Walmart with the clown behavior,’ customer slams after whole store was ‘rearranged’ & employees demanded receipt check
A WALMART shopper has lashed out at the chain following a less-than-ideal experience at the supermarket.
She hit out at the chain over the store layout and was left fuming when asked to show her receipt.
GettyA Walmart shopper lashed out at the chain after being asked to show a receipt[/caption]
The customer was stunned when she realized the store layout had changedGetty
The shopper, known only as Coco, was stunned when she realized the store had reportedly been rearranged, per a post on X, formerly Twitter.
She said she couldn’t find some items.
Coco revealed she had to scan her groceries to ensure she left the store quickly.
Walmart door greeters asked her to show her receipt, which appeared to be the final straw.
“Walmart with the clown behavior,” she raged.
Receipt checks are a common policy at membership stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club but they have started to creep in at certain Walmart stores.
The idea of a receipt check has left some customers incandescent with rage.
Some shoppers feel they are being treated like a criminals when asked to show the piece of paper.
Customers have complained that they didn’t sign up for their receipt to be checked.
This is because Walmart doesn’t have a formal policy on the issue.
Because there isn’t a uniform policy, it has sparked a debate on whether shoppers must show their receipts.
One defiant customer boasted they walked past the greeter when asked if they had their receipt to hand.
Another shopper, also opposed to receipt checks, claimed they pretend they’re on their cell phone to avoid having to comply with the inspections.
Costco and Sam’s Club shoppers must comply with requests to show their receipts otherwise they could lose their membership privileges.
Costco says the inspections take place to ensure customers are charged correctly.
Legality of receipt checks and detention
In an effort to curtail retail crime, stores are increasingly turning to receipt checks as shoppers exit.
Legally, stores can ask to see a customer’s receipts, and membership-only stores have the right to demand such checks if shoppers agreed to terms and conditions that authorize it.
Many legal professionals have weighed in and come to similar conclusions, caveating that all states do have specific laws.
Generally speaking, stores have Shopkeeper’s Privilege laws that allow them to detain a person until authorities arrive when they have reasonable suspicion that a crime, like theft, has been committed.
Declining to provide a receipt is not a reason in itself for a store to detain a customer, they must have further reason to suspect a shopper of criminal activity.
Due to the recent nature of the receipt checks, there is little concrete law on the legality of the practice, as it takes time for law to catch up with technology.
Setliff Law, P.C. claims that “there is no definitive case law specifically relating to refusal to produce a receipt for purchases.”
For stores that improperly use their Shopkeeper’s Privilege, they could face claims of false imprisonment.
“The primary law that applies to these types of wrongful detention cases is called ‘False Imprisonment’,” explained Hudson Valley local attorney Alex Mainetti.
“Of course, you’re not literally imprisoned, but you’re detained by a person who has no lawful authority to detain you and/or wrongfully detains a customer.”
It is likely that as altercations in stores over receipt checks continue, more court cases will occur giving clearer definitions and boundaries to the legality of receipt checks.
Sam’s Club bosses are rolling out technology that ensures the checks are seamless.
Previously, a worker would have to look at a receipt as well as items in shopping carts.
The chain uses artificial intelligence to check items have been properly purchased, rather than having a worker look at a receipt.
Shoppers pay for goods using the in-house scan-and-go technology and cameras scan the items as customers walk through a gate-like portal.
Bosses hope to roll out the technology at more than 600 locations by the end of the year.
“I’m incredibly proud of the innovation and dedication of our team to deploy this member experience technology at scale,” Todd Garner, the chief product officer at Sam’s Club, said.
Shoppers have admitted they would love to see other chains take a page from Sam’s Club playbook.
Some have called on Walmart to deploy the technology in its stores.
But not all appear to be fans of the new receipt-checking software.
Top 5 receipt checking tips from a lawyer
Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles attorney, spoke to The U.S. Sun about receipt checks and customer's rights and options when it came to being asked to show your receipt.
There has been a lot of debate around the legality of a retailer asking to see your receipt, but if it is within the store, it is completely legal. “There’s seemingly nothing illegal about that. You’re still on the company’s premises and their reason to do it is to prevent thefts,” Dowlatshahi confirms.
However, if they are chasing you out of the store, that changes things, Dowlatshahi said. “Location matters,” he explained. “If you’re outside of the store you’re in the parking lot and they come and start accusing you of theft and that you have to show your receipt, I think that’s a bit of a different situation because now you’re on your way.”
While customers are allowed to say no to receipt checks, it may cause issues if you do and the store suspects you of stealing. “You can say no, maybe it creates an unnecessary hassle for yourself because now you may have the police come to your house and follow up,” said Dowlatshahi.
If you are being barred from leaving a store because you refused a receipt check, you could have a legal case — but the store must have held you for a long time. “Let’s say it’s for hours, that’s certainly false imprisonment, and they didn’t have any impetus for doing so,” Dowlatshahi explained. “If a customer has been emotionally traumatized by being held for false imprisonment, I would definitely encourage [them] to sue.”
“I would say, show your receipt,” he concluded. “It’s just a really simple thing to do. If you didn’t steal anything, it’s relatively simple to do,” the lawyer advised.
(According to Camron Dowlatshahi, a founding partner at Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP)
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