ANOTHER shopper has spoken out about their perspective on receipt checks, expressing indignation at retailer expectations.
As retailers, big and small, grapple with strategies to reduce shoplifting while maintaining efficiency at the register, customer satisfaction is going by the wayside.
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Many major retailers that offer self-checkout have added receipt checks as an anti-theft measure, expecting all shoppers to wait for employees to check their receipts against items in their cart before leaving.
Although this has been commonplace at establishments like Costco and Sam’s Club for years, the ramping up of the process at retailers like Walmart and Target has customers up in arms.
Some shoppers have pointed out the lack of logic in retailers’ choice to have receipt checkers, claiming that the store should just hire full-time cashiers and do away with self-checkout.
Until they do, many have made the decision to ignore retailer’s requests to check receipts.
Read more on Receipt Checks
“I never to stop to show my receipt at Walmart,” wrote one X user.
“Cause yall could’ve seen the damn receipt yourself if you were working at a register,” they continued.
“But noooo I had to check myself out so no receipt for you.”
It might seem as simple as denying the check, but this choice can lead to undesirable confrontations with employees of dubious legality.
At my Costco, most receipt goblins just glance at your cart and then just swipe your receipt… they’re also lazy to count through it all lol.”
Unnamed Customer
In a recent video posted on X, formerly Twitter, a user shared a TikTok video originally posted on Barstool Sports, displaying an unfortunately common interaction between a distressed customer and a power-hungry employee.
In it, the video shows the family trying to exit the store while an employee physically blocks their exit, at one point holding back the shopping cart and baby carriage before running to lock the exit doors.
The worker then stood in front of the now-locked automatic doors while the couple responded in shock.
“Look at you, you’re shaking. And you touched my cart with my daughter in it,” said that man after his wife produced a receipt, questioning why the worker was willing to potentially risk his job with such behavior.
“You’re a complete f***ing idiot,” the man accused.
After the worker gave up because he could not get any assistance to the front of the store, the family, mother, father, and baby, were all allowed to leave.
Many customers have highlighted how it seems unlikely that the workers checking the receipt are accurate.
“At my Costco, most receipt goblins just glance at your cart and then just swipe your receipt… they’re also lazy to count through it all lol,” described one Redditor.
“The stolen items will not be on the receipt. So how do they check by scanning the receipt? Or am I missing something?” questioned an X user.
“Walmart remove the self check out if you gonna look at my receipt for 5 min at the door bc you think mfs is stealing like tf that’s how you effectively cut that,” added another.
LEGALITY OF RECIEPT CHECKS AND DETENTION
With reciept checks becoming more common there are a few legal terms and standards to understand 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.
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