I bought some make up in my local Boots at lunch time. The self serve till asked me if I wanted a receipt, I said no. On the way out the store, my shopping obviously triggered some sort of alarm; hardly an unusual occurrence so I stepped back into the store, expecting a member of staff to approach me. I realised the item I’d purchased had some sort of security tag on, I assumed this had caused the problem. However Security came straight over, I assumed they would help me and de-tag the item. The woman asked to see my receipt, but I didn’t have one. I rarely request a receipt for small items. She kept repeating over and over ‘I need to see proof of payment’ and I kept repeating that I’d paid but didn’t obtain a receipt. In the end she said that if I didn’t provide proof of payment I would be detained.
I realise store detectives/security don’t have any powers of arrest, and also she was really petite and probably wouldn’t have been able to force me, if I had refused to go with her.
Quite a few people were watching by this point and it was getting quite embarrassing. Thankfully I then remembered that I’d paid using Barclays debit, and any transactions show up on my app almost immediately. So I logged into the app, showed her the transaction, she de-tagged my item and said I was free to go.
I think I’m just posting because I’m pissed off. What on earth would have happened if I hadn’t had my banking app as proof? Where would I stand? Surely failure to obtain a receipt is not the same as failing to pay, and most tills now ask you whether or not you want a receipt.
The moral of the story: forget about being green, always get a receipt