Receipt checking at the door

[kadee]

Just wanted ya'al to be aware...you don't have to in most cases.

articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/article.aspx?post=de3d27c1-616d-41ba-b0c5-514c19f9d2ee

If at Costco or Sam's you've most likely agreed to this when you joined, but other stores....? Check your local laws.

[kadee]

Receipt checks -- where store employees review your receipt at the exit to make sure you've paid for everything in your cart or bags -- are typically voluntary.



Somebody needs to let the store employees know that.

[kgb18]

I guess I don't mind if they stop to check my receipt. I'm not stealing anything, so I've got nothing to hide. Stores, unfortunately, have to institute stricter loss prevention programs because of thieves.

[Urban Chicago]

It only bugs me when I'm not thinking and put the receipt in my purse right away, only to have to dig it out again when I see the line at the door.

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 23, 2010 8:44:04 GMT -5 kgb18 said:

I guess I don't mind if they stop to check my receipt. I'm not stealing anything, so I've got nothing to hide. Stores, unfortunately, have to institute stricter loss prevention programs because of thieves.

I agree to a point...however, I think that is only going to catch employee collusion (not ringing everyhting up)...if I am going to steal something, it's not like I am going to put it IN the bag...and most places have cameras at their registers to catch employee collusion so I am not sure how much checking the receipts at the door is really going to catch.

[floridayankee]

Dec 23, 2010 8:44:04 GMT -5 kgb18 said:

I guess I don't mind if they stop to check my receipt. I'm not stealing anything, so I've got nothing to hide. Stores, unfortunately, have to institute stricter loss prevention programs because of thieves.

I don't really care either. IMHO, checking the receipt is, at most, keeping an honest person honest. They're just going through the motions. If you have a whole cart load of stuff and a receipt that's 3 feet long, they're not really checking a darned thing.

If it deters just one theft, I'm fine with it. Theft raises prices for all of us.

[Anne_in_VA]

It annoys me to have a receipt checker with a line at the door, especially at this time of year. I've gotten stuck in a line to get out the door and it's aggravating when I'm in a hurry. I've seen people go around and go out the in door.

[hoops902]

Dec 23, 2010 10:28:47 GMT -5 Anne_in_VA said:

It annoys me to have a receipt checker with a line at the door, especially at this time of year.

Just walk on past. I don't mind letting them check if there's no line, but i've walked past several lines of shoppers waiting to have their receipts checked. I've had threats of calling police but nothing's ever happened. The only dramatic thing that's actually occurred is one of the employees tried to grab a bag out of my hand when I walked past him.

[Anne_in_VA]

I'll have to remember that hoops!

[Deleted]

Its just one of those annoying things in the world that you have to put up with, Its probably never cost me more than 30 seconds or a minute in any shopping trip.

Its much to small of an issue for me to stand up for my 'civil rights', kind of like the group that hated to show their ID when using their credit card, not worth my time for civil disobedience.

[TD2K]

I don't have a major problem with receipt checking as long as it's a mattter of showing the receipt as I'm walking by. If Walmart expects me to line up again when they work through everyone after I've already stood in line to pay for the item, forget it.

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 26, 2010 14:54:04 GMT -5 TD2K said:

I don't have a major problem with receipt checking as long as it's a mattter of showing the receipt as I'm walking by. If Walmart expects me to line up again when they work through everyone after I've already stood in line to pay for the item, forget it.

Wal-Mart??? I guess I will add that to my reasons to avoid Wal-Mart...Target never checks my receipt

[zibazinski]

I've never been to a Walmart that does that.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

It looks token to me. At the most they only count the number of items and check off the number on the receipt. I only get checked 50% of the time. Only seen it at Wal-Mart and Sam's club (same company)

[zibazinski]

Only had it happen at Sams and Costco.

[Deleted]

Well let's see:

1. If I didn't want a store to check my receipt, then I wouldn't go there in the first place. I think it would be dumb to go there knowing they might want to check my receipt & then not letting them.
2. I want them to make a profit so I don't mind if seeing them check my receipt reminds thieves not to steal from them.

And finally I would MUCH RATHER have them hiring people to check my receipts than to have to pay those same people to sit on their butts at home thru taxes. It's better better for the people to be able to work & better for me (cause I object to paying people to sit on their butts). Also most of those people checking receipts are OLDER & they need the jobs (are they would be working there).
As for some of the problems that I've read about where people put up an active "fight" (or tug of war) with the employee I've never seen it around here (we have respect for people older than we are). If I were to see it as I walked by I would accidentally bump them in the throat with my elbow & just keep walking. My guess would be while they were on the ground a lot of other people would accidentally step on them on the way out. You don't do tug of war with an older person, period (it's disrespectful).

[wvugurl26]

Only happens to me at Sams. Never had it happen at WalMart unless the cashier misses deactivating a security sensor. And half the time they just wave you on through. And I've been to a couple WalMarts in questionable parts of town.

[8 Bit WWBG]

This is a very popular topic at the consumerist. Yes, if its not a membership based place where you "agreed" to the checks by signing up, the store probably does not have the express right to demand your receipt.

The question then boils down to whether or not you'd rather spend the 15 seconds to show your receipt, or the 45 minutes arguing with the checker, the manager, and the cops.

[Deleted]

they do that at our local KMart. We don't have to wait long, and it's the same guy so if we only have 1 or 2 things he just waves us along.

[hoops902]

Dec 27, 2010 9:55:51 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

The question then boils down to whether or not you'd rather spend the 15 seconds to show your receipt, or the 45 minutes arguing with the checker, the manager, and the cops.

15 seconds wouldn't be bad. I've been to stores where they have 30 registers open and 2 people checking receipts (and actually checking them relatively closely). I've waited in lines there for 5 minutes without the line significantly moving, so I just left. I'm not sure where the 45 minutes comes from, there's nothing to argue, you just go get in your car and leave.

Sams isn't bad, it's their policy all the time and they've got it down. The trouble is when Wal-Mart opts to do it for the holidays and doesn't have enough employees doing it combined with the massive cartloads of merchandise people are leaving with. (and the employees that do it aren't usually doing it year round and have random thoroughness from glancing at the cart, to picking through it bag by bag).

I'm not so worried about it from a "you can't do that so I'm going to say no to it" standpoint. I just don't see it as anything different than someone walking up to me and asking if they can waste 10 minutes of my time. If you can do it in under a minute, go for it, if you're going to waste any more of my time then why would i bother since there's no downside to me just walking right on past?

[honeybunny66]

This used to happen to me all the time at WalMart. Was told that they only check packages not in bags. (Yeah, right). The last straw was a Sunday when I was picking up meds for my MIL who had just been released from the hospital. The meds were in a pharmacy bag as well as a Wal-Mart bag. Nevertheless, someone stopped me at the door to verify that I had paid for the meds. I was told that they had to check each time to make sure that people were not stealing. When questioned about this, I was informed "You'd be suprised at what people steal." Upon learning that I had dropped my receipt in my purse, the checker tried to send me on my merry way. I refused and held the line up until I could find the receipt. I know, pretty evil but since I apparently fit the profile of medicine thief, you shouldn't take my word that I paid the bill. Anyway, that ended my long-time relationship with Wal-Mart, I now go to Kroger's, Target, etc. before I set foot in WalMart.

[thyme4change]

I think racial profiling works for me here. I'm in a mixed neighborhood and I don't feel I'm the target of these things. I look white, middle aged and at least middle class.

In fact, the alarm went off the other day when I left Best Buy. I had 3 items in my bag and we spent $500. They didn't even check my receipt - just looked at me and pretended to look in my bag and let me go. We had bought a phone at the phone center, and paid for all of our items there. We could have easily gone over and dropped the Flip camera into the bag before heading out the door.

I've never been subject to any sort of check where they would have actually figured out I had stolen something.

[973beachbum]

Walmart is only supposed to check the items that aren't in a bag. Like I buy big bags of dog food or a big pack of TP. They are supposed to make sure that those items are on the receipt and didn't get forgotten.

I have never had them check my receipt if everything was put in the bag though.

[kadee]

When you join Sam's or Costco you have most likely agreed to have your receipt checked at the door!
I don't particularly like getting stopped to have mine checked in any other place including Walmart and have refused! I will continue to refuse...they don't have a right to do it! I've given up enough of my rights & am going to fight for this one.

Just have one question for them..."Do you have a search warrant?" If not, it is NOT legal for them to check in my state & a couple of them have found out!

[stillontheroad]

I don't have a major problem with receipt checking as long as it's a mattter of showing the receipt as I'm walking by. If Walmart expects me to line up again when they work through everyone after I've already stood in line to pay for the item, forget it.

My thoughts exactly. I've never made a fuss over getting a receipt checked because I've never had to wait in line to do it. If a store expects that I'm going to wait in line for it, they're mistaken.

I'm all for cracking down on shoplifting, but I don't shoplift, so I don't feel the need to be inconvenienced.