WALMART shoppers are coming up with creative solutions to avoid irritating receipt checks.
One customer posted on X expressing frustration with the retail chain’s policy to check shoppers’ receipts after using self-checkout machines.
“My ‘get off my lawn’ tweet of the day,” the X-user wrote.
“If Walmart is gonna make me scan my own sh*t, how are you gonna waste my time checking my receipt at the door?”
The shopper’s complaint sparked other customers to express their anger with the company.
“I get so irritated when stores do that,” another customer replied.
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“If you cared you would have scanned all my stuff.”
Other customers gave some advice to those using self-checkout machines.
“Put everything you can in a bag,” a savvy shopper said.
“They typically only check people leaving with unbagged items.
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“I either scan those 1st or last and tell them where it is on my receipt.”
Stores across the country are implementing receipt checks to prevent the rising rates of retail theft.
One X-user replied to Walmart shopper’s complaints, saying the Circle K gas station near them only has self-checkout machines.
“I went into a Circle K gas station last night, and there wasn’t a cashier in the store…….you had to do it all yourself. Didn’t feel right,” the Circle K customer said.
In 2023, retail stores nationwide lost $121 billion due to theft, a study by Capital One reported.
That number is expected to rise to $150 billion by 2026.
In an effort to prevent losing more money to theft, stores are imposing more harsh security members such as receipt checks, locking items up, and removing self-checkout machines completely from stores.
Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillion predicted the damages theft would have to retail chains during an interview with CNBC in 2022.
“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” he said.
“We’ve got safety measures, security measures that we’ve put in place by store location.
“I think local law enforcement being staffed and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s normally how we approach it.
“If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close.”
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Since the interview, Walmart closed 24 stores in 2023, The Street reported.
Another dozen stores are expected to close this year.
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)
https://www.the-sun.com/news/11922831/receipt-check-walmart-customers-social-media/