MANILA, Philippines — An Antipolo City branch of Shopwise wrongly accused a paying customer of shoplifting in front of other customers.
A video taken with a mobile phone that has went viral on Facebook shows customer Evelyn Sia in tears while recounting the public "humiliation" and asking that the video be posted on social media.
Sia said that the supermarket's security guards set her aside as she was about to leave with her purchased items late last month.
She said that guards "paraded" her as a shoplifter even as she was trying to explain her side.
Sia said she had the receipt of the items and demanded that Shopwise publicly apologize over the public announcement system at a time when the store is crowded with customers.
Shopwise has apologized in a statement issued to the media, calling the incident "unfortunate" and that it regrets Sia's "unpleasant experience."
"We, at Shopwise, value our customers more than anything, and are addressing the distress this incident may have caused our customer," Sia said.
According to another Shopwsise statement to ABS-CBN, the two parties have already settled the matter with the retailer scheduled to make a public apology on July 15. - Camille Diola