How Do You Remove a Security Tag

Sorry i didnt know where to really put this thread so i just put it in the general discussion.

I am not a theft or anything but just today i cam back from h&m and found that the securtiy tag thing is still on and that the person at the counter is an idiot.(dunno how i got pass the security bit)but yh

anyway i can probably go back to the same shop but that would be another 2 hour trip so i wud like to remove instead if theres a way.

i was wondering if anyone on TSR has any experience of safely removing the tag w/ out damaging it.

Its called a clam tag as i know

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Reply 1

Anon the 7th

beat it

but your best bet would be the two hours back again :rolleyes:

or find a nearer shop with a detagger

EDIT: ignore the last point, that probably wouldnt work

2 hours it is for you then, or a strong magnet?

Reply 2

x-pri-x

yeah the same thing happened to me when i brought something from bluewaters (like 2 and a half hours away by car =|) so no way was i going back
um i tried to open it with some metal thing and urm yeah didnt work it ended up with a big hole =|

you can try taking it to a nearby retail store and just ask them to use their machine to open it?

Reply 3

Aphotic Cosmos

Eugh . . . I hate tags. Saw far too many during my year at Debenhams, and my hands hurt a lot after being poked by so many pins.

If you still have the receipt, go into H&M and ask for it to be removed - they should do it for you at any H&M, and I'm sure that there must be one closer to you than 2 hours away. You can also get a magnet and apply it to the end with the pin, and then try to pry it apart, but depending on the quality of the tag that may not work.

If you know any friends at a shop with a detagger [the powerful magnets designed to remove tags, they're usually mounted at a till in any clothes store], then it might be worth asking them to de-tag it for you.

Reply 4

Dante786

This is what I used, and yes it was paid for.

Reply 5

russell_chan

i meant not damaging my shirt

Reply 6

MoreTeaPlease

Same thing happened to me at h&m, they need some kind of staff training programme asap. I used a hammer to smash the plastic bits.

Reply 7

coolh5000

very powerful magnet.

Though you're best off just going backto the shop if you don't want to risk damaging the item. Some tags have ink them and are designed to burst if you start trying to force them apart, therefore ruining the item (and your hands for that matter) - we use these at work and they don't go off at security beeper things, so if it's one of those, that could be why you got through security. There are probably ways to get it off but you might rip it or do some other form of damage.

Reply 8

A Mysterious Lord

Same thing happened to me the other week, although that time I had to take it back because the security tag was filled with ink and I didn't want to wreck my new shirt. If it's just a bog standard tag, a hacksaw may do the job.

Reply 9

russell_chan

Naffy

This is what I used, and yes it was paid for.

lol i need one of those
and no i dont have the recipt ( i never keep them) plus i live in the middle of no where and this was h&m in high street kensington dunno where the nearest is.

Reply 10

russell_chan

NyLonEd

Eat it.
There are starving children in Africa you know.

lol

i will fly out there and feed it to the starving children. but i will make them pay if they eat my shirt

Reply 11

Spanghew

If you haven't thrown the receipt away, just go back to the shop. Other clothes shops might be relctant to take the tag off a petentially shop-lifted item, but it's still worth asking to see if they'll do it.

EDIT: oh, you have thrown the receipt away. In that case, you're screwed if it is an inky one.

Reply 12

Aphotic Cosmos

russell_chan

lol i need one of those
and no i dont have the recipt ( i never keep them) plus i live in the middle of no where and this was h&m in high street kensington dunno where the nearest is.

Then your only option is removing it yourself or getting a friend to do it at their workplace.

Reply 13

tigermoth99

I'd like to know how you got past security. Surely it would have gone off and you would have been stopped by a security guard. A sales assistant would have been able to take off the tag then.

Reply 14

Starwave

I found a successful method:

Reply 15

russell_chan

MoreTeaPlease

Same thing happened to me at h&m, they need some kind of staff training programme asap. I used a hammer to smash the plastic bits.

yh i agree, thats why the clothes r cheaper

they pay less 4 the ppl they hire cos they r mentally retarded(no offence to h&m workers)

Reply 16

FireDeuce

It is removed with a strong magnet- you put the bottom onto the magnet and the two sides come apart.
Whether or not you have a strong enough magnet is another question.

Reply 17

lrkn

Those things really shouldn't be able to pass through a door without setting something off and you really should keep receipts.

You probably want a magnet, you could do the old ones with a bit of skill but I'm not sure if the ones H&M use now have ink vials in or anything.

Reply 18

Ali_

you can usually find these sort of dodgy "how to" videos on youtube. apparently you can open a bike d-lock with a biro.

Reply 19

G50

tigermoth99

I'd like to know how you got past security. Surely it would have gone off and you would have been stopped by a security guard. A sales assistant would have been able to take off the tag then.

Nope. Happened to me before too. Think about it... once you've paid for the item, there aren't always detectors afterwards. It's only when you're queuing at the till. So if you pay for it and the person forgets to take off the tag...