A friend of mine recently recounted one of her moments when exiting Walmart. This reminded me of our experiences at Walmart in St. Louis last summer.
It was very unpleasant, to say the least. We stopped at a Walmart to pick up some fruits before visiting our friends in St. Louis. We were in a huge rush and forgot to take the receipt after self-checkout. The guy at the door stopped us for the receipt.
We went back and found it gone. But the guy insisted on having the receipt. They have a surveillance camera above. "Why don't you check your recording over there to see we did pay for it?" I said. But they would not do it for us. It takes another level of security personnel to do it.
Finally, the manager arrived. "Check your transaction history from your database. We paid about $24 with a credit card, ending xxxx." It took a long time for her to retrieve it because their system is older than your grandfather's age.
The whole time I felt like a shoplifter until I could prove otherwise. Why do customers have to prove their innocence with a receipt? I felt extremely frustrated.
I understand the need for receipt-checking due to the surge of store theft and the billion-dollar loss as a result. I see various mechanisms installed against theft, including locking up valuable items. Now it takes a long time to find a Walmart person to get a locked-up item. Shopping experience hit the bottom low at Walmart.
Because of my story, I was delighted to hear a story in which a person wins a battle over Walmart. She bought a whole cart of items at Walmart. It would take a long time if a Walmart door person itemized her receipt at the door. So, at the door, she showed the long receipt and told the guy with stone seriousness, "Don't touch my items. Legally, once I paid for these items, they don't belong to Walmart. Walmart has no right to touch my personal items." The Walmart guy understood and just surveyed the cart without touching any of the items.
Legally, in fact, the store cannot force a customer to show a receipt upon leaving the store unless they suspect that customer has committed a theft.
Because we don't want to get into any trouble, we just obeyed. There is a Chinese saying, 入乡随俗 (rù xiāng suí sú), meaning "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." For peace of mind, I think this is the best policy to follow.
However, this incident made me focus on the balance between security measures and customer experience. The challenge is how we can prevent theft and at the same time treat all customers with respect and dignity. The frustration and indignity we felt could have been avoided with a bit more understanding and flexibility from the store staff.
Perhaps more efficient technology or better staff training could help achieve this balance. For now, as customers, while we try to understand the store's situation, we also need to know our legal rights.
Let us hope that with the reduction in store theft, the practice of receipt checking will become obsolete someday.
Just as we adapt to local customs for peace of mind, stores should also strive to create a more humane and respectful environment, so we all feel valued and respected as we should be in a civilized country.