# "If we fail to provide a receipt at the time of purchase we'll give you $5" - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729 "2003-10-26T22:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/1 "2003-10-26T22:04:50Z")
Today at a card store I saw a sign saying they’d provide $5 in merchandise if they didn’t provde a receipt, and I’ve seen this elsewhere as well. Sometimes a sign says your meal will be free if they do not hand you a receipt or if the amount shown on the register is different than what you paid. I really don’t care much about a $3 food receipt from a fast food restaurant. Why do stores have these policies? ---
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/2 "2003-10-26T22:09:18Z")
They are probably worried about employees not ringing up the purchase and putting the money in their pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/3 "2003-10-26T22:16:50Z")
That sounds like a good reason, but the employee who is stealing the money would most likely be the one to whom you say “hey I didn’t get a receipt, I want my free meal/$5 in merchandise”. In this case the employee just says “ok here’s your free meal/merchandise, have a nice day” and still end up with the cash. I don’t see how the company would ever find out about it. ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/4 "2003-10-26T22:19:19Z")
Exactly. You’ll usually see signs like this at small shops and stores where there are only one or two employees working. Since the owner can’t be there all the time, this a way to make sure that the employees don’t pocket any ill-gotten money. You may occasionally see this at busier places, but that just means that they’ve had a rash of employees stealing from them and they’re trying to fix the problem. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/5 "2003-10-26T22:23:50Z")
One restaurant I worked at would charge a waiter $25 for a missing ticket not in numerical order. In other words, your wait tickets all have numbers on them & if one isn’t there, then they think you kept the money. In a store that doesn’t use numerical order receipts, that $5 ‘returned to customer’ gets the attention of the accountant I bet. ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/6 "2003-10-26T22:27:30Z")
**Bob55** there is documentation that follows any of these “giveaways”, whether it is cash or merchandise. With cash no documentation is required - you buy a $3 milkshake, crooked employee pockets the money, you say “I didn’t get a receipt! I want $5.” Now either the employee gives you the money out of his pocket, thus being down $2 or he takes it out of the register, thus being down $5 at the end of his shift. A few times like this and the owner/manager is going to know what’s up and the employee will be fired. If you get a coupon, it will document when the infraction took place. When you redeem it it goes into the records, and the owner/manager can look and see who was on duty when the store gave out 15 free meals but recorded no sales. Once again, the crooked employee gets found out. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/7 "2003-10-26T22:50:15Z")
Another possible factor is the requirement at many stores that you need the original sales receipt for any exchange or return. Having the policy of $5 if we don’t give you a receipt makes it easier to enforce your other policy of no refunds/exchanges without a receipt. Since there are many scams connected with returns/exchanges, this policy also helps the store reduce those losses. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-fail-to-provide-a-receipt-at-the-time-of-purchase-well-give-you-5-why/209729/8 "2003-10-26T23:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net) \* > \*\*Another possible factor is the requirement at many stores that you need the original sales receipt for any exchange or return. > \*\* Very true, but I’ve also seen such signs at fast food places, where the whole exchange/return thing is a little different. 🙂 In that case, I figure some of the other theories from earlier in the thread apply.