Kroger buyer harassed four times at store chain for ‘making customers do more and treating them worse’

A KROGER customer knocked on the store after being bothered multiple times to do his errands.

The rise of self-checkout has been a controversial topic among consumers, and one shopper in particular has had enough.

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“My Kroger: You need to check it out,” the customer began his X post.

“Then you have to go to an armed security guard, show your receipt and prove that you didn’t steal the things you paid inflated prices for.

“In a competitive market, I doubt that forcing customers to do more and treating them worse will be enough.”

Large supermarket chains and retail stores such as Kroger, Target and Walmart have been looking for ways to reduce retail theft.

In 2023, retail theft cost stores more than $121 billion, a study by Capital One Shopping found.

That number is expected to skyrocket to $150 billion by 2026 if stores aren’t careful.

To combat this, stores have started checking receipts after customers use self-checkout machines, locking up items and even changing the carts offered to customers.

Customers at all stores complained about having to present their receipts after using self-service machines.

“You are not legally required to show your receipt at Walmart or other stores,” one grocery shopper posted on X.

“UNLESS you are at a membership store like Costco or Sam’s. You will then be asked to show your receipt because you agreed to do so with your membership fees.

“Stop allowing others to have control over you.”

Kroger recently came under fire after releasing bottomless shopping carts.

Some stores will no longer offer customers solid-bottom shopping carts into which they can place heavier items, such as boxes of bottled water.

This significant change, intended to prevent customers from leaving the store with unscanned items, has become a point of contention among customers.

“As someone who has a lot of difficulty with heavier items like soda packets, Gatorade, and water, this would be a no-go for me,” one shopper wrote on Facebook.

“Imagine elderly people and people with disabilities.”

Other customers chimed in, agreeing that carts without lower shelves make shopping much more difficult.

“Bad move,” commented another buyer.

“I’m disabled and I have to go shopping basically once a month…I need that lower basket to put big things like toilet paper and heavy things like bags of apples or water.

“Come on, Kroger.”

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)