What I'm watching: Make It or Break It (my very favorite new show...should be cheering me up but, honestly? Not so much.)
I'd like to know just when it was that stores decided it was okay to stop their shoppers at the door and demand to see the receipt for what they've just purchased as though they are common criminals? Honestly? I find the practice demeaning, degrading and dowright annoying.
It happened to me just this morning at Wal-Mart. Already in a crappy mood, I had to stop at Wal-Mart and buy a new printer and some ink for my boss. I had just made my purchases and was on my way out the door when the intrepid Wal-Mart door greeter chases me out the door and demands that I stop and show her my receipt.
Now, I didn't set off the alarm, all of my purchases were neatly bagged in the requisite plastic Wal-Mart shopping bags, and I was dressed in my "I'm a church secretary" finest so I'm not sure what it was that made this teenage moron think that I was a shoplifter but I stopped, dug through my purse and found the receipt that I had neatly tucked away in the pocket of my checkbook wallet. I stood there while she checked and double checked the receipt against the items in my cart before she finally decided that I wasn't an immediate threat to Wal-Mart's bottom line and allowed me to go on my not so merry little way.
Honestly? Do they really think that I would not only be able to shoplift all that stuff but also be able to steal Wal-Mart bags from right underneath the cashier's nose, bag everything up and head out the door without anyone noticing? If so, they are either severly overestimating my criminal skills or they are seriously lacking in the security department.
Really retailers? In this economic recession is it really a good idea to alienate those of us who are actually able and willing to spend our hard earned dollars in your establishment? One of these days someone is going to go completely ape shit on your asses and I'm just going to bet it's going to be me.
The store greeter was out of line. Next time, respond to such rude and presumptuous requests to paw through your purchases with a simple "No, thank you" and a wave of the hand.
ReplyDeleteYou are under no obligation to stop for a greeter, a security guard, a manager or even the freakin' CEO. The moment the store accepts money for the merchandise, it becomes as much your personal property as the contents of your pockets or purse. Employees can certainly ASK to inspect your property, but they cannot search it without your permission. (See: http://www.crimedoctor.com/loss_prevention_3.htm )
Any employee who tries to forcibly search you or prevent you from leaving the store by grabbing, holding or pushing you is violating the law and can be arrested for false imprisonment, simple assault and/or kidnapping. I would warn these people once, then I would call the police and insist that criminal charges are filed.
Stores can lawfully detain suspected shoplifters, but only when they have probable cause to believe someone has stolen. PC is an established legal standard that requires proof - usually, someone has witnessed the suspect conceal an item or take an item past the checkout without paying. Since no one can search your property without your permission, a receipt check is simply a consent search. Refusing a consent search does not give store staff probable cause to beleive you've stolen!
Be brave. Be proud. Just say no!