Walmart near me has started using receipt checkers lately and they don’t even really do their job, it’s kind of a gimmick really. They just look at the receipt for a second Don’t even look at your cart, but they stop you every time. It’s just such a waste of my time when I’m in a hurry. I had one person even tell me that it was required by law. No it’s not! There’s no law in the USA that says they have to check your receipt.
As everyone has said, they have no legal basis to stop you from walking out, unless they’re asserting shopkeeper’s privilege, which has certain limits and opens them up to possible liability. This is why employees are trained that only managers and Loss Prevention can do that.
However, they absolutely are able to ban you from a store for not complying. How effective a ban is at a store that sees thousands of people walking in every day, I’m not sure. But it’s something to keep in mind if you have limited other options nearby.
This.
Don’t take the advice of ‘Ignore them and push past them’. You can get trespassed by LP and if you’re caught in that store again it is a misdemeanor and you’ll be arrested, processed into the local jail and have to post bond.
Your store may not do this but it is completely within their right to trespass anybody for any reason and if they’re a store with a lot of theft then they’re more likely to target the people who are attempting to bypass their screening.
They’re standing there during time periods where there is likely to be theft so that, if they’re clued in by LP, they can stop an individual and check their receipts. The average customer they’re going to simply look at your receipt and let you go on your way because they have no reason to suspect you. If they thought that you specifically were stealing then they’d be inventorying your cart.
you’re full of shit… i’ve declined every time at many different stores….
it’s your property once you buy it, they can’t compel you to show them your underwear either… if they started banning people for that they’d get sued and lose.
the ONLY caveat is at membership stores like costco, where you sign an agreement that includes the receipt checkers
If a private business decides to trespass you for any or no reason, what would be the basis of your lawsuit?
You are correct that you own the items after you purchase them, and the store has no right to stop you unless they are asserting shopkeeper’s privilege. For that, I believe they would need reasonable articulable suspicion just like any investigatory stop by law enforcement.
But at the same time, a private business has every right to ask you to leave for any reason at all, as long as they are not discriminating based on a protected class. They can tell you that you’re not welcome back, and if you return then you will almost certainly be breaking your state’s trespass law.
In reality, I don’t really see any store wanting to start the widespread trespassing of customers who are just walking out of a store with their purchased items (assuming no prior agreement with the store to stop or show receipt). It would be a big customer service risk on behalf of the store. However, it’s also untrue to say that just walking past a receipt checker is completely devoid of the risk of a store banning you.
To put it another way: you’re at a friend’s house, and he says you must stand on your head and sing the alphabet. You refuse. He has no legal way to compel you to comply. But he can ask you to leave his house and not come back. Your refusal to comply with his ridiculous alphabet related request is perfectly valid, but doing so can also bring some amount of risk that you’re no longer welcome.
a: it’s not a private business if it’s open to the public (sam’s club is private).
b: how are they going to ban you if you don’t stop to talk to them, and they don’t have your id or name?
c: just walked past a walmart receipt checker 10 minutes ago, he didn’t even ask me… they can tell when you’re not having any of that shit, and they leave you alone… act like a coward and get treated like one.
d: imagine if you walk into walmart and they say “hey no blacks allowed, darky”… what’s the basis of your lawsuit? tHeY’rE pRiVaTe!
you have a right to your privacy… a walmart can’t legally violate that… you can sue… go to law school….
you can sue over a wet floor or dusty stairs… you can also sue for being banned for refusing to be searched….
When I use the word “private” I mean that stores, for the most part, are not owned by the government. I am saying that laws related to private property apply in this situation.
Technically what we are talking about here is a private business open to the public. And we are specifically talking about non government here, since getting trespassed from public property is a bit different in some ways.
Yes, there are many laws that apply to a private business open to the public (ADA, civil rights, food safety, etc.).
But the store is still owned by a company or an individual. They have the right to determine who can be on their property and when, within the bounds of any other applicable laws.
For the most part my response was concerned with legalities, as you seem confident that a store could lose a lawsuit merely for trespassing an individual. It seems you are claiming that a private business does not have the legal right to trespass an individual?
I’m not questioning your ability to walk past receipt checkers without talking to them. I do the same thing.
I do not dispute that refusing to talk to the store makes things more difficult if their goal becomes trespassing you from their property. However, the store does not need your name to tell you that you’re not welcome on their property. If you return, you will be in violation of trespass law. The store also does not need your name to call the police and report a crime. In reality, yes, this is unlikely to happen to you, but it has certainly happened.
I am not attempting to put under scrutiny your ability to file in court the paperwork necessary for a lawsuit in the event that a store trespasses you.
My question is: what would be the legal basis for such a lawsuit?
Well said.
I imagine that sharks don’t eat you