Netizens Call Out Puregold After a Customer Was Wrongfully Accused of Stealing

Grocery shopping is already stressful enough, what with the skyrocketing prices, but when you’re accused of shoplifting after buying items with your hard-earned money, that’s more than enough to ruin your day/week/month. A Puregold shopper experienced this firsthand when he went to the grocery store to buy a bottle of deodorant and got accused of stealing it. Here’s what happened:

An accusation went wrong

TikTok user Hope Marco Neri Yutuc‘s two videos of a Puregold employee accusing him of shoplifting have garnered a combined 8.5 million views and counting, as of writing.

In the clips, he is seen showing all the items inside his bag to two Puregold employees to prove that he didn’t steal anything from the supermarket. “Ano, miss? May nakita ka? Di’ba, kailangan mag-sorry ka? Mag-sorry ka because pinagbintangan mo ‘ko,” he said.

He explained that he opened his bag to look at his empty deodorant bottle as a reference before buying a new one. Yutuc was visibly upset in the video while a female Puregold employee stood beside him waiting for him to empty his bag.

“Ayan mga kaibigan, mag-ingat kayo sa Puregold kasi mahirap na mapagbintangan kayo,” he said.

In the end, the female Puregold employee asked for his understanding and explained that they were only following security protocols.

Netizens share their Puregold experiences

It didn’t take long for the incident to trend on local Twitter. Netizens called out Puregold and their staff, demanding they take accountability for wrongly accusing a customer. Some wonder what protocols are inside the supermarket and said there should be CCTV cameras.

And it looks like this isn’t the first time an incident like this has happened…

Meanwhile, one netizen shared why they don’t shop at Puregold anymore. “Nakakairita yung feeling na lalabas ka na lang from the counter kung saan ka nagbayad, need mo pa ipakita sa security guard yung resibo as if ichecheck isa-isa yung laman ng pinamili, eh guguhitan lang naman.”

Even actress Bela Padilla shared their thoughts on the incident, “There’s a more dignified way to check bags, hindi naka-cross ang arms at nakataas ang kilay.“

Puregold responds to the issue

Puregold issued a statement on social media after the incident went viral. “Mga ka-Puregold, we saw, and we heard it all,” the statement reads. Puregold said they feel bad for the customer and how the situation was handled. The supermarket giant added the matter “is being dealt with privately, with kindness, and patience.”

On Twitter, Puregold also replied to concerned netizens and confirmed some protocols weren’t executed correctly.

“Yun po talaga ang protocol — assist customer to the back office & probe properly. And while doing so, gawin pa rin lahat ng may malasakit. Nakalimot dito ang aming employee, kaya rest assured, we’ll make things right to Tatay,” tweeted Puregold.

Although Puregold has apologized for the incident, this should serve as a learning opportunity for other businesses to educate and train their employees on the proper implementation of protocols to prevent putting a person in uncomfortable situations.

What can you say about this incident? Let us know in the comments!

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