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the bag / receipt check is one of 50+ reason I never step foot in WalMart. That store is wrong on so many levels...but that's an entirely different thread.

RoyGBiv wrote:Are you talking about "receipt checking"? I suppose I'm a bit off topic, specifically referring to "shoplifting"...
If a merchant thinks you've stolen something (for example, maybe your odd movements to keep your weapon concealed while shopping for clothing at Kohl's caused the in-store security folks to believe that you had stolen something) I don't think they will be so casual about allowing you to walk past..

oh, I see them as about the same.

jordanmills wrote:

RoyGBiv wrote:So.. what's the best was to deescalate a shoplifting accusation from a shopkeeper while carrying?..

I'm certainly not going to stand for anyone putting hands on me and no way am I "going to the security office" if I haven't stolen anything..

If a shopkeeper believed I had stolen something, I suppose I'd not complain too much about them searching my bag, if they were polite and professional about it. But being asked to search my person, especially when CHL... Recipe for a headache.

Any of you store security folks have a suggestion on how to handle this?

I suppose I'd refuse the body search and refuse the walk to the security office, but very politely offer to wait for an officer to show up as if it doesn't bother me. But no way am I going to be put in cuffs and/or "taken" anywhere without resisting.

Where's the line here?
How's best to deescalate?

Just keep walking. If they stand in your way, say "excuse me" and walk around. Walk through them if they make it necessary. I see no cause for any sort violent action at that point. Of course if they grab you, it changes from "a shoplifting accusation" to "assault and battery", and my behavior would change to meet the threat.

Does the mere fact someone grabs you make it assault? I'm not familiar with these laws and I'm just curious. I used to work in retail about 20 years ago and we were told by our loss prevention officer who was an ex-cop never stop someone unless we were absolutely 100% sure they had taken something. We also had people that would come in and act like they were taking things just to get caught so they could sue.

The funniest thing happened. I worked in a computer store and our Mac towers kept disappearing. Well, we figured it out. A man and a large woman would come in and she would be wearing a housecoat type dress. While the man distracted the associates she would take the tower off the counter and put it on the floor. Then she would walk over the top of it and squat down and pick it up with her legs. Then she would waddle out of the store with it. This happened at least 3 times.

pcgizzmo wrote:Does the mere fact someone grabs you make it assault?

It can be. See (3).

§ 22.01. ASSAULT.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person:

(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse;

(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or

(3) intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.

A store wanting to check a receipt to prevent shoplifting is a violation of civil liberties? Hogwash. If you don't want your receipt checked, shop somewhere else.

RiverCity.45 wrote:A store wanting to check a receipt to prevent shoplifting is a violation of civil liberties? Hogwash. If you don't want your receipt checked, shop somewhere else.

I do. And I walk right past the receipt checkers to do it!

It seems pretty clear everyone is refering to walmart in this thread, I normally just walk past these people and honestly dont remember the last time one of them asked to check my reciepts.

Once I pay for something, it's mine.

Bart wrote:Once I pay for something, it's mine.

and I think that's at the core of the receipt-checking issue with me. I went through the proper procurement procedure, including paying at the register you just saw me at, and the items are now my property. You're free to ask to check on me...and I will freely, and politely, decline. To do more than that on your part becomes, in my eyes, and accusation that you'd better have a *very* good reason to make.

TexDotCom wrote:

Bart wrote:Once I pay for something, it's mine.

and I think that's at the core of the receipt-checking issue with me. I went through the proper procurement procedure, including paying at the register you just saw me at, and the items are now my property. You're free to ask to check on me...and I will freely, and politely, decline. To do more than that on your part becomes, in my eyes, and accusation that you'd better have a *very* good reason to make.

You fulfilled your part of the contract by offering consideration for property which was accepted by evidence of a receipt. Once completed the contract is a done deal! It's too late to make changes and add exceptions or additional requirements. IANAL, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last week and I watch Judge Judy every now and then.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Mr. mountain, meet Mr. Molehill.

I show them my receipt, yeah, the one with 49 items on it, and they make a 1.5 second show of looking at it, mark it with their yellow marker, and I'm on my way. I couldn't care less If they know what I bought, or what they think about it. They're just trying to do their low-paying jobs, it's no skin off my nose, and I've got much bigger fish to fry.

It seems like a pretty picayune thing to get in a lather over.

I have a very finely tuned sensitivity to any breech of my "personal space", which can include others who want to direct me. However, I have no problem with having my receipt reviewed or marked as I leave the business' premises; the volume of theft from such stores is staggering. The receipt-checking practice is a deterrent, not an investigation.

I have found that, if I am not careful, I will get into such a state of mind that everything irritates me: loud TV commercials, stupid TV commercials, stupid TV shows, people that want to drive 85+ on a 70mph highway, people who drive 60- on a 70 mph highway, 5 or more cars on an entrance ramp -bumper to bumper- all trying to get into a moving slot that doesn't have room for even one car, the extreme noisiness of restaurants, and everything else that I don't agree with, which is everything else

A few years ago, a business partner and I got into a discussion, which led to an argument, over the use of a semi-colon in a report that I had written. When it dawned on me that 2 executives of a business were doing the arguing in front of office staff, I stopped the silliness and ceded my partner the darn semi-colon. Ever since, I have tried to follow the dictate of "never get in a dither over a semi-colon". Save it for the "!'s" of life.

I have made the choice to just "go with the flow" on many of the everyday activities of life. I have dialed my irritation level adjustment far lower.That way, I am more serene. ;;;;;;;;

You may not search my property purchased through a legal transaction without reasonable suspicion.

zero4o3 wrote:It seems pretty clear everyone is refering to walmart in this thread

It's not just Walmart - not at all. Fry's Electronics does it all the time, Best Buy checks receipts if you paid in the back of the store, and some other stores ask as well. I just say "No Thanks" and move along... no bad experiences yet, and I've been doing it for years.

The Annoyed Man wrote:It seems like a pretty picayune thing to get in a lather over.

, the person at the checkout register already checked the purchases and issued a receipt. There's no reason to make the customer stand in another line to have a store employee check their purchases again.

tacticool wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:It seems like a pretty picayune thing to get in a lather over.

, the person at the checkout register already checked the purchases and issued a receipt. There's no reason to make the customer stand in another line to have a store employee check their purchases again.

Most of the times Walmart has a little ol' man or little ol' lady checking and I go ahead and let them see the receipt. I don't want to hassle someone's grandma/grandpa. If there's a line I just walk on by. At the wholesale clubs ie SAM's Costco I just ask them to put the yellow mark on the edge since xerox copies the yellow as black. I always xerox the receipt since the thermal paper is useless in very short order due to fading.