Why wouldn't I want my receipt?

[Lorrymum]

I've recently noticed that every time I buy something Im asked if I want the receipt. I always feel a bit awkward when I say "yes please" and it feels as though Im being a bit of a pain.
Why wouldn't I want it? How would I return something if I don't have one? Is it to save paper or ink?

They’re covered in endocrine-disrupting toxic BPAs for a start (if thermal paper, which most are) so they are pretty bad for your health!

It is to save paper - if the person is just going to throw it in the bin then there is no point in printing it. Every little helps.

But most of them print it anyway - then if they ask and you say No, they bin it.

I'm guessing that, for all that they claim to care about the environment, shops have calculated that it's cheaper for them to pay to get rid of unwanted receipts that print by default at the same time as the payment is going through than to ask afterwards and hold up the queue for a few extra seconds whilst it's printed if the customer says Yes.

And that still doesn't explain the likes of WH Smith, where they print out multiple generic offer coupons on the same till roll and give you them without asking if you want them or not - but they don't give you a receipt unless you ask.

Sad to say, I think some shops have deliberately realised that every customer who leaves without a receipt is a customer who has given up their right to a refund, and thus it's all better for their bottom line.

Not where I used to work, if the customer didn't want the receipt the till didn't print it out. Same as in a self service till in a supermarket

VisionsofSplendour

Not where I used to work, if the customer didn't want the receipt the till didn't print it out. Same as in a self service till in a supermarket”

in which case, ideal. We usually shop in Aldi. They ask if we want a receipt, we say no and they print it anyway and chuck it in the bin 🤷‍♀️

I do a top up shop once or twice a week. I don’t bother with the receipt. Why what I want one for bread, milk and bananas?

If you opened the milk and found it had gone off despite being well within its date, you might wish to bring it back to the shop and exchange it for a new bottle of milk, hopefully fresh. Likewise with the bread.

The amount of errors the supermarkets make and usually in their favour, I'm usually reading my receipt on the way out of store.

I get a VAT receipt for fuel, but that’s about it. I have no need to return most things I buy.

If I’m buying clothes or shoes or a bag, they tend to discretely tuck the receipt into the bag when packaging my purchase, as that’s part of the ritual.

And big purchases are protected by more than just a scrap of till roll.

The lidl app saves your receipts, do any others? Why doesn't Tesco do this?

John Lewis website saves your receipts, I don't use the app as it's a bit crap.

Clothes, bag and shoe shops do generally pack the receipt within the purchase.

Interesting comments on here, I always ask for a receipt.
That's because I have a very low income and therefore budget very closely, writing down every single penny I spend each month so that I can manage. That means every single loaf of bread, every single (very rare) coffee out. It's the only way to keep track of spending and manage to live within my means.

It surprises me that there are so many posters on here who are supposedly struggling with the cost of living but who seem not to be tracking the pennies they spend in detail.....

But that's what works for you, it might not work for others. Other people might have food money in a pot online or take it out on cash and so can see what they have left rather than adding up what they have spent. I have my receipts and my monthly spend on my lidl app. If I pick up a few things in Tesco then I use cash.

I use my card to buy pretty much everything, so I don’t need a receipt to track my spending, it’s all there on my online banking, and my banking app even categorises my spend for me.
Plus of course the people commenting on here that they don’t take their receipts probably aren’t the same people posting about how much they’re struggling with the cost of living. Mumsnet has millions of users.

Thats never happened to me in approximately 22 years of buying my own bread and milk though, so it’s not something that’s at the forefront of my mind when being asked if I want my receipt.

The only time I keep receipts is when I'm buying fuel for work (self-employed so I can claim it back), clothing and using the self-service tills so I have proof of payment.

I always take the receipt in case I need to return anything, if anything is faulty or just to check (only last week I had something run up twice at the garden centre).

Yep, same here. It's why I always take a receipt. It's one of the first things I do when I leave the counter is to check they've charged the right amounts. Far too many times, they've not, and, surprise surprise, it's nearly always overcharging rather than undercharging!

For everyday stuff, I always decline. My credit card app shows the payment straight away so that's my proof that I've paid.

For clothes, I take it or have it emailed to me

I always take a receipt. In supermarkets I also check my receipt as I'd say about once a month, regardless of which supermarket, there's an error on my receipt and I've been overcharged. Could be 10p, could be a couple of quid. Also supermarkets want a receipt if you have a complaint about a food item.
I also take receipts for odd items purchased at self service check out for the shop lifting aspect.
My son who's 30 never takes his receipt.

I use the self scanners for my grocery shop so check the prices as I go along.

Well, yes, but in particular, the Co Op self scanners don't deduct multi buy discounts, meal deal discounts, store card discounts, etc until the very end of the process and the "on screen" figures aren't transparent at all. In fact, their paper receipts don't actually show a correct "tallying" of price before discounts, less discount A, less discount B, etc - the "net" price to pay doesn't actually add backwards properly. Until you see one and work it out manually, you wouldn't know - it looks as if it's taken off all the discounts, but it hasn't. Particularly if you combine, say a meal deal, with a 25p off a bag of crisps (which is part of the meal deal) - it shows the reduction from £4 to £3.50 for co op card holder, and shows the 25p crisp discount, but it doesn't actually knock the 25p off the bill! I've been stung many times because of it, so I always take the receipt, do some handwritten scribbles on it, and then many times have had to take it to the counter to show them it's not given me the discounts properly. They clearly know it's a computer problem because they never argue, never quibble and just process the discount and give a refund!

a self service machine gives you the option
but sometimes a checkout operator just screws up your receipt, if you dont want it,
very odd

Yes the Co-Op are useless for applying discounts, that’s why I don’t shop there anymore. Too much hassle, and considerably more expensive than any of the other supermarkets near me.

Aside from not always applying discounts as they go (or at all), some self-service tills are apparently designed to rob you, especially in Asda. You scan an item, it identifies the item and adds the cost to your running total to the screen, BUT, when you put it on the scales, it then claims not to recognise the item that it's just scanned and recognised and tells you to try scanning it again. Of course, if you do scan it again, it will then charge you twice for the same item!