‘They would not let me leave,’ Walmart shopper cries after forgetting receipt – she was forced to wait in line

A WALMART customer has slammed the chain after she was forced to wait even longer due to an in-store measure.

The shopper complained about the retailer's response to her forgetting to collect a receipt after using a self-checkout.

Sarah Davis bashed Walmart for the steps she encountered as she attempted to leave the store.

Davis firstly complained about her local store's checkout options in a scathing Facebook post.

"Hey Walmart you should probably open up registers and put your employees to actual work so we don’t have to self check out 100 grocery items!!!" she wrote.

"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve self checked out because the employees are just standing around doing nothing."

The customer then detailed how she was made to wait in line because of an anti-theft measure.

A growing number of retailers have adopted receipt checks into their stores.

This has seen a member of staff stand between the checkout area and store's exit to ask shoppers for their proof of purchase.

These employees will then check the receipt and items purchased before letting shoppers leave.

Davis shared what happened to her when she did not collect her proof of purchase from the self-checkout kiosk.

The angry shopper said she was made to wait in line at the store's service desk for a new receipt.

Davis then raged about the receipt check itself and said "just so the door man could glance at it for 0.5 seconds and say “ okay thanks” LIKE WHAT!!"

"Do better Walmart," she added.

Other Facebook users shared their approach to receipt checks, in the comments of her post.

"The moment I pay for my items at and store they are now my personal property," one person said.

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.

"I just keep walking if they ask for my receipt."

"Just tell them no and keep walking," another person said.

CHECKED OFF

Davis has not been the only shopper to complain about this measure, The U.S. Sun has previously reported.

One customer explained why they did not stop for receipt check staff.

"They can’t force you to show the receipt. It’s an invasion of privacy." a Facebook user wrote.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.