WALMART has come under fire for its receipt checks as customers say they ignore checkers, but the law may not always be on their side.
As retailers battle the issue of theft which is costing the industry over $100 billion every year, numerous measures are being put in place to protect inventory.
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One of these measures is to have receipt checks either in the form of an employee at the door or with security gates fitted with scanners.
However, customers are unhappy at the move with some even laughing at the retailers that implement such policies.
“Cracks me up that @walmart still checks receipts at the door when a good percentage of their loss is from their own employees,” a shopper wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
She added that the checks would not cause such an issue among shoppers if employees “stopped everyone” rather than seemingly targeting people at “random.”
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“People who know how to steal, know patterns,’ the user added.
“I just keep walking they can’t legally stop you,” another user admitted in response.
“Costco on the other hand its in your membership contract so they can stop and check your receipt plus half the time Walmart just glances at the receipt and says your good like wtf was the point?”
“I understand their business their rules,” the original poster said before demanding the implementation of more simple measures before restrictive receipt checks.
“But wouldn’t have the theft issue if they would put cashiers at the registers,” she added.
“Was [a] stupid idea for self-checkouts.”
These comments come just days after Walmart confirmed that it would eliminate self-checkout from one store following customer feedback.
Instead, the store will replace the tech with traditional cashier-run checkouts.
‘CAN’T STOP YOU’
However, the X user who believes that they can always ignore receipt checkers at Walmart and be in the right must heed one lawyer’s advice.
West Coast Trial Lawyers, a personal injury law firm took to YouTube to answer a question about the legality of receipt checks.
While customers of membership stores like Costco and Sam’s Club agree in their contract to receipt checks, other shoppers can also be asked to show their receipts.
LEGALITY OF RECEIPT CHECKS AND DETENTION
With receipt checks becoming more common there are a few legal terms and standards needed when facing store employees.
Stores can request to see a customer’s receipts, and for those establishments where membership is required, they have the right to demand a receipt check.
Many legal professionals have weighed in and come to similar conclusions, caveating that all states do have specific laws.
Generally speaking, stores have Shopkeeper’s Privilege laws that allow them to detain a person until authorities arrive when they have reasonable suspicion that a crime, like theft, has been committed.
Declining to provide a receipt is not a reason in itself for a store to detain a customer, they must have further reason to suspect a shopper of criminal activity.
Due to the recent nature of the receipt checks, there is little concrete law on the legality of the practice, as it takes time for law to catch up with technology.
Setliff Law, P.C. claims that “there is no definitive case law specifically relating to refusal to produce a receipt for purchases.”
For stores that improperly use their Shopkeeper’s Privilege, they could face claims of false imprisonment.
“The primary law that applies to these types of wrongful detention cases is called ‘False Imprisonment’,” explained Hudson Valley local attorney Alex Mainetti.
“Of course, you’re not literally imprisoned, but you’re detained by a person who has no lawful authority to detain you and/or wrongfully detains a customer.”
It is likely that as altercations in stores over receipt checks continue, more court cases will occur giving better definitions and boundaries to the legality of retailers checking receipts.
Stores have the right to ask customers to show proof as part of loss prevention measures, the lawyer explained.
However, “it must be non-discriminatory and they can’t use excessive force without reasonable cause,” the YouTuber explained.
Refusing to show a receipt is not enough to give the store reasonable cause, they must have further reason to suspect a shopper of criminal activity.
If a retailer violates this law, the search becomes illegal, a complaint can be filed with the retailer and legal advice can be sought.
“I would say, show your receipt. It’s just a really simple thing to do,” Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles attorney previously told The U.S. Sun.
“If you didn’t steal anything, it’s relatively simple to do.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.
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