Walmart Steals Your Cart Because You Won't Let Them Check Your Receipt
Lisa says a Walmart greeter grabbed onto her cart and and wouldn't let her leave because she refused to let the greeter check her receipt. That, my friends, is not legal. Sure, it would make life a lot easier if people just acquiesced to the receipt-checking, but it's not the law. It is against the law, however, to unlawfully detain a customer. Here's Lisa's account:
Tonight (2/4/09) at Wal-Mart on Creighton road in Pensacola, FL the greeter asked to see my receipt. I refused and she got in front of my cart and was holding on to it so I could not leave! I asked for a manager, and she took my cart and went over to her stand thing. I said you can't take my stuff and she said you could leave with it!! I said you stole my food and I want to leave! She is across the entrance now with my car and says show me your receipt or you can't leave with it!
So I am standing there forever, and finally I walk to the CS desk, I see the CSM that (I have known for about 6 years since the store opened!) and ask for the manager. We walk over the her stand thing. We like wait forever and then her and I start to leave there is like no sign of him. Then we see him and she points him out to me. When he comes to talk to me I tell him the greeter took my cart and he asked me did I she ask for a receipt? I said yes he said you have to show it to her. I said well I don't want to and I want to leave. He said well then show her your receipt! I said the store should have a copy of the receipt if you need it right now I was at that cash register. He then rolls his eyes. He said you have to show your receipt. I said not showing it so you are saying I can't leave without showing it? He said yes that is our policy and he start to walk away.
(About 4 months ago, another greeter detained me, she stopped me from leaving for about 5 minutes when she walked away I left. I called the manager when I got home, he apologized and said she should not have kept me from leaving, and he would review the tape and talk to her. The difference was she didn't steal my food and when I talked to the manager he was very apologetic. It aggravated me but the manager did apologize so I just thought it was poor training or a greeter having an awful day! I actually do customer service escalation call center work, I know sometimes people are not trained and then escalations has to deal with it.) So I said another manager said I did not have to show it a few months ago. He said this is our policy you can't leave without showing your receipt! I said ok I will just return my things but I can't even get my cart to return them. So he tells the CSM to get my cart for me. So he leaves and I go with her.
Now I know her she is very nice!!!! So she gets my cart and I go with her and we go to the customer service desk and we are waiting she tells the lady I am going to return my things and I am in line and I said I paid for this with a gift card, can I get cash I am not shopping here again, what am I going to do with a gift card here. I said can I get the gift card and then get a refund for cash, I know I did that a few years ago with a gift card they cashed it out for me. She then asked for my receipt and I gave it to her and then she said do u want your stuff I will walk you out. I said yes but I want a different gallon of milk this has been out for too long. Then I get a different gallon of milk we walk out and we are just talking like people talk, being pleasant, she apologizes to me. Again she is very nice I have known her since 2002 when the store opened! I live very close by literally on the same block, we go there at least 1x per week!I am a single mom and I work full time and hardly have time to shop this is so ridiculous I am detained with my 10 year old at walmart!! I couldn't beleive the greeter, her name was Sandra actually stole my cart of food! The managers name was Wayne that was said it was the policy that people can't leave without showing their receipt.
(Photo: Brave New Films)
UPDATE: The first letter was written right after Lisa got back from the Walmart, dashed off with heat and haste. Now that she's had some time to cool down and edit her letter, here is her second pass at the story:
I was exiting Wal-Mart with my son. A greeter named Sandra asked to see my receipt. I smiled and politely refused. Then she stood in front of my cart and held on to it so we could not leave!
I asked for a manager. She took my cart and went over to her station thing.
I said You can't take my stuff. She said you could leave with it!
I said You stole my food and I want to leave.
She is across the entrance now with my cart and says If you want to leave show me your receipt.
So I am standing there forever, waiting for a manager. I finally walk to the customer service desk. I see a CSM and ask for the manager. We walk over the her station in the middle of the registers. He is in a meeting. We like wait for a long time. Then we started to leave. She sees him and points him out to me. His name is Wayne. I told him the greeter took my cart and would not let me leave. He said Did she ask for a receipt? I said yes.
He said You have to show it to her. I said I don't want to and I want to leave. He said Well show her your receipt. I said The store should have a copy of the receipt if you need it right now I was at that cash register and I point to it. He then rolls his eyes. He then said You have to show your receipt if you want to leave!
I said So you are saying I can't leave without showing it? He said Yes that is our policy and he started to walk away while speaking.(About 4 months ago, another greeter detained me, she stopped me from leaving for about 5 minutes. She walked away. I left. I called the manager when I arrive home to complain. He apologized and said she should not have kept me from leaving, and he would review the tape and talk to her. The difference was she didn't steal my food and when I talked to the manager he was very apologetic. It aggravated me but the manager did apologize so I just thought it was poor training or a greeter having an awful day! I have not shopped there as much since then. That evening I picked up my mail and recieved a gift card to Wal-Mart.)
So I said to the manager that was walking away, a few months ago another manager said I did not have to show it. He said You can't leave without showing your receipt! I said Ok I will just return my things but I can't even get my cart to return them. He then adds that I still have to show my receipt. (Why can't people see the difference between meeting a requirement of store policy to show a receipt for a refund for a return vs being detained and stealing personal property?) So he tells the CSM to get my cart for me. So he leaves and I go with her.
So we go to get my cart and then proceed to the customer service desk. She tells the rep I am going to return my things. We are in line and I told her that I paid for this with a gift card, and asked her if I could get cash for the new gift card after the return since I am not shopping here again. (Several years ago I cashed out a gift card, I think in FL you can do that.) She then asked for my receipt and I gave it to her. Then she said Do you want your stuff I will walk you out. I said yes but I wanted to exchange the milk since it has been out for too long. I exchange the milk, we walk out and she apologized to me and instructs me to call the store manager but she was not sure if he would be there the next day since he was that earlier that day. She is very nice I have known her for several year since the store opened.
I spoke with Gary the general store manager the next day. He said they have every right to detain me for not showing my receipt when asked. He said if customers have nothing to hide they will show their receipt. I asked for clarification, he said they have every retain to detain customers if they do not show their receipt.
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Comments:
They should have called 911 and reported that someone was unlawfully detaining them.
Like people need another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart... Just don't do it. I only go there to people watch :) From a safe distance of course.
@♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥: And then she could call the cops and say that Wal-mart took her property, and then I guess she'd have to show the cop her receipt to prove it's her stuff.
unless she calls that one cop....
I'm going to say it because I do think its an answer to this problem. Don't shop at stores that check reciepts. I don't shop at Wal-Mart, Best Buy or any other store that checks my receipt. Take your biz elsewhere.
FWIW Walmart doesn't have to let her leave with the cart. Now if she picked the stuff out of the cart and they stopped her.... ;)
Okay, so the obvious question is, "Why didn't you show the receipt?" They normally want to see the receipts if you have something unbagged like diapers or packs of pop or if something is hanging out horrendously. This is not to be intrusive, but to make sure everything was scanned. This may come as a shock to you, but people try to steal stuff by leaving it unbagged. While it is illegal to detain you for no cause, it is NOT illegal for them to ask you to see your receipt if you have unbagged items. I did not see a reason as to why the receipt wasn't shown and therefore cannot sympathize with this person.
One of these days, this will happen in a state with concealed carry & there are going to be a bunch of very dead people.
I don't want to be anywhere around that, bullets will be flying everywhere!
Totally innocent people will be hurt.
Then, possibly these idiots at Walmart, Fry's & Best Buy will finally give it it!
Of course, it'll probably take losing several multi-million dollar lawsuits to finally put this one in its well deserved grave!
seriously, just show the freaking receipt.
I guess I just don't understand what is wrong with them checking your receipt. Whenever I shop at Best Buy or Wal-Mart I always hand over my receipt. None of my personal information is on it, there is my last four digits of the credit card but nobody can get much from that. I would rather just skip the hassle of uneducated employees and let them check the receipt.
Most people that shop at a cheap place like walmart are thieves anyways...
I think its a matter of the principle of things.
If people feel that they don't need to show their receipt, they shouldn't be forced to.
I know that its a lot of hassle, but the employees and big corporations need to learn that they cannot just bully their customers around and blame it on "store policy".
can someone clarify why it is illegal to prevent someone from leaving the store without a receipt. I think its pretty reasonable to be able to check that before people leave the store.
I don't blame her for exercising her rights, (I never go to Walmart but would do the same thing if I did) but that letter was borderline impossible to read.
@♥♥♥♥♥: ROFL!!!! "unless she calls that one cop" if your talking about the one who pushed the walmart greeter then you sir have made my day
@jmndos: Nice to know that ones SES now determines your willingness to obey the law.
Rich people totally never steal or anything.
The Future Shop near me has two cash out areas: the main one by the exit, and another near the cell phones and cameras section. A few months ago I bought a SD card and paid for it at the camera section, but the employee cashing me out didn't remove it from the security box. He popped the whole thing in a bag and said to have a nice day. I said "don't you have to remove the card from the security box so I can use it?" The fellow said I can have the cashier at the front remove it. I asked if he didn't have a way of removing it here, and yes he did. So, I told him to remove it because the SD card is now mine and I want to leave.
For theft control reasons I have to wait to see another cashier at the front of the store to remove it from the locked box. I told the employee that was nuts and get it out now. He did muttering about how people steal stuff all the time. I told him I just paid for it so the security problem is now eliminated, but next time I'll be more convenient minded and buy my next card somewhere else.
I don't blame the OP one bit. You paid for your stuff and you want to leave. Nuff said.
I just show my receipt to the people at the return counter and let those idiots at walmart put everything from the cart back on the shelf, after I get my money back.
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: Man I hope your post was in jest...obviously shootings can only occur in retail settings where there's conceal carry, no where else.. because where there's no conceal carry there are no guns right? come on now
I wouldn't show my receipt. If I spent my hard earned money of YOUR store, I shouldn't have to feel like a criminal when I walk out with my purchases. The stupid door lady at the Wal-Mart nearest me makes it her MISSION in life to check receipt, but she is so rude about it that I love to just walk by and ignore her. She always glares at me whenever I come in...hehehe
//I wish Target was 24 hours...its right across the street from my house but its hours does not meet my need to go grocery shopping at 11 pm :(
I do not understand at all what the problem is with showing someone a receipt. You should know by now the stores that may ask to see your receipt. If you don't like it, then don't go there. Its just a piece of paper, hand it over, let them do there little check and get on with your life, instead of wasting 10+ minutes.
@kpetree10: Because if you purchased the items, they belong to you, and Wal-Mart et al no long have any claim to the items, including requesting proof that they were purchased. Obviously, this is not the case at wholesale clubs, where you sign agreements saying you will show your receipt when asked, but retailers have no claim.
As for the whole "illegal to detain her" part, that's not actually true. Wal-mart's management have the legal right to detain her, provided they only do so for long enough to ensure that the items in question were purchased. However, that should have been no problem. Walk over, ask the cashier if the customer purchased items, then send the customer on her way. Store owners still have shopkeeper's privilege, after all.
@Patrick Mcgranaghan: Because it is false imprisonment if they stop the person, and theft if, like in this case, they try to hold the merchandise. After you've paid for it, it is yours, they cannot do anything with it, including trying to repossess it.
So, if they check a receipt, then are they going to do an itemized inventory to make sure that customers paid for everything? I don't get the point, especially if they have bags and a cart and just walked from the register. I'm under the impression that most people don't walk in with a handful of bags to fill them, grab a cart and steal a whole bunch of merchandise. Do they?
@kpetree10: It's quite literally "illegal search and seizure." People like you have gotten very used to saying "if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you should have nothing to hide," but the fact is that I do not have to show anyone my receipt after making a purchase.
It's my shit, it's my rights that are being attacked, and I won't stand for it. On principle, I don't shop at stores that do this, but there needs to be a very messy and very public court case that goes badly for stores like WalMart and Best Buy so this bullshit comes to a quick end.
What's the big friggin' deal? You have 2 choices, show your receipt or take your business elsewhere. It's like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer and writing a long complaint letter complaining because getting hit in the head with a hammer hurts.
I read about halfway through and couldn't take the grammar issues and weird sentences anymore. Did she make it out?
On a side note, pick your battles. This is not going to change anybody's policy, nobody's going to back you up, and you look like a jackass doing it. Write a letter to corporate, do an EECB or something. Being a bitch to everyone because you don't want to show your receipt isn't going to do anything.
OMG...I have a freaking headache from trying to read that story. I'll donate some $$ for grammar and English composition tutoring.
Agreed. It seems that retailers wouldn't have any reasonable way of preventing theft if customers didn't have to prove that they bought something. What's the difference between a thief and a legitimate customer? Nothing, if neither has a receipt.
@skizsrodt: Yes, actually
I had a friend who worked at Walmart, and he would arrive with the plastic bags in his pocket, and would literally go grocery shopping. Since he wasn't dumb enough to steal items too big for grocery bags (which is what they stop you for), they just wave and say bye when he walked out.
He never got caught, and went "shopping" about 3 times a month.
@Andrea Viera: oops, I meant to say "would go grocery shopping without the whole "paying" part"
D'oh!
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: Not only does "no concealed carry" not mean no guns- it also means that only criminals have guns.
Oh, and Florida DOES allow concealed carry. They are also the most widely accepted state in the US. You can get a concealed carry permit from Florida after completing one class in ANY state and MAILING the packet to them.
@Patrick Mcgranaghan: All items where just checked by the cashier and she handed you a receipt. Why would a store need to check it again if you are coming from behind the registers? I could see asking if you didn't come from the register area All receipt checkers are usually set up within viewing distance from the register so they watch you check out.
@Patrick Mcgranaghan: Seriously, we should not allow some people free speech.
Good thing some people still fight for their rights, eh?
I was leaving a Fry's in Sacramento CA a few weeks ago. The guy in front of me stopped for the receipt check, so I walked past and left. The checker starts chasing after me telling me I can't leave until its checked. I just kept walking and the guy follows me all the way to my car, telling me I can't leave. I climb in my car and he grabs my door, and I asked him if he realized that while chasing me halfway across the lot, at least 15 of the people that had been in line behind me had also left without getting checked. He ran off to man his post again.
The worst part? There is nothing along the hallway you follow to exit that could be stolen.
I am sorry, I HATE Wal-Mart and have no idea with all the negative PR why crowds form there. The prices are NOT much cheaper then elsewhile (like Target, where the store is much nicer and cleaner) and I can never get out of Wal-Mart because registers are barely open.
Seriously? Why couldn't she just show her receipt to avoid the headache? On top of that, she wants cash for her gift card? No one does that! The way I see it, the Walmart employee did not illegally detain her. Only the items that she purchased. Although wrong, what did she have to hide in the first place?
@jmndos: I was just at a walmart 2 nights ago and all of a sudden I hear a door slam and look up and some trashy guy grabbed the stuff in his cart and bolted out the emergency door. The door started ringing from the alarm on it and no one showed up for about 2 minutes to investigate. When stores make real theft easy, it's bullshit to bother paying customers over it.
Is there a nice single-page document anywhere that a person can print out and carry with them to present to receipt checkers like this? The front can be about how it is not the law and the back can be about the legalities of preventing you from leaving. If not a single page, at least a pocket sized one should do.
If this were me, I would have simply grabbed my bags from the cart and left. I'm not sure I would have made a big deal about the cart, but I don't expect that everyone can always remove all their bags in one trip. I always refuse the receipt check and I must say, I've never once had anyone say anything other than "ok".
@kpetree10: Best buy is the worst. They are almost arms length from you when you check out and still ask for the receipt. It's mind boggling.
@Patrick Mcgranaghan: Because merchants are not police, and do not have police powers. Absent a reasonable belief that I am shoplifting - a belief that must be based upon probable cause - the only authority a merchant has over my person is the authority to refuse me entry, refuse to do business with me, or to ask me to leave their premises. That's it.
And refusal to produce a receipt does not by itself constitute probable cause by any stretch of the imagination. Absent a criminal investigation, I am under no obligation to prove ownership of my property to anyone, no matter how "easy" or "reasonable" such request might be.
When someone "detains" another person against their will and without legal authority to do so, it's usually considered a crime.
Well technically, she had the option of just leaving without her stuff, right?