SHOPPERS are expressing their frustration at the treatment they continue to receive whilst shopping at major retailers.
Customers vent their frustrations on X, formerly Twitter, as they complain about a range of problems they face while shopping.
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From most everyday items locked behind glass to extra receipt checks, long waiting times, issues and limits with self-checkout and lack of staff available for help and checkout queues.
And now the latest chain to embark on pickup checks is Target, and some customers aren’t happy.
“@Target just asked me to show my receipt after shopping. Never going back,” to read a post on X.
“Worse still, I spent a lot there,” the post continued, “bad deal.”
Target even responded to the post, saying in part that this “is a security measure that may occur for a variety of reasons.”
They list a few reasons, such as “random security checks on bagged or unbagged items, or larger items with no visible receipt.”
Target has previously cited the rise in crime and shoplifting since the pandemic as a reason to implement new security measures such as receipt checks.
But some customers suspect there’s more to the story than just a rise in crime.
Although shoplifting rates have increased in some parts of the country, especially since the pandemic, overall crime has been decreasing across the country.
In Los Angeles, the average monthly shoplifting rate jumped from about 540 thefts per month in 2021 to just under 900 per month last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Last year, there were almost 12,000 reports of shoplifting in the city in 2023 – an 81% increase compared to 2022.
But New York City has also seen a rise in shoplifting rates, increasing nearly 65% between 2019 and mid-2023, according to a study by the Criminal Justice Council.
However, despite the increase in the pandemic, from New York in fact, shoplifting has decreased from 2021 to now.
Over the past two years, Target has cut more than 35,000 jobs, representing nearly 8% of its total workforce.
But at the same time, Target made about $2 billion more profits in 2023 than the year before, despite a nearly 2% drop in sales.
In fact, corporate profits now represent the highest percentage of national income in more than 10 years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Analysis.
But even though businesses have made more money than ever before, most Americans are in worse financial shape now than they were before the pandemic, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Target also announced this week that it would lower the price of more than 5,000 everyday items due to this 2% drop, but many are now speculating on social media that Target has been actively participating in price gouging for years.
“Alternative Headline: Target Confesses to Blatantly Defrauding Millions of Consumers, No Penalties Expected”, posted a user.
“The goal was to take you to hell while claiming inflationary pressure and losing a ton of customers,” he wrote other.
“So they will return prices to normal and pretend they are offering a deal.”
A Lawyer’s Top 5 Receipt Checking Tips
Los Angeles attorney Camron Dowlatshahi spoke with The US Sun about receipt checks and a customer’s rights and options when asked to show their receipt.
- There has been a lot of debate surrounding the legality of a retailer asking to see your receipt, but if it’s in the store, it’s completely legal. “Apparently there is nothing illegal about this. You are still on the company premises and the reason for doing this is to avoid theft”, confirms Dowlatshahi.
- However, if they’re kicking you out of the store, that changes things, Dowlatshahi said. “Location is important,” he explained. “If you’re outside the store, you’re in the parking lot and they come and start accusing you of stealing and that you have to show the receipt, I think it’s a little bit of a different situation because now you’re in your way.”
- Although customers can say no to receipt checks, it can cause problems if you do so and the store suspects you of stealing. “You might say no, maybe it will create an unnecessary hassle for you because now you might have the police coming to your house and following up,” Dowlatshahi said.
- If you’re being blocked from leaving a store because you refused a receipt check, you may have legal action – but the store must have detained you for a long time. “Let’s say it’s for hours, that’s certainly false imprisonment, and they didn’t have any impetus to do it,” Dowlatshahi explained. “If a client has been emotionally traumatized by being detained for false imprisonment, I would definitely encourage [them] process.”
- “I would say, show your receipt,” he concluded. “It’s a very simple thing to do. If you haven’t stolen anything, it’s relatively simple to do,” the lawyer advised.
(According to Camron Dowlatshahifounding partner of Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP)
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
