(Mingo.nl)
Let’s say you’re in a rush after buying a fan at Costco. You look past the line packed with people and carts and spy a lone employee standing by the exit. Do you walk over and show your receipt? What’s the worst that could happen? Let’s ask Reader Shay.
On June 23, 2010 at the [redacted] Costco Center at around 11am I made a quick stop in to return a couple items and to pick a fan. Both the returns process and the checkout went wonderfully as usual. It only took me 2 minutes to get in line and pay for the one item I had.
However when I reached the exit door there was a line of 8 people with baskets of stuff waiting to get out the door. So I went to the other door which does have exit illuminated above it and showed the lady standing there my receipt and one item. She shook her head at me and pointed at the line. When I started to walk out the exit anyways she grabbed a hold of my arm and told me to go to the other line. I told her that I was already running late and the line was moving very slowly, so I continued out the exit. At this point her hand slipped off of my arm and she grabbed a hold of my purse. The first time I politely asked her to let go of me, to which she promptly ignored me. So I continued to walk out the door as she still held onto my purse, eventually grabbing onto it with a second hand and began tugging it. I finally started yelling at her to let go of me when we were in front of the exit area (directly center to both entrances). Even after people started stopping and staring at us, She continued to tug on my purse and would not let go no matter how loud I yelled. She finally let go when I knocked her hands off of my purse with pretty reasonable force.
I was honestly pretty shaken up over this. I really couldn’t believe someone would do this in a public place especially an employee of that store. I sat in my car for about 5 minutes and calmed down. Then I had to find the number for Costco, because no where on my receipt does it list a phone number. I finally got a hold of the stores assistant manger and explained what had happened. He was polite and apologetic and end up meeting me in front of the store so I could point out who had done this to me. He said that he would speak with this Employee and that the Store Manger would call me when he came in.
True to his word the store manger did give me a call a few hours later. He once again apologized for the situation. I explained to what had happened and he confirmed that the statement that the employee had to fill out stated exactly what I had told him.
I have also mailed a letter to the regional manger letting him know exactly what happen as well. This should have never happen to me and I will continue writing to members of Costco Management, to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. There should be a Zero Tolerance Policy for this type of employee behavior.
The lone employee may not have been a loss prevention officer, but that doesn’t excuse her from using common sense. Still, was Shay wrong for trying to cut the line? Should Costco do anything else? Let us know in the comments.
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Funny that she was in such a hurry to cut the line, but then sat in the parking lot looking up phone numbers, talking to managers, etc for probably another 30 minutes.
LMAO…Seriously. Just wait in the damn line. I thought someone trying to skip line would have been beaten by someone that was waiting.
Oh yea, and the 5 minutes of “cooling down” was more than the time it would have took the OP to wait. Was it worth it?
Also, the employee directed the OP properly. The OP felt they were above and beyond the employee and every other customer.
Honestly, I wish the employee just took the item and refused to return it until the OP went through the proper line.
I don’t shop at Costco because they have a ridiculous receipt checking policy that requires you to both stand in a long line to pay for your goods, then another line to have your goods checked.
Since it’s a private club, they have the right to do that. And I take my business elsewhere.
The OP was in a hurry, but had a lots of time to hang out in the car and “calm down,” then call the store, complain, go back into the store and go through a whole process.
If you’re in a hurry to get somewhere important, having a lady grab your purse probably wouldn’t have derailed your progress.
screw the line if you can’t man each door.
if the sign says exit and she went to the exit and there was no line , was she cutting in line?
There should be express lines for receipt checking as well.
I absolutely detest these places that require you to show a receipt when you leave. They are basicly saying that you have stolen a product unless you prove otherwise.
Yes, but there’s a member agreement at Costco that basically says “hey, we’re gonna do this, you ok with it?” If you’re not, don’t sign.
When I read this there was one sentence that really stood out to me.
“So I went to the other door which does have exit illuminated above it and showed the lady standing there my receipt and one item”
It sounds like this lady went out the entrance but that it is marked with and emergency exit sign. Normally Costco does not illuminate the exit sign.
That said I have gotten yelled at for going out the entrance at costco before. Granted I was going out after not buying anything, not cutting inline because I thought my time was more important than anyone else’s.
Bottom line I bet this lady is high maintenance.
i don’t understand people who say waiting “on line”. i’m sorry, it makes no sense. unless there is a line painted on the floor, you are waiting *IN* line.
Claims that the woman shares the blame in this incident seem poorly formulated at best. Stores have loss prevention staff to handle incidents of suspected theft. Those individuals are (or should be) trained in the practice of halting would-be thieves while remaining within the confines of established law.
First of all, simply cutting the line does not satisfy any test approaching reasonable suspicion. While it is most likely not the case that “reasonable suspicion” is the actual test prescribed by law (which probably varies widely depending on state and locality), I am certain that there are standards that must be met in order to discriminate [loss prevention] from [assault].
If costco wishes to cut down on line skipping then they should edit their member application to include something that allows them to revoke a membership based on it happening multiple times. They should not however physically assault those who do it.
There seems to be some confusion of the difference between simply not adhering to a store’s customs and breaking the law. Loss prevention is grounded in the staff’s having witnessed a person committing theft and pursuing them to recover the property. I do not see anything in this account that indicates that anyone in costco had even a suspicion that she had stolen anything.
She was assaulted by an employee who felt their receipt checking authority was being challenged. I do not know of any legal basis for any “authority” of receipt checking as a general nuisance levied upon all shoppers, but I am not a lawyer. There may exist such statutes in some places.
My understanding though is that you are free to forgo the hassle if you so choose and that assault is not a legitimate response for having done so.
I think this woman would have a pretty decent claim, but again, I am not a lawyer.
I feel like Shay has done this type of stuff before.
1) do something a little out of line
2) get someone reacts by getting REALLY out of line
3) collect prize(s)
Also, is it just me but why does it not surprise me someone named Shay acts like a bitch?
Restricting a person’s free movement without lawful cause is unlawful seizure. This is a crime! While Costco has a right to seize and to arrest shoplifters, the store has a legal duty to make sure that prior to seizing, or arresting someone for suspected shoplifting, that the store has lawful probable cause at the time to do so.
The shopper in this case presented the Costco employee with her receipt for the merchandise. The Costco employee did not have lawful probable cause to believe that the merchandise had not been paid for by the shopper. Therefore the Costco employee committed a crime.
The shopper may have possibly violated some term of the their Costco Membership Agreement by exiting though an exit door other that the one the shopper was directed by a Costco employee to exit though. However, no type of membership agreement may ever legally negate your Constitutionally protected rights. Nothing in this case granted the Costco employee any right to physically restrain the shopper’s free movement.
These stupid lines, and these “security” people, shouldn’t be there. If you think you’re suffering too much shoplifting, close your store, or call your congressman, or something other than treating the honest customers you have like criminals. I ALWAYS walk right past these clods. They are not police officers. If they insist, I always return the purchases. And they always try to talk me out of it. I will not patronize a business which treats me like a criminal, period. If they ever touched me, I would press charges for what was done to this woman. SHAME!
Its never taken more than a minute for Costco to check my receipt, even when the line looks long, it seems to go pretty quickly. It was a bad reaction of the employee to grab the purse, the the original fault is on the OP.
Also, how much of a rush was she in if she sat in her car for 5 minutes? I know it may have been a jarring moment, but if you’re so much in a rush, wouldn’t you have waited to you got to your next location to “react.”
This seems like a no brainer. Just because you pay for a membership dues does not give the company the right to physically touch you without any evidence of shoplifting. Walking out without showing a receipt is not evidence of any crime. It feels like Bizaro World reading these comments that justify physical battery because of a receipt or line cutting problem. They could have just viewed the CCTV, figured out who she/he was based on the checkout used, and suspended their membership.
I should have added that an example of assualt is when somebody takes a swing at you, but misses. Just grabbing or hitting somebody is a physical battery.
I don’t think anyone seriously (note seriously) is justifying physicality due to Shay’s actions.
Details aside.. I will focus on her last comment.
I don’t think I believe in Zero tolerance… Everyone can make mistakes… even EXTREME mistakes.. this one borders on the extreme and odd. But still could be a perfectly GREAT employee being an over achiever and not realizing this was overkill for a simple receipt check.
Or it could be a sub par employee yadda yadda.. i am just saying every situation is different, thus each situation cannot fall under a blanket rule.
Yoy stated there was a line of customers waiting to check out. You also stated there was another Costco employee at that exit. What was she there for? Wouldn’t it have been appropriate to simply check out a customer with only one item?
It would have made better customers for that store that would appreciate such consideration.
She was there for checking memberships as people entered, as she was stationed at the entrance.
You cut the line. You’re late? Tough shit.
Personally I would never shop at Cosco. I really have a problem with club stores in the first place. I most assuredly would not like paying for the right to shop there. Then having them treat a paying members like thieves as they walk out the store by checking to see if you have a receipt. Just curious if anyone has ever gone into cosco and not bought anything then get hassled by the door goons for no receipt.
…no, they don’t stop you for a receipt check when you don’t buy anything.
And the membership basically pays for itself – the cash back you get at the end of the year if you actually shop there on a regular basis covers a new membership and then some, nevermind the savings.
Several years ago I worked at both Price Club and eventually Costco before starting my own business. I worked at the door area for the last two years of my employment with them and they considered that part of the security department. Alot of people would try to steal things thruogh the front doors, so that orderly process of checking receipts is necessary.
However, what this employee did was way out of line and wrong, and in some states criminal activity. In the state of California, it may be considered a felony to grab someones purse or wallet in this manner and if it was my case, an arrest of the employee would be eagerly sought.
Man, I’m amazed there are scarecrows left in this world with all these straw men people are building. Aside from the Godwin invoking I think my favorite is the one where saying Shay’s actions were incorrect are like blaming a rape victim for being raped. holy shit people, just because I (or someone else) doesn’t think Shay should be able to line jump and that she should honor her agreement doesn’t mean we also think she should get punched in the face.
I really do not understand why costco has a separate verification of receipts at the exit door. I cannot think of any other retail establishment that checks every single receipt as customers exit. Perhaps they need to rethink their checkout process.
Best Buy and Walmart, for starters. Not illustrious company, but they both do.
You can’t cut the line. Sure, other folks have a lot of stuff in their cart. And with just one item, it felt like you should get to go ahead. Nope. You wait your turn. It’s the fair thing to do. And you got busted. Deal.
The employee shouldn’t have touched the OP.
Now for the internet post part:
However when I reached the exit door there was a line of 8 people with baskets of stuff waiting to get out the door. So I went to the other door which does have exit illuminated above it…
OP is not special. The other “illuminated” exit sign is probably the small square ones that are required in public buildings to show where people can, in an emergency, GTFO. Its not a second exit – the OP was aware of this and chose to seek special treatment. This part of the letter introduces the OP as an asshole. There are alternate doors with exit marked on them in planes too, does OP use them?
She shook her head at me and pointed at the line. When I started to walk out the exit anyways…
Special personal exit, denied. Get back in line. Did OP even try to deal with the receipt checker? “I’m sorry, i just have one item, can u check real quick?” Even if the employee asks you to get back in line, one of the other customers may have let you go ahead, since it is one item. The receipt check lines move pretty fast.
When we would train new employees, my old boss would have a workshop focusing on how to deal with asshole costumers – like the OP. Costco should do something similar using this as a prime example.
customers not costumers in the top post. But those costumers….with their sequins.
The Costco receipt check is a ridiculous procedure to begin with. Carts packed full of items are pseudo-counted by the receipt checker and then sent on it’s way. Then someone with 13 items has to wait twice as long as they actually stop you to count every item to make sure it matches up with the number on the receipt. There not actually READING the receipt to make sure your $18 shrimp pak is the actual one you paid for anyway, or that you paid for one and actually have twow in your cart. They’re just pretending to count the number of items in most cases.
My question is how is anybody going to steal items between the checkout and the door? The whole area is fenced off so there’s no way to just fill up a cart and walk out the door. Additionally, there’s camera’s following everyone in the store, so it’s not like someone actually stealing a cart full of crap isn’t going to get caught.
No cameras you say? Try walking into a Costco without showing your ID card. No matter where you go into the store, a friendly, larger employee will zero in on you within 2 minutes of your illegal arrival. Try it.
Because they have radios and the person checking IDs can tell them which way you headed and it’s not hard to find people.
And partially receipt checking prevents cashiers helping people steal. You can’t jack shit between register and exit, but you sure as hell can not pay for them at register with a little help.
The reason why they check the receipt is to see that there aren’t any additional items that weren’t paid for and also to prevent people from reusing the receipt; ie. taking the shopping cart back to your car putting the stuff in your trunk. Then walking back into the store and picking up the same items again using the same receipt. THIS IS THE REASON WHY MANY LARGE RETAILERS ARE ENFORCING RECEIPT CHECKS.
The cash register area is not the Great Wall of China and if someone wanted to they could easily just walk right past.
Not so fast!
The agreement DOES NOT SAY the member MUST submit his receipt/merchandise for inspection, just that it is a ‘general policy’ that all “receipts and merchandise will be inspected as you leave the store.”
It would be interesting to see if there is any caselaw in this regard as to what a customer’s rights and obligations are.
What does “inspected” mean? Simple: the “loss prevention associate” can see that I have a receipt and that I have merchandise in a bag.
Can the LPA look in the bag? “No you may not. Good day, sir.”
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This may be all academic, as without the actual agreement (not the brochure the parent linked to), we’re just spittin’ into the wind.
I would interpret “will be inspected” that you have to do it. I mean, how is your shit gonna get inspected if you don’t let them do it?
WTF? Rules aren’t meant for you? Get in the effing line, lady.
It’s a shame the security guard didn’t beat the woman up. You know how many times I’ve followed rules standing in a line only to see some tool bag, cut because they think their time is so valuable.
Frankly there’s only 1 person’s fault here and it’s the line cutter. If she had followed the rules like every one else this would have happened. Unfortunately she was an impatient moron who feel entitled to not having to wait in line despite paying the same amount of money for a membership. It’s sad that someone had to lose their job because of some idiot, who is now deciding to be a loud mouth by posting it all over the internet and sending emails to managers when clearly the personnel involved have already been notified.
Would I be legally allowed to act if my girlfriend was accosted by a store employee like this? I’m rather large and possibly intimidating to receipt checkers so they don’t bother me, but they heckle her just about every time.
Seems like both parties are at fault here…..The shopper shouldn’t have cut the line and the employee had no right to touch her or her bag.
It would have taken her less time to just get in line like she has probably done every other time she’s been to the store. Even 8 carts will go past the receipt checker in a minute or so.
If you are so late that you can’t afford 60 seconds then you should have chosen another time to go to Costco.
This is a self-centered person with a sense of entitlement, that her time is more precious than every one else’s time. I have no sympathy for her.
Costco should just cancel her membership and ask her not to come back.
Phrases like “False Imprisonment” or “Battery” come to my mind. Unless the employee was positive this person was shoplifting, having actually seen her pilfering, there is no excuse for getting physical.
So you want to use the EXIT door because you don’t feel like waiting. But you wait in your car for 5 minutes from being shook up, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have waited 5 minutes in line to get your receipt checked. Or…..
You stole something, put it in your purse and forgot about the security devices at the exit. You decided to use this other EXIT most likely without security devices. You cause a big scene, leave through the EXIT door anyway, go to your car to hide what you just stole. Then call the manager so they don’t come looking for you.
The employee shouldn’t have touched the customer, but the first thing I think when someone tries to circumvent the receipt checker and security devices is “What are they trying to steal?”
I have no problem with Costco marking my receipt as I leave the store to prevent theft. I do have a problem with the person at the door going through my cart to “Make sure I got everything I paid for”. Costco must have a problem with customers who are so stupid that they cannot walk from the checkout to the door without losing something.
When I pay for my items and get the receipt the items in the cart are mine. Costco has no right to handle my possessions.
To all the Lemmings who think that Ms Alexander is in the wrong I say, “The cliff is coming up, run faster”.
Paying $50 a year for a membership fee and then being treated like a shoplifting suspect at the exit is why I don’t shop at Costco.
Action -> Consequences
This isn’t ‘Nam, there are rules.
Force is never ok. If the employee thought the woman was thieving, she should follow her to her car and report her plate, or report her as per the company manual. We don’t get to physically abuse other humans like this, line jumper or no.
On a semi related note, Once I was walking to the receipt checker and this old dude and his wife raced up behind me and cut in line with their cart full of crap. They tried to sneak past the person in front of me. The checker, being awesome, made them wait until after me
The aggression was strange, though. Cutting someone off in traffic like that is a jerk move but all you can do is honk and wave a finger. In this case, the guy was right there.. arms distance… some people. My boyfriend and I just made snide comments about how they were obviously in a hurry to get to the store and buy an outfit made in this century, etc.. and then the checker told them to step aside.
1. I know the legal definition of assault and battery… but comeon. You ask anyone that is a victim of REAL assault and batter about her case and they’d want to show her assault. It’s like a case where a guy honestly accidently touched the ass of a woman in a crowded store while shopping. By her definition, he raped her by lightly brushing his hand accross her ass while walking by her and he even said “I’m so sorry” when he realized what he had done. Get over yourself OP.
2. She KNEW she was going out the wrong door and assumed that she could just show the employee and walk on. The employee even corrected her before “assaulting” her. The OP is a pompous entitlement freak who ignored the verbal directions because she was too important to wait like everyone else.
3. I hope that Costco cancels her membership.
4. If she sues Costco, I’d hope the judge makes her pay for full legal fees and throws it out.
5. Can we stop with the receipt nazi stories now? They are old, we all know the law and we will continue to shop where we can afford or have memberships.
So to this lady, lack of time means you can ignore rules you agreed to (showing your receipt) when exiting?
The people calling for assault charges fail to understand this wouldn’t have happen had she waited in line? The logic employed by some is very questionable.
Both parties are at fault in this case and Shay should suck it up and say “oops my bad” and chalk it up to a learning experience. If they are that fragile and hurt by the encounter I’d hate to have them deal with truly traumatic situations some day…go to another branch or stick it to them with your wallet and switch to Sam’s Club.
It all comes down to this…, Customer asks if she could check out at other “exit” which is really the entrance. Costco employee says no, Customer decides to ignore her and leaves anyway. Translation: “Screw You”. This is what caused this whole incident.
Employee of course should not have done what she did, but this OP is an arrogant you know what. She did what a teenager does to a parent when the parent says “no, you can’t go to that party.” All this would have been prevented if this customer would have just waited in line for just 60 seconds like everyone else. Case closed.
Yes, Costco should do something else, Cancel her membership. When she joined she agreed to follow the “guidelines” of being a member.
Assaulted?!?!?! Really?!?! Someone grabbing your purse is assault? Yes the employee was out of line, but so were you, LITERALLY. As for you being late, you couldn’t wait 1 or *gasp* possibly 2 minutes, but you could wait around to find the number, call the Costco, and talk to a manager. I think being late is just an excuse. Please don’t write in for our sake, we will wait our turns in line like grownups.
They should not have laid a hand on her. That’s assault, regardless of receipt policy. The same thing happened to me once- I’d returned to the store after a purchase to replace a broken carton of berries, which I showed the door checker on the way in. On the way out, I had no hands free because I was carrying a baby, so I just showed her the carton and continued out, figuring she’d recognize the person who had JUST showed them on the way in. TL;DR, she assaulted me, pulled my child from my arms, and dropped him on the pavement. She was disciplined.
Was OP an ass for trying to cut the line? Yes
Did she hold up her end of the contract that normally exists with shopping clubs? Technically yes.
Was the employee wrong to grab her? Yes
Did the manager do what he was supposed to? More than likely yes.
I’m not sure how this has spurred a heated debate on if this that or the other is a specific way when the story makes it pretty clear.
My only thought on this is if it were a different person IE, someone who carries a concealed weapon or is very jumpy, the story could have ended with the employee either being killed or seriously injured and we would then be arguing about how the customer used excessive force and that guns should be banned, etc.
These kind of situations happen every day. People make bad judgement calls in the heat of the moment, some more ridiculous than others. Be it a calm and normal situation, heat of the moment decisions are normally cloudy unless you have been trained to handle such situations properly. This makes me question what the official Costco policy is for customers who bypass the receipt check system. Could be that anyone who refuses or just flat out leaves is suspected of theft and is then detained.
I highly doubt the employee had such training on detaining someone as she grabbed her purse.
Just my .02
why should she get any special treatment? next time the employee should just tackle her to the ground
The OP is wrong, plain and simple. She cut a line to try and present her receipt to an employee who wasn’t supposed to be checking receipts. She should grow up, understand that when she signed up for membership, she agreed to adhere to a number of rules. She doesn’t like it? Go shop somewhere else.
I shop at COSTCO frequently, and I am happy to wait in line to pay, and to show my receipt upon exit. I follow the rules and I am proud of it.