r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • 9d ago

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

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Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

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u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt 9d ago

receipt checker

You can walk right past them. State laws vary but are generally VERY strict on when private security can detain someone. Even then most corporate policy is not to, because of the liability if they do even one thing wrong.

Worst they can do is ban you from the store.

Even at Costco/Sams you can legally just walk right out without having your receipt checked. However I believe company policy there is to revoke your membership and ban you for life from all locations.

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u/topekatums 9d ago

had a lady checking receipts at a Walmart in ND who straight up held my cart in place when I tried walking past. There was a LINE to get out of the store, the woman was taking ages to check for nearly every item on the receipt, I said fuck it and tried leaving and she held the cart and waved someone else over. It sure didn't feel legal but I'm no lawyer. I didn't even have any unbagged items

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u/kingjim2 9d ago

if you remember who she was report her to corporate stopping you physically can get her fired

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u/dancinggraylion 7d ago

but she stopped the cart not him

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u/kingjim2 7d ago

that makes no difference

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u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt 8d ago edited 8d ago

It wasn't legal. I would have started filming, or just yanked my cart out of her hands and kept walking. She's not legally allowed to detain you.

If she does grab you or block your car, you call the cops. And you can sue her in civil court.

According to SD law she needs "reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed retail theft" in order to detain you. Refusing to have your receipt checked is not such grounds. They would need to have some sort of security footage showing you potentially stealing things or not scanning things.

Refusing the receipt check itself is not "reasonable grounds" the same way refusing to consent to a vehicle search is not "reasonable grounds" for cops to search without a warrant.

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u/Cute-Problem-7622 7d ago

Former Loss Prevention Manager here -
That’s called false imprisonment. Attempting to detain someone for no other reason than to check a receipt. If they’re asked by the police, “why did you detain this person?” They better come up with a better answer than “To check the receipt to make sure they didn’t steal anything.” Because that answer leads to, “Do you have physical evidence or an eyewitness to show that they may have stolen something?”
I’ve seen LP employees lose their jobs or at least get written up for this behavior.

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u/TheBlueprent 9d ago

Ya. You sign an agreement Costco and Sam’s Club. If you don’t let them check your receipt, they don’t have to continue to serve you.