# Walmart receipt checker foiled! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607 "2011-03-14T01:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/141 "2011-03-28T01:49:19Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > You’d be surprised at how many people will come inside and prepay _in cash_, then drive-off without pumping any gas. No, no, I wouldn’t … it sounds exactly like something I would do. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/142 "2011-03-28T05:37:53Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Since I know a lot of people who work for some of the aforementioned companies, and I know the analytical rigor that goes into it, I’m thinking they are probably right. I wish we were privy to such details as many stores don’t have to resort to such tactics. I wonder what the economical differences are that result in this disparity. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/143 "2011-03-28T12:37:25Z")
What I don’t understand is why people are jerks and refuse to give cashiers their zip codes or other information when making a purchase. I mean, why make an issue of it; you don’t have to shop there. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/144 "2011-03-28T13:45:03Z")
You don’t HAVE to be a jerk to refuse to give the cashier a zip code or phone number. When asked “May I have your info?” I just reply, very brightly, “Nope”. The cashier seems to brace him/herself for an argument for a second, and then punches in whatever s/he needs to punch in to indicate that the customer refuses to give that information. As long as I’m not a jerk about it, and don’t throw a hissy fit about how evil the store is in general and the cashier is in particular, that cashier doesn’t CARE whether I give the info or not. Now, some stores track their customers by phone number for discounts. I used to go to such a store. I was ASSURED that I’d never get a phone call from them, unless I’d left a possession in the store or some such. Three times they called me with a recorded message of a sale. Twice I told them that I was not supposed to be on their calling list. The third time I went down to the store, asked to see the manager, and told her that I was no longer a customer. Now, I wasn’t one of their biggest customers, I’m sure, but I had been in the habit of swinging around and going crazy every couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/145 "2011-03-28T18:46:24Z")
Foiled again! NY Daily News [article](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/28/2011-03-28_pregnant_woman_and_her_mom_attack_71yearold_at_walmart_cops.html). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/146 "2011-03-29T01:05:33Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Foiled again! > > NY Daily News [article](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/28/2011-03-28_pregnant_woman_and_her_mom_attack_71yearold_at_walmart_cops.html). A 71 year old accosted a healthy young **pregnant** \* woman and her mother\*\*? Over a issue that drives even such reasonable people as Doper into a frenzy? Is 71 too old for the Darwin Award? - read: ‘crazed by hormones or the desperate need to pee’ \*\* read: ‘more protective of her offspring than lioness and so equally crazed’ ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/147 "2011-03-29T01:44:04Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > I wish we were privy to such details as many stores don’t have to resort to such tactics. I wonder what the economical differences are that result in this disparity. Physical layout of the store, size of items sold, type of items sold. I can’t speak to Wal-Mart, since I don’t shop there, but I’m familiar with the Costco check procedure because I do shop there. In Costco’s case, most everything they sell is rather large - I think the smallest item I’ve ever found there is a 2-pound brick of butter. This means that shoplifting is harder than it is at someplace like Target, which has lots of small items (and clothing, which is even easier to conceal on your person). They offer self-checkout, which means that someone could fail to scan items on the cart, deliberately or not, and walk out with something for nothing. By checking the receipt and cart for big-ticket items, they cut down on this. And by having the receipt-checker at the door, they deter people from trying it (not determined shoplifters, of course, but they’re a different matter entirely). It’s a form of signalling - “we are watching to make sure you do not steal from us.” I think that’s what people are objecting to - the underlying message that the checker is sending is indeed that the store doesn’t trust us. It’s annoying and offensive to not be trusted. Like Dangerosa, though (not surprisingly, what with us being married), I don’t find it annoying, because I get why they’re doing it. They’re not trying to send me a message; they’re trying to run their store in the way that makes them the most money. Costco operates on fairly thin margins, and losses on stuff like netbooks and GPS would be hard to take. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/148 "2011-03-30T11:31:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I expected the SDMB would be more or less wholeheartedly on the side of the rights and freedoms of the exiting shopper. Weird It’s not just about the shopper, it’s also about the minimum wage schlub who’s trying to earn enough money to eat that week. He has a job to do, it’s a shitty job, and I can help out my fellow man by smiling, being nice, and letting him do his job. Yes, I’m making a supreme sacrifice, 10 seconds of my day is wasted, but it’s worth it. Anyway, my son really likes the receipt checkers at Costco, they put smiley faces on the back of the receipt. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/149 "2011-03-30T12:25:35Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It’s not just about the shopper, it’s also about the minimum wage schlub who’s trying to earn enough money to eat that week. He has a job to do, it’s a shitty job, and I can help out my fellow man by smiling, being nice, and letting him do his job. His job is to ask for receipts. I’m happy to let him ask for receipts. I won’t beat him up or yell at him or criticize him or lecture him or give him any kind of hard time for asking for my receipt. He can ask all day long. My polite refusal to comply with his request does not interfere with his job (i.e., asking to see my receipt). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/150 "2011-03-30T12:40:23Z")
Generally speaking, it annoys the piss out of me to have some dumbass at Fry’s or Wal-Mart ask for my receipt and then scrawl something unintelligible on it with a pink highlighter. I usually will still stop anyway if it’s just me and him(or her)- even though I find it distasteful, I don’t have to cause a scene or be an ass. If there’s a line or any sort of delay, I don’t slow down and just leave. For good or ill, this isn’t much of an issue for me. I go to Fry’s once in a blue moon, and my local Wal-Mart only seems to pester the black and hispanic customers. (and it’s black, arab or hispanic employees doing it!) I haven’t been stopped at that Wal-Mart yet. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/151 "2011-03-30T13:04:02Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > My polite refusal to comply with his request does not interfere with his job (i.e., asking to see my receipt). I kind of figure his job is to check receipts. As in, when the job is explained to him, it presumably focuses more on what to look for when checking receipts than how to pronounce “May I see your receipt?” I see it as a minimally invasive step in the purchasing process that helps reduce the overall cost of operating the store. Lowering costs by reducing theft is better for everybody, except thieves. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/152 "2011-03-30T13:12:33Z")
We have some really heroic types in this thread who demonstrate this toughness by showing some poor low end worker that they know their rights and are not going to comply with some store policy. I eagerly await the next time this tough nuts post that they aren’t game to ask a female out and what should they do in this relationship. Ah, the smell of testosterone on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/153 "2011-03-30T13:29:53Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Since when is it my responsibility to waste my time submitting to a voluntary receipt check? To what purpose? Because it helps the wheels of commerce turn smoothly, and (much more importantly) it prevents you coming across as an obnoxious prick. Flashing a receipt for a few seconds is hardly a big waste of time. Stopping and ranting about your rights and causing a scene for several minutes, holding up other shoppers and calling on supervisors to attend your little one-man rights demo, and then going home and proudly typing up a blow-by-blow account of your Mighty Strike For The Oppressed Consumer and posting it on the internet? That’s a waste of time. If you really want to make a stand, then by all means avoid shops that have a ticket-checking policy. That way you won’t be in my way when I’m trying to get out of the shop. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/154 "2011-03-30T13:46:54Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I kind of figure his job is to check receipts. Sure, and a salesman’s job is to sell you stuff. If you don’t buy everything a salesman tries to sell you, you’re not letting him do his job. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/155 "2011-03-30T13:57:27Z")
If I didn’t steal anything, checking my receipt dose exactly nothing to prevent theft. The wheels of commerce have already turned. They have the money and I possess goods that are now my property and nobody else’s business. I don’t need to cause a scene to refuse a receipt check. I just leave the store and ignore them. How is this a problem? If the employee chooses to flail and yell or illegally detain me, that’s their choice to be an obnoxious prick, not mine. I have no obligation to even acknowledge them, and I don’t. It really isn’t a big deal, and so far every store I’ve been to still seems quite happy to accept my money. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/156 "2011-03-30T17:52:45Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Because it helps the wheels of commerce turn smoothly, and (much more importantly) it prevents you coming across as an obnoxious prick. No, it doesn’t. If I have taken nothing, then the receipt check is nothing but a waste. Also, I don’t care how I come across to a receipt checker on my way out of a shop. > [@](#): > > Flashing a receipt for a few seconds is hardly a big waste of time. That’s why I show my receipt if I’m the only customer there. I simply walk out without a fuss if there is any more delay than that. > [@](#): > > Stopping and ranting about your rights and causing a scene for several minutes, holding up other shoppers and calling on supervisors to attend your little one-man rights demo, and then going home and proudly typing up a blow-by-blow account of your Mighty Strike For The Oppressed Consumer and posting it on the internet? That’s a waste of time. Yup. I’m glad I don’t do that. If I was illegally detained, however, there would be a fuss, and it wouldn’t be my fault. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/157 "2011-03-30T19:12:12Z")
The stupidity of people amazes me sometimes. All this over a simple request. geez :eek: > [@](#): > > An Elyria woman who allegedly attacked a 71-year-old Walmart greeter over the weekend pleaded not guilty at her arraignment today in Elyria Municipal Court. > > Toni Duncan, 49, is charged with assault in the case in which she allegedly attacked the man when he asked to see a receipt when she and 21-year-old Ashley Jackson were leaving the store on Saturday. Duncan alleged pushed a shopping cart into the man before choking him and threatening to punch him. [http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/03/30/woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-attacking-walmart-greeter/](http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/03/30/woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-attacking-walmart-greeter/) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/158 "2011-03-30T19:15:25Z")
Some people really overreact to simple situations. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/159 "2011-03-30T20:06:01Z")
Now _there’s_ a Rosa Parks for ya. ---
**Author:** ![Khristy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@Khristy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khristy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607/160 "2011-03-31T10:33:52Z")
I had an incident like this happen to me as well. Me and my girlfriend (yes, I have a g/f) were shopping in Worst Buy for a new laptop. I personally hate that dump, but she wanted to get it there, so oh well. Anyhoo, on the way out, we encountered one of those receipt checkers and held up the receipt so he could see it and politely told him “have a nice day”. Well, that wasn’t good enough for him so he made a scene and got a manager involved. So, this bitch manager comes running out of the store demanding we show the receipt. We politely told her “sorry, it’s our property and we don’t have to show it to anyone!”. She kept yelling at us and then said “You are banned from this store!!!” Yeah, banned from that shithole store after we just spent almost $900 on a new laptop. Actually I’m glad she did that, it will keep my g/f from spending another cent in that POS store! I personally get my computer stuff off Amazon or Newegg, both of which I’ve never had any problem with what so ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checker-foiled/574607.md?page=9)