Share and Follow
A WALMART shopper expressed outrage after being berated by store staff over a receipt check.
The incident was shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, where the shopper said they were reprimanded for refusing a receipt check.
X user Kenny (@kenjipod) explained despite the confrontation, she knew the law backed her stance.
“The greeter at @Walmart chased me down and YELLED at me to show him my receipt after I declined bc I’m not legally required to in any sense lmao,” Kenny said.
Kenny insisted the bizarre behavior of Walmart employees could lead them to an undesirable situation.
“Walmart is going to get their employees beat the f**k up if they have them keep harassing us like this,” Kenny added in her tweet.
Kenny was not far off when she said Walmart employees could get hurt if they enforced receipt checks improperly or if customers’ anger boiled over.
‘RECEIPT CHECK ATTACK’
An elderly Walmart employee Vincent Battaglia, 68, was beaten after a receipt check went wrong on Monday.
Tomeisha Robbs, 28, became frustrated by the receipt check request and told her boyfriend Trevon Waden, 27, to “take care of him,” according to a police report.
Robbs insisted her receipt not be checked by customer service but an employee still tried.
Waden allegedly punched the Walmart worker in the face which caused him to “fall to the ground and strike his head.”
“The female offender had went to customer service about 20 minutes prior to the assault and complained about the victim checking her receipt,” a police report said.
The 68-year-old employee told Waden and Robbs “he was just doing his job,” the report added.
But Waden “advised the victim that he was upset that he had stopped his girlfriend earlier at the exit.”
AGAINST THE CHECK
Complaints about receipt checks have become common recently after it became a standard practice at all Walmarts.
Another Walmart shopper also complained about how frustrating receipt checks are to them on X.
“Really enjoyable how @Walmart refuses to hire cashiers, baggers, employees to keep items stocked or people to get carts in the middle of the parking lot,” Evan Tarracciano (@Roto_Wizard) said on Monday.
“But they have plenty of folks to hound you on your way out to show them a receipt after you did their job checking out.
“Either trust me to scan the items or hire people. Pick one.”
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.
This Walmart shopper shared on X how they feel they’re doing double the work due to receipt checks.
“Am I the only one that is offended when I get asked to show my receipt at Walmart,” they said.
“After I was just forced to check myself out because they don’t have anyone in the full-service lines.”
