In most cases, a receipt check is voluntary, but several wholesale shopping clubs make you agree to them as part of the membership contract.
Thanks to everyone who helped unearth these. No shoplifting mentioned. Their given reasons for checking the receipts don’t make any sense. If all the checker does it glance and the receipt and make a highlighter stroke across it, how is he checking the correct price?
Sam’s Club: “To ensure that you are charged correctly for the merchandise you have selected, you will be requested to show your receipt when exiting.”
Costco [PDF, pg 14]: “To ensure that all members are correctly charged for the merchandise purchased, all receipts and merchandise will be inspected as you leave the warehouse.”
BJ’s Wholesale Club: “BJ’s inspects all receipts as Members exit the Club to ensure that Members have not been overcharged or undercharged for an item and that all selections appear on the receipt.”
PREVIOUSLY:
Adventures In Receipt Check Refusals Continue
Circuit City Customer Arrested After Refusing To Show Receipt
TigerDirect Apologizes For Unlawfully Detaining Customer For Refusing To Show Receipt
TigerDirect Unlawfully Restrains And Verbally Abuses Customer For Not Submitting To Receipt-Showing Demands
More From Consumerist
-
Former Costco Employee Responds To Man Who Refuses To Show Membership Card Or Have Receipt Checked
-
I Bought My TV In 2006, Costco's 2006 Electronics Return Policy Should Apply
-
More Obnoxious: Agreeing to Membership Rules You Have No Intention of Following, Or Having Your Receipt Checked?
-
Should I Also Be Picking Up Insurance And Mortgages When I Shop At Costco Or BJ’s?
-
Why Does Everyone Love Costco So Much?
@Trauma_Hound: Um, yes. Did you even read this story?
Costco [PDF, pg 14]: “To ensure that all members are correctly charged for the merchandise purchased, all receipts and merchandise will be inspected as you leave the warehouse.”
@sonichghog: “BTW the do not have to check you receipt every time you leave, you just told them that you would let them check it when you became a member.”
That makes no sense. Are you trying to say that the membership agreement, which says they can check receipts, only applies to the particular day that you applied, and not to any subsequent visits to the store? If thats what you’re trying to say, I’m going to work under the assumption that you’ve been drinking heavily.
I don’t recall the Constitution stating that you had a right to leave a store without presenting your receipt. I’m pretty sure that my relatives did not die for this right. Still, I don’t mind someone checking it when I’m leaving BJ’s or walking out of Best Buy with a printer in a box. It does, however, annoy me when the guy sees me walking from the register with items in a bag and still makes me haul out my receipt. It doesn’t keep me up at night, though.
The costco’s here in the Cleveland market just uses any ole pen to mark the receipt
-They hold the paper to the cart
-Swipe the receipt with the other side of the pen.
They’re not actually writing on it, they’re just moving the carbon around on the paper.
Don’t want to wait in the second line at Costco? In Avon Lake, even? Figure it out.
Honest people shouldn’t be treated like they are 100% dishonest…
I’m just sayin’ ….
Only once in my nine years of shopping at Costco has the receipt checker caught something, and it was an undercharge: we grabbed six packages of paper by picking up the entire case. The cashier thought the case was the unit item, and scanned the barcode on the case which matched the barcode on the paper. When we went to leave, the clerk noticed we had six reams of paper, but only one paid for.
I won’t get into the obvious arguments here, but I’ll add what I’ve been able to determine: they check item counts; if an item appears with the price reversed out (white numbers on a black background), the checker will physically look at the item to ensure the item numbers match.
Someone noted earlier that Costco ought to use self-checkout. Here’s what I’ve found at other stores: the stores tend to poorly enforce such things as item limits and the like, which bogs the system down. Further, you’d be surprised how much quicker a cashier can scan 12 items on a belt than a consumer can pull them out of a basket. And remember: the main motivation for self-checkouts have nothing at all to do with customer time, and everything to do with having to pay one “overseer” instead of four cashiers.
I used to work for Sam’s Club.
It is more of a double check for tired and stressed cashiers. Our store was ridiculously busy and it was almost impossible to hear the registers, meaning it was very likely that something was run across the scanner but not actually scanned in on the sale. Now, we could watch the screen for every item, but then our lines would only get longer causing us to get cranky[or crankier depending on who you get].
If people want to steal, they can and will at least get out of the store and parking lot with what they want. They’re usually got thanks to the wonders that are CCTV, license plates and physical descriptions.
@sonichghog:
Yes, they can not detain you, but they can make you return everything you bought. They can say that you are not leaving with those items, you can either let us check the receipt, (WHICH YOU AGREED TO WHEN YOU BECAME A MEMBER) or return the items.
I don’t think they’d be able to do that, at least not without a hell of an arguement. Anything that has already been purchased is my property, and while they can, and probably will, recind my membership and/or ban me from the store for not following the agreement I made with them, they can’t retroactively recind the membership agreement. Therefore, I would still be free to leave with my merchandise.
Not that I’m advocating ignoring the reciept/bag check clause that you agreed to, anyway. In regards to a membership-based store, I find this arguement to be rather pointless.
Part of the reason for receipt checks in the club stores like costco is to ensure that you receive the item only one time. They check the receipt off and then you are not able to use the same receipt again at a later time to attempt double dipping on the items.
@bradg33: No, I am saying that the store does not HAVE to check your recepit. They can just let you go out without being checked if they want to. But if they want to, you have agreed to being checked.
First, I hate these receipt checks too. I don’t like the inconvenience. I stopped complaining about it when it was pointed out to me that I had agreed to it in my membership to the clubstore. I asked the various people checking the receipts and have gotten various answers each time. Two, have stood out (to me) as being the correct reasons… It’s not to check prices (though that may be a lucky side benefit). It’s a way to prevent “employee” theft, in that you don’t have a friend at the register only ring up 1 CD, then walk out of the store with 15. The second reason is to prevent people from buying a product, walking out to the car, putting the box in the trunk, walking back in the store, going to the Aisle, then taking that new item (with receipt) and returning it at the returns counter. Those checkers are not just there to check merchandise going out of the store, but also to check for items coming into the store for returns.
I still don’t like it, but I understand the purpose of it.
@sonichghog:
Umm yes I did read the story, just because a contract says they can do one thing doesn’t make that contract valid. In a word you can’t sign your constitutional rights away. They were in the wrong to try and stop me period and they knew if they pursued it, I would pursue unlawful detainment charges. They don’t want that kind of press. I also on that day in a great deal of pain from walking around then standing in line for an extended length of time, since I had knee surgery a few weeks earlier, so standing in another line wasn’t an option for me.
@Trauma_Hound: You do not understand. You did not sign your rights away. Just like when a cop asks to search your car. If you say yes to the cop there is NO rights violation.
At these Clubs, as a member you said YES to the “search” when you signed the contract.
Doing what you did could be considered breach of contract.
@Trauma_Hound:If you were to do that at any BB or CC, I would be in complete agreement with you.
Sonic hog you are pretty dense, which part of they can’t stop you don’t you understand? How are they going to know who I am, if they can’t stop me? How about this, they go and stop me, I sue them for unlawful detainment. Then at the same time I go get a restraining order against them showing up at my work to pawn their memberships at my work. Which is going to cost them less? Oh it would be an apology and we won’t do that again. Think outside the box for a change. I don’t care there is some contract, in fact I don’t remember ever seeing any policy when I filled out the application. Signing something doesn’t automatically make you obligated to agree to a contract after the fact. So you are dead wrong, and the law and case history is on my side.
How should stores as large as these prevent people from stealing goods? These stores are large and busy. If there were no checks at the exit of some kind it seems like it would be rather trivial to just grab something and walk out the door as if you purchased it. If the stores should not use the current methods then what methods would you propose?
“GARONYLDAS AT 03:09 PM
I can buy $2.00 in junk food at Wal-Mart and get stopped for a receipt, but I’ve walked out with a bike twice and didn’t get a second glance.”
As someone who has worked in retail hell, I feel I can offer you some insight. Typically, shoplifters pick up small items that they believe they can walk away with easily, and usually mix them in with other items. When bikes go missing, it’s more likely that employee theft is to blame.
This would make sense if they actually did this. At my Costco and Sams Club, they just take the receipt, give it a quick (faster than speed reading) once over and highlight it. Even when I lived in Round Rock, TX they did the same there. I agree @warf0x0r: they’re doing this mostly for the big items. I’ve never gotten anyone actually count the items in the cart.
Of course the reasons are BS…they don’t want to come out and say “We are going to check your receipt to make sure you didn’t steal that television set.”
Having worked and managed at big box stores, From Circuit city (way back in the late 80′s / early 90′s) to Montgomery Ward to Incredible Universe. I’ve worked with LP in all of those stores. The receipt check is for two reasons.
1. To place a LP person at the door, to help apprehend someone that is trying to blitz out the door with a cart full of stuff. I’ve seen it happen at Incredible Universe. Guy with a cart full of DVD players that were, at the time, worth about $400 each running for the door to a waiting car.
2. to make people think about it. The LP guys at Incredible Universe were trained to look people in the eye, to be polite, yet show strength and confidence. I’m sure the Best Buy guys are trained the same way.
If a cashier puts something in a bag, it’s mine, it’s private and I am under no obligation to show anyone anything.
If I’m walking out of a store with a single item or many items that are not bagged, then the store may ask me to view a receipt. I believe I have the right to not show it, just as they have the right to ask me not to shop there anymore. I can fully understand the warehouse stores doing this. They don’t offer bags to save costs, they would be open to much more loss if they didn’t have an LP person at the door. Plus, I’ve agreed to it. I could try to get out without showing a receipt, but I doubt they’d be happy about it nor would they like to keep me as a customer.
The warehouse stores could solve this if they moved checkout closer to the door and made it much more difficult to move from the shopping area to the egress with merchandise.
When I buy a CD at Best Buy, and the cashier puts the item I’ve paid for in a bag, then it becomes mine and it’s private. The cashier is part of the LP process. I will not allow someone that is not an officer of the law inspect my bag unless they have reasonable expectation that I have, in fact, shoplifted. I have been stopped several times by doorchecks at bestbuy and frys. When they get upset that I’m not willing to open my bag, I ask if I’m suspected of shoplifting. They always say NO, then I ask if I’m free to go. They have to say YES unless you are, in fact, suspect.
Fry’s has gotten pretty good at letting you blow past by saying ‘no thanks’…
Vote with your dollars folks.
Hound–I know what I am talking about, and I actually read agreements that I sign. If you are too dense or in too much of a hurry to read an agrement that you need to sign in order to shop somewhere, perhaps you should not shop there.
One would figure that if you read consumerist, that you would be smart enough to read something that you sign, I suppose that you are proof this is not the case.
At leat read what I have posted before going off, I NEVER said they could detain you, they at most could make you return what you purchased, and tell you not to come again.
@Trauma_Hound: BTW, what case history. Who has won a case against the “clubs” Please state the case you say you know…..
Also, what law is violated. I do not mean at a place like CC or BB, I mean a club that was joined.
Also, it is part of the contract. If you forget about that is in the contract, it does not mean it is void. It just means you forgot.
I just remembered a situation from my retail days that may or may not relate to receipt-checking. I rang up an elderly lady, who paid with a credit card. I believe signature checking is a load of crap – anyone can forge a sig and people’s sigs change. So I asked for her i.d. Instead of the grateful response I usually got, she instead responded that she doesn’t need to show her id and I can check the sig. Fortunately one of the managers was at the register next to me, and when I dazedly looked over at him he told me she’s right, there’s nothing we could do. We had to take the card. He afterwards told me that the company doesn’t care – they get the money whether the card was hers or stolen. So I just quit altogether asking for i.d.’s with credit cards, because what was the point if noone cared? Did I ring up some stolen cards? Whatever, it’s someone else’s problem now.
What’s my point? When people start these little pointless battles, someone somewhere is going to get screwed. On top of what I see as a more human argument (you’re probably completely ruining a regular retail worker’s day as this lady did to me), you’re causing problems with policies that are there to reduce theft and shrinkage. Oh, but the store’s shrinkage problems have nothing to do with us. Really? You think the store’s going to pay for that? We are going to pay for that. You are going to pay for that. Did that guy pay for what he’s walking out the door with? Whatever, it’s someone else’s problem now.
@Trauma_Hound: While I don’t agree entirely with Sonichghog, he is right on a lot of things. First off, what makes you think that once you sign a contract you are no longer obligated? “Signing something doesn’t automatically make you obligated to agree to a contract after the fact.” Can you explain that? It makes no sense. When you sign and agree to a contract, you are obligated to keep up your end of the deal, or you are in breach. While they would never go after you (legally) for that breach, mostly because they suffer no real damages, they can and should revoke your membership. Your logic is flawed, if not non-existent. You have no idea what caselaw/statutory law is on your side.
I agree they can’t detain you, but even if they were to do so, by say standing in your way, you’ll have a hard time collecting any sort of substantial damages, assuming you can meet the elements of false imprisonment, which I think you’ll have a hard time doing. As my other post said, you have to prove total confinement, so if you know there is a back door that you could “escape” out of, you might not be able to prove you were totally confined. I’m not saying you absolutely can’t prove it, but you’ll have a battle. Second, this idea that you could get a restraining order against Costco/Sam’s is idiotic. No judge in their right mind will tell the company Costco they have to stay away from you. Perhaps you should learn a thing or two about the law before you start making wild statements about who your going to sue and how much money it’s going to cost them.
Trauma_Hound,
I find your passion for civil rights admirable, but I still think receipt-checking is a trivial issue. It is easily addressed by patronizing stores that share your values, and boycotting those that don’t. I can only hope you direct your energy equally to protecting civil rights in other areas, like warrantless wiretapping, keeping our schools and military free of religious indoctrination, and fighting voter intimidation.
Urgh! Just show the receipt and go, please don’t block the door and argue.
Ok, it’s useless and annoying, but I can understand why businesses use it.
Also, shoplifting does drive prices up, so I guess I’m partly interested in minimum theft activity in places where I shop.
Besides, world hunger, climate change … Maybe a bit more important than a receipt check.
(Don’t take it personal, but usually people who claim their right for really small things, don’t like to fullfil for their obligations for bigger things, like voting for example)
I’m glad we’ve taken so much time and dedicated it to something as important as receipt checking. I wonder why the rest of the world hate us Americans and say we are rude?
@Extended-Warranty:
Aren’t you a treasure? It must be nice to be able to completely dismiss someone else’s views and beliefs by just flippantly stating how trivial it is compared to world issues.
Now get off the computer and go back to killing kittens in your backyard (which must be perfectly ok in your world because that PALES in comparison to big issues like genocide in the middle east).
i used to work at a bj’s in new jersey as the receipt checker. and what i did was to check receipts for expensive items to make sure they were paid for (ink cartridges, electronics, etc.). if the number of items purchased was small we would count them up and match with receipt. but our job was to REDUCE SHRINK (stolen items). mostly checkers would forget to scan the case of soda or paper towels on the bottom shelf of the shopping cart.
So why am I asked for my receipt every time I exit the local WALMART? Does WALMART have a receipt checking policy? There is always someone standing at the door marking receipts even if you only have one item in your hand with no buggy. At our local store they usually stand just beyond the electronic security barrier.
@rdm24: Yes I am, I’m getting Ron Paul elected. It just amazes me just how many people in this country don’t know what their rights are. But then again look at our education system.
@Extended-Warranty: The rest of the world hates us because we invade countries and have military in 140 countries get informed.
@bradg33: Oh I don’t know the constitution? Which part of they can’t legally detain you, don’t you understand?
@Trauma_Hound: Did you even read my post? I’m fairly certain you didn’t, that or you don’t understand English. Let’s see, “I agree they can’t detain you”, yep, that pretty much shows I don’t understand they can’t detain you. Maybe next time I’ll try writing it in crayon or drawing pictures so there is at least a chance of you reading/understanding it. And you clearly don’t know the constitution if you think the 4th amendment applies here. I like how you make a point to rdm24 about how no one knows their rights, when you have this twisted, idiotic idea of what your’s are. I imagine next your going to tell me that african-americans are inferior, because the constitution says so (Dred Scott v Sanford). God forbid you be expected to do any real research before coming to ridiculous conclusions and spouting off idiotic rhetoric.
Two weeks ago, I bought ten seasons of a TV series at Costco. The employee at the exit caught an overcharge… something got scanned twice, and I didn’t notice. I appreciated it.
I don’t see what the big deal is. Show your receipt. What’s the big deal?
Recording being detained? Do any of you really spend that much time, going out of your way to be a jerk?
Just be a good consumer! This is the Consumerist, right? If you don’t like their policy, write a nice latter, complain to the manager, and shop somewhere else.
@ Trauma_Hound
“Signing something doesn’t automatically make you obligated to agree to a contract after the fact.” What did you think you were signing for in the first place? By your argument, i shouldn’t have to follow any TOS’s I agree to that I didn’t read.
The issues are very simple:
BJ’s and Sam’s club checking your reciept- OK, you allowed them to do so.
Anyone else checking it- Not OK, You have every right to leave.
Leaving the BJ’s- Not really ok, because although it’s not criminal, you’ll probably lose your membership for being a petty dick. Unless
Leaving anywhere else-OK, no obligation to stay.
Being stopped from leaving by anyone at all- Not ok. call the cops on ‘em, unless you’re being formally charged with theft.
@K-Bo: Actually, it does, since they can’t search you since that’s assault if they touch you and they cannot forcibly detain you if they don’t have reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime (and court cases have established that they have to observe you concealing stuff and leaving with it without paying). Only the police can stop and forcibly search you. And they cannot do it without reasonable cause.
So yes, the law does apply here, to paraphrase many many more comments.
I just got a BJ’s membership. I don’t recall signing a membership agreement, but maybe I did. I can tell you this much, no one specifically said anything about checking receipts when I did sign up. Maybe it was in the small print.
So I made my purchases, and went to leave. I never show my receipts anywhere, so when I was asked, I actually said that I lost the receipt. He said I’d have to go to the service desk and get a new one. I said no. He said he’d have to call a mamanger. I said OK. Meanwhile people are lining up behind me. After 5 minutes, 2 managers showed up. I asked if it was a requirement of membership that I show them my receipt, and they assured me that it was. I told them I was going to need to see that in writing. They left to go get it. After another 5 minutes, I told the guy that I was tired of waiting, and to do whatever he needed to do, but that I was leaving.
Next time I’m just going to flat out refuse and keep walking. I don’t care if it’s a club, the absolute worst they could do is cancel my membership – and to do that they’re going to have to try and figure out who I am.
@arsbadmojo:
It’s actually very easy to track you down and cut your membership.
I was a door checker at costco for about a year, and you would be surprised how many people tried to pull that on me and then come in and ohshi your account is frozen. GG.
Anyways, You signed the contract, you follow the rules. We can stop you from leaving the premises with items and not showing a reciet (at least at costco). Stop being a prick and making peoples jobs harder because your freaking out over spending an extra minute to get your reciept checked.
Just wanted to let everyone know about a site where you can compare Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s prices on electronics and appliances. Just type the appropriate store name- “costco”, “samsclub”, or “bjs” in the search box at [bountii.com]
I purchased 2 bags of beans the other day (BJ’s) along with some other things. Somehow I managed to scan only one bag of beans. When I left, she glanced (and i mean a quick glance) at my receipt, glanced at my arms and gave my receipt a punch. When I looked at my receipt later, I noticed that i only scanned one bag of beans…so much for checking for accurate pricing, never mind what’s in my arms. I’m sorry…I did not return to the store to tell them I inadvertently did not pay for the other bag of beans. They tasted much sweeter than the other bag! :/
They had ample opportunity to check your cart at the cashier as I did. When they are busy and there is a line, just rush past the door person like I do. Once you are outside let them call a cop if they want to. I have a receipt for everything in my possession so I am legally in the right. Don’t fall for their bull shit.