Papers Please...my hiney

[peternap]

I hate going into stores that insist on checking receipts when you leave. This week I drew the line and said no more.

Monday I went to Best Buy to buy my son a laptop. I had called ahead and Customer Service had put the last one aside for me.

I went to CS and paid for it, then left. The troll at the door was busy frisking other people but since I wasn't going to show my receipt any way, I walked past him.

Here's the conversation:

Sir.
What?
May I see your receipt?
Why?

Uh...I need to make sure you have the right model.

If it wasn't the right model, I wouldn't have bought it but thanks for thinking of me.

Uh...Sir

What?

I need to see your receipt.

Why?

Company Policy.

Your Company?

Yes...Best Buy.

Your Company policy tells you  you have to wear stupid looking yellow shirts, notice I don't have one on. Merry Christmas.

I walked to the car and came home.

Today I went there to buy a 3 TB external drive for myself

I walked in the door and was greeted with the usual half hearted "Hello Sir"

The Manager was standing there also.

I told the manager I was there to buy a 3 TB external hard drive. He sounded enthusiastic as he pointed the direction.

Then I complemented him on their advertising that got me there.

Then I said "Do I look like I stole something?"
He said "No" and looked perplexed.

I said" I'm going to look the same when I walk out after paying for my hard drive. If he (Pointing at the door Troll) thinks I look suspicious enough to insist on seeing my receipt, I'll just take it right back to customer service for a refund....Merry Christmas"

After paying for it, I walked past the DT who didn't even look at me.

POINT MADE!

[glenn kangiser]

I will not buy from Best Buy anymore even though I helped build a couple of their stores.  They are pretty much know for having the worst policies around.  I know they have good prices sometimes though.

[Sassy]

Costco always checks the receipt...  there's been times where I've thrown it in my purse or wallet or a pocket & can't find it right away - that irritates me...  I've been told I can't take my stuff w/out the receipt - always been able to find it, though.  Guess if I couldn't I'd take it up w/the manager & they could re-trace my purchase on their computers & reprint the receipt but then that would run into lots of extra wasted time.

Sometimes I wonder why I shop there...  the lines are always long, we pay $100 year for the business card...

But then, there are good deals, we always get a rebate for more than the $100 we spend on the card, don't know.

And, when they've checked my receipt, there's been times where they've noticed I've been charged twice for something & other times they've forgotten to give me my stamps or electronic item or whatever that I'd paid for & they have to send someone to pick up.

Ah, well, guess the frustration must be worth it, I keep going back   

[peternap]

I belong to Costco also and don't like the Door Trolls there either...but it's a little different. I joined Costco and agreed to the rules when I joined. It's stated in the membership agreement and with clearly posted signs.

I really can't agree to abide by the rules then crawfish.

Costco is also anti gun even though I carry there. That's two strikes with Sam's Club next door.

[Redoverfarm]

Well I shop at Sams club.  Have never been at Costco's but I would imagine it is somewhat the same.  Being a warehouse setting there usually is no place to desiginate or restrict an exit area that is seperate from the rest of the store.  So someone could just enter the exit area from the warehouse and attempt to leave without checking out.  They usually doesn't cause that much of a delay in that they might zero in on an expensive item in your cart to make sure it appears on your receipt or even count the number of items in your cart to see if it corressponds to the number on your receipt.  In a way you can't blame some buisness owners who are daily ripped off with shoplifting.  Think of it terms of you and your property.  Do you not take steps to secure it and prevent it from being stolen.  

Now if there is a general area of exit that prevents and individual from exiting without going through a checkout line then I would think there is no need or necessity to post additional people to check when you exit.  You just walked from point A to Point B and was not allowed to pick up an additional item on the way out the door,

[kenhill]

Something else to watch is when asking for cash back from debit, twice I have had the cashier hold his leg against the cash drawer, look at my receipt and then give it to me without cash.  Pay attention to that.

I have learned to hang on to my receipt to make the exit easier.  It is amazing that people will put something cheep and bulky in their cart and then stuff it with expensive items, i.e. stealling.  It is a big enough problem to pay the labor for 2 people to stand at the door.

[peternap]

Something else to watch is when asking for cash back from debit, twice I have had the cashier hold his leg against the cash drawer, look at my receipt and then give it to me without cash.  Pay attention to that.

I have learned to hang on to my receipt to make the exit easier.  It is amazing that people will put something cheep and bulky in their cart and then stuff it with expensive items, i.e. stealling.  It is a big enough problem to pay the labor for 2 people to stand at the door.

I agree theft is a problem Ken but the solution isn't to treat every person as a thief. To start with, it makes many of us angry. I certainly would have walked back and returned the hard drive then ordered one from the net. Competition forces these places to come up with better ways.

The solution to theft is simple. Better employees that are attentive to all customers instead of standing around gossiping with each other. There are lots of unemployed people out there that would love to do a good job.

[Don_P]

So a retailer can either monitor you at the door or in the store, not sure I'm seeing a difference. The big building supplies started haveing a guard at the exit from the lumberyard due to driveoffs. Then they went to indoor lumberyards where I get to load it on a cart, push it to the register, push it to the truck, unload it from a cart onto my truck, all under the watchful gaze of cameras. Or I can call up the little guy. "Larry I'm going to need a few dozen more studs and I'm not going to be able to get there before you close" "No problem, you know where they are, let me know what you got in the morning"

My dog misses the old guardpost, they had milkbones.

[johnky]

They aren't so much interested in you as a thief.  They are trying to catch their cashiers stealing.  Cashiers can have their friends come up to the register with a $500 item and a $2 item.  The bad cashier will scan the $2 item, put both items in a bag and let their thieving little friend walk out with $502 worth of stuff for $2 - receipt in hand.  That's what they are trying to catch by checking receipts.

Higher end stores have a different tact.  They operate like Vegas.  They put multiple cameras on every cashier and can pull up the register tape in real time next to the camera in some far away control room.  If they catch something on camera, the security goons will appear out of some hidden door near the exit.  For the most part, they are doing exactly what Best Buy does, you just don't see it.

[Grimjack]

Costco has the right to ask for a reciept because it's a membership based store. You agree to the rules when you pay for the membership.

That being said stores open to the public ( best buy) have a right to ask, but you have the right to ignore them completely. I do it all the time, just walk right by as they are asking to see the receipt. I don't even acknowledge them. Nothing happens, they know they can't do anything about it.

[peternap]

So a retailer can either monitor you at the door or in the store, not sure I'm seeing a difference. 

There is a difference Don. Sure the stores have camera's. I don't care for that and do wear a hat indoors now where I used to remove it, but the camera's aren't a big issue. Employees watching and helping me doesn't bother me at all. I watch people all the time.
I don't like traffic cameras either. The simple solution is to keep a good layer of mud on my license plates.

Demanding to see a receipt or ID or a phone number does bother me.
Some people are OK with it. That's why the TSA's gotten a foothold.

I agree 100% with using the small guy and I do. Unfortunately, there aren't any small guys that sell hard drives or laptops anywhere near me. I have to drive to the city for things like that.

[bayview]

peternap:

  Please . . .    Do not display your weapon and aggressively point at the security guard!  

               

/.