You’ve finished shopping, paid, and headed for the exit. A Walmart employee by the door asks to see your receipt. What do you do?
Most of us probably just hand over the receipt and wait for the employee to check it against the items we’re exiting with. This is in part based on politeness and adherence to social norms, and in part on fear of being accused of shoplifting or making a scene.
You may not have to let a Walmart worker make sure you actually paid for everything in your cart, however. A purportedly leaked training video claims that workers generally aren’t supposed to detain Walmart customers who decline to show their receipt.
“When asked to show their receipt, the customer shakes their fist and says, ‘No,’ and moves towards the exit,” a voiceover in the video advises. “In this scenario, simply thank the customer and allow them to exit.”
The video has been circulating online for a while. It was recently reposted by a Florida-based Facebook page. As of this writing, it has over 339,000 views and 24,300 comments.
It’s not clear if the video is authentic. Walmart didn’t respond to inquiries sent via email and on the media contact page on its website Tuesday morning.
Do you have to show your receipt at Walmart?
Whether you have to show your receipt depends on a few factors.
Stores are legally allowed to detain you if they have probable cause to suspect theft. In this instance, they may summon the police if you refuse. Merchants do not have the right to force a customer to show their receipt if they have no reason to believe they stole anything.
There is an exception, however, for membership-based stores whose terms require customers to consent to receipt checks.
So while Walmart may not be allowed to simply force every customer to show a receipt, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club may.
Complaints about receipt checks
One of the primary complaints about being asked to show your receipt is simply that it’s annoying and time-consuming.
But there are more serious factors at play.
Refusing to let a customer leave Walmart simply because they won’t show their receipt can violate their rights. There have also been complaints of racial profiling when it comes to receipt checks, which can also violate people’s rights.
‘Keep doing nothing and let me leave’
Retailers’ receipt check policies have been the subject of much debate.
Walmart’s purported training video revealing that you may not have to hand over your receipt inspired thousands to weigh in.
Many of the top comments are from people who say they refuse to have their receipts checked.
“I didn’t steal, but I’m not waiting in line to prove it,” wrote one.
Another took issue with retailers increasingly relying on self-checkout. “If I have to be my own cashier…. Then keep doin nothing and let me leave. You trust me to do everything else,” they wrote.
Someone who said they used to work at Walmart confirmed that you don’t actually have to show your receipt.
A few sided with the company and its employees, however.
“Literally takes 5 seconds,” opined one. “They are only checking the date & time to make sure it’s not an old receipt someone is trying to use.”
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