Consumer safety is top priority, says company after hidden camera found in Faisalabad store

FAISALABAD: An American clothing company has released a statement claiming 'the safety and security' of consumers 'is the top priority', following a customer's complaint about a hidden camera in the try room of its Faisalabad outlet. 

On Wednesday, a man had filed a complaint with the police stating that his sister had found a camera hidden in a box in the fitting room of a Levi's store in People’s Colony of Faisalabad. 

"At Levi Strauss & Co., the safety and security of our consumers is a top priority. We were shocked to hear about the situation at our Levi’s Factory Outlet in Faisalabad and are working with local authorities to investigate the matter," reads the company's press statement.

"The two individuals involved were employed by a third-party staffing agency and are not Levi Strauss & Co. employees. They no longer work at our store and have been terminated from the staffing agency," the company stated. 

The press release further said that the company takes any breach of its policies very seriously and is working to determine how the incident happened. 

"We will take further action as needed based on results of the investigation," it said. 

'Manager snatched my camera, harassed me'

Speaking to Geo News, the complainant Nauman Zafar said that the store's manager insisted to his sister to try garments that she was not interested to purchase. 

"We did not like the variety available at the store but the manager insisted to my sister a couple of times to try other items of clothing," stated Zafar.

"I could hear some whispers and footsteps around the try room so I alerted my sister to be observant while trying the clothes," he said. 

 "My sister saw two boxes in the trial room, a lens in one of which was visible," Zafar said, adding that his sister immediately informed him about discovering the camera lens. 

 "I took pictures of the lens and then called the manager and questioned him," he told Geo News. "The manager told me to not pursue the matter."

 He further said that he also took pictures of the manager, himself, and the lens and then called the police helpline 15. 

"The manager snatched my phone one or two seconds into the phone call to 15," he said. "He deleted the pictures after snatching my phone and then another man went to the trial room and removed the camera." 

Zafar claimed that the manager then said that his allegations were false, manhandled him, and threatened to call the police.

"The situation got really rough and I was forced to apologise to the manager and leave the store. But I contacted the police immediately after leaving the premises." 

The complainant said that the police took timely action and probed the matter by questioning the store's staff. 

The trial rooms, which were locked when the complainant had visited the store, were open after the police entered the premises. The boxes were also not present in the fitting rooms, said Zafar. 

"The manager refused to accept anything and expressed oblivion about the incident," he said. "The deleted data recovered from my phone had the evidence against the store's staff and the police also got CCTV camera footage." 

Multan forms committee to inspect hidden cameras

The city has formed four committees to inspect any hidden cameras in the fitting rooms of garment stores in their respective tehsils, a notification by the office of the deputy commissioner stated.

The committee will visit all garment shops and their changing rooms and submit its report in one week. Appropriate action under relevant laws will be taken accordingly, the notification said.