Ross shopper says the worker checked her receipt at the door and went through her bag.

Photo byKen Wolter/Shutterstock @dropitlikeitsszot/TikTok ZikG/Shutterstock

‘A shopping experience feels like a prison now.’ As the nation’s largest off-price retail chain, Ross prides itself on its ability to allow customers to, “Dress for Less.” But more recently, the American department store has placed new measures to assure customers aren’t dressing… for free.

Nonetheless, not every customer is pleased with the recent changes.

After an unsettling shopping experience, Angela Szot (@dropitlikeitsszot) turned to TikTok to voice her side of things immediately after she left the store. Posted on Sept. 19, Angela amassed a crowd of over 37,600 views and 2,158 likes, with many viewers sharing their POV as well.

Sitting in her car, Angela looks toward her phone camera and tells all.

“I just had the strangest experience at Ross,” Angela began.

What happened at Ross?

She mentioned that all she had to do was pick up a couple of pairs of socks at the shop. Angela told us it was a pretty slow start for her nearby Ross.

“I finally paid attention to the first person who was in front of me, and she was like, ‘Keep your receipt out. The person at the doors is going to check it,’” Angela recounts.

Though confused, Angela abided, believing that the store was mimicking tactics used by both Costco and Walmart.

“I was like, well, the person at the door’s right there. There’s only one cashier, you [can] see everything that’s happening right here? But OK,” Angela said.

“So I bought my socks and I got to the door, and I gave [the receipt] to her. She takes it from me, reads it up and down, then she takes my bag away from me,” Angela says.

It is said that the employee then went on to examine the items in Angela's shopping bag, making sure they matched her receipt.

“Thankfully, I only had two pairs of socks. But like I said. We’re at Ross.”

After displaying her shopping bag to the camera for comparison, Angela places it back in her car's passenger seat and concludes her statement.

“That was yucky. I didn’t like that,” Angela concluded.

Nonetheless, the audience was taken aback by the response following Angela's account. Instead, they exchanged their own comparable stories, demonstrating that this could be a component of a bigger trend involving Ross stores.

It’s not an isolated incident

“My favorite Ross is like this now. Like why does a shopping experience feel like prison now,” one commenter said.

“My local Ross has stanchions and a bouncer letting people in like it’s Studio 54,” another commenter added.

The list of similar stories goes on. Some viewers even shared what they are doing to try and detract from these allegedly intrusive shopping experiences.

“I never stop for places to check my receipt unless it’s Sam’s or Costco,” a commenter added.

Even though taking these extra safety measures might make the journey a bit longer, these stores might actually be onto something.

In 2022 alone, retail stores, like Ross, were reported to have lost over $112 billion in gross revenue and $84.9 billion in fraudulent sales. So it’s no surprise that the beloved store is increasing their security measures.

Despite the significant financial impact, it was discovered that only 2% of individuals caught stealing from stores are actually apprehended, with the typical thief being caught just once in every 50 attempts.

Just last month, the Daily Dot caught wind of a similar shopper-employee interaction during receipt checks. However this time the exchange was allegedly racially motivated.

Though it was found that the employee was not following the correct store protocol, the shopper still left the store feeling uneasy.

That being said, it seems as though an overall increase in security at these large stores may be at hand. So, it’s important for shoppers to stay alert and keep this in the back of their mind as they go about their daily business.