Checking your receipt when you leave a store

Can stores legally do this?

If so, proof?

 

Some stores check your receipt upon leaving to make sure you didn't steal...When I go to Frys they check the receipt and mark it with a pink marker...That is the only place I know of that I have been too..

 

I'm not sure if it is legal, but as far as I know, it's the norm. around here.
I'm specifically referring to Wal-Mart.

 

of course.

if you leave a store with merchandise, there is no proof you paid for it unless you have a receipt.

if you are in a big store with lots of cashiers, or its a place with sensors for products and the sensors go off when you leave, then yeah, they can check your receipt.

its their merchandise.

why would it be illegal?

 

yeah.
I don't get how or why that could be illegal.

I do know that when I worked in a grocery store we weren't allowed to accuse or detain people for stealing until the had passed (or attempted to) the doorway with the item.

 

because when you pay for the items they become your property broham

 

Stop shoppin' there if the stupid idiots don't trust the people who make the store stay afloat trust you.

 

how do they know you pay for the item if they don't check your receipt?
You are still in the store with a cart full of merchandise- they want proof you paid you show them the receipt
- I am just not getting how showing proof o purchase is illegal?

 

and in many cases the people who watch the door are not watching every items that every person buys get scanned.

dude think about it: how else do they know you bought it?

if there is a question, then yeah, they're going to check.

the receipt is your proof that you acquired it legally.

possession doesnt make it yours.

just because you walk out with it does not mean you bought it.

thats just the way it is.

pay for your items and hang onto the receipt until you are out of the store and you wont have any issues.

i dont understand how you can even doubt the legality of theft prevention. its not like you get strip searched.

 

i give the heads up to some of the security guys when a black guy is heading to the door
...get his ass searched

then i usually just walk out with some sort of stolen merchandise

 

You overestimate people.

People steal the fuck out of stores. It's only logical for a store to have some security measures. They probably don't even stop and check most people, only those who seem suspicious. Ain't nothing wrong with profiling.

 

Store Security and Your Rights


Hello, and welcome to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful Life.

But first, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today’s topic is searches by security guards at retail stores. Jesse wrote:

My question for you is regarding my rights when exiting a store after paying for the items I obtained there. Some stores, such as Best Buy and Costco, stop their customers when they are exiting the store, demanding to see a receipt for the items purchased. I feel that this is somehow violating my rights, as I have already purchased the items and do not have any obligation to prove to a "bouncer" that I am not shoplifting. I also feel that it may be inappropriate, as I may not want someone at the door examining what I bought in front of other customers.​

Jesse, you are not alone. Large stores such as Best Buy seem to search every customer as they exit, regardless of the value or size of the purchase. This can be annoying and embarrassing.
First, it is important to identify what is not at issue here: the Fourth Amendment. As I discussed in previous episodes, the Fourth Amendment generally allows people to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. But, this protection only applies to conduct by the government and its agents. This is known in constitutional law as the “state action” doctrine, and generally means that, unless the government takes action, the protections afforded by the Constitution are not implicated. Police officers are agents of the government, and when they act, your Fourth Amendment rights kick in.
So, if a police officer stopped you as you walked out of the store without sufficient reasons, then you would be able to invoke the protections of the Fourth Amendment against the search. However, because the security guard at Best Buy is not an agent of the government, the Fourth Amendment does not apply. The security guard is not compelled to abide by Fourth Amendment requirements, including the need for a warrant or probable cause to search. His search does not violate your Fourth Amendment rights.
But, there are some other ways that a security guard’s search could give rise to a lawsuit. The first is the tort of invasion of privacy. In most states, you can sue a store if an employee intentionally intrudes into your privacy, and that intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
For example, if the security guard stopped you, pulled out your calendar, and read to the line of waiting customers that you had an appointment for a colonic and then a trip to your psychiatrist coming up, you would have a pretty good case. But, you are not likely to prevail where Best Buy simply peeks into your bag and checks your receipt to ensure that you paid for the items you are carrying out. This is because your privacy rights are not very great where you have, in public, pulled items off a shelf and given them to a cashier to scan. Many members of the public have seen you purchasing the items, so you cannot really assert that your purchase is private. Further, simply looking in your bag and at your receipt for a short moment is not considered by most to be a “highly offensive” act.
On the other hand, an Alaska court noted that if a security guard stopped you, made you take out all the items in your bag or purse, placed them in public view, and detained you for a long period of time, your claim would be stronger.
You also might have a claim under the tort of false imprisonment. In most states, you can sue a store if you can show that they deprived you of your liberty without your consent and without legal justification. This normally arises when you are suspected of shoplifting, and a store manager or security guard prevents you from leaving the store without first searching your bags.
Typically, this type of case will turn on how reasonable it was for the store to detain you. For example, if a store manager thinks he sees you taking a camera off the shelf and putting it in your bag, the manager can detain you long enough to search your bag to determine if, in fact, you have the camera. If the manager forces you to stay longer, then he is acting less reasonably because he no longer has a valid reason to believe that you stole something.
Aside from the invasion of privacy and false imprisonment torts, it is important to recognize that a store may not detain or search people for an otherwise unlawful purpose. For example, a store cannot maintain a policy where a security guard searches only racial minorities. That policy would violate equal protection principles, and would not be based on any reasonable purpose.
Another cause of action in this situation is for slander or libel. You could sue the store for slander if the manager said something about you that is both false and defamatory in front of other people, which results in an injury to your reputation. Libel is the same thing for statements that are written instead of spoken. For example, if the manager pointed at you in a large crowd and said, “You just stole a camera—you are a thief!” you might be able to sue for slander if you were fired from your job the next day because your boss thinks you are a thief.
All of these causes of action are difficult to prove, and your recovery is not likely to be large in most cases. Again, the quick and dirty tip is just to comply with the security guard, and if you feel the store’s policy is overbearing, take your business elsewhere.

 

The real question is, if you're not stealing, why do they care. Burden of proof lies on the accuser. Unless I'm at Sam's Club, I don't let anyone see my receipt. I typically fold it up and put it in my wallet. If they ask me for the receipt, I tell them I have it. If they demand to see it, I'll ask them if they are accusing me of stealing... Unless the alarm goes off, or one of their cameras caught me putting something into my pocket and then leaving the store without paying, they aren't going to search me or my belongings... The IQ of the person checking is usually lower than the value of my purchase anyway. How will they comprehend what they see?

 

no, not always. this is commonly assumed to be an "american" trait, but it certainly is not.

besides, the burden of proof laying on the prosecution is a legal tradition only, and this is not a court of law.

should one thing lead to another, a court of law may be relevant - in which case the burden of proof MAY lay on the prosecution, depending on where you live, but it is not universal by any means.

 

It basically boils down like this. They have the legal right to ask and you have the legal right to refuse. They have the right to ask you to never shop there again and you have the right to never shop there again. Now if you refuse and they attempt to detain you then you have something to talk to a lawyer about. If they call the police becuase you exercised your right to privacy and did not ofer the proof you purchased it and the police attempt to force you then again you have further grounds and a far stronger case. The police unless the store is stating they saw you steal has no right to request proof of purchase.

Now with all that fun out of the way it also falls as to how long your willing to go to jail and do you have a great lawyer on retainer? If you dont like jail and dont have a lawyer waiting I would suggest you take your bought goods back in the store, very loudly demand the manager and produce the proof of purchase and demand your money back, make a hell of a scene too.

I did this at a Walmart and at the same time I called Bentonville on my cell phone and had it going the whole time. I got an apology and a $50 gift card!

 

This post has just earned your name a place on my list.

 

What's considered an american trait, the burden of proof being the accusers responability?? If you thought the cashier short changed you, they certainly would not let you count money in the register...