A WALMART shopper has reportedly found a legal loophole others can use to get out of showing a receipt at the superstore.
Receipt checks have become a constant source of irritation for many shoppers who have taken to ranting about the policy on social media.
Many Walmart customers who have posted on Facebook or other platforms claim that they feel like the store doesn’t trust them even when they use a flesh and blood cashier.
One such user revealed that shoppers are not technically required to show the greeters their receipt.
“Just so you know, you don’t sign a contract with them like you do at Costco,” Trev Raff wrote on Facebook.
“You’re not obligated to show them your receipt. and if they detain you, that’s false imprisonment threaten a lawsuit if they insist, and they will never talk to you again.”
Raff is one of several people who contributed to a post slamming the retailer’s policy.
Walmart is not the only store to be beefing up its receipt checks to stop would-be criminals.
Target and Kroger have also implemented the policy as well.
In addition to the receipt checks, one customer was left enraged when she was forced to put her items into a clear box and forced to lug it around the store.
The woman struck out at Walmart on TikTok by saying that they are “inconveniencing legitimate customers” with their evolving security measures.
In her post, Alexandra Nicole (@opie_petsitting,) details the struggle of going to her local Walmart in Spring Valley, Las Vegas.
‘I just said no,’ says Walmart shopper who refused receipt check after just 2 cashiers open – I’m not digging in my cart
“How funny it is shopping at Walmart in 2024,” Nicole wrote as part of the video’s on-screen text.
Nicole’s video, which has gained one million views, shows her and a friend trying to purchase deodorant, but are delayed due to the retailer’s anti-theft measures.
“So after you get them to unlock one of these counters, they take the s**t that you bought and stick it in another little case,” the woman said while holding up a clear and lidded box with two sticks of deodorant inside.
Nicole then cuts to an interaction between her companion and an employee who is unlocking the case and retrieving more deodorant.
Legality of receipt checks and detention
In an effort to curtail retail crime, stores are increasingly turning to receipt checks as shoppers exit.
Legally, stores can ask to see a customer’s receipts, and membership-only stores have the right to demand such checks if shoppers agreed to terms and conditions that authorize it.
Many legal professionals have weighed in and come to similar conclusions, caveating that all states do have specific laws.
Generally speaking, stores have Shopkeeper’s Privilege laws that allow them to detain a person until authorities arrive when they have reasonable suspicion that a crime, like theft, has been committed.
Declining to provide a receipt is not a reason in itself for a store to detain a customer, they must have further reason to suspect a shopper of criminal activity.
Due to the recent nature of the receipt checks, there is little concrete law on the legality of the practice, as it takes time for law to catch up with technology.
Setliff Law, P.C. claims that “there is no definitive case law specifically relating to refusal to produce a receipt for purchases.”
For stores that improperly use their Shopkeeper’s Privilege, they could face claims of false imprisonment.
“The primary law that applies to these types of wrongful detention cases is called ‘False Imprisonment’,” explained Hudson Valley local attorney Alex Mainetti.
“Of course, you’re not literally imprisoned, but you’re detained by a person who has no lawful authority to detain you and/or wrongfully detains a customer.”
It is likely that as altercations in stores over receipt checks continue, more court cases will occur giving clearer definitions and boundaries to the legality of receipt checks.
According to Nicole, the employee walked off with the merchandise and held it up at the register.
Both Nicole and her friend were left perplexed by the sudden disappearance.
“We stood there for five minutes because we had no clue the clear box policy was ever-changing,” she wrote.
Nicole jokingly called shopping at the retailer a “dystopian hellscape.”
The woman, who also spoke to Newsweek about her experience, pointed out a massive flaw in the brand’s system.
“It is typically pretty difficult to purchase these items because you have to track down an employee to open the glass doors,” she said.
“Only certain employees even have a key, so most will just say they can’t help you.”