Britannia_C

Did they have the right to abuse me like they did. No. They did not. That is all I am saying; I am not arguing the fact that i did pay for the merchandise or anything else. They used force and scared me to death. I was just a tourist. A 52 year old woman who had a wonderful 16 day tour of Spain who was returning to go home. This is how it ended.

Micheline

I'm sorry this happened to you. It must have been terrifying. I would have done exactly what you did. I would like to think that I would have refused to go to the back and called for a police but probably not. Thanks for posting.

danon

Sorry you had a bad experience.
if the "purchase" went through the cash register, could mean that someone in the store took the ring(?) and you paid for it, although counting on 1/2 before departure "pressure" and the fact that you would not call the police or kick-up the fuss is a rather risky scam.
I don't know why women (of any age) have to take abuse from anyone in the middle of the day in a public place.
I would scream bloody murder (in Spanish!)

Peter_S_Aus

There are two sides to this. There usually is. Two explanations - conspiracy or screw-up, and I think it’s a screw up.

Side No 1. The transaction for the allegedly stolen object was put through the credit card, so there’s no incentive for the store people to create a transaction. They probably thought the OP had stolen the object – and she had not.

Side No 2. The OP is due to catch a plane, is confronted by security, does not speak the language much, does not know what is going on, and is confused. That’s a horrible place to be in.

Sitting at my keyboard, it’s easy for me to say that she should have called the police, the US consul, been more assertive, identified it as a scam, whatever.

But if it was me standing in the back office, being accused of theft, at risk of missing my flight, feeling lonely and rattled, I’d have paid and shaken the dust of Spain off my boots.

Britannia_C

I guess that Fear overtook me.

Robert2533

A couple of points if you don't mind as I find this "story" somewhat mystifying.

"Do you think that seeing a gun didn't make me think that I could have gotten killed”. For some reason, maybe failing memory, but I can't remember ever seeing an Aldeasa security guard with a gun. That in its self would be unusual, especially since it takes place within a high security area with GC all around.

Second, this all happened 30 minutes before departure on an international flight. Boarding, generally commences one hour before departure on international flights, not 30 minutes, even on flights to Canada.

I find this whole thing rather strange.

josele

Britannia_C, the question is not if I do or do not believe you. The question is that there is evidence that you tried to steal something and got caught. Well, you admitted it paying for it. Out of fear or whatever. That's the only evidence there is, and that's what is going to come out after any reclamation you make. Sorry.
About your coments on throwing dirt and sleeping well, they are out of place.
Anyway, I have contacted some Aldeasa responsible and shall come back when I get an answer. Please post the date/time of event, check the purchase receipt.

lincasanova

If B-C 's story is what she says, the security people may have a pretty easy scam set up. They take an item they like for gifting.. then grab someone.. and corner them before a flight. Maybe they DO grab those with little time to spare ( as noted on boarding pass).

Yes, flights do board an hour/40 min/30 min before take off IF they are taking off on time.

Hope some resolves comes from this but I would be very interested in knowing the outcome as I transit this airport frequently and am shocked that this COULD be just another thieving employee.

Re security employees. A friend is involved in the investigation of an employee from a security company who has been stealing ammunition and a gun from the police squad. So.. they are in the process of catching /trapping him.. so many of these fellows in "security" are far from being secure and trustworthy. They are in a position that once they figure out how to beat the system, they set up shop and go for it.

What I am confused about also is the 46.00 majorica comment, ( was that a price?) and the 250E bill? Did you post two different prices? If so.. ????

josele

Sorry, I had not noticed the date/time was already posted.

Britannia_C

I had to go to Frankfurt first and then change planes there for home. Hope that answers your question about the time thing.

Britannia_C

Thank you for all your replies. I know I am innocent and I am just saying that this does happen and to be aware. I was literally in a state of shock and all I could think of was getting out of there to get my plane and I did feel threatened so to come out alive was another thought.

I was hoping that someone else experienced what I did and we could converse; maybe just to heal.

It does seem also that nothing will be done or investigated since I am up against a giant company.

I'm sure in time this trauma that I suffered will heal. Hopefully, none of you will have to go through this.

danon

boarding passes show BOARDING time ...so one could still be shopping 1/2 hour before boarding starts.
I have seldom seen security people in stores with guns,
but - who knows?

lincasanova

a boarding pass shows the scheduled boarding time but MANY times not the ACTUAL one as there are many delays and if you have a shop across from your gate or nearby i can see how you might stop and grab something if boarding hadn't started.

still has nothing to do with the incident

britannia_c.. you never know if your complaint is one of several recently and something is being done to try to catch these guys. I can't imagine they aren't at least being watched as it is common knowledge that security personnel unfortunately cannot all be trusted.

Britannia_C

I am not here to judge anyone who has replied and I am sorry if I offended anyone in the process. I am a 52 year old mom, wife and grandmother and a good person. I think once the shock wears off, I will experience less anger. Again, thank you for all your comments.

Cowboy1968

Sorry, Britannia, but this seems to be a situation you cannot win.

Only in the case that Aldeasa receives several (or at least more than one) complaint like yours, they will (and shall) become suspicious.
If it was a scam, you should not be the single victim of 2010. There should be others who either complained on the spot, made a scene, called police etc.
Therefore you need to let them know.
I don't see why a company like Aldeasa should NOT be interested in catching thieves in uniform they employ if there was a scam.
They will be extremely delighted to do so, IMO, if there is a case. And I assume that all big retailers have a certain sensitivity for the potential scams their employees can think of.

Until then, the "conspiracy theories" are as solidly founded as the accusations of the Aldeasa security guards.

Britannia_C

Yes, Cowboy, I am aware that this in a no- win situation. I would be crazy to think it was.

If they were so inclined to review the video tapes, and thought that I was the thief, they would see that they were wrong. I would be more than willing to cooperate with them in finding the real thief. Perhaps, it was mistaken identity. Nevertheless, I think they could have handled the situation in a more humane way. I was automatically labelled guilty and thus treated like a criminal. This is what I am more angry about than anything. It's not that I had to pay for an empty box etc., but the way I was looked at by others in the store, the cashier and the two guards. It was humiliating and degrading.

november_moon

linca - You are spot on about the general quality of people you get to be security guards. It is a crap job for crap pay and usually with terrible hours. You get all sorts of interesting characters in that job.

cowboy - This scam is actually reasonably common. Collusion between security and store personnel for this sort of thing happens a lot. Some theft is kept more quiet, some is more blatant, just depends on the people and the situation. I'm not saying that the people in this case didn't honestly think the OP stole something, just that I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a standard shakedown.

Britannia - Like I said before, I am sorry this happened. I think you ought to consider it a learning experience and be thankful that they only got money from you and that nothing irreplaceable was stolen and you weren't harmed physically. I know it was traumatic, but put it behind you emotionally. You'll be better for it and probably more importantly, if you hang onto this emotionally, your body language is more likely to project "Victim" to the world, which makes you a further target.

You now know what to do in the future, so take power from that. These people may have gotten over on you, but it won't happen again should you be faced with a similar situation.

Britannia_C

I am not a victim and I will heal emotionally in my own time.

albatravels

mmmmm. There is an identical post in Trip Advisor but the stolen piece is a ring for 250 euros.....SAME STORY and simlar date mmmmmm...are these messages for real?

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

Britannia_C

As I said before I was in shock and she kept saying where is it, give me back what you stole. This went on for about 10 minutes and she may have said a ring and it was 250 euros; All know is that when something like this happens to you, you go into a state of shock. Believe me or not, I don't care anymore. I am innocent and if you want to pick everything apart, please do so.