Hacker News Reader

Comment by dx87 | Hacker News Reader

I'm suprised they even bother to try and stop it. My grandfather works at WalMart, and said that they're told to not try and stop shoplifting because they don't want customers to be afraid to shop there.

View on HN

Some around here hassle people for their receipts near the exit. It was already my least-favorite place to shop for a ton of reasons, so that was enough to stop me ever going. It's one thing at Costco where I agreed to it and they're very fast and nice. I'm not standing in line to get permission to leave friggin' Wal-Mart (yes I know you can just ignore them but they sometimes try to stop you and make a big deal of it and that's just not a situation I want in my day)

Also Best Buy, which is particularly annoying as they watch you check out at the register five or ten feet from their post, then "randomly" (almost always) demand the receipt.

Who are you checking, the cashier or the buyer? My guess is a deterrent for some kind of collusion.

Change of ownership happens at the point of sale. Toss them a cheery "no, thanks," and walk on by. They have no authority to detain you.

Same with Fry's. Not the same with Costco; there, you're subject to the membership agreements.

I believe this varies a little state-to-state and even in those (which I think is most?) where it's true they can usually still legally detain you if the have reason to believe you're trying to shoplift, though refusal to show a receipt on its own is, obviously, not enough to pass that test. Also workers are unevenly educated on the topic so may try to get in your way or otherwise escalate things if you do this, so take care and stay cool.

They do have the authority to prevent you from returning to the store. This is the only reason I ever agreed at Fry’s.

At Best Buy I stopped shopping there for years. I don’t remember why I eventually went in one again, but in the years since I’ve never been asked once. I do wish they’d get rid of the guy at the door entirely. It’s weird. And they always greet you from the side or back.

Sounds like a good reason to show your receipt... at the returns counter.

Are you sure? Receipt checking cannot be forced. I'm surprised corporate would allow that, since they know they can't force the issue so they cannot stop shoplifters.

Yep, I'm sure. And they seem to be bad at instructing the folks doing it that they aren't really allowed to do more than ask nicely.

Meanwhile my suburban Walmart has airport-level security theater: substantial bag checks on exit and one way doors to enter the shopping area.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com