If you’ve ever shopped at a Walmart store, you’ve probably seen employees standing near the exit checking customers’ receipts.
In many cases, shoppers have no problem stopping and presenting their receipt, but some continue to question whether the action is necessary.
A Texas constable told local CBS affiliate KHOU that stores like Walmart don’t require shoppers to show proof of purchase.
Officer Wayne Thompson explained, “There is no law (penal code) that allows a store to ask for a receipt.”
“You can walk past it if you like.”
But, as KHOU legal analyst Gerald Treece further explained, there is a gray area.
Texas has a law known as “storekeeper privilege,” which allows stores to detain suspected thieves if they can prove probable cause.
Failure to present a receipt at the exit of a store is not enough reason for a store like Walmart to detain a suspected theft.
However, when combined with allegations involving various acts, the store may be able to do so.
Meanwhile, Treece said customers will be asked to present their receipts when leaving Sam’s Club and Costco stores.
This is because it is a membership-based store where customers agree to certain terms and conditions.
But receipt checks at stores like Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Costco have sparked serious backlash from shoppers.
Some customers have complained that looking at their checks makes them feel like they’re being accused of shoplifting.
One shopper even described the experience as “very angry and humiliating.”
Others are calling for boycotts of stores that ask for checks or receipts when leaving.
However, legal experts explain that receipt checks actually benefit the customer.
“You can say, ‘We think this is bad business for you,’ and they say, ‘We also have an interest in keeping costs down and eliminating inventory shrinkage,'” attorney Steve Leht said in a YouTube video. “I guess so,” he said in a YouTube video.
“If you haven’t stolen anything, congratulations. But we’re trying to help you.”
US Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.