‘If you cared, you would have scanned all my stuff,’ rages Walmart shopper at receipt check – ‘scanning strategy’ to avoid hassle

WALMART shoppers are coming up with creative solutions to avoid annoying receipt checks.

A customer posted on X expressing frustration with the retailer’s policy of checking customers’ receipts after using self-checkout machines.

“My tweet of the day ‘get off my lawn,’” user X wrote.

“If Walmart is going to make me scan my own shit, how are you going to waste my time checking my receipt at the door?”

The buyer’s complaint caused other customers to express their anger against the company.

“It really irritates me when stores do this,” another customer responded.

“If you cared, you would have scanned all my stuff.”

Other customers had some advice for those using self-checkout machines.

“Put everything you can in a bag,” said one savvy shopper.

“They typically only check people leaving with unbagged items.

“I scan the first or last one and tell you where it is on my receipt.”

Stores across the country are implementing receipt checks to prevent rising rates of retail theft.

User X responded to Walmart shoppers’ complaints, saying that the Circle K gas station near them only has self-checkout machines.

“I walked into a Circle K gas station last night and there was no cashier in the store…you had to do everything yourself. It didn’t feel right,” the Circle K customer said.

In 2023, retail stores nationwide lost $121 billion due to theft, a study by Capital One reported.

This number is expected to increase to $150 billion by 2026.

In an effort to prevent losing more money to theft, stores are imposing stricter security measures such as receipt checks, locking up items and completely removing self-checkout machines from stores.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillion predicted the damage the theft would cause to retail chains during an interview with CNBC in 2022.

“Theft is a problem. It’s higher than it has been historically,” he said.

“We have security measures, security measures that we implement by store location.

“I think the local police force being staffed and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s typically how we approach the issue.

“If this is not corrected over time, prices will be higher and/or stores will close.”

Since the interview, Walmart has closed 24 stores in 2023, The street reported.

A dozen more stores are expected to close this year.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.”
3. 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.
4. 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.”
5. “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)