AN irate customer slammed the discount store, Ross, after she was forced to show her receipt twice.
The rise of receipt checks at several stores has been the subject of many online tirades.
The anti-theft measure has been adopted by businesses in an effort to curb rampant retail theft.
Major retailers have defended the security measure and several similar other policies.
Not only do they claim it deters theft, but it helps ensure no items are doubly charged or improperly scanned.
However, that hasn’t stopped shoppers from taking to social media to complain, claiming receipt checks increase the time it takes to get out of the store or make them feel like thieves.
Read More on Receipt Checks
One shopper recently shared a frustrating experience with the anti-theft measure at her local Ross store.
“Done shopping at Ross forever after waiting in line with one cashier taking care of a long line of people,” Ramona Maltby seethed Monday on Facebook.
“We were stopped again at the door to show my receipt I said ‘you can see the register what is the purpose of this,'” she continued.
“She didn’t look in the bag or check tickets just put a blue checkmark on my receipt.”
“I pointed out that once I left the register and paid the items belonged to me and not Ross, they have lost a customer for good,” Maltby concluded.
The New Jersey native’s post was met with approval with one person stating “Don’t blame you.”
Ross did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
The discount retailer is not alone when it comes to angry customers.
Walmart has often faced the ire of shoppers frustrated over receipt checks.
Some have even claimed the measure makes them feel like a “hostage.”
“I realize that the few make it bad for the many but I hate being held hostage by Walmart’s door receipt checks,” an X/Twitter user wrote on the social media platform, sharing a link to a U.S. Sun article on the issue.
Others have said they ignore the request altogether.
“When they say they need to see my receipt I’m like yeah not today,” one shopper wrote on Facebook.
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)
“I haven’t even received my first check from being my own checkout.”
There has been much debate over whether customers are legally obligated to show their receipts when asked.
In most cases, experts have said shoppers are not legally bound.
However, some stores that operate on a membership basis, like Costco, have measures like receipt checks written in their guidelines that all members must agree to when signing up.
Experts typically recommend complying with the request to ensure staff doesn’t mistake you for shoplifting.