BF2S Forums Retail stores often have policies to check purchased goods

IRONCHEF wrote:

usmarine2005 wrote:

How is it an illegal search?  You are still in THEIR store that YOU voluntarily walked in to.  The law says you have to pay or it is stealing.  Do you think they do this just to fuck with you or something?

Talk to people who know laws...private property does not trump civil rights.  Very basic stuff.  Also, if you are searched because they think they have probable cause, and you don't have anything, you get to sue them for false arrest among other things.  This is why they follow the protocols of witnessing you at all points of your theft.  If it matters, I do work in a law office where the various practice groups here do cover such civil rights violations, land use, real estate, sec, and other areas of practice.   Business law and property rights are different than private..especially since they're soliciting your business (your visit to their property).  Hope that clears it up for you.

The law is fluid, not black and white.

Kmarion wrote:

Braddock wrote:

If it helps to fight terrorism I don't mind my rights being compromised.

lol.. they can search me all they want, so long as they leave a tip when they are done.

I actually experienced some of this when I was in certain stores in New York. I don't mind as long as they promise not to enjoy it too much.

This is news to me.  Never happened to me before, no doubt it will make its way over to my region soon enough.

As long as I can say 'no', I'm happy. I used to live in Italy for a while, and because of all the organised crime and money laundering, they have patrolling finance police officers who can demand to see your receipt after you've left the store, and you're liable to some pretty hefty fines if you can't produce it.

Anyone who finds that type of treatment distressing I would advise never to travel to Israel.

you wouldnt like to know what they do to you in jail just for inprocessing.

spread them cheeks and cough boy.

It's not to hassle people for things they just bought, its to keep prices down so that the next time they buy something, they won't pay a fortune for it.     I'm with Assets Protection at a retailer as a job on the weekends to pay for college.  There, we check receipts for high-dollar, unbagged merchandise.  If someone ignores me if I ask to see their receipt, so be it.  They may have had a bad day and don't want to be bothered.  You can't apprehend anybody for not showing their receipts or accuse them of theft.  Thats just silly and lawsuits are to follow.  The vast majority of people are honest.  I don't like asking to see receipts any more than you want to show them.

usmarine2005 wrote:

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

you wouldnt like to know what they do to you in jail just for inprocessing.

make you get nekkid.....................ya baby!

Among other things.  When I was processed, I was still so drunk I puked while in "the loop" at OCJ, then had a bunch of speed addicts looking at me with contempt for making the 1 steel toilet unusable.

Unless you have been to jail, you have no idea.  Not a place I would ever want to go back to.

And if anyone wants to know, I spent a week in jail because I violated probation by diving into second base after the Angels beat the Yankees in the 2002 Divisional Playoffs.

On topic, I don't give two shits whether or not they check my bags before I leave.

Last edited by KEN-JENNINGS (2007-12-14 13:45:59)

this is all well and good until you hear stories of people walking out with plasmas they didn't pay for. would you rather have people stealing or be 30 seconds ahead while walking to your car? what the fuck difference does it make. its not a hassle. its 30 fucking seconds.

usmarine2005 wrote:

The law is fluid, not black and white.

In a service establishment that is open to public access, it is 100% completely black and white..and you do have protection against searches unless they have probable cause to search you.  In a movie theater, if you are suspected of having a recording device, they can search you too.  But probable cause is not there at a receipt check by any means.

twiistaaa wrote:

this is all well and good until you hear stories of people walking out with plasmas they didn't pay for. would you rather have people stealing or be 30 seconds ahead while walking to your car? what the fuck difference does it make. its not a hassle. its 30 fucking seconds.

I would rather they do their friggen job and not scare away customers..which raises prices (or closes them down) more than the loss prevention they think they're stopping by checking receipts.  30 seconds?  I guess you don't have 3 little kids and don't mind stinking up the store with poop in a diaper because the wait at the checkstand was already 20 minutes.

ssulli wrote:

It's not to hassle people for things they just bought, its to keep prices down so that the next time they buy something, they won't pay a fortune for it.

yeah, yeah, they say it's for protection of the consumer against being charged wrong - and this is partially true, but not at any priority to theft prevention.  But the theft prevention efforts should NOT be at the expense of having the walk of shame after buying something.  Does it truly work, sure it works some..but from some study I've made of it, it's shifting from being a realistic theft deterrent to more of a check up on their employees to make sure they're charging correctly and not allowing unpaid things pass for friends, etc.  THIS is what makes it BS...putting a customer into a line to leave because they can't hire quality people at minimum wage.

ssulli wrote:

You can't apprehend anybody for not showing their receipts or accuse them of theft.  Thats just silly and lawsuits are to follow.  The vast majority of people are honest.  I don't like asking to see receipts any more than you want to show them.

I know you can't apprehend people for not showing receipts, and I know many receipt checkers are getting caught up to speed on their duties to let people go who refuse.  They do this because of the precedents of being sued for idiots taking their jobs too seriously and trying to stop people. 





People, thanks for your input.  As always, it's fun to be the lone ranger on a topic once in a while.  Makes me work more than I like, but it's cool.  It's a benefit of debating with you fine people.

And for what it's worth, my bring up this topic is not because I'm some psychotic libertarian nutjob who is trying to radically change the face of commercial security through fear of constitutional hamstringing.  I"m just a regular consumer like you, who when I go to some stores (target, costco, best buy) have long wondered why they check receipts and I even wonder about the legality of it as I comply with them.  However, after careful reading and consulting with some attorneys i work with, I've decided that it isn't a best business practice and more importantly, I do have privacy that I'd like to keep guaranteed...even at the expense of embarassment of some clerk or the rage of the line of sheep.  And I figure that next time I go to Costco, I'm gonna embarras my family and walk right past the 3 or 4 minute line right through the door to exercise my right to privacy..and see what happens.  With any luck, they'll just get angry and return to their checking.  With greater luck, the commercial world will cease to use this practice and employ greater security near check out counters..or at the least, post signs saying checks are VOLUNTARY.  And another part of me is angry that people so easily give up basic rights (even if in principle) for, dare I say "appeasement"  -- which is what ALL of you are doing...you're appeasing big brother by giving up rights at the risk of keeping with the flow.

Last edited by IRONCHEF (2007-12-14 15:30:54)

Usually they just glance at the receipt and draw a line on it with a highlighter...something that is useful because it prevents someone from using the receipt to falsely return something.  I haven't been to Costco in about 20 years though, mostly because I only shop for one.  A 5 gallon tub of parfait would last a pretty long time for me.