# Walmart Receipt Checkers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 2, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574 "2019-09-02T00:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/21 "2019-09-03T03:09:40Z")
I find making eye contact makes them less likely to stop you. Maybe just my imagination tho. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/22 "2019-09-03T03:35:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I find making eye contact makes them less likely to stop you. Maybe just my imagination tho. YMMV. Well yeah, if you scowl at them, of course they’re going to avoid you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/23 "2019-09-03T03:36:51Z")
Grrr!, I smile. I’m nice like that:):):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/24 "2019-09-03T10:46:44Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Then train the security cameras on the checkout lane & have that employee watch the video. If you’re not paying me to be your security don’t expect me to work to catch your cashiers doing something they shouldn’t be doing.(snip) You’re aware of the irony involved with that statement and your username, right? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/25 "2019-09-03T10:51:04Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > Sam’s Club requires a membership, and when you sign up you explicitly agree to have your receipt checked. > > Walmart is open to the public and you are not required to let them check your receipt. I suppose that if they put up a huge “we reserve the right to check receipts”, (or some-such) sign at every entrance they might get away with it in some jurisdictions, but even that would be iffy. Sam’s Club doesn’t get any special powers from its membership agreement, it just has an easy means of enforcement. Walmart could also ban people who fail to stop for a receipt check, it would just be difficult and time-consuming. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/26 "2019-09-03T16:33:05Z")
I had this happen at a Walmart when visiting California. I’m fine with checking receipts st Costco, apparently I agreed to this when joining. I’m not fine with it anywhere else. So when they asked if they could see my receipt, I answered “no”, and kept walking. Unsurprisingly, exactly nothing of note happened subsequently. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/27 "2019-09-04T06:18:29Z")
Costco always checks receipts - but it’s an incredibly cursory glance and a quick scribble with a black marker. A real waste of time, IMHO. Though once, 25+ years ago, they actually checked carefully and found an item that was either overcharged for or had not been rung up, I forget which. Cashier error, for sure. At Costco, it’s possible a single item just might be costly enough to make that pay off. I ran into a WalMart receipt checker for the first time ever a couple weeks back. We had bought about 250 dollars worth of stuff for my son at the store in his college town. I’m quite sure the cursory glance would not have uncovered any misdeeds. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/28 "2019-09-04T13:04:49Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > The greeters/checkers at our local Walmart know me by sight and we always exchange hellos. Sometimes when I am driving out on the electric shopper with an uncovered item like a bag of kitty food I point it out as I sail past, “Stealing another bag of Chow!” They just laugh. Ours are all real nice. > > Dennis Or are you stealing the electric shopper? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/29 "2019-09-04T15:26:55Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Sam’s Club doesn’t get any special powers from its membership agreement, it just has an easy means of enforcement. Come to think of it, just how easy would that enforcement be? The receipt checker has no idea who you are, and they do not have any legal authority to detain you. So if you blow past them, how are they going to identify you for the purposes of revoking your membership? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/30 "2019-09-04T15:37:59Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Come to think of it, just how easy would that enforcement be? The receipt checker has no idea who you are, and they do not have any legal authority to detain you. So if you blow past them, how are they going to identify you for the purposes of revoking your membership? It would be rather easy _if_ they wanted to enforce it. 30 seconds before blowing past that receipt checker you were at a cashier, where you gave them your member number. Look at a couple seconds of security video to see which lane you checked out of & then look up your name/membership from that register’s checkout history. They _could_ know who you are before you finish loading your car in the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/31 "2019-09-04T15:58:49Z")
Or if you paid with a credit/debit card at Walmart. All those self-checkout registers have cameras; didn’t y’all notice the video on the screen with your purchases ringing up? And once facial recognition software hits, it won’t matter if you’re a member or if you pay with cash: the system will know who you are. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/32 "2019-09-05T18:34:25Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I went to Walmart today. All I bought was a large kitchen knife, Band-aids, and a mop. I did not get a bag. (Plastic bags are illegal here and retailers must charge 10 cents apiece for paper bags.) I saw that the receipt checker at the door was checking everyone. I said “Hello” as I approached the door. She just looked at me and said “Hi” and that was it. To be honest, if I was the receipt checker at the door, and you were coming towards me carrying just a large kitchen knife, band aids and a mop, I wouldn’t stop you either. I would be thinking you might have some nefarious plans for the afternoon, and I wouldn’t want to be part of them! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/33 "2019-09-05T18:38:42Z")
A little while back I was stopped while carrying a single unbagged item that I’d paid for at the self-checkout. What were they checking for? That I’d bought two things and left one behind? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/34 "2019-09-07T03:29:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Maybe you have an honest face. Or perhaps she thought you already had enough problems, given what you were buying… ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/35 "2019-09-07T11:48:23Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > OP here. What I was wondering was why was checking literally everyone’s receipt except for mine? My receipt was in my shirt pocket where she couldn’t even see it. She wasn’t busy with other customers. My guess is that she saw your hands were full- and kitchen knives , band-aids and mops are not the items receipt checkers are looking for. They’re mostly looking for cashier “errors” of the sort that will not be easily seen on a video - they aren’t looking for the TV that wasn’t scanned , they’re looking for the TV where the cashier manually entered an absurdly low price. And if the cashier can’t manually enter the price of a TV, there’s also baby formula or laundry detergent or razor blades or …- cashiers have to be able to enter some prices manually wen the scanning isn’t working. There’s a black market for lots of items carried in Target/Walmart/Costco and it’s not only big expensive things. Oh and part of the idea is not only to catch it when it happens, but also from discouraging it from happening to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/36 "2019-09-07T15:26:21Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > It was never about catching you, It was always to catch cashiers. > > Cashier error is a big component of shrink. I haven’t used a cashier at Walmart in years. They typically have approx 12-15 self checkouts and a few regular checkouts in operation and they have ZERO regular checkouts during late nigh/early morning (the only time anyone I know really goes there) hours. So, if they are checking the “cashier,” the cashier IS you in many cases. I guess to make sure you scanned everything. As far as stopping on your way out, I wouldn’t unless they request it. Don’t think i’ve ever been asked unless I had unbagged items in a cart, though I don’t have a bag ban in effect. Also, with the WalmartPay and other apps, they shouldn’t really count on people having paper receipts, especially as heavily as they push those apps. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574/37 "2019-09-08T01:01:30Z")
As it happens, I went shopping at Walmart today. It wasn’t too crowded so as I was leaving, and as she ran the scanner gun over my receipt, I asked, “is the purpose of this check to test my purchases of the accuracy of the checkers?” She paused, and looked at me in a serious way and said, “it’s for both of those things, yes, but something else more important as well. It’s a dark, evil world we live in”. That’s a true story, make of it what you will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmart-receipt-checkers/839574.md?page=1)