No matter what, the cost (be it monetary or in civil rights) is passed to the lowest member of the food chain, that is, the customer.

Whenever I am asked to leave my bag at the front, I refuse, and if there is confrontation (usually with the manager), saying very loudly that "most shoplifting comes from store employees" will make them caving-in.

Another winner line is "if you don't trust me with my bag, why should I trust you with it???"…

I don't care about store shrinkage. Until it is a law that I have to stop and have someone go through my bag when I leave a store, if you so much as touch me you're gonna draw back a bloody stump, bub.

...the difference between the actual and estimated shrinkage is then distributed evenly to each and every worker in that store....

Wow, that is suckage beyond measure. Do bonuses distribute the same way? Not likely.

Out of curiosity, do they really expect the store to do at least five million a year? Working inventory, including at Best Buy (grr, a couple stories there), most stores expect shrinkage around 1% or less, and rarely achieve it.

Those that do don't have people standing around checking receipts, they are out interacting with the customers.

At Best Buy, it's actually a 80/20 arrangement.

Shrink Budget - Actual Shrink = Y

Y x .20 = Amount kept by Best Buy Corporate (probably a bonus for the managers)

Y x .80 / number of employees in the store = amount given to each Best Buy employee

I always thought it was the job of employees to stop shrinkage from happening in the first place. If someone has jammed stuff up their shirt or down their pants and you're hoping one employee at the exit is going to stop them by ask for a receipt, you need to go back to security school. I've been in Best Buy plenty in my life; not only do their employees seem completely uninformed about their products, but they seem pretty lackadaisical when it comes to paying attention to their environment. Sometimes you literally have to tap them on the shoulder to get their attention.

There are security cameras all over the store. Most stores have their own security personnel. In the good old days, every store had an in-house detective who circulated the floor, looking for shoplifters. Merchandise is now tagged to set off the alarm at the front of the store. I don't think customer shrinkage is quite the problem they think it is, and they are deluding themselves if they think that checking receipts is going to stop anyone from walking off with things.

Ok, checking receipts is an attempt to prevent shoplifting - but how? Seems thoroughly redundant if they're coming straight from the cashier. Why don't they focus on people carting stuff out of the store who didn't go through the cashier?

Can I ask a question at the risk of going against the grain? What's the big f'ing deal with showing your receipt to someone when you're leaving the store? It takes all of five seconds and frankly, I don't feel that my rights or my privacy is being violated in doing so.

Is checking receipts preventing "shrinkage?" Probably not, but I'm just amazed at how many people in this forum bitch and moan about it. I've never seen anyone ever refuse to present their receipt when I'm out shopping.

Does anyone happen to know what shrinkage rates in retail have done over the years? Do all of the technology, packaging, and anti-customer policies actually work or are are people still robbing the stores blind?

It prevents only one time of shoplifting, where there is collusion between a cashier and shoplifer. The shoplifter brings his stolen items to a cashier, who pretends to ring them up and bags them. Then the customer leaves, having never paid.

To say this is rare compared to people just sticking something in their pocket is an understatement, but when it does occur over a period of time it can cost a store an astounding amount of money.

Don't Best Buy stores already have those electronic security devices that set off an alarm if you try to walk through the door with merchandise that hasn't had the RFID deactivated at the register?

I recently had an adventure in receipt checking. I had my in-laws up last weekend and I needed a new mattress for a twin daybed. The cheapest one is at Sam's for $100 so I took my work-sponsored Sam's card and headed out there. Mind you this is an extremely basic mattress that is fabricated "exclusively for Sam's Club" i.e., "cheap".

I get to the door receipt checker lady and she looks at the receipt and immediately started shaking her head and saying "Nope, no, nuh-uh there is no way a mattress is $100" and called in some code on her walkie talkie. There were some people in line behind me and needless to say it was a little embarassing. I would need to have some steel nuts to try to walk out the front door with a ripped off mattress. Turns out nobody knew where the mattresses where until I escorted an associate to them and showed them. They insisted it was for the box spring so I taught them how to match product SKUs to their own price signs and I was able to finally leave.

It seems like the detector at the door at my Best Buy is constantly going off. So much so that the people working at the door just ignore it.

@Pupator: I thought it was 70/30 and not 80/20 - but I haven't worked for Best Buy since 2003

In order to buy something at Best Buy you get scoped at the front door by security. If you need help you can't get it, if you don't want it the follow you around like your a thief. Then when you actually want to buy something you have to run the phone number, upsell, warranty, credit card, other specials gauntlet just to pay CASH for some cheap under $20 widget. Then you get treated again like a potential criminal when you leave.

Exactly WHY am I supposed to want to shop there?

Staples or Tiger Direct are less of a negative experience. Best Buy has forgotten the one big rule of retail and customer service, negative experiences curtail repeat customers. I don't think they care since they seem to have a stead supply of people willing to be abused for the thrill of buying something.

@Major-General: Out of curiosity, do they really expect the store to do at least five million a year?

Well, it's highly dependent on the square footage of the store, but on average Best Buy does a lot more than $5M per store annually. They average over $900 per square foot annually, which translates to a hefty chunk of change for a 30,000 sq ft store.

Working inventory, including at Best Buy (grr, a couple stories there), most stores expect shrinkage around 1% or less, and rarely achieve it.

A minor quibble, but I would argue that most desire a level of 1%. Average actual retail shrinkage typically hovers between 1.6 and 1.75 percent.

If they are distributing the difference among all employees, then they are breaking the law, at least in Illinois and probably in several other states. In Illinois, it is illegal to deduct any amount from an employee's check that is not part of a tax or other government mandated charge or a contribution to a benefit program offered to employees, unless the employee agrees to the deduction in writing at the time of the deduction - you cannot agree in advance to a future deduction. This is to prevent employers from docking employees for fictitious charges.

@SaveMeJeebus: You were quite illegally detained, no matter how much the contract you signed allows for receipt inspection…

@nytmare: Checking the reciepts is to stop a few things.

1. Shrink is more than intentional shoplifting. Sometimes you have retarded cashiers, who forget to ring items up or who ring them up as the wrong items - and so product goes out the door unpaid for.

2. Sometimes a smart shoplifter will steal a Best Buy bag from one of the departments that has a register while the sales staff is busy, put what they're stealing in the bag, and just nonchalantly walk out the front door - and not every product has a security tag (not to mention they're easy to remove). Receipt checking is designed to stopped this too.

I'm a little on the fence on this issue. Do I think stores should illegally detain people? Of course not. That would be retarded. Do I think it's out of line to ask to see a receipt? No - especially since (in case #1) it's more that they're accusing their own cashiers of being dumb moreso than treating the customer like the criminal.

@ExGC: It's a bonus - as in beyond their normal pay. If the store goes over shrink budget, nothing gets taken away from their hourly pay - they just don't get their bonus.

@ExGC: Where does it say they are deducting anything?

receipt checking is just another method of engaging the thief. every retail job i've had instructs combating theft a little differently, but it all boils down to the same thing: thieves try to avoid confrontation at all costs & when confronted are often visibly uncomfortable.

even so, employee theft is usually more of a problem than shoplifting. every retail job i've ever had also had its share of employees working the system to save themselves or others money (against store policies), sell product "off the books", or to manipulate sales in such a way to maximize their numbers & (in the case of commission-based jobs) increase their paycheck. & i'm not talking about the types of manipulation stores promote.

Hey gang, I'm the tipster:

At the time I worked for BB (2001ish) the "shrinkage" payout was 100% to the store. I've heard rumors that it's changed a little bit, but I've never seen anything to prove it.

In regards to the legality of it. BB treats the shrinkage payout as a bonus. So basically, the more shrinkage you prevent the higher bonus you get. They have NEVER garnished anyones salary or pay for failure to prevent shrink.

Why do they do it? Just like poster CHEVIOT mentioned, it only prevents one kind of shoplifting. However, most shrinkage occurs in part because of an employee. Either they were too stupid to watch what was going on, or they were in on it.

I myself never stole a thing, but I remember several occasions when store employees would move things to unusual places in the store, only to find that they were gone later.

@ExGC: God save us from the internet lawyers... especially the ones who cant read a post.

I love how anything that is an inconvenience or a mistake is "illegal" on here. Just cause someone does something to bother a customer doesnt make it illegal. Its as if everyone is looking to sue over any perceived slight. Also, just cause someone is working hourly at a retail place doesnt make them stupid, despite what some on here say.

That being said, some security people take things way too far. Ny guess is as technology gets better we will have less receipt checking, as they can more easily track items leaving the store.

What's the big f'ing deal with showing your receipt to someone when you're leaving the store? It takes all of five seconds and frankly, I don't feel that my rights or my privacy is being violated in doing so.

@elduque: But other people DO feel like their rights and/or privacy is being violated so it doesn't matter that it only took five seconds for it to happen.

The other problem is when it doesn't just take five seconds. If it's voluntary and doesn't actually reduce theft, why waste 15 mintues waiting in a second line?

Shrink due to employee theft is a much bigger and much more serious issue than shoplifting. I worked retail through high school and managed a retail outlet in college (a Gamestop... shudder), and I had a lot of contact with Inventory Control.

Receipt checking does almost nothing to stop shoplifting. If you exit with a cartload of items, 95% of the time, the checker will just tick your receipt and let you through. If you walk from the register to the door with one big item and a receipt, then obviously the receipt check isn't going to catch anything. Receipt checking prevents people from entering the store with an old receipt and trying to walk out with a second item, but how prevelant is that compared to stick-it-in-the-pocket shoplifting, really?

The main function of receipt checking is simple deterrance. If a thief thinks he might be stopped and checked, he's less likely to try stealing. The illusion of a big guy in a yellow shirt checking customers as they leave might be enough to discourage your average teenage first-timer from grabbing a CD.

The real anti-shoplifting techniques are much less obvious. The CompUSA I worked at in college had two Inventory Control guys who used to roam the floor in street clothes. They caught a hundred times more merchandise leaving the store than the security guy at the front.

I'm seriously wondering if Wal-Mart has a policy of not demagnetizing tags on electronics so you *have* to do the receipt check when leaving*.

I was with a friend when he bought a VCR, and he set off the alarm when we exited. I was with my mom when she bought a CD player, and she set off the alarm when we exited. These were two different stores on two different occasions.

*Yes, I know it's technically not required, but I for one am not barging out the door after setting off an alarm.

@elduque: If it were the case that those people who do not wish to show their receipt took that stance because showing a receipt is too much work, then I'd agree that it may be in their best interest to re-evaluate their position (It's still their choice though.)
I'm quite sure, however, that 99% of the time, this is not the case.
Showing the receipt and avoiding conflict may be the path of least resistance (and that's exactly why these companies set it up this way; they know most people will just evaluate their best choice based on convenience, which is to show the receipt and leave), but if someone chooses not to, the fact is that it is their right. If you don't think people should do this, your choices are A) Change the constitution so that corporations can create arbitrary search rules, B) Grumble that people should just do things the way you think are best based on your personal values, or C) Respect that people have their own values and will make their own choices, and be happy that you have the freedom to do the same.
I pick C, and I choose not to show my receipt.

Interestingly enough, I went to BB on Eager Rd in STL on Sunday evening out of desperation, and they did not ask to check my bag or receipt on the way out the door. No idea why not, but maybe enforcement varies from location to location (or even shift to shift).

Umm... how about the "shrinkage" at home depot where an employee gets fired if they catch a shoplifter?

Am I the only one that finds the humor and relevance in that picture?

@Plorry: i agree. receipts are contracts. they're proof that you
1. bought the product at that store/at that specific franchise
2. paid with either cash or credit
3. have a right to return the product undamaged within a certain period of time.

it makes sense, i don't see the stink about it. you DO get store credit if you don't have a receipt...which isn't as good as cash, but it's at least something.

@Binaryslyder: The 70/30 percent split was in effect at least when I started working at the Eau Claire, WI Best Buy in 2000 -- I don't remember what it was like the previous time I had worked at Best Buy (for a few months at a Milwaukee Best Buy in 1999)

@Jean Naimard: Shoppers are illegally detained only if Sam's club prevented them from leaving against against their will. Club stores probably have a clause in the contract that require their shoppers to submit to a receipt check. If you refuse the check them they can cancel your membership. They cannot stop you from leaving the store. However, they can ASK you stay in the store while they sort things out which was probably the case when Sam's club "detained" SaveMeJeebus for the mattress mix up.

I've never been stopped on the way out of a Best Buy to have my receipt checked with a bag, only big ticket items... if I bring a bag in to the store, for a return, then they check it and give you a sticker to prove that you brought the item in (instead of swiping something off a shelf and trying to return it).

I shop at CostCo a lot, and they always check receipts on the way out. It usually involves the door checking marking the receipt and glancing at the cart.

I never see it as any sort of intrusion. I see it the same as going to a concert and getting searched before entering. It's private property, they have their policy, and you can choose not to go if you don't agree with it.

@elduque: Here's the big F'ing deal with showing a receipt:

-Sure, if the store isn't busy it only takes a second to get a tick or a punch in the receipt and be on your way, but what if the store is busy, like during Back To School or Xmas, or any other holiday? Take 30 people already waiting to get their receipt checked and stand behind them, watch 5 seconds become 5 minutes, and then it's a waste of time.

-It doesn't do anything to discourage shoplifting, it doesn't help verify that you got what you paid for, and it doesn't help inventory control. If it's not doing what it's supposed to be doing, then what's the point of compliance? Stupid rules don't have to be followed, especially when they're made by stupid companies.

-It's the top of a slippery slope. First it's checking your receipt at the door, then it's checking your shopping bag, then comes checking your personal bags, then comes pat downs, then more invasive searches; all in the name of lower prices and better service for all. If you bow down and let them take the power away from you, they'll keep taking till you push back. Stop it before it starts.

-Some people use things like the little bit of confrontation between customer and LP staff as a venue for venting about other common retail frustration. You can't change the price, you can't get better service, but you can sure stick it to that schmuck who has the nerve to ask to see a receipt. Plus, like another commenter said, If the stores are using the confrontation to make thieves uncomfortable, then why can't we use the confrontation to make the staff uncomfortable?

-I don't like being treated like I might have stolen something. Asking for a receipt is tantamount to saying "We think you may be a criminal, mind if we make sure you're not?" If they can't figure out whether I stole something without my help, they're not doing it right. Catch thieves some other way.

A year ago, I entered the BB in Charlottesville, VA while talking on the phone. I was told by the person working the door that she had to put on of those pink "he brought this in with him" labels on my phone, the kind they use when you are returning something.

@Trae: When I did a 2-week internship at Best Buy (it was a work experience program organized by my high school, mandatory for juniors and used to be for sophomores too) last year I was told that it was 80/20.

Then again, I was in the Shanghai, China store- brand-new and not fully "in" with the rest of Best Buy (American extended warranties had to be processed over the phone if the customer was doing a repair or replacement in China and vice versa until recently, sometimes things like phones were replaced with equivalent models, stuff like that) so it may very well be 70/30 outside this one store (only Best Buy in the whole of Asia, BTW).

Starting yesterday I am asking at all these stores, while showing the receipt, what they do if I refuse to show them the paperwork.

Fry's politely informed me that they "can't do nothing about it."

I am curious as to how many places know this.

@elduque: What's the big f'ing deal with showing your receipt to someone when you're leaving the store? It takes all of five seconds and frankly, I don't feel that my rights or my privacy is being violated in doing so.

Technically, you're correct. It's not a violation of your rights or privacy if they ask to see your receipt. It is, however, a violation of etiquette and common courtesy. Absent a criminal investigation, I do not have to justify or prove ownership for MY property to anyone, no matter how trivial or inconsequential such request may be.

Simply put, it's rude. And the appropriate answer to a rude personal request is to ignore it, or to respond with a simple and polite "No you may not."

The reason so many people discuss the receipt check issue with talk of privacy and rights is because over the past few years, the practice has become so widespread and commonplace that many people, including door guards and LP employees, are starting to think that they actually have a RIGHT to see your receipt, and the authority to force you to produce it. And that has led to a growing number of incidents of people being accosted, detained, verbally abused, assaulted, or forcibly restrained by undertrained or overzealous "Loss Prevention Specialists."

And those are a violation of your rights.

@ArtDonovansDrunkenLovechild: I love how anything that is an inconvenience or a mistake is "illegal" on here.
I love sweeping generalizations like that so that makes us both happy to read Consumerist, eh?
- It is in fact illegal to stop me from leaving your store, regardless of whether I have shown you my receipt or not.
- There are limited exceptions, and my appearance and/or attitude never factor into those.
- The sooner you 'shut up and bend over' people accept this, the sooner we can stop discussing it.

And "16 CDs in their pants" sounds like some weird porno to me.

@arcticJKL: "can't do nothing about it"
Double negatives, while not illegal are still irritating :)

@elduque:

What's the big f'ing deal with not showing your receipt to someone when you're leaving the store? It takes all of zero seconds and frankly, I feel that my rights and my privacy are being violated by their doing anything other than responding with some variant of either a nod or "Have a nice day, ma'am".

@Trae: I think most people here agree that asking is fine, as long as it's done politely and without any implied or actual threats. It's when they don't take "no" for an answer that the problem starts.

@revmatty: The Circuit City just down the street (turn left on Eager from the BB lot, go straight across Brentwood) has never bothered me either, and I think they're a better store. Of course, I still prefer to buy DVDs, etc., from Amazon.

Customers who refuse to show a receipt must be prepared to go all the way. If the store employee detains the customer, then the customer is worse off than if they had showed their receipt. The customer may have to use physical force to resist being detained.

The customer is under no legal obligation to show the receipt.

Wait a minute... So someone asking to see your receipt is their way of insinuating that you're a criminal. Does that mean that when I'm asked to take my shoes off before entering an airport terminal that someone is insinuating that I'm a shoe bomber?

Anybody know whether this applies at Costco? You do have to sign some paperwork to become a member, and perhaps they legitimize the receipt-check in the fine print.

The first place I ever knew that 'always' checked receipts was Sam's Club. Back in the 80's these checkers would punch the receipt with a special hole punch before letting you go. I was told at the time it was to verify the validity of a receipt when and if an item was returned. After awhile they stopped doing that I guess when their computers were better at tracking sales.

Their checking has put money back in my pocket several times at Sam's. A few times the cashier rang an item up too many times and since I was walking out with 5 of them anyway, I never spotted the error. But the checker did.

I don't like the idea of having your receipt checked at every store. It does seem and feel like a violation of my rights. But in places where everyone's receipt is being checked I don't feel it's a big deal. It goes with the territory.

As to the guy, the mattress, and the clueless Sam's employee: What freaking idiots! I feel your pain.

As to the guy wondering why purchased items always set off the alarms: Some product gets shipped with loss detection tags placed all over the box and the cashier is suppose to deactivate all sides of the box to make sure the alarm doesn't go off. That said, some employees will drop extra tags into unsuspecting people's handbags and pockets. Did you ever upset a sales associate in your past?

@Binaryslyder:

The most common form of shrinkage, by far, is innocent shrinkage. Employee's accidentally labelling an item with the wrong price, the wrong price being in the system which isn't the employee's fault, or the manager giving a discount to a complaining customer. You also have damaged items which the store sometimes sends back to corporate so that it doesn't come, or if it isn't worth fooling with they will just junk it and write it off as stolen. Shrinkage isn't just stealing, it is anything that costs the company money. An increase in utility rates is considered shrinkage.