Wal-Mart Reports You To The Police For Not Allowing Them To Check Your Receipt
The epic conflict between shoppers and receipt checkers continues! Reader Michael was unwilling to wait in line to have his cart searched, prompting Wal-Mart to threaten to file a police report as they wrote down his license place...
So, my wife & I stopped in at Wal-Mart to get a few things. I didn't have long before I had to be at work, but we had enough time to do our shopping. So we get what we need, pay at one of their express lanes, and then went to leave the store. It's at about this point that we notice a line of several carts waiting for the people greeter to search through their bags and check their receipts.
Since I didn't have a lot of time to waste, I simply went around the line and started out the door. At this point the people greeter told me I had to stop and allow her to go through everything I just purchased. I politely told her that she did not in fact need to search my property, and that they lost any right to go through the items in my cart when I paid for them. I proceeded to walk out of the store.
While I was transferring everything from the cart into the car, several Wal-Mart asset protection employees approached me, and asked to see my receipt. I told them no, at which point they stated that the merchandise was stolen. I told them I paid for everything, but did not have any more time to waste with them. I started to back out of the parking spot, when one of them tried to walk behind my car, I told him to move out of the way, that I didn't want to hit him. He said he was getting the license plate, so I waited a few seconds for him to write it down, then proceeded to back up. Another one of their employees called the local police department. I also called to give them my contact information, and let them know what happened.
Then I called the store manager to make a complaint about the way I was treated. He stated that they had just started a policy to check receipts for any unbagged items. I explained that they were going through every bag in every customer's cart, and that the delay this created was unacceptable. He said he had not heard anything from his staff, but he would follow up with them to find out what was going on. I gave him my name and phone number, and he said he would follow up with me. I have not heard anything yet.
About thirty minutes later my wife received a call from an officer of the local police department. He asked for our side of things, and then said he would smooth things over. While I understand that most people would just show the receipt and let them poke through your things, there really is no reason to do so. If you were any where else, and someone accused you of being a thief, and then asked you to let them search through your things to prove your not, would you allow it? I wouldn't, in fact my reaction would be to leave, quickly. Thats what I did in this case, and thats what I plan to do in the future. If enough people were willing to stand up for their rights, this would stop happening.
Other readers have had luck referring their complaints about overzealous receipt checking to the executives at Wal-Mart. Here's some instructions on how to craft an EECB to lauch on Wal-Mart, as well as some contact information.
(Photo: Jeff Holbrook )
Attention, Walmart shoppers! This ad is for you! Woo hoo!
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Comments:
I always wished I had the guts to say "sure you can check my bags, but only on the condition that if you don't find anything I can kick you in the nuts".
Our Walmarts never check anything.
We have a giant Walmart in my neighborhood that doesn't make you show ID to use a credit card and they don't ask for receipts at the door!
That may have just changed, and if it has maybe they have been hammered into submission!
I had a "greeter" at a Walmart in Rockport, TX attempt to pull this with me. They were going through the cart of the people in front of me and I simply didn't have time to wait (my fault, took the car with me and it had the diapers AND formula in it :( ) She attempted to stop me and I simply said no thanks. My brother in law stopped and showed her the receipt even though I was already in the parking lot and on my way to my car. When he caught up I advised him that we need not show them a thing and that I don't particularly appreciate being accused of theft for shopping there...his response? "Oh, that makes sense..."
I don't show my receipts, ever.
Then again, I don't go to Wal*Mart either, so this doesn't really impact me.
This happens to me all the time at Best Buy. They even check bags and sticker them as you enter.
I never stop at the cavity checks after paying for an item. even if there is no one waiting in line. My 8 year old son was shocked when we bought something and walked past the cavity checker at Fry's. He said dad you didn't stop and let them check the bag. I smiled and told him we didn't have to stop, we paid for the item and we are free to leave. If you give your rights for the sake of convenience, what's next? Stand up people!
I show my receipt and let them check my bags when that beepy thing goes off at the door. Otherwise, I'd get miffed if they approached me for no reason.
I would have told them I was filing charges of criminal harrassment if they kept asking me for a receipt.
I agree with a person's right not to show a receipt. But I also understand a store's need to prevent shop-lifting.
This, again, shows that stopping law-abiding citizens does *NOT* solve crime. The criminals are walking out the door without purchasing anything, with $50 worth of merchandise in their purse/bag/etc.
@ConsumptionJunkie: Best buy doesn't usually hassle me too much, but it's normally because I'm walking out with something small. They tend to stop the people who are walking in or out with bigger things like TVs.
i'm just happy the police basically were telling wal-mart to calm down.
the best buy i shop at has good, hands-off-the-innocents loss prevention. it is an exception and not the rule because all their other stores in the seattle area are awful and yet this one's fine. heck, the LP guy is friendly and doesn't bumrush me for my receipt. amazing.
On Saturday I was shopping in the Ridgcrest, CA walmart (#1600). Greeter at the garden center asked to see my reciept. This was a first time I've been asked that at that Wal-Mart, so I figured it was a new policy. For what's it's worth, I bought some sandpaper and a case of Yoo-Hoo.
I came prepared and told her "No Thanks." and gave her this note. It's the first time I've actually had to use it...
""To the General Manager:
I have handed this paper to your security employee who has requested to see my receipt following a purchase, a request I politely refused. I recognize that this employee is doing the job you have assigned, and this should not be seen as an indication that this person has done anything but a fine job.
However, I am insulted by your practice of treating every customer as a potential thief. Note that this lack of goodwill results not only in my future choice of other, more customer-oriented stores over your own, it also results in significant negative word-of-mouth advertising regarding my shopping experience. Consider that you will have to spend substantial amounts of revenue in advertising for new customers with each customer you lose to this charade.
I sincerely hope you will reconsider your policy of checking receipts at the door. I recognize that shoplifting and other forms of loss are a challenge to retail establishments, and I encourage you to take measures-including increasing the number and training of sales associates-to reduce loss. Insulting your customers is the wrong approach.""
Tha back of the note says-- "I DIDN'T STEAL ANYTHING. (Thanks for asking.)"
She just gave a deer-in-the-headlights dumbfounded look and I just walked out, with no comfrontation.
You can get a PDF of the note here-> [alex.halavais.net]
It worked for me, but YMMV.
If these stores were genuinely concerned about theft, they'd create more of a "corral" system at the front (instead of that massive clusterf*ck that defines the front of every Walmart).
But instead they allow random shoppers to wander everywhere, creating this weird system where everyone is guitly until proven innocent.
How stupid.
While Wal-Mart employees are going through every bag and checking it against the receipt, thieves are probably walking out the door with tons of items in their purse/bag/pockets. How exactly does this prevent theft? I doubt a thief is gonna stick around and let them check their bags.
Obligatory "OMG why do you shop at Wal-Mart?!" comment.
Mistake # 1: Shopping @ Walmart
Mistake # 2: See # 1
Sheeple who put up with this nonsense get exactly what they deserve. Walmart is a horrible company with a rotten track record of human rights abuses.
The average urban WalMart loses over a million per year to shrinkage.
I LOVE these reciept check stories!
IMO... its insane to check thru everyones' bags whilst comparing to the reciept when they are leaving the store. And expecting any customers to wait in line whilst it happens is BS as well.
I upset the Checker yesterday as i left our WalMart.
I RARELY shop there, but figured they would be the best bet to have a small kiddie pool for my 3 year old to splash in. Since it has been 90 plus each day, most other stores were sold out. It was the ONLY thing I purchased, I had my receipt in hand. as I was heading to the door, the line must have been 6 deep of carts to be checked. I went around and walked out the door. Another woman did the same.. I could hear the lady yelling... I just kept on walking.
They can call the police all they want.. You didn't commit any crime for walking out the door. and they can't detain you for any reason unless they have seen you conceal merchandise from the moment you stashed it completely through the time you walked out the door.
Aside form the Sam's club and Costco Agreements, I am not going to stop. It's just plain silly.
Ok people, seriously......You can't allow them to accuse you of stealing if their alarm doesn't go off. That's the only time I stop. How would anyone of my friends feel if I checked them as they left my home after poker? They would hate me, as most people hate the receipt checkers. If you don't like something, change it.
@Jubilance22: It's call "Security Theatre". The look of security is sometimes better than actual security.
Read: TSA, Walmart Security.
@PyroBor: I love you!
Non confrontation, but makes your point.
It's unusual enough that it is likely to be passed on to a supervisor, where as hostility will just be ignored, (that customer was such a jerk!), which in the minds of many workers, justifies the treatment consumers receive.
I applaud what you've done and I think that hundreds of these letters flooding each Walmart week after week might have an impact.
Did you consider sending a letter with a note to your local TV consumer reporter? You should!
It makes more sense to checked BAGGED merch instead of unbagged. You have more to hide w/bagged merch.
I walked out of wal-mart a few weeks ago when they asked for my receipt. I kind of felt bad giving the girl a hard time, it probably wasn't her fault. I told her she would have to have the police check my reciept. She started yelling "Sir wait, you have to show me your reciept". I kept walking. No one came out after me, but I kind of wish some one tried to detain me so I could call the police on them.
@PyroBor: Just printed it out. I think the only improvement could be having a dollar bill on one side w a X through it to show the money they might lose.
Any chance they have one for each state which lists the relevant statute about shoplifting and searching? Just to clear up any doubts for the store employees and/or the Police if called?
The Best Buy I go to usually checks receipts, but all they're doing is making sure you actually have a receipt. They never look in bags or anything else.
I dont know if maybe its how I do it, but I rarely get stopped to check my carts (in fact, only in Costco, where we've agreed to such checks).
When Im leaving a place like Walmart, Target, etc, I have usually finished putting my wallet back in my pocket. I have the receipt in my hand so I dont lose it......I leave the receipt in plain view in my hand as Im walking out, and rarely do I get stopped for "cart check". Maybe they figure anyone holding out a receipt isnt stealing anything? Considering Im not a thief, Ill run with that theory until completely proven otherwise.
@SkokieGuy: Local TV station? The said Wal-Mart is 30 miles from me, and there isn't even cell service in my town (signal is 30 miles away). Our "local" TV is the L.A. channels... But I agree, we need to flood all the B&M stores that do this. But of course Costo, Sam's Club and other memberships stores, it's part of your signed contract membership to show reciept..
I so very much hate to side with any store that performs this deplorable tactic, but in California there is something called merchants' rights, or merchants' exception, that does allow them to hold you even though they are not law enforcement. I think it also extends to the Nazi-receipt-and-bag-check tactic many stores seem to love. And customers consent to it by shopping there.
Anyone know a little more about this?
@Gokuhouse: They can't even accuse you of stealing even if the alarm goes off! The standards are very high to detain someone for shoplifting. You can very easily keep walking if the alarm goes off.
Walmart needs to establish an different entry and exit system and not leave merchandise anywhere past the registers and said exit. Then the register attendants can monitor what is going into bags. Post register there should not be an opportunity to pilfer anything else. Anyone who didn't buy anything can exit via a different door.
Or everyone could just cease shopping anywhere that does this stupid crap.
@Git Em SteveDave's G3 hearts a certain MBP: I've been looking for relevant code here in California. On the california.gov website, you can search for every specific code and law and such, but I haven't found anything relevant yet. I'm sure other states have an easy way to look of law codes as well.
good for you my friend. I applaud you. It's good to be informed of your rights. That officer knew they had nothing on you. He knew that he himself couldn't search without evidence you had stolen anything, or probable cause, let alone, some "wal-mart bagger".
I assume that the guy complaining knew that they checked receipts before he shopped there. Anyone who is savvy enough to post their experience on the consumerist knows that Wal-Mart checks them. If you have a problem with it, don't shop there. Jeebus, it's that simple.
/And, preemptively, let's not travel down the stupid slippery slope of "Well, if we're ok with this, they'll want to strip search us next!" No, it's not the same thing. Not by a long shot. And, no, a minor encroachment on your privacy doesn't imply the much more serious encroachment of a cavity search.
//Bad consumer.
I never had any trouble just walking past those guys. It's really weird because they're almost always trained to be non-confrontational and "just let it go" so as to avoid injuries and lawsuits that follow. Like standing behind the bumper of a suspected theif? That moron was lucky you weren't a real thief on probation or something or his ass would be flattened.
I wonder how much it would cost to hire some security to come with me when I go shopping. That way when they say 'we're gonna call the cops,' I can say 'their already here and they've been watching me shop the whole time'.
This is why I don't shop at Sam's Club - they haven't started at our local Wally World (that I know of - very rarely do we shop there either). There's nothing like paying a membership fee to be treated like a thief.
I'd love to explain it to the cops, then the cop could explain to the manager that unless they see you actually stealing or attempting to leave the store without paying there's no PC for search.
Wal*Mart is usually ok with this thing, but it's annoying as HELL at Worst Buy and BJs. There is no way they can check all your items but they have to sign or punch your damn receipt five friggen feet from the door!
It's Monday, so I know we're all asleep..
TYPO.. License place? Did you mean license plate?
I heard if you don't look them in the eyes the checkers can't say anything to you...
I'm trying to imagine shopping at, say, the Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn or even Macy's at our local mall, and having a "greeter" at the exit stop me to search my bag of purchases. NEVER happen.
Yes, I realize this is an apples/oranges comparison. But still, I find WalMart's chutzpah appalling.
What flatly amazes me is that, despite the fact that at least one story showing how anti-consumer WalMart is runs in Cist each week, they continue to receive emails from "readers" who... recently shopped at WalMart.
Just how much good is Cist doing if its readers don't heed a single of its many many warnings?
DONT SHOP WALMART. You will be much happier in many ways.
Just a note that the wholesale shopping clubs (Sam's, Costco) reserve the right to check your cart and receipt as part of the contract you sign with them.
Given that I have the advantage of being 6'4" and 280 lbs, and that the door checkers are invariably small, elderly women; I just keep walking out the door. What are they going to do, jump me? F--- them and their dried out high-lighters.
@Invalid_User_Name: in California there is something called merchants' rights, or merchants' exception, that does allow them to hold you even though they are not law enforcement.
Every state is different, but most have a similar "Shopkeepers privilege" that allows them to detain you (for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner), but only if they can show the legal standard of at least reasonable suspicion, and in some states they need actual probable cause.
Refusing to show your receipt does not rise to the level of reasonable suspicion. If you set off the electronic buzzer, this MAY constitute reasonable suspicion (again, it varies by state)
I think it also extends to the Nazi-receipt-and-bag-check tactic many stores seem to love.
No, it does not. If a retailer has reasonable suspicion to believe I have shoplifted, he may detain me in accordance with state laws. Otherwise he has no authority over me except to ask me to leave his store. None.
And customers consent to it by shopping there.
no, they don't. And even if they did, consent can be revoked at any time. Even as you're walking out the door
Anyone know a little more about this?
I have one sack I always invite the receipt checker to look at. They always tell me to just go ahead and leave.