Thanks! You put it exactly as I would have if I could! :notworthy:
There should be a “high five” button on this forum! ;)
Well, I had just finished watching this video, and it scares me how badly people are trying to undermine our personal liberties.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would trade their liberty for safety deserve neither.”
if it bothers you that much then don’t shop at best buy either. they check pretty much EVERYONE’S receipt on their way out the door to the parking lot… esp if you have items in your cart too large to be bagged.
Coincidentally and unrelated to my Walmart story, my husband told me about this just last night, so thanks for the link because I had not seen this before.
It’s important we know our Constitutional rights. Abuse of power is what this video shows! He was hassled not only because of the cash but because he was carrying ‘Campaign For Liberty’ literature, Ron Paul bumper stickers, etc.
As I stated earlier, it’s UNDERSTANDABLE to check your cart when items are too large to be bagged, even though it’s unlikely the checker would overlook a huge TV or something large.
Otherwise, law goes for Best Buy as it does for Walmart, what you paid for is yours and there’s no law that says you have to show your receipt. There’s constant video monitoring in these stores, by the time you leave, they KNOW if they have you on video stealing something. They call police, show evidence, you go to jail.
I doubt they could force you to show receipt even if they have it writte on their door before you enter that your receipt will be checked because it’s not a LAW! The most they can do is turn you away next time.
I’ve worked retail for many years and I’ve NEVER had any Loss Prevention training that says “Make sure you customer service the heck out of people who are black, or have long hair, or look poor, etc. because they’re the types that steal.” The training I’ve received actually goes along the lines of “Make sure you customer service the heck out of anyone acting suspicious.” Now, I can’t account for the prejudices of other employees, but I know that I don’t care if you come in looking like a hobo, or if you’re a [B]well-dressed white woman driving a mini-van[/B]…if you act suspicious, I’m gonna keep an eye on you.
In fact, just two weeks ago I had a well-dressed white woman come into my section of the store with a large diaper bag but no baby. Of course I kept an eye on her and I alerted the other departments, too. Being a well-dressed white woman didn’t stop me from thinking that carrying a large diaper bag into a store without a baby (and she was definitely alone, there was no daddy or friend in another section of the store who actually had the baby) was suspicious.
Now, not everybody who gets checked is acting suspicious. Like above posters have said, sometimes certain items get checked. Period. When I’m ringing someone out, I HAVE to check such items as trash cans and comforters because thieves will hide stuff inside them. Again, it doesn’t matter if you look like a hobo or a well-dressed white woman. Store policy is that I check these items or I get in trouble. I’m not going to lose my job simply because you’re offended.
Also, in this economy, I’m not going to put my job in jeopardy by not doing my part to reduce theft. More theft means the store loses money. When a store loses money it doesn’t make as much of a profit. Profit is what determines how many hours the store gets to dole out to it’s employees.
If you REALLY have that much of a problem with the practice, rather than taking it out on the employee (who is just doing his or her job) and before you contact the police (who yes, enforce laws, but will laugh at you if you call and complain about such a trivial matter when there are murderers and pedophiles to catch) why don’t you try talking to store management and then going up the chain of command? In this, the United States of the Offended, people are SO ready to jump to the most extreme way to handle things. No wonder the people in this country are so sue happy.
:roflhard:
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Depends. Would you be Thelma or Louise? 
Thank you for the links you provided. I am now better informed. I have never seldom taken it personally when a greeter/checker asked to check my receipt. I have been irritated on occasion when it was inconvenient (like being short on time.) Now I know I can refuse, politely. 
:think:
Have you considered that the checker at the door is likely to be underpaid? He or she may not have been properly informed of the stores legal limits? It is possible that he or she could be reprimanded for not asking or checking often enough. :sad:
Unfortunately, those employer tactics are used and often are not easy to correct under existing employment laws.
Individual rights, under-valued employees, overbearing management, compassion, and principals are all hard to balance. :shrug:
Sometimes it is hard to not take something personally. At these times is when I find myself adding to my list: “If I were King for a day…”
Have you heard the joke about how many psychologist it takes to change a light bulb? (only one, but the light bulb must want to change.) :think:
I think many criminals are like that, no one knows how to rehabilitate criminals because they haven’t addressed that first, “they must want to change.”
… and so the majority must are asked to suffer some inconveniences.
It is always good to know when you can say “No.”
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I know how hard retail can be and I [B]never[/B] said or implied in any way that I would “take it out on the employee”!!! FYI, I saw that same greeter this morning at Walmart and I was cordial, as I always am, and we all should be! I have no doubt that well dressed people shoplift too, I only used that to describe myself since someone asked if I was the type to arouse suspicion - so I had to describe myself.
My point, which was reiterated by many if not most here is that we don’t HAVE to show our receipt. There’s no [U][I][B]law[/B][/I][/U]! It’s nothing against anyone who works there, nor the cashier nor greeter, but the store policy itself - if not our very own civil rights. [B][COLOR=Red]I am a naturalized American citizen and as such I appreciate and hold those rights VERY dear! [/COLOR][/B]
I like your thought of talking to store management and in hindsight I wish I had done that. I wasn’t rude to the greeter, BTW, HE was rude to me!!! Keep THAT in perspective!
:roflhard::roflhard::roflhard:
I like that, “customer service the heck out of people” 
When I had long hair I felt like I had my own personal shopper … at least I would’ve if they would’ve done stuff like push my cart instead of acting like they were straightening up a shelf.
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Ah, FloridaGirl, did you take it personally? :oops:
I hadn’t read all the post and misted yours and LadyFirelyght’s with the video. But I would say Unlawful Detention is no trivial matter.
I will say that the video was from “freedom watch” which I have not heard of but I saw a Fox “News” logo on the front of the anchor desk. I will also say the I am always the skeptic when Fox “new” is involved. I put them in the same category with Jerry Springer, sensationalized to provoke deep feelings.
However I would not detract from the brief nugget of truth in the story, it was about unlawful detention and personal liberty. These United States of America were founded on inalienable rights. We who are peaceable, law abiding citizens should not fear law enforcement.
And we should not be in fear of losing our jobs, when asked to do more than the employer is legally able to request. :oo:
Are large companies and chain retailer causing us to feel pinched between two fears? :sad:
Well, that is a question for another thread.
I’m gland to know that I can politely refuse to show a receipt if there has been no alarm triggered.
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I guess we’d better not carry our knitting bags! I sometimes do because if I’m in line very long I can take out a sock and start to knit.
DON’T be intimidated against calling police because of one might call a “minor” infraction, the police and the courts are the ones who work for YOU and decide what’s minor or not. I once witnessed an officer nearly draw his gun on a guy who worked for my builder and was stealing lumber from my property (on builders’ orders because he did not pay the lumber mill). Yes, there were pedophiles, drug dealers and murderers they could be running after and I’m sure they would have dropped my ‘problem’ if they were called to a bigger emergency - which I would totally understand.
Nuff said?!?
I didn’t mean to start a knitter’s war here, nor to offend anyone who works retail…after all, we do all have pointy sticks here, it would pretty much be a draw! :roflhard: Also, we all shop and I think we can agree there are jerks who shop and jerks who WORK at the stores where we shop, and we must act within the law no matter what…and so must they - whether they are having a bad day or don’t like their boss or whatever their beef might be.
:waving:I would NEVER refuse if an alarm is triggered. I’ve had that happen when CDs I’ve purchased weren’t properly cleared at the register!
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen random checks of bags on exiting a store. When an alarm is triggered, yes. For no good reason I could tell, no.
I did see regular checks of bags when I worked in a private non-circulating library - everyone’s bags were checked (even the CEO’s) when we left. (Then again, the whole idea of a non-circulating library is that nothing left the building.) But not stores.
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I so see the humor in that.
I can also see the employee’s fear of loosing a job for not “customer service the heck out of people” that are acting in a way that the employer would or might think is suspicious. :oo: :sad:
I am very tempted to start that thread asking if our current economic condition is simply a inevitable result of big business and large commercial chains dehumanizing both the employees and the customers.
I vote for LYS’s local merchants and small businesses, can anyone take that message to our leaders?
Sorry, I tried not to hijack this thread; but then I do want to be friendly and I also use the nick name of Jack.
And I can’t resist a bad pun. [/color]
[SIZE=4]I’m not singling anyone out, but obviously there are some strong feelings on both sides of this issue so let’s be careful how we word our posts. [/SIZE]
The problem, Jack, isn’t with “big businesses” dehumanizing the employees and customers. The problem is with [I]people in general[/I] dehumanizing [I]each other[/I]. With so many people looking out for “number one”, it’s easy to see why our personal liberties are being trampled on.
Ok, so you have said over and over again that it is illegal to detain someone against their will. That’s obviously common sense, the store employees are not police officers, they have no right to do so.
However, the store is private property and DOES retain the right to establish their own rules and regulations that one has to follow while on that property. It’s not illegal for a store to do that.
So, considering that if you DO stop it’s obviously of your own volition (because you know your legal rights and you know that entails being able to legally keep on walking) and so the employee is then merely enforcing store policy and not unlawfully detaining you. That’s why the police would consider it a trivial matter…because at that point there is nothing illegal going on.
Also, I have a lot of respect for people who come into this country and go the legal route of becoming citizens, I really do. However, being that my family has lived in this country for years, I can trace back many family members who have fought for the rights you say you hold so dear. I don’t really appreciate being lectured that I don’t know what those rights are. My grandfathers would roll in their graves if they thought I was taking my rights for granted.
I find it infuriating…I work at a LYS and ppl steal samples…sample blankets, sample socks…I mean honestly…
The thing that really gets me, is the ppl that steal needles, or such things, and leave the package hanging on the rack…Every now and again, you will find a lonely little package, devoid of all contents…
sigh
I didn’t know I could refuse to show a receipt either. Thanx for informing me. 
Walmart checks here. Another store, CompUSA, used to do that too but they’re closed now. Those are about the only stores I know that did that. I’m rarely in Walmart anymore so it may never be a problem for me but I can see how annoying it would be to stand on line, waiting to have your receipt checked after you just stood on line for 25 minutes to check the dang stuff out!
P.S. Yes, some people are taking this conversation personally. They may have read what they wanted to read as opposed to what was written. If you think someone wrote something offensive here, read it twice. Chances are you didn’t read it correctly.