I am back!! 1 and (almost) a half year later...!! Another letter from RLP... Kinda long right? the letter says RLP have been asked to "pursue" a civil claim against *named person* And the address at the time was provided by the person, states that there has been no response to the letters sent previously, then it asks for the occupier to clarify if the address is correct for above named person, it asks for the occupier to contact RLP to further clarify - then goes on to say "documents have been prepared for the *named person* something something practice direction For pre-action protocol and civil procedure rules, and says court papers may be issues etc etc (the letter is helpfully print-cut off on the right so I can't make out what some of it says) Any experience with this? Or advice? TIA!

it was just a plain white envelope, but it did have a small stamp stating RLP PO Box blah blah blah on the front next to the franked , but I wouldn't be too sure if it would be the same company sending the mail. Well, if he wants to pay £150+... I think you should definitely direct him to this forum to do abit of reading!

I've ignored all my letters so far, and will continue to do so, they are really unlikely to take you to court or get police involved, nothing "bad" will happen... and don't pay them a penny... they just want to scare you into paying it! letters will not say they're from RLP but if you intend to ignore them, do note that there will be more than 1!

Hi Flo! I didn't get my letter until a little over a month, they don't seem to be very efficient getting them out!! But I very much doubt they will be able to track you, ignore their letters, and it'll be Ok Chick

I ignored their first letter, infact my partner tore it up and burned it before I even got to see it physically! I have since received a second letter (only last week) which makes it.. 2 and a half months? .. It basically reads "your failure to respond is a breach of the practice direction relating to pre action conduct and the civic procedure rules 1998" and then goes on to say that the reason for this practice is to negotiate a settlement without needing to issue a court proceeding, and that they must now "regrettably" advise their client(Debenhams in this case) to do just that. then tells me that as I have no defense(lawyer- um.. how do they know?) that I should not let the court matter further itself as it will just add to my alleged "fees" in court sums, legal costs and an interest rate at 8%PA, and then advises ME to get some legal advice. PAH, I say! The letter then details how I can pay by listing a phone number for their collection department, and says there are other payment options on the reverse of the letter- I turn it around... low and behold.. it is blank(very clever, RLP!) and the ending comes to where they want to keep negotiating a way of payment, whether it be prolonged or in instalments... doesn't seem very professional IMO.. to practically threaten to take me to court (LOL) and then say.. well it will all just go away if you pay it up.. little by little... *shake my head* I don't intend to reply to it, I feel it's just a waste of my ink, time and effort. Will keep this updated, if anybody has any Qs, do LMK!

Haha! it's not crossed my mind too much honestly, with all the threads I've read.. seems that nothing particularly happens.. but I have heard that they can contact you within any time period of 7 years.. not that it changes my opinion *shrugs again*

No letter yet, almost been a month *shrug*

I'm sorry that you're so angry for whatever reason, waking up on the wrong side of the bed perhaps? I was tempted and that's that. I'm foolish, i'll give you that, but I'm not a bludgering idiot, I'm still a fully law-abiding citizen, and I work to pay taxes so that people like YOU can rake off and get benefits.?. PUH-LEAZE! and I don't think the entirety of "price rises" can be caused just from shoplifters.. because ofcourse.. there's nothing in the world such as bad economy is there? And, why are you attacking me when you say that people that should be exempt are *First Time Offenders* i.e. myself? If you want to stick your neck out on my post about shoplifting? then you have a LOT of people to deal with. I'm looking for advice, not judgement, so rather than looking for people to cyber-bully while sitting at home doing nothing productive- raking benefits, I'll advise you to butt out.

thanks, it's been exactly a week now, still no letter, but will keep this posted!

About a week ago, I was just strolling around the city centre waiting for a friend to have lunch, when I thought I'd go have a look in Debenhams in the *beauty* section (yes, I am your typical teenage girl - unfortunately) In hindsight(duh) I admit it's stupid, I don't know how anyone can deny that shoplifting is stupid in any light, sometimes it just seems all too easy... anyhow, as I hovered around the exit, sweeping a few makeup bits into my bag, I exited the store with my music blasting into my ears through my earphones, I was then apprehended by a Security Guard, he claimed I had set the alarm off, I have never shoplifted before, ever. So, when he said I had set the alarms off, I thought... was my music really all that loud? I walked back in *worried* past the barriers, and heard no beeping of such, and immediately thought I could be in the clear, silly me. I was lead to the Security panel as it were, just a block infront of the door where another guard stood, asked for me to open my bag, I complied, and then the guard then reached his hand into the front compartment of my bag to reveal the stolen items *facepalm* How could I be so stupid?! I welled into tears within milliseconds, I asked what would then happen to me, the security guard just ignored me, whilst then calling on his walky-talky for some "backup" Within 2 minutes, about 4 men(a bit excessive, I'm only a 5ft 1 little lady) walked down the stairs and lead me up to a 'detention room' I was asked to firstly empty my bag then write down my Name, Address & DOB, they asked for identification, and I surrendered my passport(stupid decision, I reckon) they asked if I had anything with my address on it, but I don't have a drivers license, so... no. (but! I am a tender age of 18) I was handed a notice for the RLP and a letter stating I would be banned and my passport returned, at this point I was distraught and pouring every single last tear out of my body that was physically possible. The police were informed and on their way, the door of the "Detention Room" was left wide open and a female was sat in the office area, and she seemingly was just mocking me, and was just blatently openly digging at me to other people(Fine, I had just commited an offence... but really?) I also kept being asked if I spoke English(I am of an Oriental decent.. but.. I was speaking English the whole time, I don't see the need why they needed to ask again and again.. *sigh*) The Police officer finally arrived, and then arrested me verbally on suspicion of blah blah blah, told me my rights and all that, he did a check on me to make sure I hadn't had any previous record of anything, I was clear(otherwise he would have hauled my ass into the station!!) and basically told me what I could and could not do, I was feeling exceptionally vulnerable, I was literally crying like a baby... I almost felt like I was going crazy, nonetheless, he sat with me, but wasn't very nice either way, he eventually officially *de-arrested* me, and began an *interview* process, I admitted to stealing the products up to £78 of value and all that jizzle jazzle, he told me I was very much on my last legs, and I have committed a serious crime, but I technically do NOT have a criminal record, I apologized to the store manager profusely, she continued to photograph me... for what purpose, I do not know? -can anyone tell me? Anyhow- I have been ordered to pay a fixed penalty notice of £80 and I intend to do so the coming Monday because I only have a debit card, and have not yet had a chance to get any money to put into the account, but I don't want any kind of Police chasing after me, so I will indefinitely be doing that ASAP I still have not received an RLP letter as of current, but I am just waiting for it to come through to state I owe them a so-so ridiculous amount, the items were obviously found and returned without damage, I have read ALOT on this forum all day, and as I was almost sure that RLP wouldn't pursue many of the cases, I read about how they are beginning to take some cases to court now? I don't know, but I was unable to find any stories that went into detail with any police action, and admission of guilt. -at the same time, I did *coincidentally* see the feature on the ONE show on BBC that aired Wednesday evening, I have read the CAB report(I plan on visiting them or calling them up as of when I receive the RLP letter), and the article on the guardian paper. Since I have admitted to the event does this mean I have no legal grounds to refuse paying anything? even if all goods were recovered undamaged? If you've gotten this far in reading my pointlessly long and somewhat sarcastic asterisk, elipses and bracket-filled story(I like punctuation, is it a crime?!), then I applaud you- any help would be greatly appreciated TIA! Edit: Sorry this is a late night post! I can't seem to sleep since this has happened, I've been so worried as to what might happen, but I'm not hysterical!