WALMART customers are upset about the store’s shopping cart and receipt verification practices.
One particularly angry customer said the checks caused him to stop shopping at Walmart altogether.
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The retailer has always checked customers’ receipts as they leave the store, but the customer said the checks had gotten “out of control.”
The customer said that while he understands the need for surveillance in the store, he feels that checking shopping carts and receipts in addition to the new measures is too much.
“In my opinion, Walmart is saying to loyal customers who should be valued, ‘We don’t trust you,'” they wrote in a Reddit post.
They said they prefer to shop at small stores whose staff remember their names and offer more help than Walmart employees.
“Walmart needs to pull itself together and respect its customers while implementing methods that do not compromise the shopping experience to prevent theft,” they wrote.
“I will avoid Walmart at all costs in the future.”
They claimed that the receipt checker was useless because they couldn’t see “an old lady at the door” catching someone stealing.
Then it was the buyer’s turn.
“If I have to leave, I’ll probably pocket a candy bar or something just to say ‘fuck you,'” they wrote.
“If you don’t respect me, I won’t respect you.”
In response, people said this mentality is exactly why Walmart checks receipts and shopping carts.
“You think you’re entitled to their trust, but prove that you’re exactly the type of guy they shouldn’t trust. Maybe you should consider that you’re not the one who should be complaining about this,” another Reddit user replied.
The original poster said they were “respecting” Walmart by paying for the items, and the retailer should respect them by letting them leave without a check.
“If your anti-theft measures mean that people should start stealing, then they implemented them because of people like you, not in spite of you,” commented another.
The Walmart customer couldn’t understand why others didn’t feel disrespected by the checks, claiming it created a “slippery slope” for consumer rights.
A lawyer’s 5 best tips for checking receipts
Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles-based attorney, spoke to The US Sun about checking receipts and the rights and options customers have when asked to show their receipt.
- There has been a lot of debate about whether it is legal for a retailer to ask for the receipt, but if they are in the store, it is perfectly legal. “There seems to be nothing illegal about it. They are still on the premises and their reason for doing it is to prevent theft,” confirms Dowlatshahi.
- But if they chase you out of the store, that changes things, Dowlatshahi said. “Location is important,” he explained. “If you’re standing outside the store, in the parking lot, and they come and start accusing you of theft and say you have to show your receipt, I think that’s a little bit of a different situation because now you can leave.”
- Customers are allowed to refuse to check receipts, but if you do and the store suspects you of theft, it can cause problems. “You can say no, but you might be creating unnecessary trouble for yourself because the police can come to your home and investigate,” Dowlatshahi said.
- If you are prevented from leaving a store because you refused to accept a receipt, you could take legal action against it – but the store must have detained you for a long time. “If let’s say it lasts for hours, then that is certainly false imprisonment and they had no incentive to do it,” Dowlatshahi explained. “If a customer has been emotionally traumatized by the false imprisonment, I would definitely advise them to sue.”
- “I would say show your receipt,” he concluded. “It’s very simple. If you didn’t steal anything, it’s relatively easy,” the lawyer advised.
(According to Camron Dowlatshahi, founding partner at Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP)
STOP OR SHOP?
Walmart implemented receipt verification to prevent theft and help keep inventory levels high and prices low, a spokesperson for the retail giant told ABC 10 in February 2019.
However, many buyers simply ignore the receipt checkers.
“I’m not stopping. I’m moving on, because if you trust me to look at myself, you should trust me completely,” shopper Lacy Mollison wrote in a Facebook post.
Others agreed, saying that stores should not offer self-checkout if they do not trust customers to scan all items.
A lawyer warned that shoppers and retailers must be aware of the consequences of checking receipts.
Walmart recently changed its self-checkout policies, pushing some customers to other stores.
