Being "asked" to show your receipt
Scrambler
Posts: 746 ✭✭
I thought this had been discussed here before, but couldn't find it. Just curious how you guys handle being prompted to show your receipt when leaving walmart/best buy/etc. I always refuse on principle. Twice it has been a big deal, one of them today.
I was supposed to be off work today, but we were way busier last night than expected at the hotel. I came in today to do inventory, then went to walmart to pick up some produce and other stuff we couldn't wait for in tomorrow's deliveries. I had to make 4 purchases, to keep the totals on each below the $50 petty cash limit, and had already put the receipts in my pocket. There was a line of several people waiting to have their receipts checked, so I just walked past as I usually do. As I get to the doors, I hear the woman yell "Sir, I need to see your receipt." I ignored it and continued to my car. As I open my trunk a large male employee approaches me and demands to see my receipt. I state "I am under no legal obligation to show you my receipt. Once these items are paid for they are my property." We argue for 5-10 minutes, with him preventing me from loading my items into my car. At one point when I ask him to call the police so they can inform him of the laws, he says "I can show you my badge" and later "I don't have to call the police, I am one". Eventually he tells me to put my things in the car and leave, saying that next time I come to the store, he'll make sure this is "handled the right way", in a threatening manner.
Once everything was put away at the restaurant and I had an hour to kill, I went back to the store to speak with the GM. He was almost as belligerent as the guy that followed me to the car. He just kept repeating that they have the right to ask to see a receipt. I replied, "and I have the right to not show it to you". He said that I was asking for special treatment, and that if they didnt check my receipt the other customers would think its because Im white (not his words, but clearly his intention). I said Im not asking for special treatment, I understand that you have the right to ask for my receipt, but I have the right to decline and the right to not be harassed when I do. I called the district manager, who was not in, to report the incidents.
Anyone else refuse to show your receipt out of principle? Ever have problems?
I was supposed to be off work today, but we were way busier last night than expected at the hotel. I came in today to do inventory, then went to walmart to pick up some produce and other stuff we couldn't wait for in tomorrow's deliveries. I had to make 4 purchases, to keep the totals on each below the $50 petty cash limit, and had already put the receipts in my pocket. There was a line of several people waiting to have their receipts checked, so I just walked past as I usually do. As I get to the doors, I hear the woman yell "Sir, I need to see your receipt." I ignored it and continued to my car. As I open my trunk a large male employee approaches me and demands to see my receipt. I state "I am under no legal obligation to show you my receipt. Once these items are paid for they are my property." We argue for 5-10 minutes, with him preventing me from loading my items into my car. At one point when I ask him to call the police so they can inform him of the laws, he says "I can show you my badge" and later "I don't have to call the police, I am one". Eventually he tells me to put my things in the car and leave, saying that next time I come to the store, he'll make sure this is "handled the right way", in a threatening manner.
Once everything was put away at the restaurant and I had an hour to kill, I went back to the store to speak with the GM. He was almost as belligerent as the guy that followed me to the car. He just kept repeating that they have the right to ask to see a receipt. I replied, "and I have the right to not show it to you". He said that I was asking for special treatment, and that if they didnt check my receipt the other customers would think its because Im white (not his words, but clearly his intention). I said Im not asking for special treatment, I understand that you have the right to ask for my receipt, but I have the right to decline and the right to not be harassed when I do. I called the district manager, who was not in, to report the incidents.
Anyone else refuse to show your receipt out of principle? Ever have problems?
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Comments
the only time it was ever a REAL issue for me was when i was a bit younger and i didnt buy anything at a Guitar Center. I was having my guitar fixed (before i was into doing it myself) and had pre-paid the previous day. I was walking out with MY guitar that was never at any point in its life theirs when they asked to see my receipt.
I didnt have one on me because i paid the day before. I kept telling them that it was in fact my guitar but they wouldnt let me leave.
after about 10 minutes my friend who worked their confirmed my story... i mean he was the guy that let me have my guitar back in the first place.
i avoid this situation now as much as i can. I shop online a lot and in smaller stores that know what you purchased and the door is less then 10 feet from the register.
There was one other time, at a wal-mart in California, where the door lady actually laid hands on me and physically restrained me. I should have pressed charges, but was in a hurry to get to the gun range for an event. The manager in that case was very apologetic, and verbally reprimanded the employee in front of me, telling her that they can't do that. That was all I wanted in this situation, an apology and a promise to re-train the employee in the legalities and practicalities of handling such situations. Since I didn't get that, I'll be sure to elevate my complaint above the store manager's head.
This is hilarious....I would be acting all innocent and stupid...and relieved to find out that I didn't lose anything.
you guys need to move to a small town. I don't shop at Wal-mart too often, infact, I avoid going there, but when I do, well, I can't remember being asked to see a receipt or check a bag...I just walk out. Maybe stopping a 280lb 6'1" guy is scary for an elderly person or some little punk in a small town.
"those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither"
It's principle. I'm with ya Scram.
If they are the kind of person to get worked up enough to yell, chase me down, or physically interfere with me, then they deserve the hassle.
But I would like to make it clear that this guy was more than likely NOT a cop and most cops don't have an A-hole persona. A lot of people like that are "security" officers, and don't realize there is difference between being an actual Peace Officer and a flashlight jockey. Being a police officer is a tough job, you deal with good people at their worst and it's not always easy. It's not always an A-hole persona, it's distancing yourself from the emotional and mental stresses of the job. If a REAL officer seems like a cold, non-emotional a-hole, it really shouldn't be suprising. Would you want to have to take home the crap most officers see and deal with in a day? You have to learn to distance yourself from those things, from dealing with someone who may or may not be a shoplifter, to going to tell a mother and father that their 16 year old kid was just scraped off the highway... It's not easy...
They may seem like a-holes at times but just once try to think about what their average day is like and maybe you will realize they aren't all bad guys, just guys doing a tough job. Well at least thats what I've been told... haha
Of course there are PLENTY of a-holes and idiots with badges... But that happens in every job!
Puro I'm glad you said what you did about cops and I agree with you. I've had the pleasure of being harrassed by a number of cops(comes with the territory of driving low-riders and cars that really aren't street legal). Many of them only want to do their job and not get killed by doing this they end having to be an @$$. I've been pulled over by one cop who asked both me and my wife(girlfriend at the time) to step out of the vehicle. I got out and informed him she wasn't getting out of the vehicle unless she was being charged with something. Which caused quite an ordeal while he called backup "to watch her". Nicely enough when the backup got there he was informed he had illegally stopped me. A crack in the windshield, is a secondary offense here in VA. He followed me all the way through the county.
However in another incident a cop hit me 77 in a 45, he came up and informed me it was zero tolerance week in the county and I really need to be more careful particularly this week. He then informed me he was required to ask for consent to search every vehicle he stopped this week. As politely as I could I informed him that I had been told by a friend of the family, a detective, to never consent to any kind of search. To which he said, "Good Advice". He wasn't friendly or even what I'd call nice but he did his job without trying to lie to me or abuse his authority. I hope there are more out there like him.
Oh yea, and without even saying anything to me he wrote my ticket for 64 in a 45 so I could avoid wreckless.
Anyway, I didn't mean to infer that all cops are a-holes. I promise I'll smoke one for the police force tonight. After all, they deserve it.
Based on conflicting info in this thread, I'm not sure what the law requires in this situation. But these people are paid (I'm sure not very well) and told to check receipts of anyone coming out of the store. It's not like their bosses tell them to give a pass to any people coming out of the store who don't agree with the policy. So they're just doing what they're paid to do and the enforcing the policy as they know it.
Now, they should do it in a courteous manner. I just think common sense and general human decency should win out in this case.
Shortly after the new Walmart opened I set off the device because apparently the device was NOT cancelled at the till. When I asked the Manager (I made the person call the manager) how this was possible considering he had already told me that the device was cancelled going thru the til. The item should NOT have shown up on my receipt, but it did. He had NO answer for that.
I told him that the next time I was in Walmart and the alarm went off, I would make them call the police BEFORE I would allow anybody to go thru my bags.
Someone here made the point that once paid for those items are MINE, and that is what I told the manager. He said that he thought that I was over reacting to the situation. I replied that I did not appreciate being singled out because of a mistake by one of their employees or equipment malfunction.
I am an honest person and I know I would not steal something. So if any store wants to treat me like a criminal after I have spent my money in their store I have absolutely NO concern about making a very large and loud scene.
I have since told my wife that if it happens again just keep walking. If they chase us out to the car then that is where the police will find us when they arrive.
I am not really aggressive in most situations however if I am going to be accused of stealing from a store I just spent money at... then I am already embarrassed so then I come on very aggressive. I never take it out on the person at the door, they are just doing their job. I always ask to speak with a manager in such cases. They are the ones who make store policy, they are the ones who get paid more money to manage things so they are who I go after. I have no problem with getting loud and making the situation embarrassing for them.
I also told the manager that I would write a letter to the editor of the paper if it happened again. I don't take kindly to stores that have a policy which regards me as a potential thief, when I am spending my money in their establishment.
Stores have a right to protect themselves from thieves and such but they do NOT have the right to do it by treating everybody as a potential thief.
No offense, but this is part of the problem. Businesses give you the authority to enforce certain laws, without making sure you are informed of the nuances of said laws. It puts you in a bad position, because you are just doing your job, but Im not going to waive my rights just because you werent trained properly. Here in Louisiana, the law specifically states that an electronic alarm being triggered IS reasonable cause to detain, but in this case there was no alarm triggered.