. There was no price tag in the track pant.
4. Security allowed him to take the pant inside, when it should not be.
5. Security saw the footage and they know its not a theft, just because my friend was trying to explain why he should do this and the so called security who is acting like Police treated my friend like a Criminal.

Friends. Please don't take this lightly, it would have happened to some of your close ones and probably it will happen in future. Please take this seriously and spread across all over.

[bruinbear]

From the way I see it, the Mustafa security were only trying to do their job. Quite impressive for the guard to have spotted the unpaid track pants. Maybe I should go down to Mustafa to check out whether they outsourced their security or do it in-house huh.

And I quote:

"Being a Masters degree in computer science and working as IT Consultant in top MNC and his self-esteem is shattered in minutes due to this blokes who don't have basic etiquette and manners of how to consider such issues."

Errrm....My question is very simple - why do you even bother to shop at Mustafa?

[sundaymorningstaple]

bruinbear,

You beat me to it........

Most of the crooks at Enron had degrees as well........

Education is obviously not a gauge of common sense it would seem. He'll fit in nicely here.....

I'm wondering why the pants were put "under" the packages and not on the top where the normal person would have placed them and actually notified the guards prior to exiting the store. There are always guards inside the doors there as well..........

[fahim27]

As the Counter staff said you can go down and pay, the wife put it back and totally forgot about this and handed the trolley to husband. Its just a forgetfulness that they have not paid. She really wanted to pay but she didn't realize that she had forgotten.

Mustafa security saw the footage that she wanted to pay, as there was no price tag she took and put it back as per the counter staffs reply, to go down and pay.

If they (security) would have listened properly they could have helped such customers from being harrassed. My understanding is the way they understood what he tried to explain is question mark. They are not able to understand why the track pant was out. They lack the basic courtesy of asking the customer about what happened. It was 2.30 midnight and the infant kids have troubled them a lot, and they wanted to go home as early as possible. They came for midnight shopping as it is easier to get cab. It was mistake that they will never forget.

If the intention is not to pay why she has to show to counter staff. Its the mistake of mustafa not to stick the price tag and giving her wrong information.

Today I went to mustafa personally and took a Yonex bag from outside the mustafa complex without sticker (price tag) and went inside to pay and was told by the staff to go out and pay. When I asked why there was no price tag, she says I dont know, you should ask the yonex staff outside mustafa. If one doesn't know mustafa rules like tourist they would have easily stepped out without their knowledge assuming that they can pay from where they have taken and eventually caught and harrased by this uneducated security guards. I have the video footage which I will be using this as evidence for my friend.

[ksl]

There is always two sides of the coin! However it is highly unlikely security staff, would pick you up. over a pair of pants, that was still in the trolley, even if it is under the bags of what you have paid for.

Normal procedure would have been to watch what you do with the pants, because there is actually no intention of theft until you remove them from the trolley and walk away from outside of the premises.

I personally believe the security to be pretty good at what they do and I have my doubts until, hearing the security guards story.

There are set procedures to follow in security and these guards are pretty street wise i would think, if the guard made a mistake I am sure, he would be scolded, for not following procedures, and you would no doubt recieve an apology. If you think they have over stepped their mark, then you should do something legally about it, not really discuss it here in the forum.

The majority of people here wasn't born yesterday, so what do you expect them to say? Do you think you could pop back down to Mustafa and ask the guard to sign up on the forum so we can here his side of the story!

Today I went to mustafa personally and took a Yonex bag from outside the mustafa complex without sticker (price tag) and went inside to pay and was told by the staff to go out and pay. When I asked why there was no price tag, she says I dont know, you should ask the yonex staff outside mustafa. If one doesn't know mustafa rules like tourist they would have easily stepped out without their knowledge assuming that they can pay from where they have taken and eventually caught and harrased by this uneducated security guards. I have the video footage which I will be using this as evidence for my friend

This is evidence of what? no price tag!

Did security ACCUSE you of not paying for the Yonex bag when you went back outside? Probably not, if there is a cashier outside, why not just approach them first and say, there is no price tag on the item, or take an item with a price tag on it, to be honest I don't see what you are trying to say, when it is obviouse the cashier inside cannot scan the item, without a price tag.

[QRM]

The lack of common sense rears its ugly head again. Looks like no amount of education can help with that.

If I was walking out of a shop, with an item that has not been paid for, and I saw guards, and security tag scanners at the entrance I would tell them the reason.

If his wife forgot to mention it, blame her not the guards, they where just doing their job. You could have had all this pre-planned but got caught.

Judging by the tight security already in place at mustafa no bags inside, all internal bags are tamper proof ziplocked, payments first at designated counters, I would say despite the "low standard of education" of the guards, they are all pretty sharp.



QRM Edited, as dyslexia reared its ugly head

[fahim27]

dear ksl
Yes, Security Accused him of not paying and bringing out. The mistake he made was he said its too late, I dont want to pay, can we return this. Its because of mustafa's carelessness that they didnt stick tags in most of the items, the whole situation happened, if the pant had proper pricing tags then its no problem. They accused him of theft, Again your point says if he walked with all bags along with pant, then they have full right to nab and accuse. he just stepped out, did not pick up any bags, then all of a sudden this happened. When questioned by the supervisor he said If he would have taken all bags before he departs and noticed that the pant is not paid, he would have returned to security by giving a proper statement, to that explanation the supervisor says you will be the first person to say this, nobody would return a stolen item.

Cashier was not present outside when he wanted to pay, thats the reason he has to bring it inside to pay.

My point here to post is take opinion and understand how security works, is it a crime if somebody forgets and steps out of a shop, due to the mistake of the shop not having a proper tag. He would have definetely return the pant when he picks up all the paid bags

Taking legal action is considered here, but I need to wait till he is cleared by police.

[sierra2469alpha]

Yeh I'm a little confused by this also.

OK, so I'm outside. No price tag. Take inside. Ask for price, maybe? OK, nobody on the counter, then (and please OP correct me if I have misread/misinterpreted this) I am told to take it outside? OK, so I take it outside, get asked by security why I have the pants, I say I want to return them. But the pants were outside to begin with, yes?

Maybe I'm just getting old...but as Brittney says "I just sooo don't understand"

P

[fahim27]

Yes, the yonex sale is happening outside mustafa complex, by right you have to pay there and tag it properly and take inside if you want to shop. But on that day, most of yonex items, be it t-shirts, track pants, yonex bags didnt have any tags, (i know this after i visited yday and they were busy sticking tags in all items) so my friend took a pant, looked for a cashier to pay, he didnt notice that there was no price tag, the security is closeby the cashier and he asked whether he can pay this inside, the security said yes, and handed to his wife and left to see some LCD (electonic display) in basement. His wife who is shopping groceries in 2nd level came to the counter and showed the pant along with other items and told by the counter staff to go down and pay. She totally forgot this pant as they were window shopping LCD panels, toys and bought few other things for 1 hour or so. Kid and infant troubling them, so she forgot totally to pay attention to the pant, as she thought she can go out and pay and handed the trolley with all plastic bags (paid item) except for the pant which was stuck somewhere inside.

This item is taken outside, by right if the item has no tag, the item can be taken outside to be shown to yonex staff, and security didn't accept this. Infact his wife went inside the cctv room and pleaded sorry many times, she even cried that its her mistake not to pay attention.

Dont you think its problem of mustafa security not to understand the situation. Why would a person who returned SGD 3500 for mistake done by mustafa staff would take a SGD 16 worth of pant. I was told that becasue my friend argued that why he should take this pant, the security supervisor got pissed off.

I also did some research and found that the security (supervisors) who watch the cctv cameras are paid a point system if they catch culprits and the points can be redemed to cash, and thats the reason they don't want to leave customers who bring out without there knowledge.

This is not the only case, the police who inquired my friend said everyday 5-10 cases happens in mustafa and out of which half of them are genuine, forgetfulness, are some mistake and mostly are tourist. All of them are sent to police custody. Half of the cases are real theft. Infact rich people from indonesia, india and other parts of country are arrested as they forgot to notice this items sometimes, a top rank Indian navy officer was arrested, this is the statement by police.

The police officer also said can you take action against mustafa after we clear your case? they are fedup with this routine job.

Its not that I dont like mustafa, I have been shopping in mustafa for 8 years, alteast twice in a month, and after buying car twice in a week, I know how they work, staffs are not courteous but you get everything here, thats the only reason expat like us throng there. Security is tight as somebody said they are smart even they dont have proper education, i dont deny this, but they should listen to customers and understand there own flaws. Why would a person go to counter staff, try to pay a item and given back as it didn't have proper tag. whose mistake is this. why the counter staff said you can go down and pay, go down means where, before security or after security, they don't explain clearly.

[banana]

This reminds me of a story that took place in a mythical place that seems to exist in multiple locations at once. Throughout human history, this wondrous land has appeared across civilisations and cultures. Witness accounts vary but there is no doubt that this place is a common thread linking all of humanity and is very real indeed. Welcome to Mount Molehill.

[Vaucluse]

Mate, you sound like a right arrogant prat:

Being a Masters degree in computer science and working as IT Consultant in top MNC and his self-esteem is shattered in minutes due to this blokes who don't have basic etiquette and manners of how to consider such issues.

So this tells us that your friend is a complete and utter loser with no self-confidence at all . . . despite having a Master's degree - not being one, in which case he would be a piece of paper and couldn't have had any self-esteem to begin with.
Did you study English?

Then,

Its because of mustafa's carelessness that they didnt stick tags in most of the items

So,most of the items don't have price tags on them? Are you sure of that? Possibly they did and fell off or were taken off by careless shoppers.

My point here to post is take opinion and understand how security works, is it a crime if somebody forgets and steps out of a shop, due to the mistake of the shop not having a proper tag. He would have definetely return the pant when he picks up all the paid bags

It seems opinion here is against your rant - forgetting in itself is not a crime, it is a crime, however, if due to negligence someone is hurt - as in Mustafa's for theft. Mustafa's suffer hurt from theft. Your friend could have been one of the perpetrators - even if it might have been inadvertent.
Everyone will say that they meant to pay for it when caught, why should your friend be any different (in the eyes of the law or the security guys) -because he has a Master's???

This is not the only case, the police who inquired my friend said everyday 5-10 cases happens in mustafa and out of which half of them are genuine, forgetfulness, are some mistake and mostly are tourist. All of them are sent to police custody. Half of the cases are real theft. Infact rich people from indonesia, india and other parts of country are arrested as they forgot to notice this items sometimes, a top rank Indian navy officer was arrested, this is the statement by police.

So, fifty per cent were theft. How do you wish the security people to differentiate this? Education? Wealth? Ethnicity? You sound more and more like a total snob with your elitist rants.

Taking legal action is considered here, but I need to wait till he is cleared by police.

Snowball's chance in hell. It is only his world against that of the security people, and in this case he did do wrong, even though it was inadvertent -or so you say.

It was 2.30 midnight and the infant kids have troubled them a lot, and they wanted to go home as early as possible.

What were infants doing up and shopping at 02.30 in the morning??? These are the 'responsible' people you are talking about?

[durain]

excellent reply. 'nuff said. no need for me to post a reply.

[bruinbear]

If Mustafa were that bad and they haul up people and throw them into Police detention, then why is Mustafa still doing so well?

I personally don't shop at Mustafa but I do marvel at how they succeed in this business.

[ksl]

If Mustafa were that bad and they haul up people and throw them into Police detention, then why is Mustafa still doing so well?

I personally don't shop at Mustafa but I do marvel at how they succeed in this business.

It's all about cost effectiveness, and Mustafa certainly knows how to cram the goods into the space to be effective, So everything is in there, if you can get through the isles to get to it! But really price is not cheaper, unless there is a discount offer on, I've checked prices on many products, and found them to be more expensive on daily goods.

Obviously theft is a big problem, hence so many security guys inside and out and also at the ends of many isle's. I have no doubt the security have plenty of experience and are very alert in that kind of environment, with plenty of pickpockets around too.

So hang on to your wallets and purses, when you go into the crowd, I have to warn my wife every time, because she is, like i say, not street wise and far to trusting in a over crowded environment.

[SittingBull]

He has a master's degree, so surely he is intelligent enough to know that young children need adequate sleep.. 2am?? What the hell??