Story Comments

First of all, all of you legal geniuses should know that while stores do have the right to prosecute shoplifters, they ABSOLUTELY do NOT have any right to detain one for not showing one's receipt. And to all you who can't understand why people object to this, you should read Kano1's earlier post.

As for me, if they refuse to 'let' me leave without a receipt check, I will return my merchandise and shop somewhere else.

I don't like the receipt check, mainly because it sometimes means standing in another line. But I think it should be perfectly OK for the store to do this. I don't like shoplifting and would be happy to give up a little of my time to thwart it because I know, in the end, shoplifting costs ME money in higher prices. Moreover, a society that facilitates shoplifting is a society headed for trouble. What irritates me is people who brazenly refuse to have their receipts checked, who complain about security checks at airports, and who behave as though they are above the law. Maybe they are within their legal rights, but they are showing the crooks how to get away with stealing and I don't buy the argument that 'it violates my rights' to have someone check me out. I may be in the minority on this subject, but I don't go around violating the law and using my 'civil rights' as a way to avoid detection and prosecution. It is one thing to 'presume innocent' when trying someone for a crime. It is ...(Read more of this comment)quite another to encourage an environment where one can easily violate the law with little risk of being caught.(Show less of this comment)

I don't shoplift and just ignoring the receipt police usually works well for me (and, just saying 'no thanks, have a nice day' while ignoring all responses from the receipt checker works the remainder of the time). Certainly if I _were_ shoplifting or engaged in a fraudulent scheme, I would bypass the receipt police just as I do today -- which makes me wonder what good the checking does. Do the checkers ever actually catch any fraudulent behavior?

Wow, the checkers are just a security blanket. They're there to make everyone feel better. I was a very sucessful shoplifter for the better part of a decade (i've since 'retired', you never think you'll get caught when you're young) and not only were they not a problem, as you all have pointed out, if you just keep walking, they just leave you alone. They may deter someone trying to haul out a tv, or any other version of major larceny, but they'll never even notice the thousands of pocketable item walking out the door. Any loss prevention agent will tell you, the vast majority of loss is the death by a thousand cuts, lots of small losses. Not a lot of tvs walk out, but you should see the cds run.

In response to Mikey193 ... people do steal things WITH a receipt. It happens every day. They are very complex schemes that often involve the cashier. They ring up enough product at the register (often inexpensive items) to drop people's suspicions and then walk out the door with thousands of dollars worth of free product that never made it past the scanner. These reciept checkers often look for the expensive product in your cart to make sure it was rung properly. If you want to avoide this minor intrusion, be prepared for much higher prices next time you want to make your purchase more conveniently.

From a business standpoint, receipt checking is inefficient. From a legal standpoint, businesses have a right to prosecute shoplifters. I agree that some receipt checkers are overzealous in their job. They can be rude and sometimes downright confrontational. If the big box stores wanted to convince me that they really have the interest of the store and customer at heart, then either a security officer or someone 'deputised' by the store with the authority to check my bags should be stationed at the exit. In my opinion, that task is too much for most senior citizens making minimum wage. They don't need the headache. As far as medicines go, you can buy the medication at the pharmacy dept. and have the receipt stapled to the outside of the bag without displaying its contents.

Kano1 has a point. I've never been door-checked at a pharmacy but I suppose it does happen sometimes. More of a problem in small towns than the big city, I suppose.

What if you bought an item that was private or 'embarrassing' to you (like a prescrIption). Shouldn't a special cream for your fungus or your preferred birth control be between your doctor, pharmacist, and you?

As long as the checker at the door is courteous and efficient, I don't see what the big deal is. I can't recall any problems at the Home Depot or the Costco where my receipts get a cursory glance. If this short pause keeps my price down I'm happy. Having run a store in my youth, I'm well aware how theft can bite into a retailer's net -- and complicate the job of keeping stock on the shelves for paying customers.

I flat out refuse to show my receipt, under my states law they cant force me to. As I know I have legally paid for the items, I tell them call the police I'm driving a blue chevy and I hope you can prove that I have stolen something and that you have a good lawyer and I keep walking. So far no one has taken me up on my offer. The guy at Best buy yelled at me a bit as I walked away but that was it. I no longer shop there. The people stealing arent going to have a receipt to show, they just run. Maybe sometime I'll have the checker only place one item in each bag, that will be fun watching them try to check each one.

Not only is it annoying and time consuming to have to stop for the 'Receipt Police', but they give no warning at the register, consequently by the time I get stopped, I have already mindlessly put my receipt away somewhere & have to stop & search my pockets & pocketbook in order to leave the store.

This fraud is common. It has happened twice that I am aware of, and the fraud is massive, with hundreds of thousands of consumers affected. The first was in Houston at Randall's Market about ten years ago. It led to the sale of the market to Safeway when the fraud made news. The second is more recent, at Office Max. The only information that made the news {recently) was involvement by Office Max in a massive identity theft prosecution that extended to Russia. You may never know it is happening to you until you are yourself defrauded.

Fight back!! Take every opportunity to put barriers in the way of these practices and policies. It is only in this way that upper management can be aware of the inane actions of middle management and work to resolve the issues.

The reason middle managers give for the policy, when challenged, is that they want to protect their customers from credit card fraud. It does not. In fact it increases the odds of a consumer being defrauded. What it does in fact do is reduce the charge-back cost from local banks to the retailer for fraudulent use of credit cards. What is really happening is the transfer of fraud risk by the retailer from them to the consumer.

If the consumer is foolish enough to give ID to the store clerk, he is exposing at one place and time two of three pieces of information necessary to perpetrate identity theft. All that is then required is a Social Security number. Personally, I do not trust store clerks with even my credit card number, but I am forced to provide it to make a purchase.

It just amazes me how the ignorant consumer is willing to give up his/her rights to the madness of an out of control humongous retail organization. It the well intentioned but uninformed middle manager that sets these strange policies that inconvenience the consumer and end up taking money out of our pockets.

The most egregious practice that I routinely encounter is the demand for additional identification when using a credit card. This practice is prohibited by the merchant rules of all major credit card companies and is punishable by a $25 fine per incident to the merchant. If they practice this as policy, the fines will mount up rather quickly. This still does not inhibit ignorant middle managers from writing the practice into store policy. The practice is a misdemeanor in the state of California.

The reason middle managers give for the policy, when challenged, is that they want to protect their customers from credit card fraud. It does not. In fact it inc...(Read more of this comment)reases the odds of a consumer being defrauded. What it does in fact do is reduce the charge-back cost from local banks to the retailer for fraudulent use of credit cards. What is really happening is the transfer of fraud risk by the retailer from them to the consumer.

If the consumer is foolish enough to give ID to the store clerk, he is exposing at one place and time two of three pieces of information necessary to perpetrate identity theft. All that is then required is a Social Security number. Personally, I do not trust store clerks with even my credit card number, but I am forced to provide it to make a purchase.

This fraud is common. It has happened twice that I am aware of, and the fraud is massive, with hundreds of thousands of consumers affected. The first was in Houston at Randall's Market about ten years ago. It led to the sale of the market to Safeway when the fraud made news. The second is more recent, at Office Max. The only information that made the news {recently) was involvement by Office Max in a massive identity theft prosecution that extended to Russia. You may never know it is happening to you until you are yourself defrauded.

Fight back!! Take every opportunity to put barriers in the way of these practices and policies. It is only in this way that upper management can be aware of the inane actions of middle management and work to resolve the issues.(Show less of this comment)

I do agree that our liberties are slowly being eroded, and that protest is the way to make your feelings known. However, assaulting the employee is cowardly. Whether it is physical, verbal abuse, stuffing a receipt down your pants (that is funny, though), or simply not making eye contact and fleeing the store. These are people doing a minimum wage job (many with no other skills) and/or trying to supplement their Social Security and are struggling through their day in a thankless job and have been put to an odious task by their manager/higher-up policy makers. These employees rarely, if ever, see the benefit of the price savings these practices were intented to insure. If you really want to make your point and let them know how you feel, then demand to see the manager, have him/her check your cart or better yet stick your receipt down your pants in front of them. You'll be a hero not only to every other individual who finds this practice humiliating, but the employee will get the enj...(Read more of this comment)oyment of seeing their manager having to actually endure what they have to do every single day.(Show less of this comment)

I personally feel that it is no big deal to show a store employee my receipt. it takes a short time to show them that I purchased my products at their store. A whole lot less time than to stand and argue with them and I can understand since there are people that steal. To me it is just being proud and arrogant to refuse to show a receipt. Those who chack are just doing what they are told to do by their supervisors. I personally don't want them to lose their job because I have pompous attitude. I will continue to show them my receit if they need to see it.
radiance

Based on the comments I see, it is no wonder how our freedoms have slowly eroded over time. Every time a new law/policy/procedure is put into place, the short thinkers look only at that specific enactment and (somehow) find reasons to justify it. The US is not 'naturally' the best country in the world, we are the best because we have historically chosen to protect our Constitution. While the act of searching your bags, or being pulled over for not wearing your seat belt, or being subjected to a roadblock set up to find drunks has been justified by those who can only see the 'immediate' benefit, I am concerned that our ever-eroding Constitutional rights are not being protected by the citizens of our wonderful nation.

It amazes me when I see people that gripe and complain over something as simple as a company protecting its assets. We all want lower prices and at the same time we must understand that there are people out there that take their itty-bitty brains and use them for ingenious new ways to try and steal. The honest hard-working patron is indeed penalized somewhat. That's just the way it is. Our society see something wrong and in many cases, turns their head rather than gets involved and does what's right. I am in retail and know firsthand of instances where people have tried to just run out the door with a buggy of merchandise. I just recently deterred a theft of over $1,000 of merchandise that took them all of 2 minutes. That's how fast it happens and when it does, we all pay in the long run. If you see something suspicious, what's wrong with telling someone without being noticed? You will not have to be put in a witness protection program. If everyone helped solve this problem mo...(Read more of this comment)re, we would all save and cut deep into this yearly mult-billion dollar retail problem. (Show less of this comment)

'Receipt goons'? I admit I've only shopped at Wal-Mart maybe one or twice but every other store I've been to that checks receipts usually has some bored kid standing there marking receipts in some manner and not really even checking what you bought. So I don't know where people are coming up with this huffy, 'holier than thou' attitude that they're too good to have their receipts checked. Really, what is the big deal? You got your receipt from the cashier and less than 30 seconds later, while the receipt is still in your hand, you let the 'receipt goon' mark it. I would not even classify this as an inconvenience let alone an 'assault on my dignity'. With all the theft going on these days, I'm surprised retailers aren't doing more the prevent losing millions, if not billions of dollars. People who think having their receipts checked on the way out is some sort of personal affront really need to get over themselves. These are probably the same people who don't think they need the...(Read more of this comment)ir luggage checked through security when getting on airplanes either!(Show less of this comment)

I am Libertarian by nature, BUT the amount of theft that goes on today (and probably yesterday too) is staggering and warrants additional controls. The dignity issue has me scratching my head. It isn't as though you are being singled out... Everybody gets checked. BTW, I have been saved money at Costco by the receipt inspector finding a double charge. It cuts both ways.

To begin with, I've never really had a problem with receipt checking, since I am well aware of how theft can bleed retailers dry. And I have absolutely NO sympathy for someone who claims that receipt checking by Wal Mart somehow impinges on their dignity. Dude, you lost your dignity the minute you decided to shop at Wal Mart!