‘Hire more people,’ rages Walmart customer sick of receipt checks – the two reasons they refuse to stop for employees

A WALMART customer has refused to comply with the retailer’s receipt checks.

The outraged shopper took his complaints to social media , where he blasted Walmart .

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images - Getty

Getty Images - Getty

In a July 31, 2024 X post , the customer wrote, “@Walmart no one is stopping at the door, if your employee physically watches me check out, or your eyes in the sky don’t watch, hire more people.

“No one stops for Walmart receipt checker. No one.”

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

RECEIPT RAGE

Many other Walmart shoppers have complained about receipt checks.

One shopper argued that the anti-theft measure is a waste of time .

“I wait long enough in line and I will not waste more time letting them check my stuff,” the outraged customer wrote on Facebook .

Another customer revealed the three-word reply he gives as he refuses to partake in receipt checks .

Jeff Tutounji was responding to a Facebook post from Jessica Ortiz that said, “You soft AF if you let them check yo receipt at Walmart.”

Tutounji commented, “He wanted my receipt I’m like, ‘It’s at the machine go get it.’ He’s like, ‘You go get it.’ I said, ‘You want it I don’t and I’m not your employee..’

“Ma man was shook.”

RECEIPT CHECK REASONING

Receipt checking is partially an anti- crime measure.

Walmart checks receipts to prevent theft and make sure customers leave with all their purchased items, per Business Insider .

However, the policy may prove to be more of a headache than anything else, with many shoppers complaining that it is unnecessary.

Some have also complained that it makes them feel like criminals when they have done nothing wrong.

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.

Walmart is not the only retailer doing receipt checks.

Warehouse giants Costco and Sam’s Club also partake in the controversial measure.

In another effort to combat theft, Walmart has chosen to lock some products behind glass cases .

This method has also received a great deal of shopper backlash .

One outraged consumer wrote in an X post , “This Walmart is so annoying they made us wait forever for DEODORANT and put it in a dumba*s security box.”

Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images - Getty

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