Has this happened to anyone else---ALDEASA Madrid Airport
 

I took a 16 day tour of Spain and then returned to the Madrid Airport for my flight back home to Canada. I went into the above duty free store and was asked by a security guard to come with him. He brought me to the back of the store into a small room where a stern-looking woman was holding up an empty jewellery box. She said I was a thief and to give back what I had stolen. Paralyzed with fear, I began to say that I had no idea what was going on. She told me to shut my mouth or they would call the police. She dumped by bag contents on the floor, searched my person and found nothing. She looked at my passport and muttered something under her breath. After being humiliated and abused, I was told to pay for the item I stole. I did so just to get out of the store and catch my flight. I still do not know what was in the box. I have written to authorities, the store etc. and have not gotten any answers. I would like to know if this has ever happened to anyone else and what I could do in the future to prevent something like this. My flight was leaving very soon and I couldn't risk missing it. Any input would be great. I don't know if the Aldeassa has a BBB type organization because I would like to lodge a complaint.

I am stunned. It sounds like a scam but how do they get away with that at the airport. I was just at that airport several weeks ago.
I think i would have pushed them out of my way and walked out quickly but that is me. ... especially since they found nothing on you.

I am so sorry that happened to you. I wish i had more siggestions for you.

My last resort was to contact the store directly in Madrid. I don't expect to hear anything. The two people were towering over me and I am a small woman. I was too shocked to do anything.
I was also in a small locked room. I would love to get to the bottom of this and would welcome any help that I could get.

Hopefully you paid with a credit card - then you could at least take it up with the credit card company and have the charge reversed.

I have heard of similar things happening in US malls - including the shakedown.

For advice about what to do in the future should something like this occur - NEVER go into a back room with store personnel or security. Anything that needs to be handled, should be handled in plain sight. By going into the back, you have no witesses and you have given away your control over the situation. When you are in the public area of the store, you are free to walk away and if they want to detain you, then they will have to make a scene to do it. Anyone trying to perpetrate a scam does not want a scene.

If store personnel or security insist that you have stolen something, then insist that they call the police - even if waiting for the police will inconvinience you - do it anyway. If it is a scam, then this should make them stop hassling you right then and there. If they truely believe you have stolen something, then wait for the police to arrive and have the police search your belongings. Never let store personnel or security touch your things.

In this case, when they threatened to call the police and you didn't tell them to go ahead and call them, they probably figured you were either guilty of something and they could use the threat of the police against you or that you were easily intimidated. Sounds like the second guess was correct.

Thanks for your reply november moon. Hopefully, I won't encounter this again and if I do, I will know what to do! My credit card company will not reverse the charge since I cannot prove anything. :(

This sounds very strange . Aldeasa are a very serious company. Let me make some calls tomorrow and hopefully I can get some information for you.

Thank you very much!!! :)

.....My credit card company will not reverse the charge since I cannot prove anything......

I would do a like further checking. It is my understanding that the merchant has to prove it is a valid charge - not you disprove it. Also I would call it fraud.

This happened on October 23/10 at the Duty-Free Terminal 1.

To Scotinlatam: Here is some more information: TIme: 09:47 Date: 23/10/2010 Terminal 504 ALDEASA DFT447 SHOP - F F SCHENGEN NIF A84205863 Ticket 53853 Caj 02415 Pos 2.

Wow.

I would have asked for the police.

I learned never to go into the little room at the airport while living in Indonesia. That's where the shake downs happened.

Until now, believe it or not, I had never heard of a shake down! Is it just to get their anger out, have their power trip and humiliate and abuse you. Actually, I can't sleep tonight because i am still seeing the mean face of the woman that terrified me, made me drop to my knees to put things back into my backpack. She took me by the arm to the cash register and forced me to pay. It is truly a nightmare.

How much did you pay at the cash register and what does the receipt itemize the article to be?

46.00 majorica SS TU-Y

While you were in the store, did you happen to notice if their pearl jewelry was out in the open or in locked cases?

so it seems we have some sticky finger security guards that like to steal items then make unsuspecting tourists pay for them.

xmas is near.. this is a good heads up. I am also shocked and will notify my family to NEVER go into the back of a store and insist police be called.

Thanks for posting.

Was this T2 or T4? It would be good to have them investigate these two guards.. they may have a little business set up. hope they get caught.

The pearl jewellery was out in the open.

T2 ( terminal 2)

It was in Terminal 1

Why on earth did you "pay for the item you stole"? Thus you are admitting implicitly you stole it, it is a written evidence against you. Then, why should your credit card company return you the money? Why should Aldeasa apologise? Why should anybody believe you?
BTW, Rocio is a woman's name.

No one has to believe me. I am the one who experienced it. Fear is very powerful. You will do anything to get out of that situation; $46 euros or $1000 euros seemed to be a small price to pay for my freedom. I was in a foreign country and I was in shock.---

Okay, something’s a little strange (rather fishy smelling) about this post. It’s identical to one on TA from another traveler from Calgary (uniden1) dated 25 Oct, except the amount was €250. Same scam. Same scenario.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...rt-Madrid.html

Thanks for the thumbs up Rocio. Why don't you just do an investigation. That is all I ask.

Yes, I posted it in Tripadvisor as well. I also posted it through Cosmos Vacations. I live in Calgary. I normally just use tripadvisor but wanted to get my story out. I wrote to all the agencies on the list; I need to get some closure to this. That is all. Lynn

people should not steel

Then what was the correct amount? €46 or €250, as posted on TA?

250

This was a very harrowing experience for a a women travelling on her own. They used the fact that you were female and alone to intimidate you.In hindsight you probably shouldn't have gone into the back room with them, but lets face it, you've done nothing wrong and are sure the problem will be resolved quickly. We have different rules and attitudes here in Canada.Who would have ever expected to be treated this way. They searched your bags and the absolute worse was that they actually placed their hands on you and searched your person!! Having been to Spain and other foreign countries and know they carry guns on them. How intimidating that alone is!! The whole episode is a nightmare. I totally understand why you just decided to pay for whatever it was and get yourself out of there to a place you feel safe again. Thank you for letting everyone know about this scam. It's a heads up for other travellers, women in particular.

Hey, I'd pay!

Some years ago In Madrid, a hard-faced man posing as an undercover policeman tried to bully me into showing him my passport by flashing a badge at me among other things, but it was on the street so I just ran toward a bunch of construction workers.

Today, inside an airport, even if it's only a shop, you'd really need to have your wits about you to start resisting the commands of people posing as uniformed personnel. And if you made the mistake of obeying them, it would only be normal to calculate that buying your way out of the situation -- being locked in a private room with practiced thugs -- was cheaper than paying for the curiousity of what they might do next if you screamed or bullied back.

Brittania_C, by buying your way out, you are my kind of sensible woman. Bravo for you. And thank you for posting. There are a number of Spain-defenders and travel-defenders at all costs posters who will call you names for your willingness to tell this tale to help others. I hope you sleep better than they do tonight.

Yes, this is a good heads up. These people use your fear and lack of familiarity with the place to their advantage. And for women specifically, they use our societal training against us - most women are taught to be nice and avoid conflict. I am a small woman too and I often travel alone, so I know what it is like. You just have to expect the scams and guard against them. And don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. You can still be polite, but firm.

One of the best defenses against this type of thing is just your body language. If you look confident and sure of yourself, then a lot of would-be scammers will pass you up and look for another mark. OTOH, if you look unsure, fidgety, lost, etc. then you will look like an easy target - they want someone easily distracted, easy to intimidate or influence.

Sorry to doubt the poster, but this is coming from someone who has been traveling to Mexico since 2004 according to her earlier posts and doesn't know when to call the police?

It is easy to speak of "Spain-defenders and travel-defenders", but after reading the Tripadvisor post I wonder: why the differences from one narrative to the other?
But anyway, I am not placing doubts on OP; I just hope people here knows what to do if the situation arises: do not obey anyone but the Police, do not go into back rooms, sign nothing, call your consul if necessary.

And to add to josele's list, people should also remember that there are worse things than missing a flight, train, bus, etc.

There is no difference between one post and the other. What is different? I only had one thing in my mind, and that was to get out safely so i could be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandson.

I think what josele is referring to is that the Fodors post mentions the value at €46 while the TA post mentions it at €250. Also, in one post you mention that you don't know what's in the jewelry box but on the other you mention that it is a ring.

To Josele and Robert 2533;

What is it that makes it so hard to believe that this happened to me? I had a transatlantic plane to catch in less than 1/2 hour. Do you think that someone would have paid for a ticket back for me. Do you think that seeing a gun didn't make me think that I could have gotten killed if I had not cooperated and paid. I know in my heart that this is what happened and no matter what kind of dirt you would like to pull up on me, I feared for my life. I would think you would have an ounce of compassion but obviously you would rather condemn. Hope you can sleep tonight.

I am unsure what it is but it seems to be a ring. It is too small to be a watch. Who knows. All I received was an empty box. It was 250 Euros. ANything else?

In the box is a tag with nothing in it. The tag reads "7541791" On the other side it says 925 Sterling Silver. the box looks like it may have held a ring, a charm, something like that. As I said, I do not know. on the back of the box reads IRP Majorica SS TU Yo Ri If you can figure it out, let me know.

If you try to forget for a second the facts YOU know but noone else knew:

You had been in a rush to catch your plane. So you "accepted" to pay for the "theft".
But how could those security people know?

You could as well have been someone with a 3 hour transfer, or someone who would tell them to call the police, regardless how late it was. Or scream for police.

One security guard even made the "threat" to call the police. How much sense does that make if it were a scam?

And, since they walked you to the cash register, the person at the cash register must have been part of the scam, too?
And how do they, the "thugs", get the cash since they even gave you a receipt with those stamps on it. So the transaction went through the computer system, and they can't just take the $250 from the cash register?

Honestly, they only way this makes any sense is that the security people took you for a thief by mistake.
I don't see any reasonable way that they could have gained a financial benefit from it, unless they stole the merchandise to sell it elsewhere.
But shop and security personnel can steal much easier in a quiet moment if they want the merchandise than be causing a total zoo that (under other circumstances) would have attracted unwanted attention by the airport police. Especially if it was a scam that was pulled twice a day.

I had gone in there and purchased a box of olives. I had to show them my boarding pass. They would have seen that my plane left in 1/2 hour. That is the only thing I can think of. I do agree that there probably was a theft but it was not me and I was proven guilty and humiliated.