‘Do they even sell that jacket in the store?’: Man hounded by store security when they accuse him of stealing his own jacket

There’s nothing worse than being accused of something you didn’t do, especially when the accuser has back up. Fortunately for the guy in this video, he had his camera on and the conviction to stand his ground.

A video clip of the event was recently posted to TikTok by user @varietyvids84 and has gone viral, but the clip first emerged several years ago when the incident occurred. And it’s not the first time a crazy clip from London has been posted to TikTok. In the video, customer Simeon (as reported by MyLondon) was shopping at a London outlet of the popular budget fashion store Primark, and was then accused by a member of the on-site security team of having stolen his own jacket.

When the customer protested his innocence, the security guards grabbed hold of him and would not let him leave. Simeon then decided to film the rest of the encounter, which has gone viral not once but twice — several years after the video was initially circulated in 2021.

And it’s easy to see why, because this is a nightmare situation for any shopper. Nobody walks into a store wearing something they already own thinking about how they’d be able to prove they didn’t just steal it. Because of course they don’t.

In a post to his Instagram which is no longer available (but which has been reported on by MyLondon), Simeon said he “was grabbed from behind as [he] went to leave the store, and was told to take the jacket off, and that [he] hadn’t paid for it.” So he started to film the encounter, which escalated pretty quickly. In attempting to prevent his exit, the member of security who started the whole sorry saga grabbed at the jacket and ripped it — a major own goal from the perspective of product retention!

At a later point in the video Simeon shows himself being forcibly restrained by security while several other members of the security and other staff stand watching, surrounding him. Members of the security team continue to place their hands upon the customer, who repeatedly states that he does not want to be touched or grabbed.

A passer-by intervenes, suggesting that the security team either “call the police, or let him go,” but this suggestion does not go over well with the security team. Still protesting his innocence, Simeon agrees that the police should be called and is determined to see the situation through. Anyone would be rightfully outraged at such treatment.

And viewers of the TikTok clip had a lot to say about the encounter. Some were simply confused, such as user @Zane_avci: “Staff doing all this for a primark jacket,” while others such as @Chrisballw suggested a lawsuit: “Mate. You should sue them big time.”

But other viewers were totally stumped with the encounter, as Primark reportedly didn’t even sell the jacket in the first place! From comments from fellow TikTokers ranging from “do they even sell the jacket in the store?” to “primark don’t sell those jackets” followed by a collection of laughing emojis, it’s utterly laughable that this customer was trying to pull the wool over everybody’s eyes.

Yes, times are indeed rough and the state of the world’s economy might feel hopeless as times, but resulting to this level? Now that’s just embarrassing. After all, imagine being subjected to that level of harassment over a product the store doesn’t even carry! No wonder Simeon was so angry.