Do you stop for receipt checks?

[XealotX]

The other day I'm walking out of a WalMart carrying a bag with two video games that I had just purchased 30 seconds before using legal US currency. As I was walking out the door a Wally World employee jumps in front of me and demands to see my receipt. I politely tell him no and continue walking out of the store. The fool jumps in front of me again and informs me that he has to see my receipt or he will have to call the  . I replied "Fine, you call for the Police and for a pizza, see which gets here sooner." and left the store without further incident.

Needless to say, the Police never showed up at my doorstep. I understand the need to prevent theft but there are cameras capable of covering every square inch of floor space. Once I have purchased an item, that item belongs to me and I'll do what I damn well please with it...including not showing it to overzealous door greeters.

My rights are being slowly whittled away. I'll be damned if a pimply faced WalMart employee is going to take even more of them.

As a side note, if shopping at a Sam's Club or Costco I will show my receipt if asked since they are membership based and have the right to set rules on their members. If I don't like those rules I don't have to shop there.

[cafeboy]

+1
They want to make trouble for them that pay but you can tell them " hey that guy is shop lifting" and they do squat about it. 

[annguyen1981]

Personally, I think that that's a battle you shouldn't pick...  it's too minor.

Show the receipt and be done with it.  It's not like it has personal information on it.

[brickerenator]

Meh, if they ask, I stop.

If people start stealing stuff left and right (oh wait, you mean they are already doing that?) we may see increases in prices to cover the loss of goods that were stolen.

However, does what Wal-mart pays the receipt checker cost more or less than what they lose in theft?
Could they actually save money by not having a receipt checker?
But if they remove the receipt checker, is that an incentive for people to shoplift?


(remind me not to post while I'm doing my economics homework)

[cafeboy]

Ann,
It's just they don't stop the thugs but will try and stop me with my wife and kids.
I meen WFT.

I don't ware big a$$ pants and a jacket when it's 90 outside but well I guess they think I am sneeking stuff out in my babys diaper. 

[annguyen1981]

+1
They want to make trouble for them that pay but you can tell them " hey that guy is shop lifting" and they do squat about it. 

Correction.  They CAN do something about it.

I was a witness to an attempted theft at my last job. (I'm sorry I even did it, 'cause the company fuqqed me over and fired me over nothing).  I grabbed the license plate and the managers called it into the police.

A detective was assigned the case and he was able to get the man to admit he tried to steal from the store.  He was put in jail and probation...  although I don't know the details.

[cafeboy]

+1
They want to make trouble for them that pay but you can tell them " hey that guy is shop lifting" and they do squat about it. 

Correction.  They CAN do something about it.

I was a witness to an attempted theft at my last job. (I'm sorry I even did it, 'cause the company fuqqed me over and fired me over nothing).  I grabbed the license plate and the managers called it into the police.

A detective was assigned the case and he was able to get the man to admit he tried to steal from the store.  He was put in jail and probation...  although I don't know the details.

Yes they can, but will not.

I saw 2 guys rob the vending truck at my job. They even talked to me while doing it. got the tags told the driver, Did the police line up and even went to trial. You no what I got for all that Not even a thank you , f you, have a great day, nothing.
But , Well why did YOU let them do it. 

[XealotX]

Personally, I think that that's a battle you shouldn't pick...  it's too minor.
Show the receipt and be done with it.  It's not like it has personal information on it.

Then why shouldn't they be able to inspect the trunk of your car before pulling out of the parking lot? Why not make you empty your pockets before you leave? Once you get taught that losing your rights is "minor" then it becomes easier to start taking away the rest.

Next thing you know you'll be filling out forms to prove you can own a firearm, taking your shoes off at the airport, or explaining to your 4 ft tall wife that the airbag in her car could kill her but she can't buy a car without one.

[brickerenator]

Next thing you know you'll be filling out forms to prove you can own a firearm, taking your shoes off at the airport, or explaining to your 4 ft tall wife that the airbag in her car could kill her but she can't buy a car without one.

wait just a second........oh.....nvm....

[annguyen1981]

Let's see...  while it's still inside the store, it's possibly still THEIR property.  YOU have the responisibility to prove that it's yours.

Out in the parking lot, it's PROBABLY your property.  THEY have the resposibility to prove that it's theirs IF they have more than just a "hunch".



If you as a 3rd party tells an owner that they are getting ripped off, the owner CANNOT do anything unless they themselves see something suspicious.  It's like if you see a cager speeding down a residential area at 100+ mph and call the cops...  they can't do anything 'cause they didn't see it themselves.

[XealotX]

Let's see...  while it's still inside the store, it's possibly still THEIR property.  YOU have the responisibility to prove that it's yours.

Once I purchase an item it belongs to me.

Period.

It belongs to me whether I leave the store, go back into the store for something else, or tear the item I just purchased into a hundred little pieces right in front of the cashier.

Next thing you know I might purchase a house and then WalMart will show up and tell me that I no longer own my house because they want to build another store on my property. I guess I then have the "responsibility" to prove that I own that house...except I PROBABLY don't anymore since the government will have taken it through imminent domain.

But that's OK since losing my house is a minor battle compared to the community getting cheap lawn chairs and lemon scented pledge.

[cafeboy]

Very true.
When you take my cash, then the item is mine. If I buy a shirt then go in to the rest room and put it on, then walk out of the store, it's still mine and that's my right to do it.

[annguyen1981]

Yes... you buy an item, it's yours...  there's NOOO question or argument about that.


but the question is this:  How do THEY know it's yours???  At the front door, the ONLY people that know it's yours is the cashier and you.

[spc]

I'm with xealot here.  Once the transfer concludes it is your property and they have no right to inspect that property.  I've been kicked out of stores, had the cops called on me and gotten into a pretty mean little tussle with a security guard over this issue.    Rights are very black and white in my world, but the rest of the world seems to be seeing them in multiple shades of grey.   I can, will and have defended MY rights forcefully, just ask the security guard that put his hand on my shoulder and ended up with a collapsed lung.


Thank you and good night, I've got weapons to clean.

An, in our system the burden of proof lies with the accuser.  Wal-Mart must have solid proof that you have infringed upon their rights by stealing before they may infringe upon yours legally.

[cafeboy]

Like I said Ann, untill they start stoping the thugs, then they can bite me.
I do not look like a thug and will not be treated like a bum.
If they want to cut down on theft, then they need to start stoping them folks and the one that leave with no bags.
When I go to a store, I go to buy thing, not to just walk around and hang out and look like a crook.

[annguyen1981]

It's not the property that is being questioned....  it's who OWNS the property.  At the front door, the only people who know the truth about the ownership of said property are you and the cashier...  that's it.

[XealotX]

How do THEY know it's yours???

They don't.

They had every opportunity to catch me shoplifting while I was in the store. If they failed, then that is their problem.

Look, I understand that it is hard to catch thieves, and I have all the sympathy in the world for stores that are trying to make a profit. Hell, i used to work at WalMart...a thousand years ago. But, if you make a store that is too damned big to properly monitor then don't seem surprised when you start getting robbed.

[XealotX]

I'm with xealot here.  Once the transfer concludes it is your property and they have no right to inspect that property.  I've been kicked out of stores, had the cops called on me and gotten into a pretty mean little tussle with a security guard over this issue.    Rights are very black and white in my world, but the rest of the world seems to be seeing them in multiple shades of grey.   I can, will and have defended MY rights forcefully, just ask the security guard that put his hand on my shoulder and ended up with a collapsed lung.


Thank you and good night, I've got weapons to clean.

An, in our system the burden of proof lies with the accuser.  Wal-Mart must have solid proof that you have infringed upon their rights by stealing before they may infringe upon yours legally.

The WalMart in question is near your neck of the woods I believe, near Sandfly.

[annguyen1981]

Like I said Ann, untill they start stoping the thugs, then they can bite me.
I do not look like a thug and will not be treated like a bum.
If they want to cut down on theft, then they need to start stoping them folks and the one that leave with no bags.
When I go to a store, I go to buy thing, not to just walk around and hang out and look like a crook.

So by your logic, I should have had the cops called on me four times today...  I went into AutoZone, Advanced Auto, a truck accessory store, and Lowes... all without buying anything.  I certainly didn't have anything in my hands when I walked through the doors to the parking lot.

[annguyen1981]

How do THEY know it's yours???

They don't.

They had every opportunity to catch me shoplifting while I was in the store. If they failed, then that is their problem.

Look, I understand that it is hard to catch thieves, and I have all the sympathy in the world for stores that are trying to make a profit. Hell, i used to work at WalMart...a thousand years ago. But, if you make a store that is too damned big to properly monitor then don't seem surprised when you start getting robbed.

They are not surprised that they are getting robbed.  They KNOW it.  It's called loss prevention.  Some form of it has been going on since forever...

I'm surprised that you didn't take the stance that some stores videotape you...  that's an invasion of your privacy, isn't it?