Reader Carlton writes in with a query:
“Can one legally bypass the whole receipt-checking- process once you’ve made your purchase at a store? Can you just say ‘no thank you’ to the guy checking off your receipt as you exit the door and mosey back to your warm, cozy pickup truck? Once you have completed your transaction at a store, do they have any legal right to keep you in the store?”
Aside from membership-based stores like Sam’s/Costco where you may have agreed to a search in your contract, the answer, it seems, varies by state. However, it’s safe to say that unless you’ve met your state’s definition of probable cause for shoplifting… a retailer has absolutely no right to detain you.
Let’s look at New Jersey’s definition inside.
Presumptions. Any person purposely concealing unpurchased merchandise of any store or other retail mercantile establishment, either on the premises or outside the premises of such store or other retail mercantile establishment, shall be prima facie presumed to have so concealed such merchandise with the intention of depriving the merchant of the possession, use or benefit of such merchandise without paying the full retail value thereof, and the finding of such merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of such person shall be prima facie evidence of purposeful concealment; and if such person conceals, or causes to be concealed, such merchandise upon the person or among the belongings of another, the finding of the same shall also be prima facie evidence of willful concealment on the part of the person so concealing such merchandise.
To us (not legal experts), that reads “If they see you concealing something, you are in trouble.” You’ll note however that it says “unpurchased merchandise.” If you’ve purchased the merchandise, it’s likely that you’re not covered under New Jersey’s definition of probable cause for shoplifting. Therefor, a Best Buy would have a hard time justifying detaining you. If this means a lot to you personally, you could try printing your state’s shoplifting statute and presenting that rather than a receipt. We suggest simply refusing to shop at stores with the offending policy. —MEGHANN MARCO
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@Mike,
While you may be right in principle, what you did doesn’t show a lot of common sense.
1) You pocketed the receipt, even though the cashier warned you that store personnel might want to see your receipt since you were sans bag.
2) You left the store through a means other than the exit, thereby circumventing store security measures and raising suspicion.
How much would it have cost you (in time and in moral concessions) to hold up the receipt as you proceeded through the exit? Instead, it took a lot longer to walk around the parking lot arguing with store personnel.
I am not defending Best Buy because they suck. Nor do I care to have stores where I shop treat me like a criminal.
But I think you just wanted to provoke a confrontation because you COULD.
The bottom line: Unless you’re in a “members only” type of store such as Costco, no one has the right to legally demand a receipt upon exiting the store. Furthermore, no one has the right to inspect your – yes YOUR merchandise upon exiting. You paid for it – you own it! Demanding a receipt and / or a search of your merchandise implies a suspicion of theft. As a law abiding citizen I take offense to such implication. A couple of years ago this idiot at a Wal-Mart store demanded my receipt and I refused. He then tried to stop me from leaving the store by grabbing the pushcart containing MY PAID FOR merchandise. Needless to say, this clown didn’t succeed in his endeavors and I proceeded to my car and placed my purchased merchandise in my trunk. I then went back to the store and asked for the manager – who turned out to be yet another idiot who concurred with his employee. Not believing my argument about his illegal actions I insisted that he called the police; he did. Best of all, it was very satisfying to see the expression on this clown’s face when the police told him that neither they not he have any legal authority to demand a receipt from me. I then wrote a letter of complaint to S. Robson Walton – the Chairman of Wal-Mart and by the time everything was said and done, they made the store manager personally come to my home to apologize and offer me a gift card for my troubles. Know your rights, and don’t let people intimidate you! By the way, had this guy grabbed me instead of my pushcart, I could have had him charged with assault!
JohnJenkins says:
The Visa merchant guidelines are an agreement between the merchant and Visa, not you. While you are conceivably a 3rd party beneficiary, I doubt you would have any recourse if a merchant refused your card because you didn’t show ID. Merchants do lots of things that they aren’t technically allowed to do under those agreements (minimum amounts, for example).
Incorrect, the merchant agreement requires merchants to accept the payment card as per the association rules. Cardmembers are bound to the terms setfourth by their lending bank, however merchants are bound to adhere to the merchant agreement which outlines acceptance policies.
Visa and Mastercard strictly enforce their terms. A cardmember must report the violation to their issuing bank, who will then relay the encounter to the appropriate area. It’s called “Card Supression” and ID as a condition of the sale, surcharging and/or imposing minimums are not tolerated.
I wish I had read what is posted on this web site before I went to Wal-Mart today. After I PAID for my purchases I was stopped by an elderly store greeter who told me one of my packages had made her buzzer go off. She walked over to my cart and began to search my bags and as she was searching she was demanding to see my receipt. I did not have the receipt in my hand. I had put it in one of the bags but didn’t remember what I had done with it so I was looking in my purse and pockets for the receipt. All this time I was stared at by shoppers coming into the store who surly thought the reason my packages were being checked is that I must have been stopped for shoplifting. It was extremely humiliating! She finally found the article that was making her buzzer buzz and to add to my embarrassment it was the bra I had BOUGHT. I finally found my receipt and of course the bra was listed as being paid for. Now the real kick ass part of the story is that they never gave me my receipt back. I can not check to see if everything rang up properly plus I also bought an inexpensive watch to wear while outside gardening but the 90 day warranty is not good without the cash register receipt. I certainly wish I had known my rights before I went shopping this morning. But, trust me on this, if I am ever in this kind of a situation again I will “make an ass out of myself,” refuse to show my receipt, and continue to walk out the door!
For the record:
I was recently stopped and detained at a local Best Buy for refusing to show my receipt. Additionally, I was physically escorted to the LP office by LP personnel, my arm twisted behind my back. A side note – the “buzzers” on the anti-theft gizmos did NOT go off…it’s a good thing, too, as that would have constituted probable cause under the laws of my state.
There’s no additional info here: I simply said “No, thanks” when they demanded to see my receipt. They stopped me, refused to allow me to leave, and I said, “I’ll tell you what: I’ll wait here while you check the register at which I made my purchase (I even identified the register), or you can apprehend me for shoplifting, or you can let me leave the store with the merchandise I have purchased. Which is it going to be?” I never raised my voice or made any sort of threatening gestures. They chose door #2 and apprehended me for shoplifting.
After detaining me for over 30 minutes, the police arrived, checked my receipt, and said I was free to leave. I asked that the LP person who grabbed me be arrested for simple assault, but the police officer said that he could only arrest individuals for assault in domestic violence incidences unless he was a witness to the act.
I called Best Buy immediately upon arriving home. I even submitted a complaint on their website. Over the next several days, I continued to call Best Buy to complain, but no one would accept or return my call. What did I want? Not a big lawsuit, just an apology for being treated like a thief, embarassed in the store, and being mistreated in the LP office. I guess they thought I would simply go away, but that was not to be.
After a couple of weeks, I contacted my attorney. When I sat down and met with him for the first time, he asked, “Why didn’t you just show them your receipt?”
Many of you may disagree, but this is what I said:
“Agreeing to show them my receipt takes away yet another civil liberty of mine. It is my opinion that every time a person allows a civil liberty to be intruded upon, society as a whole loses.”
But there’s more: I had always allowed stores to check my receipt — I thought I had no choice. About 4 months prior to this incident, I was shopping Best Buy and selected a computer for purchase. Upon reaching the checkout, I presented my signed Visa card. I was asked for my ID, and for reasons that go beyond the scope of this letter, I didn’t have it. I informed the cashier that they really couldn’t ask for ID if my signature matched. They told me they would not accept my Visa unless I had ID. The computer I was trying to purchase was on sale, so I schlepped back home, got my Driver’s License, retuened to BB and made my purchase. Because the box was large and I have a bad back, I asked the guy checking me out if someone could help load the box into my truck. They said “Sure”, and we headed for the door. We were met with a line of about five or so people, all submitting to receipt checks. It took over ten minutes to get out of the store because of some confusion with one of the customers.
I called the corporate office of BB the next day to complain about the whole ID thing. I got a senior LP guy on the phone who apologized for the inconvenience. I also complained about having to wait at the door to have my receipt checked. He said, “Sorry about that. We check receipts to make sure cashier’s have not made an error. It’s a voluntary process.”
What? I asked, “So, I don’t have to show my receipt when I exit the store?”
“We ask that you do, but as I said, it’s voluntary. We can’t make you show your receipt unless you set off the theft sensors.”
I researched the law in my state, and though it clearly states that the sensors going off constitutes probable cause, it says nothing about receipts. It was then that I decided to stop showing my receipts except at stores where I had contractually agreed to allow them to do so (Sam’s, Costco), or unless I set off the sensors.
Back to the story: I’ve filed a lawsuit and have spent about $15k so far. BB continues to allege that they are allowed to detain customers for failing to show receipts. We have supboened their “receipt check policy” which explicitly states that if a customer says “no” to a receipt check, the BB employess is to say “Thank you for shopping at Best Buy. Have a nice day.” It seems that they are trying to use my case to set precedent.
So, there’s my story. All I ever wanted was an apology for being mistreated. Seems they aren’t into issuing apologies.
The moral? As the story is still incomplete, all I can say is that you had better be prepared to fight a lengthy legal battle should one of those goons actually detain you for failing to show a receipt. BB has deep pockets…fortunately for me, I do, too.
I’ll keep you updated…..
My son is a grocery store bagger. The associates can literally watch a shoplifter, but are told not to follow them out of the store. This is for their own safety… “if a person would steal, they also might shoot”! These idiots who are chasing YOU (a-would-be-shoplifter) out of the store for a receipt check, are actually risking injury IF you really were an armed shoplifter!
I’ve had a WalMart manager confront me for being in the dvd section too long! As I conversed with her, she explained how brazen thieves are… they fill a backpack with dvds & fly out of the store before backup help can be called. They do the same with batteries.
What a world we live in…
Here is FL Law info:
[flsenate.gov]>2007->Ch0812->Section%20015#0812.015
Wait a minute. If you were trying to steal something, especially something small, how would a bag check stop you?
I mean now-a-days most women carry around oversized handbags and the such. Couldn’t you just go to the counter at Fry’s Electronics with your Coke and $10 cable, pay for them, and then get through the receipt check with an $150 Wifi adapter in your purse?
And I agree with the above. I just do online shopping, unless going to a store is absolutely needed.
when i worked at Wal*mart, every night when i left if i had a bag (often times it contained my containers from lunch) and I would be asked for my receipt but the greeter, usually the same one… and after pointing out that it was my lunch they would let me go… at the time I didn’t think about it, but after 2 years of this it got kind of old…. and to be honest a bit insulting… I mean if an employer can’t trust their employees to come to work, eat their lunch, and then go home, then something is wrong. Especially since I never gave them a reason to be suspicious, at least i don’t think I did…
Having worked in a box-style electronics store, that for a period, did not do receipt checks, I must say, this is the best loss prevention measure we have implemented. I know, people find it a pain, but here in Australia it seems to be an accepted fact, that if you enter a store, they have the right to inspect bags and check receipts. Infact, on a few occasions where the receipt checker disappears most customers will ask nearby counter staff if they want to check their bags or receipt. We have in-store security but most of the people who do steal these goods, are crafty enough to work out how to avoid in-store security, including cameras and get away with goods ranging into the many thousands of dollars. In the last year we have implemented receipt checks and have reduced loss by approximately 80% (approximately $18,000 per quarter), most of it being handed over by embarrassed thieves at the front door. Some consumers do find bag checks insulting, but when you consider that on average the company I work for loses 5-7% of our revenue to shoplifting every year, its probably safe to say that approximately the same percentage of people steal from us. Furthermore, surprisingly actually, the receipt checks have not turned up any staff misdealings with friends, but have turned up a few computer price screw-ups and accidentally incorrect quantities all, so far, saving the consumer money. In all honesty, I doubt the monetary loss of consumers that are outraged by receipt checks and don’t return is far smaller than the loss that is caused by not doing receipt checks.
While I understand where consumers who don’t like receipt checks are coming from, and I would say our store is probably an extreme case, it does have an immediate advantage in the companies who are implement these loss-prevention strategies. Furthermore, If your problem is having to wait, then your problem is not with the receipt checking itself, its the simple fact that the company is too cheap to hire enough people to do the receipt checking. Perhaps, you should make a complaint to the company, and not stand there telling them something they already know, and would have already told management a million times before.
I have been to Best Buy and purchased something within the store, and not right at the front registers, and in that case, I think they have a legit. argument to want to see a receipt. I don’t think there is a sane argument otherwise in this case. If you bought it at the front registers, than that is different, although I think it’s a big something out of nothing.
I like the idea of printing the statute (lol), of couse that’s assuming that the receipt checker will read it. I’m not saying that they can’t read. I just don’t believe that they will take the time to read it. After all these are the same people who have been brainwashed into thinking that the customer is guilty until innocent…
I dont show my receipts at doors. If the stores have such high theft rates, maybe they should invest in “Loss Prevention” security teams and cameras rather then someone checking the receipts. Is this to prevent me from stealing, or to ensure the cashier rang up the items correctly? If its for the correct items being priced then that door receipt checker must have been through a ton of training and know exactly what is priced and when and how… WHEW! TOUGH JOB FOR THEM…. I hardly think some elderly woman checking my reciept needs my attitude, and Im generally nice to them when I decline, but I also think that Walmart in particular needs to get a heads up and stop having elderly get the beat down when some punk doesnt show his receipt and clocks her one in the face (not cool by the way).
At the end of the day, if a company wants my business then I wont be required to be in a camp, lined up, showing my number. Beside that, its not the cheap companies like Walmart people steal from, hell even welfare recipients can afford that place, its the expensive places that people steal things from.