Seriously...What just happened?

R

Random Smith

New Member
Jurisdiction
West Virginia
So I was shopping at Walmart this evening around 8pm...I went to the self checkout because it's always the fastest option. I rang up everything as I normally would, and my last item rang up as $5.00 instead of $9.00, which was the listed price...So I thought "Ok cool...", and paid, then put the bags in my cart, and got my receipt out incase they wanted to check it before I left (they do that sometimes, claiming that it's random, but everyone knows that it's actually just profiling)...Anyway, as I was walking out, I was stopped by a man asking to see my receipt, so I showed him.

Then he asked to see the last item I'd rung up, which was a night shirt/nighty type of thing. Then he asks "Do you have the tag you used to ring it up with?", which was confusing considering that the tag was still attached to the nighty. I told him that it was still on the shirt, and he said that the receipt said "night shirt" rather than "nighty"...I said "Ok, is that a problem?". He then said "Well, this is $9.00, and it's new, so it's not on sale, but your receipt says you paid $5.00"...

I said "Well, if it rang up incorrectly, I don't mind covering the difference now."...Then he got frustrated, and asked me to follow him to a room on the right...Reluctantly I agreed, even though it was late at this point, and I hadn't done anything wrong, but when we got to the room, he accused me of having used a different tag to ring up the shirt. I told him that I just rang it up like everything else in my cart.

Then he became even more aggitated, and pulled up the video from the self checkout, pointed to it, and said "See, you had the tag in your hand the whole time, you can see it right there sticking out...". I watched the video with him at least 3 times, and as I'd tried to tell him before, there was no tag except for the tag on the shirt itself...

He became even more infuriated, claiming that I was "insulting his intelligence" when, in reality, I was just telling him the truth, and describing what I saw...He left the room in a huff, with the nighty I'd just paid for, and was gone for so long that I finally told the girl, who was still in the room with me, that I was done with it, and that they could just keep the nighty, and the $5.00 I'd just spent on it... Then I walked out and left.

The only problem is that before I realized what they were accusing me of, they'd asked for my ID, and SSN (which I stupidly gave them, thinking there was no harm since I hadn't done anything wrong), and they took a picture of me.

Thankfully, I was able to get my ID back before leaving, but they still have all of my information, and now the more that I think about it, the more I get the feeling that they were stalling for time because they'd called the police, even though they had no proof that I'd done anything wrong, except for their word...

My question is, could they actually charge me with a crime that I didn't even commit, especially over a $4.00 price difference, which I offered to correct multiple times, even though I shouldn't have had to do so, and considering that they actually made $5.00 off of me for nothing, as I never got the nighty back, or the $5.00 that I'd paid for it. Also, could they ban me from the store, for something that I didn't do?

I just have no idea what to expect in this situation, and the fact that they have all of my information is seriously creeping me out. Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
 
Random Smith said:
My question is, could they actually charge me with a crime that I didn't even commit, especially over a $4.00 price difference, which I offered to correct multiple times, even though I shouldn't have had to do so, and considering that they actually made $5.00 off of me for nothing, as I never got the nighty back, or the $5.00 that I'd paid for it. Also, could they ban me from the store, for something that I didn't do?
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Could they YES will they who knows probably not unless you were issued a citation or arrested at the store. They could also BAN you from the store. You are bringing up an interesting debate. Stores such as this get away from paying the new 15 dollar minimum wage by installing all these new self checkouts. These checkouts do film you and I have seen people skip scan, every other item or only scan selected items and stuffing free stuff into their carts.

In most situations people do not face any real consequences from this as the companies just write it off. Sure, you could be banned from the store or put on a watch list for surrounding stores but as far as facing any criminal charges from this, I doubt they will mess around with this for a 5 dollar item. Now if you were loading 300 dollar TVs or 500 dollar appliances into your cart rolling them out to a waiting vehicle, then I would say you would have something else to worry about.

With that said, your story does not really add up and tags are swapped all the time to make something cheaper. If that is what you were doing then I would say don't do that.
 
Random Smith said:
So I was shopping at Walmart this evening around 8pm...I went to the self checkout because it's always the fastest option. I rang up everything as I normally would, and my last item rang up as $5.00 instead of $9.00, which was the listed price...So I thought "Ok cool...", and paid, then put the bags in my cart, and got my receipt out incase they wanted to check it before I left (they do that sometimes, claiming that it's random, but everyone knows that it's actually just profiling)...Anyway, as I was walking out, I was stopped by a man asking to see my receipt, so I showed him.

Then he asked to see the last item I'd rung up, which was a night shirt/nighty type of thing. Then he asks "Do you have the tag you used to ring it up with?", which was confusing considering that the tag was still attached to the nighty. I told him that it was still on the shirt, and he said that the receipt said "night shirt" rather than "nighty"...I said "Ok, is that a problem?". He then said "Well, this is $9.00, and it's new, so it's not on sale, but your receipt says you paid $5.00"...

I said "Well, if it rang up incorrectly, I don't mind covering the difference now."...Then he got frustrated, and asked me to follow him to a room on the right...Reluctantly I agreed, even though it was late at this point, and I hadn't done anything wrong, but when we got to the room, he accused me of having used a different tag to ring up the shirt. I told him that I just rang it up like everything else in my cart.

Then he became even more aggitated, and pulled up the video from the self checkout, pointed to it, and said "See, you had the tag in your hand the whole time, you can see it right there sticking out...". I watched the video with him at least 3 times, and as I'd tried to tell him before, there was no tag except for the tag on the shirt itself...

He became even more infuriated, claiming that I was "insulting his intelligence" when, in reality, I was just telling him the truth, and describing what I saw...He left the room in a huff, with the nighty I'd just paid for, and was gone for so long that I finally told the girl, who was still in the room with me, that I was done with it, and that they could just keep the nighty, and the $5.00 I'd just spent on it... Then I walked out and left.

The only problem is that before I realized what they were accusing me of, they'd asked for my ID, and SSN (which I stupidly gave them, thinking there was no harm since I hadn't done anything wrong), and they took a picture of me.

Thankfully, I was able to get my ID back before leaving, but they still have all of my information, and now the more that I think about it, the more I get the feeling that they were stalling for time because they'd called the police, even though they had no proof that I'd done anything wrong, except for their word...

My question is, could they actually charge me with a crime that I didn't even commit, especially over a $4.00 price difference, which I offered to correct multiple times, even though I shouldn't have had to do so, and considering that they actually made $5.00 off of me for nothing, as I never got the nighty back, or the $5.00 that I'd paid for it. Also, could they ban me from the store, for something that I didn't do?

I just have no idea what to expect in this situation, and the fact that they have all of my information is seriously creeping me out. Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
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Did you ask the Loss Prevention officer to scan the nighty/nightshirt so s/he could see for them self that it scanned $5?
 
Random Smith said:
So I was shopping at Walmart this evening around 8pm...I went to the self checkout because it's always the fastest option. I rang up everything as I normally would, and my last item rang up as $5.00 instead of $9.00, which was the listed price...So I thought "Ok cool...", and paid, then put the bags in my cart, and got my receipt out incase they wanted to check it before I left (they do that sometimes, claiming that it's random, but everyone knows that it's actually just profiling)...Anyway, as I was walking out, I was stopped
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't believe it's profiling - in over 30 years I have never gotten out of any Walmart in any state without showing my receipt.

ditto Costco
 
Paddywakk said:
Actually, I don't believe it's profiling - in over 30 years I have never gotten out of any Walmart in any state without showing my receipt.
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I always chuckle when I discover how very different the experiences of people can be.

I've never been asked to show a receipt in any Walmart (in fact any brick & mortar store) anywhere on the planet.

As long as the item(s) fit with the ubiquitous Walmart gray or white plastic bag, Walmart's policy is NOT to ask for a receipt (unless circumstances and observations dictate otherwise).

Now, Walmart's sibling, Sams Club does the receipt check as well as scanning certain items to see that the items have been purchased properly.

However, customers are under no legal duty to comply with the exit check at Sams Club (or it's sibling Walmart) in all states, Texas comes to mind.

In many states, a merchant can examine the bags a customer has at her/his time of departure.

Life in the United States is certainly a grand journey.

What a magnificent mosaic it would make if it could be portrayed in that way.
 
Random Smith said:
My question is, could they actually charge me with a crime that I didn't even commit, especially over a $4.00 price difference,
Click to expand...

The answer is no. Walmart cannot charge ANYONE with any crime because only a prosecutor has that power. All Walmart can do is make a criminal complaint to the police and/or prosecutor, the same thing that anyone else may do.

The theft of even a penny is a crime, so if a prosecutor has probable cause to believe you stole $4 you could certainly be charged with a petty theft offense. Whether the prosecutor would bother doing that for $4 is up to the prosecutor, not the store, once the complaint is filed. The store's choice is whether to make the criminal complaint. Last I knew for theft of this size the store does not typically call the police. But the loss prevention will still try to get you to admit the theft to bolster a civil damage for damages that many states allow retailers to recover from shoplifters.
 
army judge said:
However, customers are under no legal duty to comply with the exit check at Sams Club
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There's a contractual obligation to comply with the exit check at Sam's (and probably Costco). When one becomes a member one agrees to comply with, and be bound by, the terms and conditions of the membership agreement. One of those conditions is:

"Receipts: To ensure that you are charged correctly for the merchandise you have selected, Sam's Club may inspect or electronically scan your merchandise and electronic/phone or paper copy receipt(s) when you exit any Sam's Club location."

One can, of course, bypass the checker and head out the door if one doesn't mind sacrificing one's membership.
 
Redemptionman said:
Well if you make a break for the door at a Sam's without showing receipt you will be detained.
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I represented a person who wound up in such a circumstance.

It was settled out of court.

My client eagerly accepted the generous five figure offer from Sammy's Club, along with a letter of apology.

Unless the shopper is being pursued by loss prevention or local police working an off duty gig, policy dictates not to interact with members who refuse to cooperate.

Note: YMMV, so don't act in anyway similar to my client.
 
I am a Retail Theft consultant and answer questions like yours daily. They can (if they choose) file a criminal complaint however unless theres more evidence than you posted or know I doubt that will happen. They may also seek "Civil Demand" I normally advise people to pay this bu tin your case its possible you did nothing wrong so I would say ignore it. By the way they cannot force you to show receipt
 

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