Sigh
Let me explain this to you simply.
The fact that there is no legal requirement to show a receipt does not mean that it is illegal simply to ask you to show one. How difficult is that to understand?
People who go on about “their rights” seriously have some kind of problem. How about you STFU about your rights and start thinking about your responsibilities, among which are behaving like a sensible member of society and not being an asshole for no reason.
Do you just not read what I write or are simply unable to comprehend it? I’ve said as much earlier. Never once did I state it was illegal to ask for it.
Cite?
The assertion was that it’s illegal to require it (as a condition of leaving the store with the paid for merchandise), which it is.
It’s not like there’s a sign saying “we check receipts” at the entrance, particularly when it’s as random and arbitrary as it is at Target. I actually do make it a habit to avoid stores where this happens, but there’s often no way to know beforehand.
You’d be surprised at how many people will come inside and prepay in cash, then drive-off without pumping any gas.
This is a good point. The last time i was asked to show my receipt was in a Best Buy. As usual, i smiled, said “No thankyou,” and just kept going.
When i got to the store entrance, i looked to see if there was a sign indicating that entry to the store was conditional on your willingness to show your receipt. There was no such sign, which actually surprised me.
So, assuming you’ve never been in a Best Buy before, how the fuck are you supposed to know that, once you’ve completed the transaction by handing over your money in exchange for your goods, you’re going to be confronted at the door and asked to show proof of the transaction that you just undertook 30 seconds ago and twenty feet away.
I think that one of the most annoying things about this whole policy is that, even if you comply with their request, it’s painfully clear that what they’re doing is completely useless. On the occasions when i used to stop (before i got sick of it), not one receipt checker made any decent effort to ensure that the items in my bag matched the items on my receipt. They gave a cursory glance at the receipt, an even more cursory glance into the open shopping bag, and sent me on my way. I remember thinking, on more than one occasion, that i could have had a whole bunch of unpaid-for merchandise hidden under my real purchases, and they never would have had a clue. It’s security theater, the retail equivalent of not allowing nail scissors through airport security.
Legally, you are an invitee. The retailer may indeed ask you to leave the property, but may not demand something of you to be allowed to leave.
No matter what you think of the people who’s posted to this thread so far, at least none of them “snap kicked [the checker] in the nuts [and] grabbed a pressure point.”
Since when is it my responsibility to waste my time submitting to a voluntary receipt check? To what purpose?
My responsibility is not to walk out of the store with unpaid merchandise. As long as I am doing that, then my responsibility is fulfilled.
If I haven’t stolen anything, then the receipt check is useless.
Everybody has a line of privacy that annoys them when someone steps over it. For some, after going to a store and purchasing something, they think it is an intrusion when a person on the way out wants them to prove they paid for the items they have. The idea that you have to prove you did not steal something is insulting.
If you don’t mind showing the doorman your receipts, go ahead and do it. But understand others feel a degree of violation.
That’s fine.
For me its a greater violation that the cost of shoplifting is passed along to me in terms of higher prices and I don’t mind a store taking steps so that cost is minimized, even if it means someone looks at my receipt or in my bags.
I still don’t shop a WalMart though - but that has more to do with the quality of my WalMarts.
A large share of shoplifting is stuff going out the back door by workers and management. Do you really think door checkers are stopping a lot of shoplifters?
QFT
I worked in a music store. The lower level managers knew the inventory process and exploited it to steal all kinds of shit… a lot more shit than would ever be taken by some high school punk who just wanted a free copy of Rio by Duran Duran.
The only thing the receipt check stops is the one idiot who is dumb enough to load up his bag with unpaid stuff and then submit to a receipt check. I guess it also deters a few thieves from using the “load up your bag” technique, causing them to resort to other means such as load up you pockets, socks, and under your jacket techniques.
As a few people in this thread have noted, though, the receipt checkers never actually do a thorough comparison of the items on the receipt against the items in your possession. It’s rarely ever more than a cursory glance and a pencil check. It’s security theater, not actual security.
The cost of their anti-shoplifting measures are also being passed on to you. Just sayin’.
They’re trained to scan the bag for high ticket items then verify they’re on the receipt.
Yep, and apparently they think its more competitive (i.e. adds less overhead) to have receipt checkers than let things walk out the door. 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’m quite surprised at (what appears to be the general board consensus of) “just show them the receipt - it’s not that inconvenient”. This seems at odds with the normal principled stance of this board, regardless of the trivial or common-sensical nature of the violation of rights (if indeed rights are violated in this case).
I expected the SDMB would be more or less wholeheartedly on the side of the rights and freedoms of the exiting shopper. Weird
I’m also a little surprised at how many people on this board not only show their own receipt, but get all pissy at the idea that someone else might not want to show theirs. It’s even worse when those of us who don’t want to show the receipt get accused, without any evidence, of being abusive and causing trouble. I do neither of those things; i simply smile, say “no thanks,” and keep walking. That is, pretty much by definition, just about as unabusive and trouble-free as you can be in this situation.
I will add that, as someone who refuses to show his receipt, for me it’s not really an issue of rights, as such. It’s simply an issue of convenience, and not wanting to be treated like a criminal by the very people that i’ve just handed my hard-earned money to. It would become an issue of rights if they physically tried to prevent me from leaving, but until that happens, it’s largely a matter of principle and convenience for me.