Receipt Check
Cop records himself at Wal-Mart. Remember, stores cannot legally detain you if you decline a receipt check.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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December 28th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Free advertising for walmart… Bet a memo will go out about this case…
December 28th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Aside from the civil-rights and abuse-of-power issues, we should also consider whether Wally World has grown arrogant with its success. Remember Montgomery Ward, Woolworth’s, etc.? Does Walmart really believe that a similar fate will not befall them, should they gain a rep for harassing customers?
December 28th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I had the same thing happen at Sam’s Club, and the DPD officer there did tell me that I was detained.
I went straight to the customer service counter, demanded a refund. Then I cancelled my membership with them.
December 28th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I think when you sign up for Sam’s Club, it’s in the contract that you agree to such a check. Otherwise, I’d sue the DPD.
December 28th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I have no problem showing my receipt on the way out, but I step to the middle so people can pass on both sides. I absolutely hate it when someone stops in the middle of the door and no one can get out.
December 28th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Following this rabbit hole down, someone on one of the dozens of articles on this posted the Sam’s Club membership agreement section on this, and it says that they may request your receipt.
They can legally request anything. Barring some sort of entitlement separate from the request, you can also tell them to pound sand.
December 28th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
That cop was a royal prick.
December 28th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Cosco’s information specifically states that your merchandise will be inspected. Sam’s Club says that they will request your receipt. For the sake of argument, because I am not a lawyer, assume that these are in fact basically the same in that they require you to show your merchandise to those who are asking:
I am still not sure whether or not you can sign away your right’s in this case. You pay cash for the goods. They are your personal property now. Can they search your property without cause?
Can you waive your other constitutional rights as well? If Sam’s asked you to sign a membership form that said “Any Sam’s Club member must quarter troops at any time” (violating the third amendment) or “On Sam’s Club property murder charges may be filed by any associate and the member will be placed in jail for life without trial” (violating the fifth amendment).
Why would they be allowed to violate the fourth amendment? Can I sign this away?
December 28th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Simple solution : don’t shop @ wally-world, gathering place for Americans? who would rather support China’s economy than our own. 92% of what they sell is directly imported from China.
December 28th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
A contract is a civil issue. Police do not have the authority to enforce contracts. Sam’s Club and BJ’s path to redress is to sue in court, not to call the cops.
As an example – the people who call 911 because their fast food order was wrong.
December 28th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
I refuse to show my receipts all the time. Unless you have some reason to believe that I am stealing from you, I will not show my receipts. Unless, as a business, you are saying that all of your customers are assumed to be thieves?
December 29th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Well, to be precise, they believe their checkout clerks may be thieves, possibly in cahoots with their customers, more than the customers themselves. Given the history of the cash register, this is not a new belief…
Not that I support the use of receipt checking, it’s the retail equivalent of security (in this case, shrinkage insurance) theater; and about as effective. They’re paying someone to annoy customers, I can’t see how that can end well, or even make a positive ROI.
The scam on the part of the register clerk is simple, and hard to stop until we get RFID checkout – scan a different item, or just don’t scan an item, at the register, fence merchandise, profit. Requires a compliant register operator and a mule. It’s security theater because of the “scan different barcode” trick – especially in electronics, the differences between the box for a $200 and and $500 gadget aren’t always apparent.
@MR: Costco and Sam’s Club aren’t the government – you can waive whatever rights you like in a contract between private parties. In the case of non-contracted stores, all they have to do is post at the entrance and on the register tape that “all sales not final until checked against register receipts at exit”. Then you have their stuff until checked. Your recourse? Don’t shop there. Note: I haven’t seen any store actually post such a disclaimer.
December 29th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
By the same token, any waived rights are determined by a court, not a cop. They still can’t detain you, and they are still liable for unlawful detainment.
And the “all sales not final” thing is REALLY setting them up if they start that. That means that if they accept the cash, but you don’t leave with the merchandise, then they have committed criminal conversion or theft, and both the managers and the checkers would be on the line for that.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:24 am
My credit card receipt says I grant the issuer a security interest in the merchandise I purchase. Every time I mail-order they take my money well before I get the merch, as well. I can’t see that the distance between the register and the front door is the distance between them having my money and me having their stuff is illegal, immoral, or fattening. I’m not much of a libertarian, but (assuming posting at entrance and disclosure on receipt) that is notification enough for the grey area between register and door to be legal, given that full disclosure. See also, mechanic’s lien, contractor’s lien, layaway, &c. There’s any number of situations where both sides in a transaction have legal claim to both the money and the goods/services. Actually, layaway is a good example of this – you’ve paid (some of) your money but don’t have the goods until you’ve finished paying.
I’m going to turn a common libertarian argument on its head here – if cops oughtn’t have powers that the citizenry doesn’t (exercise for the student, and please note that the “modern” police force as professional law enforcers is a concept that was foreign to the Founders), then the citizens have (at least Common Law) police powers, at least to the point of being able to seize someone who has committed a crime in their presence (presuming probable cause, in this case, leaving without fulfilling the terms of the contract of exchange of services). It’s all very well and good for you to say “let the judge sort it out”, but the storekeeper has to be able to haul you in front of the judge for him to sort it out. Think about how your argument would go in a world with no police, only sheriffs of the court. For that matter, can a shopkeeper detain someone they suspect of shoplifting in his presence while they wait for the cops to come by and collect? Under a regime where the shopkeeper retains an interest in the merchandise until the bag is inspected, that’s what’s happening.
If you don’t like it, and the store has done their due diligence in informing you of their terms, don’t shop there! Amazon is a browser click away, and Target is around the corner (as opposed to Best Buy and Wal*Mart, respectively). I try not to patronize places where they do bag-check, myself.
If they haven’t done their due diligence in notification, that makes the seizure illegal. In most of these cases, there isn’t even a “we reserve the right to inspect your bags” signs posted (as there are at my place of employment, an office building, interestingly enough). If they haven’t warned you, that’s when it’s illegal. Absent notification, the assumption would be you pays your money and you takes your stuff.