WALMART shoppers shared how they get out of tedious receipt checks as they leave the store, which many don’t know is an option, however, a lawyer says you might want to think twice.
Theft is costing the retail industry more than $100 billion each year, forcing several companies to think outside the box with new measures being implemented to protect inventory.
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One of these measures involves having employees ready to check receipts as customers try to exit the store.
However, many shoppers have expressed their frustration with the move, sparking debates on social media about whether or not they actually have to go with the checks.
“Today I’ve learned a shocking amount of people don’t know you don’t actually have to stop for store greeters/receipt checkers,” wrote one person on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re stealing or not, you can just keep walking.”
In response, one person called it a “valid point,” writing “[I] never thought about that last part.”
Another person took it a step further, sharing an experience they had when a Walmart employee asked to see their receipt.
Top 5 receipt checking tips from a lawyer
Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles attorney, spoke to The U.S. Sun about receipt checks and customer’s rights and options when it came to being asked to show your receipt.
- There has been a lot of debate around the legality of a retailer asking to see your receipt, but if it is within the store, it is completely legal. “There’s seemingly nothing illegal about that. You’re still on the company’s premises and their reason to do it is to prevent thefts,” Dowlatshahi confirms.
- However, if they are chasing you out of the store, that changes things, Dowlatshahi said. “Location matters,” he explained. “If you’re outside of the store you’re in the parking lot and they come and start accusing you of theft and that you have to show your receipt, I think that’s a bit of a different situation because now you’re on your way.”
- While customers are allowed to say no to receipt checks, it may cause issues if you do and the store suspects you of stealing. “You can say no, maybe it creates an unnecessary hassle for yourself because now you may have the police come to your house and follow up,” said Dowlatshahi.
- If you are being barred from leaving a store because you refused a receipt check, you could have a legal case — but the store must have held you for a long time. “Let’s say it’s for hours, that’s certainly false imprisonment, and they didn’t have any impetus for doing so,” Dowlatshahi explained. “If a customer has been emotionally traumatized by being held for false imprisonment, I would definitely encourage [them] to sue.”
- “I would say, show your receipt,” he concluded. “It’s just a really simple thing to do. If you didn’t steal anything, it’s relatively simple to do,” the lawyer advised.
“Person at Walmart tried to ask me to see my receipt, I told them go get it out of the printer at the self-checkout and kept walking,” they wrote.
“It was in one of my grocery bags lol. So not only do you want me to do your job but now you want to check. GTFO.”
LEGAL EXPERT WEIGHS IN
Oftentimes if a shopper tells a Walmart employee that they’d rather not have their receipt checked, chances are, they’d be allowed to leave the store with no hassle.
However, it’s not wise to go in with this kind of thinking in mind all the time, according to a lawyer’s advice.
West Coast Trial Lawyers, a personal injury law firm spoke on the the legality of receipt checks in a YouTube video.
Shoppers at stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club have to fork over their receipts when asked as it’s part of the membership agreement they signed to shop at those locations.
However, in other stores, workers have the right to ask shoppers to show proof of purchase as a means of loss prevention, the lawyer said.
But the questioning “must be non-discriminatory and they can’t use excessive force without reasonable cause,” the YouTuber explained.
Refusing to show a receipt isn’t enough to give a store reasonable cause, meaning they need to have more of a reason to suspect a shopper is stealing.
If a retailer violates this law, the search becomes illegal and the customer can file a complaint.
“I would say, show your receipt. It’s just a really simple thing to do,” Los Angeles-based attorney Camron Dowlatshahi told The U.S. Sun.
“If you didn’t steal anything, it’s relatively simple to do.”
Attorney Bryan Waldman said stores can also invoke the Citizen’s Arrest Law.
“Store owners, shopkeepers, their agents, employees, and security companies that they hire have the right to detain people that they have reasonable cause to believe have committed a crime or theft in their store,” he told CBS affiliate WLNS-TV.
The Citizen’s Arrest Law was repealed in Georgia, however, it’s still widely used in most states.
Also, because stores are private companies, workers don’t have to give Miranda warnings to a customer like an officer would.
“There is nothing the store owners or employees can do to make you show them the receipt unless you’re at one of these big box stores where you have a membership,” said Waldman.
However, failure to produce your receipt might make a store owner suspicious of you.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.
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