1. Contact the DuPage County state's attorney's office.
505 North County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 407-8000
That's a problem as Joe Birkett, the DuPage SA is a nutcase.

2. As I've been there many times, I can tell you that the checkouts are just at the exit & there's no reason that a guard there couldn't see you checkout.
My guess is that this guard has gotten into trouble before & for some reason decided to pick you out as his victim.

Coming from Tigerdirect this doesn't surprise me one bit. They have been the worst in my experience when it comes to customer service. After over a year of refusing to shop there I decided to try them out and see if anything had changed. I went in and asked about a sound card to see if they had one in stock and the woman they had working didn't even know what one was! Why have someone working in a computer store if they dont know ANYTHING about computers??

Before I boycotted them I had spent over 3-4k there when I finally got tired of their HORRIBLE warranty and return policies.

So you couldnt just show the guy the recipt? It was too much work to pull it out so he could just glance at it and let you leave?

Oh well, good luck with your case.

Well a nice walk around the VHS tape section with a powerful magnet taped to your hand is fun. Magnets do help with dyr skin [:-)]and using one while shopping for VHS tapes is good therapy. I hear tell the same benefit is true, for your hands that is, when stroking and shopping for 20" monitors.

I suppose that might make you feel better.

I agree with CTHULHUBOT.

This whole situation could have been avoided if the shopper would just show the receipt. That would only take a second.

Now you have to fight the store with a lawsuit.

Good luck with it.

[www.tian.cc]

Oh by the way, have you set up a Paypal account to accept donations to cover legal fees?

Its tough to have sympathy for Shaneal. Ive been on both sides of the situation, and I have to say its easier to just show the receipt. Unless your buying hard core fetish porn you dont want people to know about (which is understandable at that point), what's the difference of showing them your receipt? It makes it so they dont have to raise their prices because of theft, it keeps the cashiers honest, and all around a good business practice.

I see no logical reasoning behind not showing them the receipt other then the fact you want to make your life harder.

For suing them, your best bet is small claims court. At least in CA you can sue for detainment in small claims. So you are probably looking at $100 or so plus time off work to sue.

@Cthulhubot: I'm with you. It sucks that it went down like that...but what was the point of not showing the receipt? Just to make a point of not showing it?

Just a small note, by posting his name, he will probably counter sue for slander. Your story is intriguing, but next time, I'd highly recommend consulting a free legal advice call center, there are many in the US, before posting this on a blog. In addition, by entering the store, which is private property, you agree to their terms, yes that was unlawful holding, but if showing your receipt is a policy of the store, sorry man, but you gotta do it. Like many people, I avoid Tigerdirect like the plague, I've had horrible customer service experiences there myself.

Calling the cops was brilliant as it established a paper trail... but left to my own devices I simply would have fallen back on pepper spray. :^)

Why should he have to succumb to their demands just to be able to leave the store? Those receipt check things piss me off. I'm often in a hurry and/or don't feel like having to have additional interaction; I don't see why I should be inconvenienced for something that's voluntary.

I just called the named store and spoke with the manager who was on duty yesterday. I asked her what she has to say about the incident, explaining to her that I am a customer and it makes me question my loyalty to their store. She was extremely rude to me and claimed that the reality was that the customer had two paid items on the screen and was walking out with three. Odd that the person then didn't end up arrested for shoplifting. Also would give good reason to file for defamation as they are now telling other parties the customer stole when clearly there is no proof of that.

I would certainly be willing to throw a few dollars your way if you started accepting donations. I believe if you sued in Federal District Court that you could also obtain a judgment that would force them to change their policies. I had a similar incident happen recently where I was told by an officer of the RTD (our local public bus system) that it was illegal to take pictures on public property and he ordered me to put away my camera. I called their legal department and was told that he had violated my rights. Then I called the manager of the offending officer and was told that I was in the wrong.
It's unfortunate that all-to-often corruption is systematic along with the abuse of people's rights and this is one example. Is there any contact information available for this store? I would love to do some investigating and calling.
Comrade Ringo Kamens

Also, it's insulting -- it treats everyone as a potential thief. I don't particularly enjoy being insulted by a store I'm giving business too, particularly as a matter of routine practice.

Turn around at the door. Go to customer service and make a return.

I know a lot of people don't like Circuit City but that was one of the things I like about them when working there. We did not bother customers with checking their receipts unless they set off an alarm. It was a breath of fresh air after working at CompUSA and ringing some one out only to have the security guard, literaly 4 feet away from me, make customers show him their receipt. It's a big waste of time for customers and having the guard walking the aisles would be a better theft deterrent than having him babysit the exit.

So the physical restraint was blocking your path and the verbal abuse was being called a thief. Can you say "frivolous" lawsuit or what? Sounds like someone really needs to learn to pick their battles. I mean they asked you to see the receipt, do you really expect people to be polite to you when you're obviously being a complete dick?

So you couldnt just show the guy the recipt? It was too much work to pull it out so he could just glance at it and let you leave?

WOW! Just roll over let every invasion of privacy happen? You are not required to show a receipt. PERIOD.

Would you just eat dog crap to have gotten out of the store???

Yes this is a really dumb situation. Many stores have the policy of checking receipts at the door. It's like being carded when you're obviously over 21. This poor security guard was just doing his job and now this guy wants to sue him? Maybe they just have a lot of time on their hands and some control issues. Crazy! I'm disappointed in you consumerist for taking this guys side.

i agree, it's hard to feel bad for shaneal, but i do think it's a bit bogus for a company to refuse your exit after legally purchasing something. don't they watch the registers? don't they notice that someone walking, say, straight out of the exit, as opposed to around the corner from the registers, is probably the real theif? i wonder how many people actually got away with walking out of the store while you she was detained by the security staff....

i'd personally try saying you where detained from work, and lost valuable clients because of it (cha ching...)

Is it that difficult to show them a receipt?

Is your life so empty that you have to waste your time pursuing a pointless lawsuit with a retail chain that isn't worth the effort in the first place?

I say grow up and get a life.

@Cthulhubot:

Let's take the other side:

Why couldn't they just let him leave? Was it too much trouble to not do anything untoward and allow the customer to walk out of the store after *gasp* spending money there?

More importantly, there is no law stating that you must show your receipt, while there IS a law stating that you cannot hold an individual against their will in the absence of a criminal offence (and in many locales, the offence must be a felony).

@Shaneal - You are part of the problem. Was this really worth it? It would have taken you less than 2 seconds to show your receipt or since you think it's some travesty of civil rights you should have just kept walking. I'd go as far as to say you were LOOKING for a fight and now you want to WASTE the state attorney's time with your frivolous suit? You're part of the problem, you litigious jackass. I'm just glad the police officer had enough sense to NOT arrest the security guard (who's just trying to do his job).

@FREEDOMBOY - Yeah that'd be great revenge if this was 1987 and stores stocked VHS tapes, you're gonna look pretty stupid trying to rub a DVD with a magnet :) .

@alexander: How about right to privacy? What I buy isn't the business of anyone else. Beyond having to have a cashier ring the transaction up, it really doesn't need to be shared with anyone else.

People should not have to give up rights. And people certainly should not have to bend over and give up their rights on a whim because "it would have avoided the situation". The situation should not have been created in the first place.

Wait, I visit Costco all the time and I'm not bugged by them asking to see my receipt.

Is it that big of an issue? I don't understand why some people are so careful about their "personal rights", and don't just compromise once in a while.

@Christo67:

You too, I suppose.

Where do you draw the line? A full search of your coat and bags? Frisking you? Having to buzz you out of the store?

It isn't much of a stretch.

Great email, and great post. Kudos to the OP for holding ground on this issue. Personally I despise this policy. I took a similar stand at a Walmart last week, and left the pack of uneducated, "bag checkers" scratching their heads.

However lame the story sounds when repeated, (receiving a blank stare, and the "why didn't you just show your receipt?"), I must say sometimes people like that need a little shove, knocking them down a peg.

@Christo67: What point is there to having a life if we bend over and give up our rights anytime they are brought into question. You can have that world, I don't want to live there.

@Televiper:

They have no right to do so. Standing up for yourself does not equate to being a dick.

I think Costco started the whole "receipt check at the door" thing. If you didn't show your receipt, they could "banish" you by canceling your membership.

It does sound to me like she was looking for trouble by refusing to show the reciept and escalting the verbal banter in the store. Perhaps a better way would have been to show the reciept then sue them for violating your right to not show them the reciept?

Wow, the comments on this post are pretty much par for the course of this blog. I'm not sure what's more unnerving though, that people are giving this guy grief for putting up a stink when receipt showing is *voluntary*, or that most of you can't be bothered to defend your rights because standing up for them would be an inconvenience to you.

Give me a fucking break. He was hassled for no good reason, other than the fact that the guard/company were complete pricks and didn't understand the law.

Well you could've avoided the whole thing as others have stated simply by showing him the receipt. Perhaps you were in a bad mood and decided to do that. Anyways, that may or may not be the case. They broke the law by detaining you and verbally slandering you. You can contact Lisa Madigan's office. Do a google on her name and you go to the state attorney's office website. You can download complaint forms there, print them up and mail them in. They are slow though. I'm in the process of trying to get back money owed to me by a shody contractor. A week after sending in the complaint I got a letter in the mail acknowledging that they got the complaint. That was about 3 weeks ago and I have yet to hear form anyone since. If you've got the time and patience, that's a step you can take. Skip DuPage county's system and go straight to the State level.

Yes, clearly when someone's leaving a store with a bag of merchandise, he's stolen it, and it's fully warranted to risk that a person who just spent his money in your store will never do so again when you make unfound accusations.

This reminds me of my first job, when they said we had to stop giving away plastic bags for customers to put over their hair when it suddenly started pouring while they were shopping. "They might put merchandise in the bag and walk out!"

I just rolled my eyes and ignored them in favor of the customer.

While I agree it was probably easier just showing the receipt, I think the whole point is is that you don't have to. It is the shoppers decision whether or not they show it, and if they don't want to, more power to em. It's their right. I do just out of habit. And laziness lol.

@RvLeshrac:
Fair enough, I'm all about civil rights but does that mean we just throw common sense out the window? Look I think we all shopped at enough Bestbuys, TDs, CCs, to know their policy. 90% of the time the security guard just stands there with a marker just to make sure you HAVE a receipt. Let's get real they are generally not going over every minute of the receipt. It takes all of 0.5 seconds to show them that little piece of paper. Is this worth a police officers time? Is this worth a state attorney's time? I'd go as far to say this isn't even worth the security company's time.

So this question is for a couple of you?

Where do you work so I can go physically restrain you without cause and then tell you later on to "Get over it, Nancy."

While I agree it would have been easy to "just show the receipt," that's not really the point. The logical reason to not show a receipt is simple: you don't want to. There's no legal requirement for it. There is no reason for it. Perhaps not showing the receipt is a simple objection to the policy -- a policy that involves one more person being given the "job" of snooping into your business.

As far as receipt checking goes, I can't imagine it does much to stop shop lifting of any sort. Sure, there's the occasional story of some guy with a $4 receipt trying to walk off with a plasma TV in his cart. But, if anything, all that means is that people walking off with $4000 worth of very large merchandise should be scrutinized.

See, anywhere I've been that checks receipts will either (1) look only at the receipt, or (2) look at the receipt and compare it with what's in the cart or the shopping bags in about 2 seconds.

In other words, people can still stuff whatever they want into their pockets and that receipt-checker will be none the wiser. You can put things in a purse or backpack. At best, receipt-checking creates an "air of fear" for lazy thieves, and forces them to steal small expensive things (which are easily hidden) instead of big expensive things. Sure, idiots trying to walk off with plasma TV's for free may be stopped...but they could be easily caught with other means.

So why should every honest customer be subjected to having another grubby employee touch their receipt and poke around in their merchandise, when it doesn't really stop any but the stupidest thieves? Why should anybody accept this reduction of their rights just because it's "easier" than objecting?

Receipt checking does little, if anything, to stop theft and keep prices low -- but the employment of the security guards at the door is a definite cost to the store, slows down exit from the store, and is certain to raise prices since he's got to get his paycheck from somewhere.

You have to pick your battles. Of all the rights I'd be worried about losing, showing someone a receipt at the door is way down the list.

Just show your freakin receipt and go on your way and leave the minimum wage people alone. Man! This is stupid. Let them do their job. I can't believe this lady is going to press charges and probably make people lose their jobs.

I say huzzah for standing up for your rights; what have you lost by doing so? You lost a little time, and you discovered just how idiotic the store management is (a good thing to know; next time they could screw something up that costs someone money.)

Two suggestions:
1) I have heard of this thing called "small claims court". :) I know nothing about it, but would it apply in this case? Since the damages you suffered are obviously minor, and the idea is to make a point and not back down, sue the store (or the security company) for $100 or something.

2) Post/hand out flyers in front of the store explaining people's rights regarding receipts. Either make it a hit-and-run operation, or make sure you are within the law (not trespassing etc).

3) Talk a competing store to run an ad saying "Why go to a store where they treat you like a thief? Come to Dis-Co! Our security guards actually know the law!" (I wonder if one could actually talk a store into doing this.)

Wow: I'm more upset at all these comments blaming Shaneal for not going along with the flow and doing whatever the store asks than the actual illegal detention.

Doesn't standing up for principles mean anything to you kids? Volunteering your receipt is saying "it's reasonable to expect me to be a criminal and it's up to me to convince you otherwise"

I've worked as a mahager in contract security for a few years now. The Officer in question screwed up, plain and simple. Policy for this sort of thing is: Ask (politely) to see a receipt. "Ma'am, may I see your receipt?" If they refuse...you can NOT detain them. At most all you can do is follow discreetly to acertain direction of travel or a plate number. Contract security officers are NOT protected under merchant privilage laws. Unless Illinois works drastically different than the states I've dealt with.

Also, it's Securitas. They tend to deal with lower paying accounts and thier officers wages reflect this. I've met very competent professional officers that work with that company, but they're hard to come by at $7-$8 per hour.

Regardless of whether or not a receipt is shown to a hired guard or not, they should not stop you or prevent you from leaving. You paid for the items, obviously a cashier was involved that checked out the items. A majority of the time, they want your receipts so they can draw on it, that way if the same receipt makes it through the guard, its been used in a scam. However, it is illegal for them to do this, no contract is signed saying you must do it. If the guard/cashier did their jobs right, a search of your bag shouldn't be needed. I suggest boycotting the store, and having people you know that don't want to ever shop there or don't like the store, repeat what you did. If a pattern is seen, that they refuse to let people leave, you may have a bigger case. Also remember that if they are verbally abusing you, to record it with your cellphone cam, or carry a compact digicam with you at all times like I do. A few years back,I was at a best buy with my friend and his father, they wanted to buy a new monitor, I picked one out and his father paid for it. 5 ft away was the guard that witnessed the purchase, however, his father was wearing tight jeans and was lifting the box of the monitor, thus making it impossible to reach the receipt without putting down the box, reaching into his very tight pocket and getting the receipt. The guard asked for the reciept, my friends dad said he can't reach it. He has back problems, and bending down to pickup things is one of the things that he can't do. Putting down the box is not an option. The box weighed over 200lbs and all three of us were carrying it from the counter and shopping cart, into our hands. It was snowy outside so a shopping cart was useless. After refusing to give the receipt, the guard pushed the kids dad away from the door causing him to lose grip of the tv, it falling, and crushing our hands. The guard blocked the doorway, and everyone was looking because of the loud thud the tv made and the loud ouch expression we both made. My friend's father (an ex-marine) asked for assistance from another employee, to help lift the tv high enough so he could grab it. A man came and helped. The tv box, when lifted, made sounds of broken glass. (This was a CRT TV/monitor). My friends father looked at the manager, who came over, saw everything and started yelling at the guard. He said the cost of the tv has coming out of his salary since he pushed Dan(my friends father) and the box, causing us to drop it. The guard got angry, started cursing out Dan and while talking, let out luggie onto Dan. All hell broke lose. Dan told the guard in a high tone that he had committed assault while in his face, while whipping the luggie of his face. The guard didn't like Dan screaming in his face so he spat again. Of course the first luggie is already considered assault and terms for getting an ass kicking, but the second one was what put the guard in a cop car after Dan gave him a right hand to the jaw. Dan was not charged, since he was defending himself. Dan got a new tv, but not the same one. The manager instead gave Dan a gift card for $4,000. The CRT was put in the back by employees and Dan got a nice LCD TV for his troubles. I got a free game and so did my friend, since we got our hands crushed. Overall the manager was very apologetic, and did what was in the customers interest. (Also to avoid a lawsuit) Lucky for him Dan, would never have sued, and the gift card made everything better. The guard was charged with assault and was fired. I think he got a few days in jail and a big fine. I have never been back at the store since I haven't visited my friend or Dan in a long time and the 200 mile drive isn't too thrilling.

All that over showing a friggin' receipt, it's silly and unlawful. A crime is being committed it is unlawful to hold people against their will however people seem to be fine with it. Speak up and stand up. Don't be silenced or trampled.

I'm so glad to see this, as I've also stopped showing receipts on leaving a store. I'm doing them the favor by choosing to buy from them; do I really need to put up with being accused of being a thief?

You'll also note that the only places that seem to do this sort of thing are the big boxes (Walmart, Sam's, Best Buy, etc.) -- places where any good Consumerist shouldn't be shopping anyway!

When my wife was pregnant, I took a day off on a blistering hot day to get an air conditioner for our bedroom. As such, it was a weekday and I went to Best Buy as it was close and they had a sale going. The registers near the door were closed and I had to check out at the customer service area in the center of the store. I put the receipt in my wallet, in clear view of the two security guards who were chit-chatting at the front of the store, and proceeded to lug a 60 pound air conditioner out to my car. When I got to the door, they asked for the receipt. There was no place to put the box down and they didn't offer to help. I had to drag it 10 yards back into the store to dig up the receipt. I was pissed and would have returned it except, hey, cranky wife. Last time I shopped at best buy.

I will add...I probably wouldn't sue the low-paid security guard -- he's got no training, and makes no money anyway. He was doing what somebody told him to do, and really probably didn't know better. If I had a low-paying job and needed money, I'd do what my bosses said and not listen to the guy screaming about his rights (umm...to an extent).

On the other hand, the store manager -- he's the boss. He told the security guard what to do, and he came over and escalated the situation. He's higher on the totem pole, he runs the store, he makes policies, his policies overstepped bounds and so did he, and his harassment of customers is more for his profit (while the security guard is just trying to keep his job) -- he should be punished. Sue him directly, and find a way to get his bosses mad at him. Perhaps scan your receipt from the day, plus your other $10,000 worth of receipts, and point out the lost business they'll be feeling because of this guy being such a jerk.

Wow. My wife and I run a local arts blog (www.surrealmuse.com) and occasionally I blow off a bit of steam as most bloggers do.

I build all of my own machines and I am loathe to go into Best Buy, although I have slithered into it every now and then.

I have had some pretty bad experiences there and so I was planning on writing an article about how the American public has pretty much been trained to accept bad service. While I was brainstorming, I was also thinking about the new machine I want to build... And most of the parts were going to come from Tigerdirect.

And then I stumbled upon Gizmodo's article recounting your experience.

Out of curiosity, I called the store in question. I told them I was planning on doing a story for our arts blog about customer service, and that I was fact checking the news story "About a guy who didn't want to show his reciept and then was unlawfully restrained."

The person who answered immediately went into corporate BS mode, and I could swear she was reading a script that contained phone numbers for their corporate offices, the names of media contacts, etc.

I told the person that I was disappointed, and that I really like doing business with TD, but I was concerned about future dealings with them. Yeah, I know its a stretch, but I was trying to gauge her reaction.

I got none. She just started repeating the phone numbers.

Way to go, TD. Great way to handle it.

If its on "the List" it doesnt matter how close to the top it is.

Very well said EQC!