A WALMART shopper has warned others about checking receipts, saying the practice is ruining the retail giant.
Walmart and several other retailers have turned to cash receipt checks in response to rampant theft.
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Shoplifting and organized retail theft cost the industry billions each year, leading to higher prices and permanent closures of locations.
A shopper took to Facebook to share a recent experience after being stopped by an employee who asked to see his receipt on his way out.
Skye Lajaunie said she was at her location Wal-Mart when she saw two employees standing in the checkout area talking to each other.
“They’re laughing and socializing. Ignoring me while I check myself out,” she he wrote.
After completing the transaction, Lajaunie heads to the exit before being stopped by a receipt checker.
“So three people have to supervise me while I check out and leave the store? What’s the point?”
The post received several comments, including from someone who has worked as a store manager for 15 years.
“Wal-Mart is your worst enemy,” they wrote.
“I can say that they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Today’s employees are not as self-sufficient as yesterday’s and Wal-Mart Keep believing that this will be fixed.”
Another person wrote that self-checkout “definitely lacks customer service.”
“I also don’t think if you’re going to make people check themselves, you should check the receipt at the door.”
A third person wrote: “Many retailers are realizing the cost of self-checkout…”
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While some shoppers tend to avoid receipt checkers or outright refuse them, one person was approached by an angry security guard in the parking lot.
Some stores have implemented extra security to verify receipts, with one approach from Micah McDowell in March 2020.
McDowell usually opts out of checks, but decided to mess with a security guard during one of his trips.
“The last few visits, I simply said ‘no thanks’ when security asked to see my receipt,” he said. he wrote on Facebook.
Legality of receipt and detention checks
In an effort to reduce retail crime, stores are increasingly turning to checking receipts as customers leave.
Legally, stores can ask to see a customer’s receipts, and members-only stores have the right to demand such checks if customers agree to the terms and conditions authorizing them.
Many legal professionals have evaluated and reached similar conclusions, warning that all states have specific laws.
Generally speaking, stores have Retailer Privilege laws that allow them to detain a person until authorities arrive when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime, such as robbery, has been committed.
Refusal to provide a receipt is not a reason in itself for a store to detain a customer; she must have additional reasons to suspect a client of criminal activity.
Due to the recent nature of receipt checks, there is little concrete legislation regarding the legality of the practice, as it takes time for the law to catch up with technology.
Setliff Law, PC states that “there is no definitive case law specifically relating to the refusal to present a receipt for purchases.”
For stores that misuse the Retailer Privilege, they may face charges of false imprisonment.
“The primary law that applies to these types of wrongful arrest cases is called ‘False Imprisonment,’” the local Hudson Valley attorney explained. Alex Mainetti.
“Of course, you are not literally arrested, but you are detained by a person who does not have the legal authority to detain you and/or wrongfully detains a client.”
It is likely that as store altercations over receipt checks continue, more lawsuits will occur giving clearer definitions and limits to the legality of receipt checks.
“I’m definitely not handing it over when he stops a line of six people with carts to check their receipts.”
However, during self-checkout, McDowell crumpled his receipt into the smallest size he could and walked past security who demanded to see his receipt.
“I say, ‘Here you go,’ put the pea-sized receipt in his hand and walk out,” McDowell explained.
After this encounter, McDowell says the security guard follows him around the clock, leaving the store to see which car he gets into.
“Why? No clue,” McDowell wrote.
The US Sun reached out to Wal-Mart to comment.
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