Quote:
Originally Posted by postman56
I was doing a little research on this “Retailers Right To Recover Letter” I received on from Hyde Legal pertaining to my young daughters petty theft from the local Zellers here in Calgary.
Her poor judgment is scary enough to have to deal with ,and we don’t condone her stealing , but I find this letter unethical and a use of intimidation to extort funds from parents.
The real issue is whether HBC is morally right in threatening children,most of whom are first time offenders and already suffering the stigma and alienation of being caught shoplifting. While shoplifting is a serious crime, and one worth attempting to eliminate, an examination needs to made as to whether using scared, embarrased people who made mistakes as a cash cow should be allowed.
I most certainly will be firing off a letter to the Regional Prevention Manager at HBC in Edmonton, the offices of Justice For Children and Youth and a complaint letter to The Law Society Of Upper Canada.
|
How much are they trying to get from you? It seems like this may be a good opportunity to teach your daughter about consequences and allow her to work off some or all of the penalty (i.e. you pay the penalty; she pays you back). Depending on what they're trying to recover from you/her, this doesn't seem outrageous. I mean, Zellers is the victim here, not your daughter and in principle I can understand how a significant penalty would act as a good deterrent. I don't think her embarrassment even comes close to a good punishment for this.