Posted on 03/11/2011 7:51:18 PM PST by Daffynition
Rick is the Gandhi of receipt-check deniers. He writes in with a story of how he bought a 37 inch TV from Walmart and was able to successfully say no to the receipt checker blocking his way with his body. Rick did this by calmly and reasonably explaining his position to the assistant manager who showed up and by ignoring everyone around him who was trying to provoke him. Sometimes the quietest voice speaks the loudest.
Rick writes:
“ After work I stopped by the Walmart to pick up a TV for my girlfriend. After circling the whole store in search of the bathroom before realizing it was right next to the entrance, I made my way back to the Electronics section and picked out a TV quickly. I wanted a midsize Vizio, so I chose the 37" 1080p Eco model. I purchased the TV with my debit card at one of the rear registers about 20 feet away, and walked to the front of the store carrying the box in both hands.
I made it through the first set of doors into the front atrium of the store, but before reaching the outer doors I heard a man say "Sir?" I turned and faced Tony, the receipt checker.
Tony: May I see your receipt? Me: No thanks! Tony: Oh, ok.
I turned and continued walking towards to automatic doors. Tony called again, so I turned back.
Tony: No, I need to see your receipt. Me: No thank you! Tony: What do you mean? Me: I mean no thanks; I'm walking to my car with my purchase. Tony: Well, I need to see your receipt. Me: I just purchased this TV in the back of the store. I don't need to show you a receipt. Tony: Yes, you need to show me your receipt. Me: Actually, state law dictates that once I pay for something, I don't need to show ownership of it. I just paid for this TV, the receipt is in my pocket, but my hands are full, and I don't feel like getting it out. I'm going to leave now, thank you.
At this point Tony has positioned himself between me and the door. As I step towards the door he places his hand on the box in my hands and lightly pushes back, preventing me from moving.
Me: You cannot prevent me from leaving the store with my purchase. Please move out of the way. Tony: I can't just let you leave the store with a TV without checking your receipt.
At this point a woman, who has been standing with her family near some vending machine starts throwing snide comments at me such as "Just show him the receipt; it's not that hard" and "god, you don't have to be such a prick about it." This continues on for the rest of my "stay" here, but I choose to ignore her.
Me: Are you unlawfully detaining me? Tony: I just want to need to see your receipt before you leave. Me: I have paid for this, I have the receipt, but as I have said, state law protects my right to not need to prove ownership of something I have purchased. You cannot physically prevent me from leaving the store. I am now going to leave the store.
I try and step around Tony, but he again pushes on the box in my hands to prevent me from moving anywhere.
Me: Are you illegally detaining me? Tony: Yeah, if that's what you want to call it. (Realizing he just said something bad) Listen, Walmart policy says that I need to check your receipt. Me: Then Walmart's policy is in violation of Virginia state law. They should have informed you that you don'tneed to see a receipt. Tony: (Misunderstanding me) How could they have told me already that you'd bought this? Me: No, when Walmart trained you, they should have informed you that you can't force people to show their receipts. You can only ask. Tony: I'm just a first-class worker, I don't know about any of that.
Now I am starting to fill like the prick the woman near us keeps calling me. This atrium has two exterior doors on opposite sides, so I turn around ready to walk towards the other door to leave, but another receipt checker has walked up at this time. I can't remember her name, so I'll refer to her as S, since I believe that's what her name started with.
S asks me what's going on, and I explain that I'd like to take my purchase to my car, but Tony is demanding me to show a receipt. S agrees with Tony that I need to show my receipt for "purchases like this". I give her the same explanation I gave Tony, that by state law, I don't need to prove ownership of something I just purchased.
Me: You are welcome to check the security tapes to verify that I just purchased this TV at one of the registers in the back, but I don't need to prove ownership. S: You need to show your receipt before you leave the store. Me: According to state law, I don't. S: Well I'm sorry, sir, but that's Walmart policy. Me: Then Walmart's policy is in violation of state law. S: It's not that hard to show a receipt. Me: No, it's not hard at all, but state law says I don't have to. I'm going to leave the store now. S: No, the store manager is coming. Me: When is the store manager coming? S: The assistant store manager... Me: When is the assistant store manager coming? S: Yeah, she'll be right here. Me: Ok.
I finally put the box on the floor. (Woman: "Now just take four fingers, put them in your pocket, take out the receipt..." I'm mentally yelling at her, but completely ignore her externally.) After waiting (what felt like) 2 minutes the assistant store manager appeared around the corner. S walked towards her, and I waved at the store manager to show I wasn't threatening nor uncomfortable with her arrival (in fact I welcomed it.) S pointed towards me and walked somewhere else, but Tony stayed behind me the whole time. I can't remember the assistant store manager's name, either, so I'll refer to her as M.
M: Hello, sir, how are you today? Me: I'm doing fine, but I'd like to leave the store with my purchase. M: Well, what's the problem? Me: Tony, here, says I can't leave unless I show my receipt. M: Do you have your receipt? Me: Yes, but I just purchased the TV in the back of the store and had my hands full with the box, so I didn't want to take it out. Tony physically prevented me from leaving the store. Now I'm refusing to show me receipt for the principle of the matter. State law dictates that I do not need to prove ownership of something I have purchased, meaning I do not need to show a receipt. M: Hmm. (She thinks for a bit.) Where did you buy the TV? Me: In the back of the store. M: (Thinks a bit more.) There are two registers in the back. Me: *sigh* I purchased the TV at the register closest to the front of the store. There was a man checking out with his family at the register nearest the rear of the store. I paid for the TV with my debit card, and then picked up the TV myself. The cashier asked if I was going to carry it, and I said "yes, it's light." I then walked to the front of the store. M: (Thinks a bit more, taken aback at the detailed report.) Ok, sir, it is your choice to leave the store with your purchase. Me: Thank you.
I pick up the box, turn around, and tell Tony to "have a good night" as I exit the store.
The thing is, I bear no ill will towards the Walmart employees. They were simply not educated as to their role and lawful restrictions. I thought Walmart would have fixed this issue after all of the heat they've gotten about it over the years, but clearly this store didn't get an internal memo. The situation could have definitely gotten worse. I'm almost glad the second checker arrived, as I don't know what Tony would have done had I tried to exit the store through the other door. (He is an older gentleman, so I don't think he would have tried to tackle me, but if he had actually placed a hand on me or otherwise gotten more physical, I would have been placed in a very awkward position.)
I don't think an email to a Walmart executive will do anything. I'm open to any advice on how to inform this store's management about the situation, so that they can properly train their employees. I feel badly about my interaction with Tony and M, since the honestly believed they were doing their jobs. I feel like I should stop by and give them gift cards for performing admirably in the tough situation Walmart has put them in, but that might be received poorly. ”
Why can’t the first clerk do that? Don’t they do that with oversize items at the Home Despot?
That sure would be horrible...
Not.
HEY!
It worked for Obama.
They are not Constitutional rights. Get a grip. Private business and property are not covered in the Constitution when it comes to checking receipts.
Get a grip!
I guess you completely missed my point. I am not surprised.
Well shucks I sure feel bad about it.
“He might be a jerk, but I get pretty pissed when I go to a Wal-mart in a pretty bad section of town and you have to show your receipt before walking out the door with anything.”
They may do this everywhere. I don’t like it - and I usually check out at the “express line” in plain sight of the person at the door. It’s another example of “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about”. It’s insulting.
Whatever.
I usually go in and out the garden entrance. :)
You are correct.
I happened to walk into a local liquor store where the Muslim behind the counter was bitching out some friend of his accusing the said friend of being racist b/c she was concerned about Muslim extremism.
Haven’t walked back in the door since (it’s been a year now). Even though they are cheaper.
Shoppers can and will modify their behavior not only on price.
Me too, except the checker is usually asleep ;=)
I went to the local walmart the other night with my very tall 12 year old daughter in tow to pick up a few things, to include some adult beverages. I went through the self checkout lanes and I knew since I was in the self checkout lanes, I was going to have to show my ID to the register monitor. So, I show her my ID so she can override the system and approve my purchase of beer.
Then she starts asking me if I have ID for my daughter to prove that she is my daughter!!!! I said excuse me, ummm..no I don’t have ID proving she’s my daughter and I said what’s it matter I’m buying the beer for myself. She asked me again. I told her no. She backed down and told me that since my daughter looked like me, she was going to approve it. But she used the excuse that they’re cracking down because of problems. They’re not law enforcement, they’re cashiers!! So is every adult who goes in with their children going to be asked for proof of identity proving that they are in fact their children when they buy alcohol? Ridiculous...won’t go there anymore!!!
The world's full of rude people. The trick to a more stress-free life is to not make an issue of it every time you encounter one.
The local Wal-mart is in a nice area. And has one of the lowest inventory theft rates in the area. They have intensive monitoring with several dedicated security people on the floor at any given time and lots of security cameras.
They still catch several shop lifters a day. I understand they usually prosecute at least one a day, and others they ban from all Wal-mart stores forever, and threaten them with trespassing charges if they return.
Their security cameras can track people a couple of blocks from the store property. And the local police tend to keep at least one vehicle in the area (They pay a lot of sales taxes.)
It's a reasonable policy given the amount of theft. I doubt that state law quoted by Rick really exists, but it's a stupid law if it does.
I have had a fantasy of doing this for some time now. this guy is a hero. I hate WalMart and their stupid ‘receipt checkers’ that assume everyone is stealing unless they prove otherwise. NOT a good way to treat customers- hence I am not their customer anymore.I can go to Target or almost anywhere else and not be accused and accosted like a common thief after just having spent my hard-earned money at their business.
Ihre papiere, bitte.
The trick to life also is to make a fuss when the Jackbooted thugs insist on putting their private business jackboots on your neck.
Bite me too, jackass.
OK, I have to share just how much I LOVE Free Republic! This story epitomizes my affinity for this site. There are so many gems in this story that it’s hard for me to break down, but here goes:
The fact that Rick is indeed a “prick” goes with out saying. It is almost a side note in this little foray into “I’m the King of Assholes in my town” play for the everyman. Let’s face it, pricks are a dime a dozen these days. No, what stands out is that at some level; somewhere just beneath the comb over and the Walmart purchased “redneck fishing” t-shirt, Rick is semi-aware of his “prickness”. He hints at this at the end of his narrative when he thinks maybe he should buy Tony and “M” a gift card. However, much like like Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, we know that Rick’s feigned contrition is not really meant to be. For in is own mental epic, a sort of Bizarro Matrix, these innocent victims (forced to live in the real world) are unaware of the radiant prick-liness that Rick has just shone upon them. (”Pitiful hourly employees, do you not realize I have the ability to render the very fabric of time and space and local receipt-showing ordinances?!”) Moreover, our “NEO-Prick” almost feels sadness for these mortals that they will never really be able to appreciate the nature of the completely meaningless, prick-laden experience they have had to suffer in addition to their already trodden Walmart employment experience (As a side note, I am firmly convinced that anyone who works at Walmart will spend zero time in Purgatory; “that ticket’s been duly punched . . .”) No, our would be, albeit tragic, Greek-like prick hero realizes that the only way to maybe magnify the experience, to illuminate non-prickdom, is to jot down his prickness for posterity’s sake. And, as is the nature of the human opera we call life, we are at times degraded (Not news to Tony . .) and other times elevated by others. For even though Rick took finger to keyboard to etch his Royal Prick saga upon the winds of the ethernet, it could have too easily have been lost. However, like a Robin to a truly magnificent asswipe of a Batman; Daffynition has managed to keep this “Ode upon a Grecian Prick’s Urn” alive just a byte longer.
I salute you both for your shameless, blatant “Street Prick-Theater and libretto”. We may never see the likes of ye again . . .
And this is why I LOVE the Free Republic site.
Why?
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